#i greatly hesitate to call this art. anyways | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

gaoau · 4 months

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You can't bathe in the same river twice

Raison d'Être warnings — none. word count — 2.8k

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[Name] peered into the shop to try and see if she could catch a small glimpse of Chifuyu moving around to close for the day. Instead, another face she hadn't met before stared back at her with curious eyes. She blinked at the man, scanning her gaze over his apron and assuming he worked for Chifuyu. He seemed frozen in time as he rearranged the items on the shelves. He surely was an employee. Her knuckles didn't hesitate to knock on the locked door.

She caught Chifuyu's muffled voice calling from deep inside the store, making the man turn away from their staring contest for a moment. He nodded towards Chifuyu's detached orders and abandoned his task to unlock the door for her. [Name] clutched the strap of her bag while walking past him and into the store, hearing the click of the lock behind her. But then she turned to face him. Up close, her brain absorbed every bit of visual information it could as if it were a sponge.

The mind of an artist, no matter which field, has always worked in curious ways. [Name] was no exception even if the title felt alien on her. She stared at the man standing before her; there was so little to look at but it was more than plenty to have so much fun. Light, wide eyes with sharp pupils that almost pierced right through her. The shape of his face and how the two strands of bleached hair framed it perfectly. His hair—oh, man, his hair. She could spend hours and even days playing with the contrast in his hair with those streaks of blond here and there. Not to mention the beauty mark. The universe wasted no creative juices when designing him. Somehow, some way, for some reason, all the inspiration she needed crawled onto her hands willingly

"[Name]-san, welcome back!" came Chifuyu's greeting to snap her out of her trance. She spared one last glance at Kazutora, making a mental note to draw him at least once in her life, before turning to meet Chifuyu and his bright smile. Her lips rose on their own as they mirrored his expression. "This is Kazutora-kun, he's an employee. Kazutora-kun, this is [Name]-san, the one I told you about."

She stretched her hand towards Kazutora out of practiced politeness. "[Surname] [Name], it's a pleasure to meet you."

"You too. Hanemiya Kazutora," he nodded in response. His gaze flickered between his employer and this new woman. With a curt bow, he scurried away back to finish his job. Something about [Name] unnerved him greatly. She hadn't looked at him as if he were a person at all. Her eyes were looking somewhere completely different and Kazutora didn't like that.

Chifuyu excused Kazutora's behavior in his stead, which [Name] waved off with a chuckle. She understood the want and need to be quiet and unseen by new people. Her pupils darted towards the working man anyway, trying to ingrain every detail in her brain for later reference. In her brain, Kazutora seemed like he would be so much fun and so astonishingly interesting to draw. It was a chance she knew she couldn't pass up.

Her attention returned to Chifuyu before he could notice she had been staring at his employee. The smile that painted itself on her face at the mere sight of him was more than welcome. "Thank you so much for all your help, Matsuno-san. Not only with Ai, but also this." Her art supplies clattered in her bag when she motioned towards it.

Chifuyu laughed it off—yes, his curiosity was practically killing him, but he knew better than to push an artist to expose their works. He would've been lying if he'd said he hadn't accepted her request partly because he was interested in seeing her in action. The moment he'd heard her mention art, he knew he had to witness those same shaky hands that had saved a life become a new entity entirely to create something out of nothing. Chifuyu knew [Name] had it in her; judging by the way even her eyes seemed different than anyone else's he had ever seen before, he knew she was meant for more.

"I've been calling you by your given name this whole time, [Name]-san. Chifuyu is fine with me."

Strangely, oddly, for whatever reason, his words were a kind offer with no traces of hostility. He went straight for first names, and although [Name] didn't mind it on herself, casually addressing others could paralyze her. Intimacy—terrifying. "Then," she swallowed to let his name simmer on her tongue a little longer, "Chifuyu-san, thank you again for helping with this. I know it would've slipped my mind to take Ai to the vet, and now letting me paint here. I can't thank you enough."

But his smile was so reassuring. "Don't worry, I understand it's a big change. Anything I can do to help, and that includes painting fish at my shop." He didn't know how big of a change it actually was, he didn't know a single thing. He simply smiled and nodded and offered every bit of aid he could give. And [Name] looked into the intense blue of his irises and never felt warmer. She wondered if her hands could ever replicate something as fascinating as Chifuyu's eyes were; the eternity he drew with his gaze—she wondered if she could ever replicate him.

She started slow, because Chifuyu told her that was how it should be done.

Art had always been weird—or maybe it was [Name] herself. There never was any consistency in it at all; the approach, the feelings, the struggles, the weaknesses, the strengths. Nothing was ever consistent. Nothing was ever the same. For better or for worse, things changed. So she found herself cross-legged on the floor of a pet shop, straining her neck upwards, enjoying the process of mixing acrylics to the fullest. Something that a week ago had seem torture now regained its charm.

Chifuyu had left her to her own devices and resumed his work alongside Kazutora to close down. Painting was definitely not one of her fortes or a go-to medium. Colors were not made for her to play with. Still, it took only seconds, a simple glance to the swimming fish in their tanks for her to decide she'd whip out her brushes again. She had been surprisingly successful with Ai, so the fish were sure to help as well. While she listened to the two men and their footsteps around her, and the muffled words they exchanged, she sat by herself to fulfill her artistic needs.

Suddenly, art was fun again—it was so much fun. The hues on her palette were limited to two different colors, giving her a chance to paint the world in its most contrasting aspects. The white of her sketchbook disappeared underneath screaming yellows and swallowing purples. She didn't have to work around it when she used colors to build up shapes. She didn't have to work with white at all. Art wasn't consistent, but [Name] knew she could find joy in it as many times as she wanted, just as much as she could find pain. For now, dabbing complementary colors to find a fish, she appreciated her own talents.

She lifted the painting away from her face, taking a step back to scan over her progress. Curling lines and fluid movement. Fish. A grin tugged at her lips as her eyes flickered back and forth between the living reference and the product of her hands. Yes, her neck hurt, but doing this had never filled her chest with so much bliss.

The sheet was full of various fish in different shapes and sizes, all sporting the same monochrome shades of yellow and coming to life with purple volume. She smiled to herself while giving herself a pat on the back. The feeling of accomplishment overcame her as she set it aside to dry before she could go home. Her cheeks ached from beaming so widely.

Footsteps approached her as she reached for her drink beside her. The last brush she'd used landed safely in the paint water while she craned her neck up again, this time not to admire the fish but to meet Chifuyu's gaze. He offered her a simper, starting, "We're done already, [Name]-san. You can take your time, though."

[Name] mirrored his gesture as she multitasked. "I'm done here, too. I just need to pack up," she informed, tapping her brushes dry and bringing her drink to her mouth.

Chifuyu's eyes strayed for only a second—man, he was practically dying to see her painting. He hummed, trying to peer at the fish on the floor, mumbling, "How's Ai doi—What are you doing?" And when he looked at [Name] again, he was mortified to see her paint water so close to her face.

[Name] blinked and set the cup down. She stared in disappointment at her actual drink and how it was now ruined with her dirty brushes. "I should seriously stop doing that—oh, Ai?! He's doing great, would you like to see? He's a fantastic model."

And it seemed the universe was finally answering to Chifuyu's desires when [Name] rummaged through her bag to produce a different sketchbook. She opened it up to the last page she had used, a spread filled with Ais of all sizes and in all poses. Pencil studies, pen sketches, complete paintings, stylized versions, semi-realism. To quench the curiosity eating at him from the inside, he didn't hesitate to flip the pages backwards.

As [Name] packed up her art supplies, she heard the distinctive sound of sheets of paper turning. Her eyes flew wide open in panic and she froze. With a deep breath to tame her impostor syndrome, she pretended not to notice Chifuyu peeking into her latest failures—latest meaning a month old. She wasn't about to cry over someone flipping through her sketchbook, but she was about to cry over someone flipping through her sketchbook.

Chifuyu was impressed, to say the least. Maybe even surprised. Of course, he didn't know [Name] well enough to have an accurate judgment of her character, but he certainly did not expect her creations to look this vivid and strong. She seemed meek and hesitant, like an abandoned puppy drenched in the rain. All of her drawings, all of the spaces she'd filled with her skills, all of them glared back at him in large displays of pure ink. Solid black against the default white of the pages, building up strokes of pen and india ink and liners to work around the nothingness of white, creating something out of nothing. Such contrasting tones and visuals that he could have never been prepared for.

"These are…"

"All the same, right?"

He raised a brow at [Name] as she zipped her bag half-way. She was meek and hesitant, and yet she managed to make splatters of ink on a sheet of paper mean something. "Striking, bold. I like them." He patted himself on the back for finding the right words for her. He really did like them.

"Thanks." Her smile was thin. Chifuyu returned the sketchbook onto her hands. He caught the look in her eyes as she stared down at her own talented efforts. "I wish I could say the same. They're so… boring. I've been in a rut lately." He flinched slightly when [Name] nearly slammed the sketchbook shut and shoved it into her bag. She reached for the paint water still on the floor so as to avoid looking straight at him.

"I think they're really interesting to look at." And he grinned so genuinely. And he meant every word. "They catch the eye." Wordlessly, he grabbed the two cups from her hands, ignoring her protests. "You're very talented, [Name]-san."

Again, she dipped down to dismiss his compliments. Her fingers swiftly snatched the fish paintings off the floor and she self-consciously hid them against her chest. She glanced at the complementary yellows and purples. She stopped for a second, then looked into Chifuyu's eyes. "I think your employee is visually interesting. Is there any chance I could draw him?"

"Kazutora-kun…?"

[Name] nodded. Her attention flickered between Chifuyu and her spread of fish. The intense blue of his irises guiding her back to the counter and the golden yellow she'd whipped up in a second. Colors were coming back to her. "The values in his hair, the shape of his face, the color of his eyes. I'd like to try something like that and see if it helps, too."

She had only seen Kazutora for a brief moment and absorbed information he had never thought about despite years of knowing the man. Now, that explained why Kazutora had pulled Chifuyu to the side and quietly expressed he found [Name] unnerving. She had eyes—she had more eyes than regular people did. The world through her eyes was sure to be an interesting view.

"I see," Chifuyu hummed as he set down the dirty cups. "I'm sure he won't mind." That was a lie, but he would find a way to convince Kazutora.

[Name] smiled at him in gratitude. He couldn't help his own pupils from darting to the painted fish when she settled the sketchbook on the counter. "Sorry to keep you guys here while I played around. But thank you so much for the opportunity." She gave him a formal bow and flipped the fish paintings towards him.

"Anytime," Chifuyu replied on instinct. But he wasn't paying attention to her as he admired the dozens of fish swimming on a piece of paper. He gazed in awe at the images [Name] managed to skillfully capture in less than an hour. He locked eyes with her, unable to hold back his grin. "This is wonderful, [Name]-san. Do you take commissions?"

And [Name] almost lost her breath. Her brows bounced in sheer surprise at the excited words Chifuyu chucked at her. Commissions? He wanted to commission her? After seeing both her ink illustrations and these half-assed blobs of paint that vaguely resembled a bunch of fish. "It's, um, it's complicated. I mean, I'm sure I can make an exception for you, but I—Are you sure?"

"Yes, I love it." He what? "I'd like something for the shop; something like this would be amazing." He lifted the sketchbook to his eye level. Envisioning it on the empty walls of the shop, he decided he definitely wanted a painting like hers.

But [Name] could barely process the situation. "This?" she questioned, glaring at the fish. "You like this? You want to keep this?"

"Can I?"

"This?"

"Yes, it's beautiful. How much?" And Chifuyu only smiled to reassure her of her talents.

"You want to pay me? For this?"

"You worked hard on it."

"Chifuyu-san, this is a sketch," she emphasized as she removed the sketchbook from his grasp. She glared at her own creation in disdain as if it had insulted her bloodline. "I didn't even think about composition with this. It's for fun, not for sale."

She could almost see his excitement dissipating while his lips faltered. "Oh, so I can't have it? It's too pretty to just stay in a sketchbook."

There was no way this grown man was pouting over a drawing. There was no way he wanted that drawing so bad. "You can—You can have it for free, if you'd like…" There was no way she was giving in just like that, so simply, so stupid.

Chifuyu's eyes seemed to sparkle again while he protested, "But you—"

"No." The sound of paper ripping off the booklet clamped his mouth shut. She slid the sheet of paper towards him with hesitant determination. "It's a gift. Take it as a thank you for all your help."

And although he accepted it, he knew she was meant for more. "I'll pay you for the next one then."

It tugged at her chest to hear him. It made her heart feel so sore. [Name] failed to understand why he'd trust her skills enough to want to pay for a measly, mindless sketch. He kept it regardless. He called it pretty. She could barely process how astonishing it was that someone appreciated her art. The look in his eyes as he admired the fish told her if she let him go, she'd be losing the biggest fortune she'd ever found.

#Raison d'Être #Tokyo Revengers #Matsuno Chifuyu #Chifuyu #Matsuno Chifuyu x Reader #Chifuyu x Reader #Tokyo Revengers x Reader #tokrev #tokrev x reader

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onebarofsoap · 3 years

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that’s what happened right

#mp100 #mob psycho 100 #apologies to everyone who sees this #kageyama ritsu #hanazawa teruki #soap tries art #i greatly hesitate to call this art. anyways #and yet isn’t this how middle schoolers act

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greycaelum · 2 years

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Jujutsu Kaisen: Gojo Satoru X Reader

(Kaleidoscope Series || What If Chapters ||)

[Actors AU, Podcast with Satoru and Y/n]

[Notes and warning: Crack, fluff, Y/n, and Satoru being TMI in certain areas (nothing too nasty, Satoru is already a warning himself.) No hands or nails have been harmed during the making of this podcast/content. Word count: 3.6k]

[Thank you for the 600 followers everyone, thank you for visiting and may you always enjoy your strolls in this small corner! I'm not completely out of my little burnout but I really hope I got this one through. Anyway, Enjoy! And a Happy Birthday to Satoru's Voice Actor!]

Nail Art

"What am I going to say?" You look at Satoru humming as he set up the equipment by the couch in your room.

"I dunno, but that makes it fun," Satoru made an 'ok' sign with his thumb and index with his bright blue eyes sparkling.

"I'm seriously nervous." you rolled your eyes and rub your hands, clenching and unclenching the coldness to soothe the biting fright. He arranged this for Ijichi, and the tired manager gave him a heads up. Satoru's agency prefers clearing things up in a 'smoother' way rather than going through numerous press conferences and the like.

"Hey, it's okay Bubs, we got this, and... we can also reschedule it." Satoru's voice trailed off. His bright blue eyes filled with concern staring at your figure sweating and on edge.

The tiny part of you looking forward to doing this new venture with Satoru is screaming and thrashing around to push you and just do the thing. Meanwhile, the other half of you is hesitant, afraid that things may greatly change once you step into the unknown realm where your lover is a magnificent figure... while you... The anxiety of disappointment and dragging him down has been scratching your spine from time to time.

"You have to pinch me if I'm being awkward," you murmured, cringing at the possibility of making a fool out of you later.

"Just be you," Satoru step forward enveloping you in his tight hands "The simple you made me love you hard, and that's more than enough. You don't have to change yourself to fit by my side. Got that pretty girl?"

Your tense shoulders relaxed, returning your lover's hug and nuzzling his neck, you breathed in his cool minty scent that sets your heart at a tranquil pace.

"Okay," you nod and felt Satoru drop a kiss on the crown of your head as his large hand runs on your back, calming you down.

"Welcome to the GoGo Podcastttttt~!" Satoru cheered as the live stream started, the number of viewers is starting to pile up and there's a live chat going on asking where you are and questions the like.

You and Satoru sat face to face with each other on the couch, pillows on your lap with the mic in that stand and headphones on your head.

"Are we seriously calling this GoGo Podcast?" You eyed the camera and adjusted the black mask you wore. Still fidgety about the "uniqueness" as Satoru would address it, about this podcast of yours.

"Why, what's wrong with it?" Satoru asks squinting at your unconvinced look.

"I dunno it sounds tacky." You shrug. Satoru made a YouTube channel last minute and is live streaming right now.

"Yeah," Satoru nodded. "I think it fits us perfectly. My name starts with 'Go' and soon your name will als—" leaning forward you covered his mouth to stop anything more from spilling his lips.

He glared at you and mouthed a 'stop it' which came out as "Smphm mph."

"Anyway, welcome guys to the very, very, very first episode of our podcast. I'm sure you guys know that I'm with my beloved lady, she's right here beside me so stop asking where she is," he huffed at the comments asking where you are after you remove your hands over his mouth. "What can you say Bubs?"

"Hi everyone. I'm Y/n..." Where's humor when you need one?! You sound like a plain textbook. "Today, Satoru and I decided to meet you guys, together... I hope you enjoy our company" You nervously laugh.

"Usually she's bubbly, but she's a little shy right now so take it easy with us guys," Satoru smirked. "So as we said, we'd do a podcast together! Thank you for allowing me to film with you," Satoru gazed at you with smiling eyes. "And I thought it'd be boring with just answering your questions, so we decided!"

"You decided, I was uninformed until the last minute," you punch his arm.

"Okay, I decided to surprise Bubs with a podcast and manicure corner! I enrolled in a short course yesterday before diving into this thing," Satoru pick up the pouch on the table, zipped it open, and one by one pulled out the newly purchased nail polishes and stuff.

"Were gonna answer questions while I do a manicure with Bub's fingers?" You frowned and look at the camera then back to Satoru.

"Yep, you can read the questions Bubs, I'm gonna be busy making your nails pretty." He rummaged through the pouch, pulling every color he thinks looks cute. "I'm gonna give you a nail art," Satoru made a chef kiss sign.

"You have to be gentle, got it 'Toru?" You worriedly eyed him who made grabby hands asking for your left hand.

"Trust me Bubs, I'm a pro," Satoru winked, scooting close to you and putting your hand above his knee. "I've always been gentle with you..." He whistled that you have to pinch his cheeks to stop him from spewing something else.

"Yeah? I trust you—" You deadpanned, shuddering at the sight of him holding the nail pusher. "—Anyways, I'll read the first question."

"Game!"

Ijichi sorted these questions yesterday and you trust the man's intelligence and capabilities. Scrolling through the list you read from the bottom-most question first.

"Hello, Gojo Satoru-san, and to your girlfriend. I'm genuinely curious how long have you been together?"

You cleared your throat and look at Satoru who brought your hand up and showed it to the camera. The comment is flooded with wanting to also book a reservation in Satoru's salon.

"I was going to do cuticle care but her hands are already pretty so I'll skip that part."

The heck?

"What kind of salon owner are you?"

"The kind that loves you the most." Satoru gave you a naughty look and Cheshire grin.

You resist kicking him from the cringe fuzzy butterflies he's trying to create in your tummy.

"Be serious. Like how long we've been in a relationship or how long we've known each other?" Confusion clouded you while subduing the urge to grab your hand back from your boyfriend applying the base gel.

"We've been officially together for..." Satoru looks up, counting mentally. "3 years... 2 months, and 3 weeks."

"Satoru and I met each other two years prior we became a couple. So we've known each other for more or less five years."

This is quite easy...

"What's that, a turtle?" You asked Satoru who's now painting your nails with a baby blue nail polish.

"Excuse me? This is art." Satoru scoffed at you and exposed your finger to the light.

"Is that a real gold leaf?" You asked leaning closer to scrutinize the shimmering details he's adding to your fingers.

"If that's gold I would've already showered your nails with it. Continue Bubs," Satoru shoo you away so he can continue his 'job'.

"Okay... Second question. What's your partners' most annoying habit." You laugh and adjust your mask. Ijichi intentionally included this.

"Do I have to answer this honestly?" You laughed when Satoru lookup with an offended look.

"Remember who's holding your hand right now Bubs."

You shake your head in laughter and replied to the question.

"I usually wake up around midnight to use the toilet and the toilet seat is ALWAYS raised. So I asked this guy here if he raises the toilet seat."

"No, I do not!" Satoru protested.

"But who would do that aside from you?"

"For your information, the reason I do not raise the toilet is that I sit down when I pee."

"Babe! My goodness," an image of Satoru sitting down on the toilet flash through your mind and it looks... Like an ostrich forced to crouch.

"Hey, here's my side to that," Satoru turned to the camera. "I sit down for you," he pointed at you. "Like, if I stand when I pee then everything gonna splash around and you're gonna sit down on that, huh?"

"Still, who's raising the toilet seat? It's just the two of us using this place. Unless you tell me our house is haunted."

Satoru shut his mouth, gave you stinky eyes, and ignored you, holding your thumb to continue his work. You turn to the camera and shrug.

"So yeah, Satoru's annoying habit is raising the toilet seat at night without putting it back. Babe, I think we need to private this video because of sensitive content."

"Nah, it's not like we said any nasty thing. Y/n's annoying habit is, she takes too much time taking a shower. Like I was dying to use the toilet to poop but I can't coz she's not even shampooing after 30 minutes of being inside."

"TMI. I swear this video is to be private. We have a toilet down the 1st floor." You rolled your eyes.

"Third question, why did you hide your relationship?"

You waited for Satoru to finish proudly showing off your thumb to the camera before answering. You don't have the heart to tell him his nail art looks like a butchered octopus with chopped golden tentacles

"We want privacy during the early stages of our relationship and I can say that it was the best decision we took as a couple," Satoru answered.

"Why are you doing it one by one?" You turn to the live chat who also agreed with you about Satoru doing the process like a snail.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Babe, nail artist first coat all the nails then the light, then the second coat then the light, then third coat then the light then the details then the last coating then the light."

Satoru stared at your nails with a confused puppy look like his whole life has been a lie. He then looks up to you and the camera.

"But the teacher taught me like this yesterday," he mumbled

"Ugh!" You slump your back and sighed in defeat. "Who taught you?"

"Suguru brought his girlfriend's manicure set and taught me."

Well, of course, it's the two dumbasses... You facepalmed and told him to continue.

"Fourth question, what's your first impression of each other?"

Satoru looks at you. You've never really mentioned what's your impression of him.

"I don't remember. I do not believe in the 'first impression lasts' because you can't classify a person just after seeing him or her acting all snobby or shy, there's always something beneath that it's up to you if you would like to know about that person. Like I remember Satoru being annoying and rambunctious when we hang out with our mutual friends and I honestly cannot handle high-tension people—" Satoru's shoulders deflated at your words. "—But Satoru is calm and patient, I remember I spilled the whole... What was it, Babe? Vodka? On your Brioni suit at the gala."

"It was tequila, and you were tipsy that time," Satoru added.

"I thought he'd go ballistic behind the curtains but he was like, 'okay come with me at the back'"

"Then I asked her. Are you lost baby girl?" Satoru deepened his voice.

"Then he even asked for water to sober me up. Satoru is very patient. It may not be my first impression of him when we met but it was the impression that stick to me at the earlier stages." You chuckled, adjusting the mask while smiling underneath.

"Hey don't ignore me!" Satoru bit his lips, as he add the third coat on your middle fingernail. "If I know that's the way you'd pay me the attention I should've bumped into you much earlier," Satoru mumbled making you flick his head. "I have a first impression of you Bubs. So when we first met Bubs was wearing this minimalist outfit of a checkered light blue blazer, with a white top and white pants and you have this tote bag while reading a romance book in the cafe. And my first thought was she's a beautiful snob. She ignored me, like 101% no hi or hello until Suguru and Shoko came and introduced us. Why did you ignore me Bubs?"

"I didn't even notice you sitting in front of me. By now I know that you know when I read I have this solitary bubble that ignores everything and everyone around me. And no way, do you remember all of that? I don't even remember what you wore that day."

"Yeah I remember, you were even wearing that promise ring your past boyfriend now your ex gave you because I'm your baby now." Satoru rolled his eyes. "She's very casual too, barely talked to me when we first met even when Suguru and Shoko left us and I ask her if I should walk her home. So my first impression of Bubs is that she's a drop-dead gorgeous snob."

"You put the drop-dead gorgeous to evade sleeping on the couch?"

"What? No way!"

"Anyway, fifth question: what's your reaction to Gojo's kissing scenes."

Ehhhhh... Internally you screeched and Satoru look at you batting his lashes with a grin.

"Have I reacted badly?" You asked Satoru who shrug. "Before Satoru and I became a couple, I already understood that it can't be avoided, that's part of his job. We have mutual friends who are also in the entertainment industry. I'd be a liar if I say I wasn't affected but the thing is if I keep dwelling on that it'd make me vain and cynical so instead of trying to keep it getting into me I talk it with Satoru." You look at your lover who stopped working on your nails and is fully giving you his attention. "There's this border that will always separate what he does in work and what we are together. Work is work. It doesn't affect me anymore as much as it used to. I learned to trust him and also learn to trust myself that I'm enough for him... Does that make sense?" You chuckled and Satoru bit his lips chuckling with you.

"Oh I just wanna add," Satoru interrupted grinning to the cam. "I have this action movie with Suguru, a few months ago but it's still not out in the cinemas. That one where I played demigod and warrior. Bubs were there with me! She played a minor role, right? Right?" Satoru giddily poked your belly.

"Ijichi-san's gonna stab you with his pen for revealing that." You pouted.

"She looks extremely gorgeous in her cute dress. Yadda, yadda!" Satoru squirmed almost toppling over the table and nail polishes.

"Yamete!" You growled clamping his mouth shut. "Babe it's not pretty anymore," you whined seeing the gold leaf askew from all his squirming.

"We almost kissed in that movie," Satoru winked at the camera making the live chat explode.

"Stop feeding them unnecessary details." You flick his head with gritted teeth.

"Next, sixth. If you wanted privacy why did you date a superstar?"

Satoru pouted at the question. You were quiet for a moment.

"Just because he's in the limelight I don't think I need to refrain myself from being with him. Satoru never made me feel less than I am. When I'm with him I don't feel our love story is necessarily something people would watch and dream about but when I see him, I see someone who would stay with me when I'm wrecked or happy. And I found someone with whom I can be unafraid to show both my frustrations and passionate side. Satoru and I aren't mysterious and privacy obsessed but we prefer staying chill and at the back because those moments are for the both of us and we want it the way it is."

"For me, I dated Bubs because she treats me with Kikufuku—" Satoru laughed at your rolling eyes. "—Kidding aside, I had a few rough roads while courting her one, the reason is she just got out of a break-up and wasn't interested in going in any relationship. So I had to lay low. I can't go all out surrounding her or else I might suffocate her because I know I can get annoyingly clingy when I get my hands on her and I don't want her to feel constricted. I don't have a problem being public with her but I agree that I also like our privacy, it's our little secrets."

That surprised you too, and the chat was filling in with how sweet you two are, or if you two are considering going public now that you're both officially recognized as a couple. But you ignored those, not wanting to be drowned with the flow of social media netizens.

"Seventh... Babe no!" You gasp when Satoru clips your nails and it bites too big for your liking. "Are you trying to give me claws?" You gaped at your imbalanced nail and turn at Satoru who look at you, eyes wide open, stunned by what he's done.

"Don't worry, I'll wash the dishes until it grows back," he swallowed nervously.

"That's not the point, and we have a dishwasher for that. Good grace," you grumbled. "You're dead after this."

"She bullies me!" Satoru whined.

"Seventh... My gosh Babe, no! Enough clipping nails put the nail cutter away." You warned him who hesitatingly put the nail cutter away and put base gel now on your left hand.

"What's your favorite movie?"

"Your movie or any movie?" You asked Satoru who shrug.

"My favorite movie was the loyal dog who waited for his master at the train station," Satoru answered.

"My favorite is about a quadriplegic and his caretaker who fell in love, though nothing was official he taught her how to live her life. Then in the end this man applied for service in Dignitas, and the caretaker was left with a sum of money and a letter from the man. And my favorite movie of Satoru is, Six Eyes Trilogy."

"Why?" Satoru hummed, smiling.

"I love how you projected the character of a teacher who strives to educate his students without sheltering them... Then the process of how your grey character lost hope after being betrayed by the higher-ups. I can't explain it with words but that was bone-chilling when you realize there's no salvation and then you became your own story's antagonist. I cried a lot when your character lost his eyes there because he may have lost his eyes, but he found his freedom. Yeah, the chills."

"Yeah, I knew you were head over heels for me," Satoru giggled and you pinch his nose.

"Eight. Is your girlfriend in the entertainment industry?"

You shake your head and Satoru held out his hand to adjust your mask so you could properly breathe.

"No, I am not. I work in a different industry. I have my own business."

"But Bubs, visit me in my sets. She sends me those white roses and brings me lunch when she's near the site. I post them on my Insta, her tamagoyaki is my fave."

"Second to the last, the ninth question. How do you make time for each other with busy schedules?"

Satoru finally finished your nails and brought them to the camera with a proud smile. You don't have the heart to tell him it looks like a kid's doodle.

"Bubs either visit me in my sets, or I go to her job place. She has lots of business trips so it can get a little hard to match our schedules but the last week of the month is our alone time together. When I have three days open, I usually follow her when she's overseas that's why I have many photos abroad, and she's the one who takes my photos too~ But wait a minute." Satoru grabs the camera and places it above your nails.

"I did good right? Rate me in stars Bubs."

You cannot hold back anymore and just laughed.

"I love you so much," you held his hand and squeeze it.

Satoru stared at you with a deadpan look and groaned.

"You did great baby, thank you. Next time you should also try learning massage and hairdressing."

"So you can turn me into your salon?" He raised a judging brow at you and returned the camera to its holder while tidying the stuff back to the pouch.

"You don't like that? That's another talent."

"Nope don't like," he pouted and sat back facing you.

"You should read the last question," you handed him his phone and he scroll down to read it.

"Ten, what's your message to your fans?" Satoru cleared his throat. "I hope you like our first podcast, I bribed Y/n with a large sum of ice cream to join me. We're happy to share our small corner with you guys and it was nice to answer your questions. It has been a pleasant night and have a good night's sleep everyone."

Wow, he smoothly wrapped that up...

"Good night everyone thank you for joining us!"

Behind the Scenes

You stare at your nails while having an internal battle about what your oh-so-awesome boyfriend has done. There's a leaf bundled together looking like a ladybug and another looking like a chopped turtle. How did Satoru manage to do that? You also don't know. He didn't apply the last coat too.

"I'm starting to rethink my decisions in life..."

"What? It's cute! You don't appreciate art Bubs." Satoru scoffed and grab your hands admiring them again.

You let him be when he took a picture and showed it off on his Instagram, his fans pointed out a few tips to Satoru on how to do it properly and he promised to give Suguru a beating for deceiving him at their nail art classes.

—GreyCaelum

PLAGIARISM IS A CRIME

Check out the Masterlist for more

All rights and credits of the Jujutsu Kaisen character(s) mentioned images(s) and songs(s) used belongs to their respective owner(s)

General/Kaleidoscope Series Taglist: @ice-icebaby @aeanya @gummy-dummy

#gojo satoru imagines #jujutsu kaisen imagines #gojo satoru #gojo satoru fanfic #jjk fluff #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen satoru #gojo satoru x reader #gojo x you #satoru gojo #greycaelum #jjk actors au #jjk celebrity au #gojo satoru kaleidoscope series

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orange-waterfalls · 3 years

Text

I Call This One: Bold & Brash!

The egos x artist! gn! reader

ty @pokemonpunqueen for the request!

A/N: I’ve decided that I’m gonna write for the egos when I can’t think of anything else or I need practice writing lmao. I mean I was doing that before? But I didn’t know it? listen it’s fine it’ll be fine but FOR NOW I thiiiink I’m gonna take requests. Just a few. I’ll stop when I think it gets too much. This is exactly what it says. I focused on like drawing/painting for “artist”, with some references to animation thrown in there. I did Darkiplier, Wilford, Yancy, Illinois, Google, Eric, and a Host thrown in there bc I love him and I miss him

Word count is 1.5k

Enjoy

Egos x artist!reader

Darkiplier

He’ll want to commission art from you

He makes comments about how Mark is a narcissist but also he’s a narcissist.

Oh look, Dark’s asking you for another picture. What does he want? He wants you to draw him? Again? For the fifth time this fucking month? Wonderful.

He likes looking at how you make art of him, be it stylistic or realistic

He will hang them up all over the fucking house so pace yourself

He’s fine if you draw anybody else

Except Mark. Never Mark. How can he tell, you ask? No fucking clue, but he does

Gets a bit worried that you won’t make enough money to live comfortably

Just because not everyone needs a fucking MANSION-

Will always buy things for you if you ask

Likes to be able to support your job or hobby

Sugar daddy? I mean maybe

Makes sure you eat, sleep, drink water, survive--

Leaves snacks for you at your desk for when you don’t want a meal.

Carries you to bed if you fall asleep at a desk

Recommends you wear comfy clothes at all times so you can fall asleep wherever

A bit of an enabler, he’s doing his best tho

If you take commissions don’t be surprised if he threatens to kill someone when they don’t pay or are rude to you

He loves you, that’s all

Wilford

Fucking elated

Draw him!!! Please!!!! Please draw him!!!!! He has coin!!!!! He can pay!!!!!

Ecstatic if you actually draw him like he’ll giggle for an hour straight just looking

Secretly commissions more art from you

So also sugar daddy

It’s always something so obvious so you know it’s him anyways

He likes bright colors and eyestrain for some reason

If you make that, he just. Stares at it. Unblinking. You have to snap him out of it (im not projecting what do you mean)

Gets extremely worried about you not taking care of yourself

Gets someone to fucking babysit you when he’s gone so you take care of yourself

When you get greatly offended by this he settles for texting you reminders

And when you ignore those he texts more

Don’t be surprised if you get spammed by several people and an alarm starts to play from somewhere in the house

You’re gonna be healthy whether you like it or not, asshole

Drags you to bed aggressively

He WILL NOT drug your food with melatonin because that’s illegal. B U T-

He’s a little confused, but he got the spirit

Will advertise your art to anyone and everyone and also on his show and threatens the audience with a gun

AGAIN, a little confused. he just wuvs u so much

Yancy

I mean technically he’s kind of an artist too so he appreciates your skill and creativity

He’s very nosy and likes to look over your shoulder while you work

If you don’t like him doing that, he still does it, just more secretively

Likes to work in the same room as you.

That is if you don’t mind constant singing or tap dancing in the background

He shows off your art to anyone and everyone and gets mad if they don’t immediately say it’s fantastic

May or may not have stabbed someone over it, you’ll never know

If you show him something you’re working on, he’ll show you something he’s working on in return

The law of equivalent exchange

You tell him you can make MONEY from things like art and dancing and he goes apeshit he gets so fucking excited

If you’re like an animator and offer to animate his dancing he might actually cry

He’ll deny it constantly every day until he dies

If you make things traditionally he hangs them on the wall Everywhere

You might run out of room

By which i mean you will run out of room as soon as possible

Will never tell you a drawing is bad ever unless it’s like Really Bad which it never will be in his eyes

He loves anything and everything you do u are so precious

You have a permanent support system within the man

Google

Used to see art as pointless

Then comprehended the chemical release it causes in the brain and thought that was fine

Then saw you get really mad with something you were working on and got confused again?

If art no make good chemical, why art?

He still doesn’t understand, but that’s ok

You tried to get him to make something once

He just. Kinda. Made a buncha ones and zeroes

You still framed it and hung in on the wall and he got embarrassed

If he could blush, he would

If you draw him he looks like he doesn’t care but it’s at that point he decides he would die for you

Primary objective: answer questions as quickly as possible. Secondary objective: make u happy. Tertiary objective is to destroy mankind

If you draw bing that will disappear IMMEDIATELY you have BETRAYED him

If you ask for a color palette recommendation he Always says the google colors. Always.

You might’ve thought he was going for an rgby type of thing. But then you realize.

He is in charge of your financing. He will tell you the most efficient ways to make money as an artist and you follow then

He is also in charge of making sure you FUCKING EAT A MEAL

“But isn’t an objective to destroy mankind?” shut up he’s not happy about it either

Despite his best efforts he loves you and that ain’t gonna change

Illinois

Doesn’t fully understand

He needs to be outside at all times and cannot stay in one place

And you’re like??? Required to stay still???? For prolonged amounts of time????? Disgusting. Anyway, whatcha workin’ on?

He might ask you to try and teach him

If you do try he gives up almost immediately

Sometimes you just get so into it that you forget to do basic things and he gets upset

(i.e. eating, sleeping, living, etc.)

He gets worried about you

He is a hypocrite bc he does the same

He will drag you to bed, motherfucker

Honestly he might lock your shit somewhere until you fucking take care of yourself. it’s like a hostage situation god

“Where the fuck did you put it” “I have no clue what you mean. I might know if you eat your dinner, though”

Asshole (affectionate)

Sometimes you like make faces when you try to draw a person and it’s hilarious and cute to him

He looks at your drawings the moment you walk away but acts like he doesn’t care

He cares a lot

Will support you no matter what but will also tell you without hesitation if he thinks something looks shit

Listen he’s out of line but he’s right

Eric

Loves you a lot and will support anything and everything you choose to do or make

Drawing? Awesome! Painting? Wonderful! Animation? Superb!

He often wants to buy you supplies or something but he does not know what anything is

Fuck is a chalk pencil???? What are gel pens vs normal pens?????? Watercolor????? What the fuck are you saying??????????

Will subtly drop hints that you could,,,, draw him,,,,, maybe,,,,, if u wanna

And by subtly I mean he starts to ask and then starts crying

If you draw him he will cry again he loves u so much

If he ever were to get a tattoo it’d be something u drew. Nothing else is as important to him at the moment

He enjoys photography and film, and likes to try and bond with you over artistic things

I mean. Some things overlap.

You could talk about a single drawing for hours and he’d listen intently the whole time

Don’t ask him for feedback, it’s always some version of “it’s perfect and I love you”

Even if he hates it

Which,,,,, he might hate it sometimes

He’s not a good reviewer. 2/10, very biased

He likes to take photos when you’re in the zone

If you tell him to delete them he will

While secretly making one his home screen

Host

Hey, he gets it

He writes, he understands the hyperfocus

Sometimes he wouldn’t move from his chair for a day because he was busy writing a script

That being said, you probably have to be the one to get him to take care of himself

Or you have to take turns

Otherwise you’re both gonna fucking die

He asks you to describe your art to him and tries to picture it.

He’ll tell you if he thinks it probably looks good or bad

You shouldn’t take it to heart because he can’t see it

He is a bastard sometimes

“Well, what do you think?” “I think it looks fantastic” “Thanks, babe” “...” “... you think you’re fucking funny, don’t you”

He asks if you can draw him sometimes

No, he won’t see it, but he’ll appreciate the sentiment if you do

He will ask for your opinion on his scripts sometimes

If you say it’s bad he gets really defensive

You work in the same room a lot of the time and forget the other is there

One of you has to preemptively order food or like set a timer so you can goddamn Survive

You’ll be fine

#markiplier egos x reader #darkiplier x reader #wilford warfstache x reader #yancy x reader #illinois x reader #googleplier x reader #eric derekson x reader #eric derickson x reader #x gn reader #x gender neutral reader #darkiplier x gn reader #wilford x reader #wilford warfstache x gn reader #yancy x gn reader #illinois x gn reader #googleplier x gn reader #eric derekson x gn reader #i'll be honest i only thought about this bc i saw mark's fucking VIDEO on tiktok and got kind of excited

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sevenmikento · 3 years

Note

ANOTHER JJK WRITER??!?! I'M SO HAPPYYYY!! And you're accepting requests right now! I---I feel so cniwjebfiamxksownfjjw but 'nough said...

Idk what type of format is suitable for this request so it will be fine if you chose to write it using hcs or a oneshot.

Can I request where fem!reader is the Sukuna's vessel meets a civilian!Yuuji??

A/N: hello!!!!! this was sent in over a week ago but i’ve been so busy with streaming, art and work AAAAAAAAAA anyways imma do headcanons so i can cover more ground since i like this idea hehe :D

ALSO I FINISHED WATCHING HAIKYUU S4 AND I CRIED LIKE 4 TIMES PLS SEND IN MORE HQ REQUESTS OF THE CHARACTERS I LISTED THANK, I CAN’T WAIT TO GET TO THEM ;—;

fem!vessel!Reader meets civilian!Itadori Yuuji headcanons

as a born and bred Jujutsu Sorcerer, you honestly should’ve known better than to eat Sukuna’s goddamn finger. but in your defence, it was a stressful moment and the only other option was to die, let the cursed spirit eat the finger and inevitably kill Fushiguro Megumi—your only friend and someone who could probably keep the cursed spirit at bay long enough to escape

essentially it was: get killed and greatly inconvenience your friend or eat the finger and die and only somewhat inconvenience your friend

the only thing you did not anticipate was survive eating the finger, killing the cursed spirit in one hit and verbally abusing Sukuna until you regained control of your body

well… shit

life hasn’t changed that much if you were being honest, except now as the vessel of the King of Curses, the threat of being exterminated by the wise old elders was greater than before; but you don’t let that bother you too much since—

“So, if I eat all the fingers and Sukuna doesn’t take over my body… they’ll let me live?”

“That’s what they claim but we both know they’ll actually do,” your mentor and guardian Gojou Satoru said after returning from an emergency meeting with the people he despised the most. you could tell how pissed he was just by the slight inflection of his voice

“But I won’t let them lay a single finger on you,” he ruffled your hair, “got it?”

“Him.” Sukuna’s voice echoes in your head on one of your off days. hiding your mouth behind the bun you’re munching on, you ask him what he means

“The table across from you. That boy. He could have been my vessel.”

“… and?”

“… he’s interesting. Befriend him.”

“What? No, you absolute menace!” you don’t realise you’ve raised your voice until you notice a pair of wide brown eyes stare back at you. feeling your face heat up, you quickly stand and leave the cafe, tragically abandoning the super delicious chocolate bun half-eaten on the plate

“You’re attracted to him. Befriend him and it’ll benefit the both of us, you fool.”

“How exactly will it benefit you? And it’s too late. I’m not going back, not for the boy and not for my poor, poor choc bun :(”

you make it like, a few hundred metres before you feel a tap on your shoulder. when you turn around, it’s the boy holding your bun in a takeaway bag. he smiles like an idiot and though it feels like a huge mistake, you allow yourself the luxury of his company

shortly after you mean, during one of your many late night texting sessions, you learn that he had to move to Tokyo with his grandfather to seek better medical treatment

[11:43PM] Yuuji: so basically… what i’m saying is… i have no friends here :D be my friend?

[11:45PM] (Y/N): okay :)

“EXCELLENT”

“Sukuna… touch him and I will kill myself and you.”

when Gojou learns of your new friend, he gets super annoying (even more so than usual, basically) and makes a habit of spending more time with Megumi, claiming that you “don’t need both of them anymore ;—;” because you’ve “moved on to greener pastures”

but in all seriousness, he’s glad you’re making more friends. he’s done research on Itadori Yuuji and concludes that you’ll be alright

the first time you go out together, Yuuji sheepishly tells you he needs to drop by the hospital to give his grandfather some sliced fruits

“It’s okay if you don’t wanna follow, though—”

it takes you, like, ten whole minutes to convince him that you’ll be happy to meet his grandpa, though you have no choice but to withhold another big reason for wanting to tag along

as suspected, Yuuji’s grandfather’s being weighed down by a couple of small fry cursed spirits which you swiftly eliminate when they both have their backs turned to you—or so you think

unbeknownst to you, Yuuji saw the way you glared at the corner of the room, noticed how you did some odd hand gestures and how—almost instantly—his grandfather said: “is your girlfriend a lucky charm? my chest feels so light all of a sudden.”

[12:33PM] Yuuji: thanks for coming with me to the hospital today. my grandfather seems to really like you :) sorry he kept calling you my girlfriend

[12:34PM] (Y/N): no problem, i like him as well :D and it’s alright

[12:45PM] Yuuji: by the way, i have something i want to ask you

[12:50PM] (Y/N): … yes?

[01:03PM] (Y/N): Itadori?

[01:16PM] (Y/N): you there?

“A cursed spirit is after him.”

“You choose to tell me just now?!”

Sukuna doesn’t say it but he has no idea why he told you what he did. it doesn’t matter to him what happens to Itadori Yuuji and yet his gut tells him he needs to be kept alive. so, in a strange turn of events, he tells you where to go

sure enough, you find him fighting off a grade 1 cursed spirit in an alleyway, still alive and kicking despite being seemingly beaten within an inch of his life

although you’re a grade 2 Sorcerer, with Sukuna telling you what to do in your head, you win the battle with only severe bruises and maybe a hairline fracture somewhere

“Where do you live?” you ask and he points at a small house just across the alleyway. “Get your things, you’re coming with me tonight.”

he listens and walks quietly beside you as you make your way back to school

“Are you okay?” you ask once the adrenaline of it all has somewhat subsided

you can’t help but feel responsible for it all, knowing the cursed spirit must’ve hunted him down believing he’d lead him to you—the Sorcerer with Sukuna’s scent written all over you

before Yuuji can lie and say yes, he trips over his own feet but you catch him before he hits the ground

you decide to carry him the rest of the way, giving him a piggyback, his feet just barely off the ground due to your height difference

“What are you?” he asks softly, arms wrapped around your neck as the side of his head rests against your own

“I’ll tell you later. I don’t know if you’ll believe me, though.”

“I will,” he says without missing a beat, “I trust you.”

“It was most likely my fault you got hurt, you know?” you admit dryly, aware that you wouldn’t be able to forgive yourself if you kept it a secret him him

“Yeah…” Yuuji sighs and it stings, not gonna lie, but then he continues: “but you’re carrying me right now… and you helped my grandfather, didn’t you?”

“… yeah.”

he hums softly, feeling his eyelids grow heavy, “that’s enough for me… Thank you.”

you feel him press his lips to your neck before his head lolls forward. your heart nearly stops before an overwhelming sense of relief washes over you when you feel his chest rise and fall steadily

your knees feel like they’re on the verge of giving out but his body is so warm and his kiss made your heart flutter like never before, so, you carry him the rest of the way knowing that you’ll gladly do the same in the future with no hesitation

#jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu sorcerer #jujutsu kaisen x reader #itadori yuuji x reader #yuuji x reader #itadori yuuji #headcanons #fluff #slight angst #vessel!au

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narcolepticelf · 2 years

Text

Hi my names Damien (but you can call me anything from my pronouny! ) I primarly use He/They,but neos are listed there as well ^-^ . I don't really have a carrd yet but I'll make one eventually. I do art [ #zzz.img ] !

Most recent art Here [c!quackity las nevadas finale art]

I interact from my main [ @sunflowerseraph ]

!! Icon creds here. !!

If ur breaking mutuals lmk pls ^_^ !! More under the cut

Greatest hits: eret answered our ask, I've met Karl,Austin, Boomer, and Ted !

I main Foolish,Punz,Quackity,Wilbur,Sapnap,George,Karl,Tina,Techno ♡ and other non dsmp/Osmp/mcyt streamers (Sneegsnag,Boomer Slimcecicle Ted) P much chucky sammy? :) idk what else to add here but uhmm yeah! Just ask me who I like ig ^0^

We are a system! If you ever see someone sign off/tag with an emoji and you don't know who they are don't hesitate to ask! Friends can ask for our SimplyPlural. We have a Twitter (Main-NarcolepticElf , Alt-SeraphimSyss and Priv-PunzMaleWife ) we also have a marvel/dc/darkhorse/comics/etc twt under KonshusAvatars !!

I almost always try to tag my blog for easy navigation and triggers (for example: blood tw, tw blood, blood) or for specific characters (for example: c!sapnap, c!sapnap art, cc content, cc art ) hope that makes sense! Lmk if u need anything trigger tagged and I'll do my best to remember it!!

Hate proshippers with my whole heart. Please don't send heavy angst/gore regarding c!tommy !!!! Always happy to talk about characters from the dsmp!

Ok. Heavy stuff ig ! I don't talk much on the dream situation because I have My own issues/problems/trauma things lol! Don't pressure me to talk abt it. Don't send me asks or links or "proof" or "evidence" or whatever. I don't have a positive view of CC Dream anymore. But if I see anyone trying to start shit with Cc/C Dream Introjects I will slay you with my sword. Just bc I don't interact with Cc dream content anymore doesn't mean I have dropped The rest of the dsmp/mcyt streamers! I still mildly enjoy lore, but my Hyperfixation on the Dsmp as a whole has greatly diminished (its BEEN dying, even before the whole drm situation.) I'm not really gonna comb my whole blog for like mentions of him or whatever to delete because that's 1: tedious 2: tiresome and 3: time consuming. And I am constantly tired and busy with Real Life Things. 👍 anyways idk what else to put here but !! Thank u all ^_^ !!!!!

This blog mostly runs on a queue, and it may have old content in it! I'll probably delete anything that Bothers me, but I don't check it often.

#info #temporary while i figure out a new carrd n stuff :]#just wanted to add creds for my new icon #putting tags here for navigation ->#zzz.txt #zzz.img #zzz.doodles #liveposting.txt #art #fav #video #q #cc art #cc content #<- end of tags i can think of rn!

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foxghost · 3 years

Text

Joyful Reunion, Chapter 103

Translator: foxghost @foxghost tumblr/ko-fi1 Beta: meet-me-in-oblivion @meet-me-in-oblivion tumblr Original by 非天夜翔 Fei Tian Ye Xiang Masterpost | Characters, Maps & Other Reference Index

Book 3, Chapter 23 (Part 2)

Through early spring, the last bout of falling leaves flies through the Jiangzhou palace; tenderly yellow shells which used to wrap themselves around young buds have shaken loose from their branches with the lightest of touch from a breeze, and scatters all over the ground. It is a time of warmth interspersed with bursts of cold, budding scenery infused with a sense of melancholy.

“Please remove your sword, my lord.” A Black Armours bodyguard is blocking Wu Du’s way.

“I have special permission from the late emperor as well as the current crown prince to wear my sword in the palace.”

The two are at an impasse. “According to the general’s orders, unless permission is granted by the reigning emperor, no one is allowed to wear their sword upon entering the palace. The meeting with the Mongolian envoy last time was an exemption.”

“Let him go inside,” Xie You’s voice says.

The guard, saved from a round of vomiting and diarrhea, lets Wu Du inside. Xie You looks at Wu Du with a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes, while Wu Du’s mouth curls into the slightest smile as he realises that Xie You has already noticed the plans set into motion by Duan Ling. The Mongolian envoy must have also made a visit to him.

“Came to meet His Majesty?” Xie You asks.

“Just came back from meeting His Majesty?” Wu Du says, chilly.

It’s question marks from both of them, neither answering their questions, each stepping aside to let the other pass.

Wu Du’s cape is fastened all the way to his collar with the Lieguangjian hidden beneath his cape, and by the time he arrives Zheng Yan has already announced his presence. Thus the Li Yanqiu sitting within calls for him, “Wu Du? Come on in.”

Li Yanqiu is flipping through memorials regarding the spring sowing, and on top of his desk is an imperial decree, already written.

“We don’t yet know where the Zhenshanhe is,” Li Yanqiu says. “So you can’t bring the sword with you to investigate this matter in my stead, but it’s more or less the same when you have an imperial decree written by my hand.”

“Certainly,” Wu Du replies. He takes the order and immediately tries to leave.

Li Yanqiu stops him by saying, “Wait a moment. I have something to ask you.”

Zheng Yan tactfully goes outside to stand guard outside the door. Wu Du gives Zheng Yan a look, as he’s just now wondering how come Zheng Yan is at the emperor’s side one moment and off to the Eastern Palace the next? It can’t be that the crown prince can’t stand him?

Li Yanqiu cuts to the chase just as Wu Du had expected him to. “Once this whole business is over and done with, come work in the palace. You’ve worked for the late emperor before, so we can give you a title of the fourth rank, one where you can keep wearing your sword here and serve at the crown prince’s side. You’ll supervise the crown prince, so he’ll not pass the time idly by; in several years, if you pass your reviews without any fault, you’ll be appointed the Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent.”

Though Junior Guardian is an empty title, it’s still a title that makes him an official of the second rank — he’ll be suddenly placed above most officials and made peers with Xie You.

No wonder Xie You made that face when he saw him earlier.

Li Yanqiu waits for ages, but he doesn’t see Wu Du trembling with emotion or fall to his knees in tears to thank His Majesty’s imperial grace. He raises his eyes to take a look, thinking Wu Du may be so moved he can’t even speak, but to Li Yanqiu’s surprise, Wu Du is hesitating for a moment before he puts one fist in hand and bows.

“I have failed at fulfilling the late emperor’s last wishes,” Wu Du replies. “I dare not accept this order.”

Li Yanqiu is momentarily speechless.

“The crown prince was the one who demanded you join the Eastern Palace,” Li Yanqiu says coolly. If Zheng Yan is here right now, he’d notice that Li Yanqiu is already furious and would have told Wu Du to accept for now and not be so pigheaded.

“I’m a disagreeable man and fear my service may run counter to Your Majesty’s wishes. I dare not accept this order.”

Li Yanqiu sets his brush down, watching Wu Du; sunlight slants in through the window, casting a ray of light onto Wu Du’s face. Li Yanqiu is utterly flabbergasted, however — what on earth has given him the gall to refuse?

But Li Yanqiu suddenly starts to laugh. “Wu Du … oh Wu Du.”

Wu Du replies, “Your Majesty.”

Li Yanqiu studies Wu Du carefully, and his tone is quite cordial, “Out of the four of you, the only one I can’t understand is you.”

“I am devoted to Your Majesty,” Wu Du says, “I may not be any good at expressing oneself, but my loyalty to Your Majesty is undeniable.”

“Second rank first class is too far beneath you,” Li Yanqiu says solemnly, “with your martial arts skills and the ability to strategise, you should have been made Senior Guardian to begin with, but unfortunately that’s Wuluohou Mu’s position. Since you’re so determined not to join the Eastern Palace, then go off and be free then, free as a bird.”

At the end of that sentence, something flies through the air and hits Wu Du on the head. Ink poured over his face — what hit him was the ink stone. With Wu Du’s skills, he could have easily dodged out of the way before Li Yanqiu even started the throw, but Wu Du didn’t dodge, and didn’t get out of the way — he simply endured the blow.

“Get back to work then,” Li Yanqiu says, smiling. “Wu Du, with such willpower, you’re sure to become a major general that contributes greatly to Great Chen’s recovery.”

Wu Du reaches up to wipe his face. His neck too, is covered in ink, dripping down along his collar. Bending over, Wu Du picks up the ink stone and respectfully places it back onto the imperial desk with both hands, making sure it’s set down properly before he withdraws from the study.

Seeing Wu Du with half his face covered in ink as though he’s wearing a mask, Zheng Yan doubles up in laughter. But from inside the room, Li Yanqiu is saying, “Zheng Yan.”

Zheng Yan’s expression freezes and he quickly steps back into the imperial study.

Before he does anything else, Wu Du heads to the palace gardens. He scoops up some water from the pond and washes his face. Shortly afterwards, there are footsteps approaching him from behind.

“Let’s put a halt on the plan for several days.” Lang Junxia’s voice rings out behind him. “There are some things I haven’t been able to make clear yet.”

“We’re going to halt just because you say so?” Wu Du says coldly.

Lang Junxia narrows his eyes and looks Wu Du up and down, unsure why his face is covered in ink; neither does he understand why Wu Du’s face is covered in ink and he’s somehow still so arrogant.

Wu Du examines his reflection in the pool once he finishes washing his face. Lang Junxia kindly reminds him, “Your neck isn’t clean yet.”

Wu Du can but rub his neck down with more water. “I’ll give you another three days.”

Lang Junxia says no more and turns to go. Wu Du checks himself against the water some more before he leaves himself.

Wu Du had thought he’d gotten himself quite clean by the time he got home, but he’s met with Duan Ling’s riotous laughter anyway.

A pond is no mirror after all, so it doesn’t give a very good reflection. Wu Du has washed himself into a calico, standing in the courtyard beneath a shining spring sun.

“Hahahahaha—” Duan Ling never expected for Wu Du to come back looking like this, since it’s entirely disconnected from his image from when he left this morning. Astonishment and the farcical sight of him have Duan Ling laughing as though he’s been dosed with a laughing drug, collapsing onto the table with laughter.

Wu Du can’t help but laugh as well. "I didn’t get it all off?’ And as he says this, he wipes his hand over his face again.

“Hahaha—” Duan Ling is close to having a seizure from laughing. They laugh face to face for a bit before Duan Ling says to him while still gasping, “How did you manage to end up looking like that?”

Wu Du wants to make Duan Ling laugh some more, and so he says, “I was walking along and a breeze blew a sheet of paper over onto my face, and the ink hasn’t dried yet. The ink just dripped all the way down.”

This explanation makes Duan Ling break out in a second round of laughter, he just finds it so silly. He struggles to crawl over to the kettle as he laughs so he can boil some water for Wu Du to wash his face with.

The more Wu Du thinks about it the more funny it seems; when he looks at Duan Ling he can’t help wanting to make him laugh more. If this hit he’s taken can manage to make him laugh for so long, then it’s totally worth it.

“How come it’s inside your clothes too?” Duan Ling says, surprised, “it’s soaked right through!”

Wu Du strips himself down to the waist, and grabs some soap locust so he can scrub himself down outside. Duan Ling takes his outer robe and the cape, and when he notices everything is covered in ink, he takes the clothes out to the back courtyard for laundering.

“What on earth happened? Were you hit by an ink stone?”

Wu Du is about to answer him when a servant comes to the door summoning him to a meeting with Chancellor Mu. Duan Ling runs out after him, but Wu Du signals that he should wait at home. He grabs the one clean robe nearest at hand and walks quickly out of the house to see Mu Kuangda.

Mu Kuangda has been so busy lately that he can barely spare any time for his own son, but now he’s sent everyone else away to meet with Wu Du. Even Chang Liujun isn’t present.

Mu Kuangda steeps a pot of tea for himself, pouring Wu Du a cup.

“To have the gall to refuse even a position like Junior Guardian to the Heir Apparent,” Mu Kuangda says deliberately, “What on earth could you be so scrupulous about? Master Chang Pin did say that you don’t care about anyone in this estate, that in your eyes there is no one but Wang Shan. It’s only since his arrival that you’ve gained a sense of propriety, and started doing something with your life.”

Wu Du doesn’t answer him. He picks up the teacup and takes a sip of tea.

“I remember that, when I led you out of the Celestial Prison,” Mu Kuangda says casually, as though that wasn’t a big deal at all, “this is not what you promised me. If you’ve anything you want to say, go ahead and tell me.”

Wu Du gives this some thought. “The imperial court’s filled with all kinds of people, good and bad. I don’t want to be there.”

“Is that the real reason? It clearly isn’t.”

“Things are rather good the way they are.”

“What’s rather good?”

Wu Du finishes his tea and says to Mu Kuangda, “Worldly affairs can change in an instant, and the hearts of men are hard to predict. Sometimes what changes isn’t the political situation but one’s own heart, and what one worries about isn’t other people, but one’s own self. I just want to stay here in the estate and remain at Shan’er’s side. You can call me unambitious if you’d like, or perhaps say that I don’t know how to take the initiative to advance my career, but I’m satisfied with the life I’m leading now.”

The study falls suddenly quiet. Of course Mu Kuangda understands what Wu Du means; with those words he’s managed to close off every last shred of reasoning — for the only variable is Wu Du himself. Can he guarantee that he’ll remain loyal to Mu Kuangda forever once he’s joined the Eastern Palace? Would he still stay true to his promise to the Mus even if Mu Kuangda opposes the crown prince?

Can money buy a person’s devotion? If a thousand taels of silver isn’t enough, what about ten thousand? Maybe he’ll walk farther and farther from the Mus, and that’s not something Mu Kuangda wants to see happen either.

“You may be satisfied, but Wang Shan may not necessarily be satisfied. Wu Du, you have to think this through. You won’t marry, but if Wang Shan joins the imperial court and becomes an official, he will get married. What are you going to do with yourself then?”

“With one’s time on earth, even if happiness only lasts an instant, it is still a good thing to have. What he does, what he chooses — that has nothing to do with my decision.”

Mu Kuangda lets out a sigh. “Never mind. I should have known that this is the kind of person you are. I thought you have changed a lot recently, but I never could have imagined that ever since the day you arrived, you’ve never changed at all.”

And so Wu Du puts a hand in his fist, salutes to Mu Kuangda, and withdraws from the room.

By the time he gets back to the courtyard house, Duan Ling is already hanging up their freshly laundered clothes. He turns to look at Wu Du. “Back so soon?”

Wu Du stares at Duan Ling, and smiles at him without a word.

“What are you smiling about?”

“Nothing at all.” Wu Du walks over and sits down in the room, his eyes not leaving Duan Ling the whole time.

Duan Ling keeps feeling that something is up with Wu Du today. He asks probingly, “Did you get the handwritten imperial order?”

Wu Du thinks for a moment. “I have it, we can mobilise the Shadow Guard, but we’re not in a hurry. Let’s wait until you finish with the metropolitan exams first.”

Duan Ling nods, but he can’t help but keep looking at Wu Du. At this very moment, he’s feeling extremely uneasy; these are the last three days before his years of school life come to an end, and it’ll be where the next portion of his life begins. Once the metropolitan exams are over, if he isn’t on the list of passing examinees, his only option is to join the Mu estate and become an on-demand adviser.

He’ll be just like Chang Pin. His compensation may be decent, but he’ll accomplish nothing in his own name, and nearly all of his life will be spent abroad.

Outside, Wu Du starts playing a song on his flute, and Duan Ling’s heart gradually settles again.

“If I pass the exams,” Duan Ling says suddenly, “can you promise me one thing?”

Wu Du sets his flute down and glances into the room.

“What is it?”

“I’ll tell you when the time comes.”

And so Wu Du gives him a nod, and Duan Ling feels as though he’s been given a promise.

If he brings up his request that he wants to do … that with Wu Du, will Wu Du agree to it?

I do not monetise my hobby translations, but if you’d like to support my work generally or support my light novel habit, you can either buy me a coffee or commission me. This is also to note that if you see this message anywhere else than on tumblr, do come to my tumblr. It’s ad-free. ↩︎

#相見歡 #fei tian ye xiang #joyful reunion #xiang jian huan #fox translates things

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backbreak · 3 years

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1010 Headcanons

(I’m working on a few art pieces and I feel like I need to explain them here. It’s also just a way for me to keep track of em’)

Pre-NSR Headcanons

Before the battle with B2J, I believe that 1010 didn’t really have individual personality's.

They were only robot’s following their programming at that point.

Of course, Rin was a little different. I’m not saying he had a personality, but his soul purpose was to be the voice of the group. He talked for them.

The other’s just followed lead.

Post-NSR Headcanons

When 1010 was destroyed and the factory heavily damaged, Neon J had to start from scratch.

He didn’t alter the designs. However, he decided to develop their AI to become more complex.

Of course, their personality’s were based around their core themes. (Zimule-bad boy, Haym-soft boy, Purl-hew-cool boy, Eloni-funny boy, Rin- leader.)

After the AI’s were completed, 1010 started developing on top of that; Forming their own thoughts and opinions on the world around them. (I’ll get to how that affects them soon.)

Now one of my main headcanons around 1010, is that their fight was actually very traumatizing. I mean, imagine seeing your siblings exploding around you, or having your skin torn off and the entire world screaming at you in response. That’s pretty messed up.

Anyway, Each of the members had different reactions to what happened, and it greatly affected their views.

Now we enter what I like to call the “NJ, your kids need therapy” section.

Rin

Now in the beginning, Rin was confused.

He initially thought things were just gonna go back to normal, but he was quickly shoot down. The other’s were doing things on their own, now. They weren’t going to him anymore, and quite frankly, he felt left in the dust. Rin felt like he lost his purpose.

After that realization, he made different attempts to regain his role. These attempts varied in severity, from calm coursing, to aggressive behavior. His anger and grief rising for each failure. It only deepened the cracks in their relationship, and his brothers have started avoiding him.

On the topic of grief, Rin is currently on step 3. And he decided that the ones to blame for this change is non other then B2J. He excuses his anger as being mad at them for hijackings their concert and humiliating his brothers, but he just want’s things to go back to normal.

He did manage to reconcile with them, though. It was rough, but they managed to become friend.’

That brought him back to square one, confusion. He’s trying to figure himself out and Zuke is helping him out along the way.

Purl-Hew

Purl-hew was neutral to the change.

He’s salty towards B2J for what they did, but he prefers to just avoid them.

He became very quiet compared to the others, and he prefers to spend his time alone.

Despite being built to sing, Purl-hew struggles with expressing himself through words. Instead, he became inspired by Eve and started painting.

From the events of the fight, what effected Purl-hew most was when their exoskeleton was exposed to their fans. He felt humiliated and it hit his self-esteem hard. You can see it through his art.

Zimule

Zimule was slightly overwhelmed. But after a few days, he got used to it.

He had a few traits that fit bad boy role; snarky, bold and confident. However he’s also wary and doesn’t act spontaneously.

The thing that got Zimule buzzing from the battle, was how quick Neon J was to use them as disposable weaponry. It made him question how much they actually meant to him. Would he just destroy them if they stepped out of line? Were they just expendable robots to him? It made Zimule hesitant whenever he was near Neon J.

He also began asking why he made music and whether or not he was actually passionate about it.

That’s when Mayday came in.

After witnessing her play her guitar, he was immediately hooked. He tried to play it off cool, but his eyes were filled with child-like wonder every time she played. (They basically bonded over their mutual love for guitar.)

Soon after, Haym looped himself into their little ring and they just clicked ever since. (If you ask em’, they’ll say Mayday is their little sister.)

Haym

Out of all of them, Haym was the most ecstatic about the change. The new sensation that filled him with excitement.

He may be known as the “innocent boy” of the group, but he’s the most mischievous of the bunch. He enjoys playing pranks on his brothers. And -although it usually comes back to bite him in the butt - he makes a lot of sarcastic remarks.

Has the mouth of a sailor.b(i.e he curses)

The battle with B2J didn’t really faze him to much.

However, being destroyed and rebuilt made him question something; Is he even alive? Was what he was feeling real, or was it just programing? Was his existence as a robot even real? Existential crisis ensues.

In his search for comfort he came across Zimule and Mayday hanging out, and they immediately hooked him in. Now Haym and May are holding a vs war on who can pull the best prank.

Eloni

Eloni - like Purl-Hew - was neutral to the change, if not a bit scared.

He' been to busy being everyone else emotional support buddy to work on himself.

lill’boy feels underappreciated by the people around him.

That’s why we must love and appreciated this boy.

Eloni often uses his hands when he’s talking. Exaggerating his poses to better get his points across, or for comedic effect.

(And I don’t actually have any good headcanons on him, so I’ll just cut it off here. I’ll update this some day.)

#nsr #no straight roads #headcanons #nsr 1010 #1010 #nsr mayday #mayday #nsr neon J #neon j #I just saw 1010 and went ah trauma bingo

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nuttyrabbit · 3 years

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Giovanni Conti Bio

“Nutty, are you only going to show up to post about Archie Sonic and your OCs?” Yes, yes I am

Anyways, I decided to throw together a quick bio for Gambit’s dad because hey I figured his stuff out and I’m doing shit with him now.

Shoutouts to @pidgeonspen for doing his design for me.

Anyways, as always, everything’s under the readmore

Name: Giovanni Conti (Real name Brando Romilla)

Age: Approximately 50 years old

Height: 3'4"

Occupation: Auto mechanic/Conman

Location: Unknown, last confirmed sighting in Westopolis. Originally born in Lugaio, Spagonia.

Sexuality: Bisexual, though greatly prefers women to the point of denying any male attraction

Personality: Giovanni's personality is what one would expect from a seasoned conman: charismatic, self-serving, and conniving, the weasel finds success in his trade thanks to his natural talent in dealing with others. To his victims, Giovanni appears to be a charming, compassionate, smooth-talking individual who seems to go out of his way to help others in their time of need. But of course it's all a farce, a way to con unsuspecting victims out of their hard-earned cash. In reality, the man formerly known as Brando Romilla is the exact opposite. A selfish, grumpy, and temperamental weasel "behind the scenes", Giovanni finds himself unwilling to engage with the world around him outside of whatever con he's cooked up or to get out of whatever mess he's gotten himself into this time.

Giovanni's most defining personality trait however, isn't his sardonic attitude or his smoothtalking ways, but instead his paranoia. Giovanni has spent the majority of his life on the run and it shows. He often finds himself looking over his shoulder both figuratively and quite literally, hoping that his latest victim hasn't found out about him or that the law or the mafia or whoever he's crossed hasn't tracked him down to enact their revenge. As such, Giovanni is extremely hesitant to give out his name unless absolutely necessary for the con, even going so far as to make up fake names in emergency situations, though the truth eventually comes out. In addition, he trusts absolutely nobody and almost always looks for a way to backstab/escape any sort of partnership he's found himself on the receiving end of, willing or otherwise.

All of this being said, it isn't *all* bad for Giovanni personality-wise, for when the weasel finds something he actually likes, one can see a softer, more eager side of him come out. Despite his professed hatred of his previous job, Giovanni has a rather deep appreciation for the intricacies of vehicles and vehicle repairs, even going so far as to sneak into antique car shows to gawk at the new vehicles and reminisce about the "good old days" before it "got so complicated" in terms of technology. Oddly enough, he also loves vinyl.

Skills: Giovanni is of course, an incredibly skilled con-man, imploying a variety of cons and scams to trick people out of their money, ranging from simple "tourist trap" tricks such as "no change", "toll booth", and "free gift", to more complicated ones such as "flat tire" schemes and even reselling stolen/counterfeit items at a significantly marked up price. His variety in terms of cons is helped by his ability to sell them thanks to his smooth-talking charismatic persona that he puts on during them. As a result of his occupation he's also extremely adept at pointing out other cons/knowing when he's being duped. Not only that, but he's even picked up some basic lockpicking/hotwiring and ID forging skills, though they aren't quite as honed as his other talents in the area.

Surprisingly enough, again despite his professed dislike of his childhood job, Giovanni is an incredibly skilled mechanic, being able to assess the issues with (mostly older) vehicles just from a few minutes of observation and testing alone and fixing it in record times. OF course he'll complain about how he's "too fuckin' old" for it, but he'll do a damn good job...and even enjoy himself somewhat. He claims he would be unable to work on "new-fangled" vehicles such as Extreme Gear but if he were to get the chance, would find that he'd be a natural at it.

Likes: Antique vehicles, wine, the feeling when he pulls of a con, vinyl records, fresh pressed suits, rare steak, expensive cigars, older women, working on antique vehicles.

Dislikes: The law, organized crime outfits, his ex-wife, his kid, getting caught, prison, cheap beer, "new" technology, people who talk too much, his grandfather, working on vehicles (his relationship with auto repair is..complicated), staying in one place for too long.

Backstory: Brando Rombilla was born into anything but normalcy: born to a pair of younger Spagonian lovers, the result of a tryst gone wrong, he was abandoned on the steps of his paternal grandfather, the widowed mechanic Angelo Rombilla, who would raise the weasel as his own.

Angelo was an old, stubborn, hardworking man who had spent his entire life toiling away as a mechanic, even coming to own his own shop...yet despite it all, he never quite had a lot to show for it, and Brando grew up in not quite poverty, but in...less than modest means

Despite this...unusual situation, Brando would, at least for a time, grow up as any other child would, going to school, making friends, and living as a normal Spagonian child would--at least until he hit the age of 12-13, where his father suddenly and inexplicably ground his childhood to a halt, pulling him out of school and telling him that he was going to be a "working man" from now on, that he'd have to help out at the shop and help put food at the table--and that is indeed what happened.

From then on, Brando found himself working at the modest repair shop, working the front desk, doing oil changes, and learning the ins and outs of auto repair--and he fucking hated it.

Not just because he'd been robbed of the experiences his peers were getting, but it served as a constant reminder of the (at least to him) pathetic conditions in which they lived and worked. In addition, it only served to exacerbate his sheer irritation at his father's stubbornness and near-perfectionist standards.

But over time, as he aged and saw his peers move on to bigger and better things, he realized something else: all this work, all this "good, honest, hard" work he'd been doing, that his grandfather had been doing, that he wanted him to inherit, it was getting them nowhere

The both of them spent years and years doing the same shit over and over, and they were no better off than when they'd started. They still lived like shit, ate like shit, and worked like dogs, and the idea of doing this his entire life revolted him. Yet when he'd bring this up, he'd just get shouted down, beaten down, and told to get back to work. He loathed it all.

Then one day, around the time Giovanni hit 19--it all changed. In a moment of what his grandfather would call laziness and what Brando would later call ingenuity, he accidentally charged a customer for something they hadn't done--and with it, more money than he should've had. It suddenly hit him, his way out, his way to actually do something about all of this. It started off slow, an overcharge here, a useless job done there, a job not done this way or that, even some front product sold off of lies. Before Brando knew it, the shop was actually making money for once, and more than that, he was making money. And the best part was, that for once, Angelo seemed like he didn't have a stick up his ass. He seemed...happy, over the moon really that things had begun to look up. Things seemed to finally be getting better!

....until Angelo caught Brando in the act, after which the mother of all shouting matches ensued, of the grandson and grandfather screaming at each other about this and that, about everything--and saw Brando being thrown out of the shop, out of his grandfather's home--and out of his life

Out on his ass with only the money he'd pocketed and the clothes on his back to his name, Brando by all rights should have been terrified about his future, livid about what had happened, but instead he found himself excited. Now that his grandpappy or his stupid shop wasn't a problem anymore, he could finally do something with himself, and he knew exactly what that'd be--putting to use the same bullshittery that'd gotten him here to begin with.

And so the young weasel found himself hopping all over Spagonia, honing his craft. Whether it be through pinching wares from stores and selling them nearby at an outrageously hiked price, snatching and selling bootleg items, or even using his mechanic skills to craft "wonder items" that were quite literally just old scrapyard junk, Brando soon became quite adept at the art of the con. However, with that adeptness came attention, and with that attention came the watchful eye of the law, which attempted to crack down on the weasel multiple times as he traveled about Spagonia.

Soon enough, his face and name were plastered on wanted signs, in local papers, and in time, he couldn't run any longer, finally being booked on fraud charges and placed in prison for ~ 3 years at the age of 22. Upon getting out, Brando realized that he couldn't exactly do his work here anymore, lest he get thrown back in for good.

But Soleanna wasn't exactly appealing either, especially since the SPD were notorious for cracking down on fraudsters. He was at a loss at what to do, until he managed to catch a TV broadcast talking about Empire City and it hit him- EC would be the perfect place to disappear and get a fresh start. It was big, it was far away, and it was full of suckers just waiting to be parted with their money Forging himself a new identity (quite literally) as "Giovanni Conti" , he smuggled himself on board a ship and soon found himself in Empire City, where he almost immediately got to work--and found the results to be not what he expected

While the toursts were complete suckers as expected, the residents were anything but, and he found himself on the run from the law once more--and in addition, the various criminal orgs that made their homes there and had no tolerance for being scammed. Needless to say, the whole thing frustrated him, and with no other way to vent his frustrations, he turned to drinking, and with it, found himself at a small bar in downtown EC, drinking away his frustrations...and chatting up an equally frustrated, and rather attractive young woman. He didn't catch her last name, but certainly caught her first- Artemis

What should have just been a simple one night tryst suddenly got a lot more complicated once the young woman had tracked him down almost a week later with some soul-crushing news: She was pregnant, and it was almost certainly by him. To make matters worse, Artemis was an up and coming politician, someone in the running for the EC City Council, and she would be DAMNED if it came out that she got knocked up in a one night stand, that would ruin her career! Despite Giovanni's attempts at arguing otherwise, she also insisted on keeping the child, claiming that if word got out she got rid of it, it would ruin her career. Threatening to hand him over to authorities, she blackmailed him into sticking by her side for the following 9 months, appearing in front of the cameras as a pictureesque pair of parents-to-be, Artemis embracing the newfound attention and Giovanni absolutely loathing all the eyes on him, and not only that, but also moving in together to her (admittedly) lavish apartment.

This continued up on through the end of the pregnancy and into the birth of their son, who Artemis named "Tai", a (perhaps ironic) homage to an old Apotosian patron of Luck. From then, things continued normally, well as least as normal as could be for the unwitting parents-to-be, up until the child was around a year old, when Artemis went on a sudden vacation. Left alone with the child and feeling helplessly trapped, Giovanni contemplated making a break for it, perhaps faking his own death and figuring out the details later, when a hooded figure burst into the home and attempted to shoot both him and the child dead. Through a near-miraculous stroke of luck though, the intruder's gun jammed, giving Giovanni the chance to brandish a knife and stab them in the jugular. His heart pounding, his mind racing, Giovanni quickly put two and two together: someway, somehow, Artemis had tried to get the two of them whacked. Quickly disposing of the body and without really thinking about it, Giovanni grabbed the child and made a break for it, bolting from the apartment and leaving Empire City under cover of darkness, trying to make sure he left no trace that he had left--or was even still alive.

Soon arriving in Westopolis, Giovanni and Tai found a small apartment to squat in for the time being. Quickly settling in, Giovanni quickly fell back into his old ways, and found the people of Westopolis far more vulnerable to his schemes than in EC. Still, the weasel wasn't happy. His "new start" that he'd hoped for had fallen apart before it'd even gotten the chance to get off the ground because of *her*, Artemis. Giovanni's frustration gnawed away at him--not helped by the tiny weasel at home, his little boy--the *mistake* that'd gotten him into this mess. He often found himself verbally and physically taking out his frustrations on young Tai, even more so when it turned out the little brat wasn't even good enough to help him on cons. He wished he could get rid of the little bastard once and for all, but for some reason, he just couldn't bring himself to kill him despite his best efforts.

Years went by, but nothing truly changed for the pair, until young Tai was 8 years old and Giovanni found himself on the bad end of a con gone wrong, having inadvertently found himself attempting to swindle an undercover cop. Rushing back to the apartment he and Tai shared, he quickly grabbed whatever tools he could and attempted to disappear, leaving the young Tai behind for good.

Throwing himself out of the frying pan and into the proverbial fire, Giovanni had managed to disappear and evade the cops---and run right into one of his "victims": "Downtown" Ebony Hare--a "made man" in the Carnades, one of the major local outfits--and someone who he'd given a shoddy brake job. Ebony recognized the weasel almost immediately and motioned to off him for messing up his car, but after Giovanni pleaded for his life, Ebony spared him-- on the condition that he work off his "debts" to him and the Carnades.

Faced with either paying his dues or paying with his life, Giovanni made the obvious choice and ended up doing quite a few small jobs for Ebony over the course of the next decade and change (approx 13 years) not only fixing his car but also fixing the other vehicles in the outfit--and giving a disgustingly large portio nof the proceeds from his other "work" directly to Ebony. Once again, Giovanni was trapped doing the very thing he'd been stuck doing since childhood and not only that, but also indebted to a mobster who had no intention of letting him go. He desperately tried to find a way out, but it was to no avail--until a near miraculous stroke of "luck".

The Black Arms invasion decimated a significant portion of Mobius, especially Northamer, and no place found itself worse off than Westopolis. For most living there, it seemed like the end times as the city burned around them. But for Giovanni, it was an opportunity to finally disappear--and never come back.

The invasion soon ended, the repairs soon begun, and the Carnades began to operate once more--but Giovanni was nowhere to be found. Despite a thorough search of the city, the weasel had just...vanished, presumably killed by the aliens or escaping to parts unknown after.

Giovanni's current location is unknown and those who know of him believe him to be dead, but there have been some apparent sightings of the aged con-man. Some say they've seen him on the outskirts of Sand Blast City, others say they've seen him working his trade with another individual down in the Southern Baronies, and some even say that he's still in Westopolis, working his craft, and sticking close to the headquarters of the East Side Pack, a noted rival of the Carnades.

#OC Refs and Bios #Sonic OC #OC Stuff #Sonic FC #Archie Sonic #Sonic #Sonic the Hedgehog #Giovanni Conti the Weasel #Gambit the Weasel

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browncoatparadox · 3 years

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That’s the Highway That’s the Best

The Murderbot discord talked about a modern road trip AU for MB & ART and I ended up writing 1.7k when I was supposed to be doing homework. Title from “Route 66″ because why not.

I’m travelling across the desert in my van and I am completely and utterly bored. The radio cut out a couple miles back, and I’ve listened to every CD in here with Iris about a thousand times. I would look over some of the data I’ve collected, but I need to keep my eyes on the road even though there’s no one else around. The only thing that adds any variety is the occasional interesting rock formation, which doesn’t really catch my attention. I’m not a geologist, and even if I was stopping to study these would only make this trip take even longer. I sigh as I adjust my mirrors for something, anything to do, and see another figure by the road. This one’s closer, almost on the pavement itself. I idly wonder how long it’s been there. Was the road built next to it, or was it deposited later? It takes me an embarrassingly long time (about five seconds) for me to realize that the rock is moving. Specifically, it’s holding out a thumb and waving with its other arm. A hitchhiker, out in the middle of the desert, absolutely covered in dust, wearing a battered backpack and an irritated expression.

I pull up. This person doesn’t look like much of a threat, and even if they are I can take care of myself. That’s why my parents let me do the four-day drive back to the University on my own. Well, that and the fact that they were busy with some of their… “extracurricular” activities. I roll down the window, taking in the figure before me.

“I need to get to RaviHyral,” the person says, and- holy shit. Upon closer inspection they’re tiny. I know I’m big, but this kid looks like they weigh less than a helium balloon. They’ve clearly been out here for a while, drenched in sweat and sand. There’s a bandage wrapped around their leg, and their long hair drapes over their eyes. In short, they look like someone’s who’s had a rough time lately. They look me over skeptically, glancing each way as if they’re checking for someone else. I’d know better than anyone that, at least in the direction I’m coming from, I’m all they’ve got if they want to get out of the sun.

“Hop in,” I say, unlocking the passenger door. The kid slinks in, hugging their backpack close as they buckle their seatbelt. I reach into the back and rummage for a water bottle. When I turn my focus back, the kid’s hunched against the door. They shake their head when I offer them the bottle, pulling a canteen out of their bag. I shrug and turn the engine back on, sighing as I feel the air conditioning kick in. The kid exhales a bit as well (and I should probably call them something else, but there’s no way they’re older than me and it’s not like I know anything about them). The van starts moving back down the road, and I look over at my passenger.

The kid puts on headphones and starts listening to… something. If I really focus, I can make out music, something melodramatic, and people talking over it. I’m concentrating so hard on trying to make out the words that I don’t realize I’m leaning towards the kid until the kid shoves me. The kid glares. I glare back. The kid shrinks into the seat. Fuck. I didn’t mean to do that.

“What are you listening to?” There, hopefully that will clarify my curiosity. And make it so that I’m not just sitting in silence again, but this time with a mystery right next to me.

The kid says, “Episode 373 of The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon. The colony supervisor…” The kid’s voice trails off. “It’s kind of complicated. If you want to listen, I could put on a new show? Then we could start from the beginning?”

I nod enthusiastically, rummaging through the compartment in front of me for an aux cord. If the kid doesn’t want to talk, then at least I’ll have something new to listen to. I hand it to the kid, who plugs it into their battered iPod and presses play for something labelled as Worldhoppers. A bombastic horn flourish plays out, and I notice the kid start to relax as the characters begin to talk. It quickly becomes less of a concern to me, though, because apparently the kid has fantastic taste in media. The kid smiles a little when I look at them after the credits roll. “Next episode?”

We listen to four episodes of Worldhoppers in between where I picked up the kid and the nearest gas station. I pull over, enjoying the chance to stretch my legs. The kid sits on the hood of the car, legs kicking, as I go to refill the tank. “So, what are you doing in fuck-knows-where, ART?”

“Art?” I ask. I have no idea where that could have possibly come from.

The kid shrugs. “Short for Asshole Road Tripper. You didn’t give me your name.”

I wince a bit. In my defense, I’m not used to introducing myself to people. Most of the people I hang out with have known me since I was adopted, and those that don’t have talked to Iris first. Anyways, it’s not like they’ve given me their name either. “ART works. Just don’t talk about me with binary pronouns- it/its preferably, but if you’re uncomfortable with that they/them is fine.”

The kid startles a little bit, opens their mouth like they’re going to ask a question, and then shuts it again. I’m hoping that means that they aren’t going to start anything with me over my gender. Good. I’d hate to kick out the kid in the middle of the desert, even if they didn’t have what was quickly turning into my favorite show. I give the kid five dollars to get something to eat while I wait by the van. If they want to ditch me, they can. Even with the shelter of the gas station, they’re miles from RaviHyral and night’s coming. I doubt the kid’s going to want to be out when it starts to get cold, especially with the shorts that they’ve been wearing.

The kid comes back. I pretend not to notice them pocketing the change. They scramble into their seat as I close the fuel tank. By the time I settle into place, the intro to Worldhoppers is already playing. I turn the ignition, patting the wheel as my van rumbles to life, and head back onto the road.

The sun sets. I roll down my window and look out at the sky, even though the air has become frigid. I love the stars out here. They’re the best thing about the desert, so close that I can almost touch them. The kid looks out too, eyes widening as they take in the Milky Way splayed above us. It almost feels like flying through space, like my van is a starship travelling between worlds instead of a beat-up camper travelling to a nowhere mining town.

We ran out of episodes an hour ago. The kid had put the finale episode back on after we finished it (which I, for one, greatly appreciated, considering the sheer amount of chaos in that episode), but now we’re just sitting together in silence.

“How’d you end up out here?” I’ve been thinking about this in between Worldhoppers episodes, and while I have a hypothesis of my own I want to know what the kid’s going to say.

They hesitate for a moment. “The last car I was in broke down. I ended up going ahead while the driver waited for a tow truck.”

I look at the kid. “I meant before that.”

They grimace. I think about the news alert that was on the radio right before the signal began to deteriorate, about a group of scientists who had found traces of radioactive waste during their biological survey, and a local teen who had helped them find evidence linking the materials to the GreyCris Mining Corporation. About how said local teen had disappeared after being checked out from the hospital, having been shot by GreyCris’s guards.

The kid sighs, and explains the story. It lines up with what I know. I notice that they don’t mention the injury on their leg, but decide not to push it now. I’ve got a full medical kit in the back that I can use to fix it up when we stop for the night.

I’m really not liking the situation. I didn’t like it earlier, when I just thought they might be a kid travelling alone through the desert. I ignore the part of me that points out that I’m technically also a kid travelling alone through the desert. My family knows, if not specifically where I am, my general itinerary, and they know that I can look out for myself. Plus, I’ve got a van. This kid has no one, and it sounds like they may be in the kind of trouble that my family can help with. If they need a new identity, a place where they can hide from GreyCris, I can help with that.

I don’t want to press them, but I’m this close to passing by RaviHyral and taking them back to the University with me.

“What do you need to do in RaviHyral?” I ask. I’m not planning on leaving them there alone. If they’re just headed to the nearest town, I can take them somewhere safer.

The kid looks at me, really looks, their eyes taking in everything about me and tallying it all up in their head. They make some sort of mental calculation, nod to themselves, and take a shaky breath.

“I need to find one of my old foster homes,” they say quietly. “I need to figure out what happened to me there.”

My brain runs through all of the possible meanings of that statement. This kid isn’t trying to hide their identity. They’re trying to find it.

Fuck it. My family won’t be too upset if I show up a few days late.

#my writing #murderbot #the murderbot diaries #fanfic #modern au #fun facts #ART is 6 foot 6 and broad #its family are all astrophysicists at the UoMaNT but also make fake passports/visas for immigrants #both MB and ART are nonbinary #MB is figuring out its name and pronouns #MB is a runaway teen that pretty much accidentally got involved with Preservation #everyone wants to adopt MB #it's a problem (according to MB)#ART does roll up to University five days late with its medical supplies depleted and tells its family about its new friend

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artistically-unique-girl · 3 years

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I’m just writing a little fic of Emlyn and the turtles because yes also why not lol. Anyways it’s just a random thing I’ve come up with and possibly Emlyn simping for Leo lol

I accidentally made this a Emlyn x Leo thing, but I really enjoyed making it

Oh I haven’t written an oc x character in a hot minute so hopefully it ain’t bad lol I also based this off some art I saw, I don't know who made it but it really inspired me uwu

~~~~~~~~~

Emlyn’s POV~

Today was a great day. Well it started out okay, but when school had finished for the day I could visit the turtles. Of course I visit them as much as possible since they're really my only friends, other than April and Sunita, but those two are different from the boys. Actually April was my first friend and Sunita was my first yokai friend, plus they're both girls and understand that sometimes lady friends are different from guy friends. If it wasn't for April I would've never met the turtles. Though I think I would've sort of met Donnie especially with the events that happened with the Purple Dragons. I still feel bad for him with that whole incident, though I did make him a purple blanket, because I don't know how to make a jacket, with Tech Genius poorly cross stitched into the silky and soft fabric, one side of the blanket is made from a silky fabric while the other is made from a soft fabric. To my surprise he actually liked it despite how bad it looked, mainly the cross stitching looked bad. After that I met the rest of the turtles, but only because I wanted to properly meet Donnie and make sure he didn't get wrapped up with the Purple Dragons ever again.

Despite my mind being other places I made it to the lair with ease. As I entered I smelt something burning which was soon followed by shouting. "Out, out!" I watch as Mikey pushes Leo out of the kitchen. "Oh come on Michael, you know I didn't mean to burn the pizza." I stood there watching the two, who had yet to notice me. Mikey didn't say anything as he was glaring at his older brother. Leo shrugs and saunters off to Donnie's lab, briefly saying hey to me as he walks by. I nod to him to show I heard him before walking over to Mikey. "Hey Mike, need help cleaning up the kitchen?" I ask, watching as his eyes light up as soon as they land on me. "Yes! I'd greatly appreciate that!" He says while grabbing my hand and dragging me towards the kitchen, that smelt of burnt pizza. It didn't really take long for us to clean up, but I could tell that Mikey is still devastated from burning something he cooked, even if it was Leo's fault not his own. I started looking around the kitchen for some ingredients, which got his attention. "What are you doing?" I smile at him as I carry some ingredients to the table. "We're going to make some chocolate chip cookies! I know it can't replace the pizza you were making, but it does bring that smile of yours back to your face." He smiles and helps me with making the cookies.

After the cookies finished I took some to Donnie and Leo in Donnie's lab, but as I was I heard a small explosion followed by cursing. I could tell it was Donnie cursing, it was confirmed when Leo backed out of the lab with a nervous smile on his face. "I wouldn't bother him if I were you." Leo says softly to me as he stole a cookie from the plate of cookies I'm taking to Donnie. "I don't think his anger for you will transfer to me." I say as I walk into the lab. Once inside I see Donnie cleaning up his workspace as well as hearing a string of curses coming from him. "Hey Don, Mikey and I made some cookies. Would you like some?" I ask as I get closer to him. He glares at me, but his expression softens as he registers that I'm not his twin brother. "Yeah, thanks." I gently place the plate down on his workbench. "Do you need anything while I'm here?" He looks at me as he stuffs a cookie in his mouth, clearly still angry, then shakes his head. "Okay. If you need me, don't hesitate to call me." I say before leaving his lab.

I walked out to see Raph and Mikey playing some game, but I wasn't sure where Leo went. I decided to look for him. As I was walking around the lair I ran into Splinter. "Oh Emlyn, I didn't know you were here." I smile at him. "Yeah. Have you seen Leo?" He places a hand on his chin. "Blue? Hmm.. I think he went to his room." I nod and head towards the said turtle's room. "Thanks Splint!" I say as I make my way to Leo's room, which luckily wasn't too far from where I was. I peek inside of the room, which was darker than it normally was or at least from what I remembered from the last time I was in his room, to see if Leo was there. Before my eyes adjusted I could hear some soft sniffling coming from the room. I carefully make my way into the room only to trip over something and land on top of something, more like someone, on the bed. I softly squeaked when I tripped.

"Emlyn?" I hear Leo's voice while I try getting off of what I could only assume is him. "Yeah, sorry for landing on you. My eyes haven't adjusted to the dark yet." I tell him as my eyes start to adjust to the darkness. I could finally see where he is and move so I'm sitting beside him. I could see that he wasn't wearing his mask anymore and that his eye were red and puffy from crying. Seeing him like this broke my heart. "Leo..." I reach out slowly to touch his face. Usually I would be too nervous to do anything like this, but my caring nature overrides my nervous nature.

I felt him slightly flinch when I touched him, which broke my heart even more. "You know I'm here if you need me." I say softly, almost as if I couldn't speak any louder. He doesn't say anything for a good while, just staring at me. "I'm a screw up, aren't I?" My eyes widened at his question. "What? No! No, no, no." I say as I carefully push my shoes off with my feet so I can move more onto his bed. Once I'm sure my shoes are off I reposition myself so I'm closer to him then pull him close, doing my best to hug him. "Leo, you may mess up from time to time, but you are not a screw up. You could never be a screw up." I tell him, feeling his arms wrap around my waist as he rests his head on my shoulder. "But I screw up everything I touch. I burnt Mikey's pizza, I blew up Donnie's project, I annoyed Raph before even doing anything, and I ruined our friendship before it even started." He whispers as his grip on me slightly tightened.

I slightly pull back and move Leo's head so he's looking at me. "Leo... Everyone burns food every once in a while, Donnie has blown up a few of his little projects by accident, and you'll annoy Raph because you're brothers. Siblings always annoy each other and mess up each other's things." I say softly before briefly looking away from him. "As for us, you've ruined nothing. I... I always thought you were too cool to be friends with me. You made me notice things about myself, that no one has ever made me notice, that I wanted to change. You made me feel things that no one has ever made me feel. I was so scared that if you knew how I felt you'd distance yourself from me. I'm sorry for ever making you feel as if you ruined our friendship."

My hand, that I subconsciously rested on his cheek, started to feel wet. I realized that he had started crying again. I started panicking internally as I wiped away his tears. Leo shifts, pulling me closer and buries his face into my neck. I tense up from the sudden shift, but relax my body as I gently wrap my arms around him, the best I can, and softly hum. I know I don't like singing in front of others, but humming a soft and calming melody wouldn't hurt.

~A Few Hours Later~

I stayed with Leo for a few hours, knowing he needed someone to comfort him and remind him that everyone makes mistakes and that he's wonderful the way he is. He actually ended up falling asleep on me. I did reposition him so he wouldn't be uncomfortable when he woke up, but as I tried leaving his grip on my waist tightened and I was stuck laying with him. I did sleep for an hour, but for the rest of the time I just laid there with him. His brothers occasionally checked on us and I'd pretend to be asleep not to deal with any questions. Though I'm sure Raph was aware I wasn't asleep since I have accidentally fallen asleep on him before.

"Emlyn?" I snap out of my thoughts at the sound of Leo's voice. "Yes Leo?" I ask as I feel my face heat up from the closeness of our faces. "Thank you." I smile at him as I try to ignore the fluttering feeling in my stomach. "You don't need to thank me Leo, it's my job as your friend to comfort you whenever you feel low." I say before noticing his smirk. "Are you saying that because you're all snuggled up to me?" My eyes widen at his question as my face feels hot. I look away from him as I pull myself away from him. "Em, I'm just messing with you." He says as he pulls me back to him, with ease since he's definitely stronger than I am.

"Are you two awake yet?" I tilt my head back a bit to see Mikey standing in the doorway. "What do you need Michael?" Leo asks as he sits up, causing me to have to sit up since he still has his arms wrapped around my waist. "I was just wanting to let you two know that we've got pizza and April is here too, but it's clear you two are... busy."

"Mikey it's not what you think!" I tell him as I try to figure out how to word why Leo and I are so close to each other without making it sound like something happened between us. "Are you sure? I mean from here it looks like you two are sort of a thing with being practically on top of each other." Mikey says with a smirk on his lips, earning a glare from me. "Yeah, we're totally together. Do you want us to prove it?" My eyes widen as I look at Leo, completely caught off guard by his lie. "Oh mi gosh! You two are actually dating?!" My gaze never left Leo as I could hear the pure excitement in Mikey's voice. I watched as his face became red, clearly realizing that his lie was going to bite him the ass. His gaze shifted from Mikey to me, as if pleading for help. I didn't say anything since it was his lie. He looks back at Mikey. "D-Do we need to prove it?" Under different circumstances I'd find Leo's stuttering cute, but right now I'm trying to see how this little lie of his is going to play out even though I have a feeling that I'll end up heartbroken.

"Yes! As Emlyn's friend I want to make sure you're not messing with me because I know how she feels about you. Though I'm pretty sure everyone except you knows how she feels about you." I watch Leo nod before looking at me. I couldn't really read his face, but my mind seemed to shut down when our faces became close. I wanted to close the gap, but I felt like I couldn't move. Leo seemed to sense that and decided to close the gap. Even though I knew he would have to kiss me in order to keep up his lie, it still caught me off guard. My body had tensed up at the sudden contact, but relaxed as I kissed him back.

The kiss may not have lasted long, mainly to just prove a point to Mikey, but it felt like time had stopped completely. I felt in a complete daze when we stopped, but that's probably because Leo took my first kiss. Though I've seen enough movies to know how to kiss. If it wasn't for Leo's voice I wouldn't have snapped out of my lovestruck daze.

"There, we kissed. Enough proof for you?" Leo asks while looking at Mikey. "Yes! I'm going to tell the others!" I watched Leo open his mouth to stop Mikey, but I heard Mikey leave before a word could escape Leo's mouth. He sighs softly before looking at me. I look away from him as I successfully wiggle out of his grasp, putting a bit of distance between us. "Emlyn, is something wrong?" I started to tear up at the question. I wanted to shout at him for lying like that, for taking my first kiss, for giving me hope that we could actually be a couple. Yet I stayed silent, knowing that if I did the others would hear and I just couldn't deal with that as well.

"Emmie, please talk to me." I glare at Leo as tears roll down my cheeks. "What is there to talk about? You can't stand when people mess with your feelings, but you clearly don't care about messing with other's feelings." I tried my best to keep my voice down as I spoke. "What?" I could hear the confusion in his voice as I started wiping away my tears. "You were so caught up in your lie that you didn't care that I might be affected by it." Leo's eyes widen as he realizes what I mean. "Em, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you! I wasn't sure what to do so I just did the first thing that came to mind. I-" I roll my eyes as I start to get off his bed, cutting him off as he speaks. "I don't want to hear your excuses Leo." I stood by his bed while looking at him. "You got my hopes up that maybe you realized the reason I got nervous around you or did the weird things I did around you is that I had feelings for you, I loved you. You made the whole world disappear as time seemed to stop when you kissed me because I thought that you could actually love me. Now that Mikey's gone you can drop your facade and act like that never happened because you're just the pretty face of the Mad Dogs and you don't have to use your brain for anything. Leonardo Hamato, we are no longer friends!" I tell him, practically shouting at him, before grabbing my shoes and leaving his room.

~~~~~~~~~

I'm going to end this here and make a second part because I've already written a lot and oh boi this was way more angsty that I intended.

#my oc #rottmnt oc #character x oc #emlyn x leo #rottmnt leo #tmnt leonardo #rise of the tmnt #leo x oc #rottmnt leo x oc #my writing #idk what else to tag

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petri808 · 4 years

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Hiding in Plain Sight

Art by @lucykirklandart @lucykirkland check it out! 💜 story Beta’d by @cashieeetime written as a reflection piece of the artwork for the @ftguildevents Fairy Tail Reverse Big Bang -2k words

“Yeah sure,” Lucy taps out the text message on her phone, her manicured nails clicking away on the glass surface. “see ya at school 2morrow.”

She was groomed and cultivated from birth to appear perfect in every way. As the only child of prominent parents, she never dared to appear less than refined and above all obedient. She might’ve had a more peaceful existence if her mother had lived, but the woman died of cancer by the time she’d turned four-years-old. Left with a father more interested with their status in the community than for his daughter’s wellbeing.

Needless to say, it was a miserable existence for the young woman.

By the time she had entered high school Lucy was sickeningly proficient in making sure no one saw her true emotions. She was well educated and maintained honor roll level grades. Her beauty and poise attracted both awe and jealousy from those around her, despite never doing anything to attract too much attention. In public, Lucy fixed a smile on her face and always appeared to be sweet, caring, and helpful.

This attracted a slew of friends to her side. The young teen gravitated to a select group but was considered to be well-liked amongst the many student cliques around school. Anyone looking in would assume Lucy had the perfect life. It was an image Lucy maintained out of fear that someone would discover the darker tendrils of pain lurking just below her porcelain veneer.

It was like wearing a mask anytime someone else was around.

No one knew how deeply her mother’s death tore into her psyche because her father never bothered to make sure the young child wasn’t affected by it. But the emotions ran the gamut from sadness and loss to betrayal, of why would life deal a young girl such a painful blow in taking their mother away from them. It created a hole in her soul that in order to cope with the loss, Lucy had erected a wall around her heart. If someone she loved like her mother could be ripped away, it was best she not give anyone the opportunity to do it again.

She lets the phone slide from her fingers onto the couch beside her, curling up her body around a pillow, and wrapping her arms around her legs. The text was from one of her closest friends asking for help with his English homework after school the next day. She couldn’t tell him ‘no’—rarely ever told anyone ‘no’ because that’s part of her cover façade.

Dutiful obedience.

Not that she thought he was taking advantage of her, and maybe a part of her wanted to help this person in particular because he seemed to genuinely care about his friends; Lucy included. But this only served to escalate the conflict brewing inside of her. On the one hand, there is her desire to stay distant, but on the other, a human need for closeness. It was a double-edged balancing act-- Acquiesce to be helpful but letting them get too close would trigger her anxieties.

‘I hate my brain…’ Lucy buried her face into the pillow. She hated feeling so alone in this world, of having friends all around her but never truly feeling like she was a part of any group. Her brain could barely comprehend why she felt this way and her subconscious reminded her it was of her own making. Not a purposeful choice, but the results of walling off her heart. It was a constant conflict waged in her mind, and this conflict was the only consistency she’s really known.

Worst of all, she felt like a fraud. All the painted smiles, all of the lies told to keep her secrets, carefully woven like a spider’s web. Beautiful to the naked eye, yet deadly within… at least for herself. She justified every step she took in fear of everything coming unraveled and her life made bare to the world. All her so-called friends would probably hate her when they found out the truth, that’s what she believed with every fiber of her being. And so, she kept up the charade for them, for everyone, until fact and fiction were a universal confliction.

Lucy closes her eyes hoping to cast these images away, but they only burn brighter behind the lids. She didn’t want them to hate her. She wanted to be their friend. The teenage heart beating in her chest wanted what any young person wanted… to be loved. And yes, there was one person in particular who she’d sell her soul to love and be loved by, which in turn only sent her anxieties skyrocketing. Because what-if he felt the same way? But what-if it was for this shell named Lucy Heartfilia? If she were to show her true colors would he accept her for who she was?

And who was the real Lucy Heartfilia? When she was a young child, she shared a love of astronomy with her mother which smolders somewhere inside of her. She knows it’s still there, waiting for attention, that comes out whenever she notices a clear night sky. In her primary school days, literature caught her attention, especially the fiction stories. Being placed into advanced English classes in middle school opened that door even wider and provided a small escape from reality. But it never lasted because her father couldn’t see the importance of such skills for her future, so it was pushed to the side. Business was all that man cared about, and as his only heir, all the pressure of success was placed on Lucy’s shoulders. It was wholly unfair.

By the time Lucy had made it to high school, anything she loved or fancied was tossed to the side and a new persona born. Whatever interested those around her became her interests. Her life was destined to be miserable anyways, so why care about anything? At least if she was only pretending to enjoy the same things as others, it kept those people happy and at bay from delving too deeply into what and who she really was. That was the safest route in her broken mind.

She buries her face deeper into the soft throw pillow and quietly allows a few simpering tears to break free and soak into the fabric. There was no one around to hear them and blow her cover, but that only added to the weight of loneliness aching in her heart. Her father was away on a business deal, and the hired help only came by on a routine. The nights were the worst of all. An empty house save her, with only the ghosts of lives past haunting it’s walls. Lucy might as well be an orphan.

What good was she really? To keep existing as what, her father’s doll? Lucy knew he expected her to marry someone to his specifications and while she was to be of both good breeding and intellect, her place was in the shadows, silent and unheard. And no matter how much she loathed this design, she never fought back against it. ‘I’m really useless…’ What was the point of living knowing that she’d end up in a gilded cage? Too weak to stand up for herself. Foolish enough to be taken advantage of. Death would be a relief.

And even that scared her into staying silent. Lucy didn’t want to die she just didn’t want to live like this anymore. Was that too much to ask for?

Worthless creature.

Go ahead and cry some more, her subconscious taunts back. Cry for the girl you could be and of the woman you never will become. She was caught in an endless loop of sadness and shame, with no light at the end of the tunnel.

The cell phone pings with a message, so she sweeps her eyes over the screen without moving her head.

“Goodnight Lucy :)”

It was a final message from the boy who needed help tomorrow. How polite of him.

“Goodnight Natsu”

She replies back out of courtesy, fingers hovering for a few seconds in hesitation. There was a strong pull to reach out for help too… but Lucy just couldn’t do it. Ugh! She silences the phones ringer.

Useless idiot.

There were three options Lucy could think of. End her life and become another statistic. Just give in and accept her life will never be her own. Or give up this façade and tell the truth. To be possibly disowned by her father and thrown out on the streets with nothing. Or stay quiet and obedient but with a roof over her head. Her father knew a lot of people and what’s to say if she did open up to someone, that it wouldn’t get back to him somehow? The man had never laid a hand on her, but she feared him greatly.

But she didn’t know how much longer she could keep up this façade. It was destroying her, literally and figuratively. If her life were a story book, her character would be the one who dies because they stupid enough to listen without thinking for themselves. ‘I hate myself and what I’ve turned into. I’ll never be worth anything, just a Heartfilia to carry on the legacy. To be used and exploited until there is no need for me anymore. Argh! I hate myself and yet I don’t even know who the hell that is! Why do I have to feel this way…’

If there were a way to turn off her emotions, Lucy would snap it up in a heartbeat. Just make her completely numb to everything. Truly become a doll who speaks with pre-programmed phrases. A robot who felt no love or sadness and only knew how to be a servant like in a sci-fi movie. She thought that by walling off her heart it would shield her from the pain, but it only caused a deeper one to take root. And frankly, even if she tried now to fix it, how do you erase 14 years of misery?

It would take years of therapy, hundreds of hours and dollars to do just that. Not to mention having to re-live all the painful experiences that drove her to become the way she did. So much for any chance of a solid relationship. She couldn’t subject anyone else to this, that would only make her feel worse.

An utter burden.

To ask someone to bear some of her weight upon their shoulders would be unfair, and if she truly believed this, how could she ever bring herself to open up to anyone, especially if she cared about them. Yet, she wanted to do it. At least a small part of her screaming from the depths of her mind, pleading selfishly to just tell someone! Screw it all! Who cares if they dump you as a friend afterward. Stop worrying about the what if’s because she can’t predict the future.

If only it were so easy.

A few minutes pass by as she sits there in silence, when the light from her phone illuminates the room for just a moment.

“Are you okay?”

Her breathing hitches, stopping short in her throat. Why would Natsu ask that question?! The screen goes black again bathing her in darkness, but the words had dealt their blow. Histories of conversations and interactions are replayed in her mind as Lucy searches for any justification for that message. Had she done something, said something to lead him to believe she wasn’t okay? Oh, no! She’d forgotten to add a happy face emoji or a blush emoji to her response. Is that what made him pick up on a problem.

“I’m fine, really *blush emoji*”

Okay, that should do it, right? Her response was simple yet positive, nothing to indicate the opposite turmoil festering in her mind. Ugh, she shouldn’t have let herself slip into a depressed state tonight. Perhaps her subliminal consciousness tripped up her perfect record of hiding things in plain sight because deep down she wanted to be caught.

“*frown face* I don’t believe that Lucy, somethings wrong I can feel it.”

More tears rise to the surface from the realization that her perfect house of cards were about to come crashing down over a text message of all things. Lucy could continue to lie. Should she continue to lie? Really, I’m fine just tired. Don’t worry about me. I was distracted with homework. All valid responses she could use to justify the slip up.

“Lucy? You know you can talk to me, right?”

Her chest constricts further as she chokes down a sob. How?! How does she know that to be true?! What if he laughs or ridicules her? What if? What if? What if?! ‘Stop it!’ Lucy screams in her head. Heaven help her, she couldn’t take it anymore! Natsu was her friend and in her heart of hearts, he would never knowingly hurt her.

Instead of answering the text, Lucy clicks the call button instead.

“Lucy?”

“Natsu… You’re right. I-I’m not okay…”

#ftrbb2020 #ftreversebang #lucy heartfilia #fairytail #fairytail fanfiction #nalu is hinted but still just friends by request of the artist #angsty #teenage angst #self doubt #depression #loneliness #feelings of isolation #channeled my teenage years into this lol #Fairytail art #hiding in plain sight #petri808

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blackssuunn-mandoandyodito · 4 years

Text

Tabaco y Brea

Part 7

Pairing: Javier Peña x female! DEA reader

Warnings: angst, brief mention of sex, embarrassment? If you think I should add something, let me know

Summary: Javi thinks about everything that led both of you here, and worries about what Escobar said.

A/N: well here it is! I hope you enjoy it. I wrote another part before this one that has, mmm, smut, I'll post it but I'm not sure when, keep an eye out. Also, I changed some things shown in the series a little bit, but nothing major. Thank you for reading!

Note: this is slightly edited, just a few format stuff.

Masterlist•Chapter 6• AO3 account

If you were to ask Javier what his craziest years have been, he wouldn’t even hesitate to tell you with certain fondness in his eyes, that both 1979 and 1980 were close to his breaking point.

When he arrived in Colombia in the early 70's, he didn't expect to get so attached to the land, to the people. Often, he came off as an asshole who was only there to do his job and fuck his way through Colombia. And usually, he had no problem with portraying that facade. It made everything easier, no one tried to mess with him or get close. He could sit silently on his desk and smoke as much as he wanted for as long as he desired, no one but the big bosses would mess with him. He was always in his own world.

The real world though, felt like it was falling apart every day, without thinking about stopping or at least slowing down. Javier always felt like he had to put it back together, which was ironic because if he wasn’t able to keep himself together, how much could he do for the world?

Everything had a dual perspective for him since the day he arrived. Knowing two languages gives you a certain advantage that changes slightly the way you see things. Sometimes the differences were strikingly wide, and sometimes he couldn’t tell the two apart. The way foreigners saw things was colder, insensitive. The locals felt things, mourned, and thought more about the people than politics.

Javier was always torn between the two. He was a foreigner but always tried his best to not act like one. That didn't stop him from fucking up greatly multiple times though.

Once, while he's looking at some pictures of a roadhouse, the sound of the Ambassador arguing with someone over the phone reaches his ears.

'And what the hell am I supposed to do with a girl who's mom is FBI? I have enough petulant bullshit to deal with Javier here"

That makes him frown. Is he really that annoying?

"I don't give a fuck if she was the best of her class, I don't need more agents."

It's not usual to hear the Ambassador swear, so Javier knows it must be something that really bothers her if she's so angry.

Trying not to alert anyone else about it, he sits more straight and leans his head slightly towards the Ambassador's office, trying to hear better.

"If you're gonna send her anyways, why the fuck did you bother to call me then?" There's a short pause. "Well thanks for the courtesy between agents, it's no fucking help. Goodbye."

Silence settles over the office again after that, and Javier didn't find out much anyways so he doesn't dwell on it and keeps reading about the new Narco that's growing quickly over México, with base in Nuevo Laredo. Something about it tells him it’s tied to Escobar in some way.

Days later, he finds out he's going to have a new partner.

He doesn't care too much either. His partners always run away after some months. No one can handle this war for too long, and he's not sure how he's pulling through it. It weighs heavy on his shoulders. It makes him wake up sweaty from a nightmare, scares any kind of hunger away, reminds him why he should never get attached to anyone everyday. And still, he's doing much better than the people he's supposed to be helping. Several times he feels close to losing hope, to giving up. Every morning he wakes up, looks at the mirror and wonders what he's doing, why he's doing it. He's breaking, falling down, giving up. He wants to run away but it feels like betrayal, to just drop everything and go back to Texas as if nothing happened. He wants to, but knows he won't be able to live without guilt every day of his life.

The guilt, the sorrow, everything is suffocating him. There's not a day when fresh air fills his lungs, the gun tucked inside his jeans feels like it weighs a ton and nothing makes sense anymore. He's working on autopilot.

And then you arrive. That pretty, smart girl from the Ventura Q of the DEA, top of her class, arrives and twists his entire life.

You, with your bright eyes and your bright smile and your love for life. With amazement showing in your features when you look at the city once he takes you to a viewpoint. You, with the little sounds of pleasure you make when you're eating something he bought for you to taste. With the addiction you have for dancing he knows came from your close relationship with your father. You, with your giggles and your little screams when he takes you to see The Shining.

You, with the love for little things he has never felt before.

And he's not a man who cares about many things, if he's being honest. He didn't know how overwhelming love feels, how it changes the way you see life once the sensation of pure ecstasy and happiness fills you and pumps through your veins.

But, once, as you both read through the reports of other agents after a raid, he stops for a second and turns to look at you.

And fuck if what he feels in that moment doesn't scare him shitless.

It's not even a special moment. You're just frowning and circling a lot of things with a pink marker as you huff. But you manage to look like something his imagination would create to try and pull him out of self pity while doing so, tired from hours of nonstop working but still shining like a star, as marvelous as a work of art. Maybe something beyond that, something he doesn’t have a word for. He knows you're real because someone as dark and twisted as him could never create something as astonishing and beautiful as you.

He shouldn't feel anything, he knows it's a stupid decision to pay attention to the feeling inside his chest.

But he does, he pays attention, and it's whispering this is how love feels. This is what you've been missing.

Needless to say, it takes his breath away.

He falls in love.

He falls in love, without brakes or any kind of control that could stop him from doing so. He lets himself fall in love, embraces it but doesn't do anything about it. He yearns, he aches. He cries sometimes. He laughs others. He gets drunk and sings the songs the guys at Texas used to play when he still was the Deputy there. He still can’t sleep, but now there are entirely different reasons behind it.

Sometimes, when he feels really good and he has a good day, he indulges in domestic fantasies that he knows won’t ever happen because he most likely won’t make it out alive from this mess. If the probability was small before, now that he has someone to lose and therefore protect, the probability is practically non-existent.

No, he doesn't do anything about it, but he refuses to let go of the feeling. It helped him see there are still things worth living and fighting for, after all.

And it comes to bite him in the ass when he hears Escobar shout "me saludas a tu papi" (say hello to your daddy for me) at you when he almost dies just after days of tension between you two, after he fucked up in Cali.

Why did he have to fuck up in Cali, of all places? Couldn't he fuck up in Medellín?

Then he fucks up a little more. In for a penny, in for a pound.

----

"Have you ever been in love before?"

Asking those words after what you've just done seems out of place. Asking the man you just fucked through the mattress if he knows about love comes as almost rude, but aren't nights supposed to be for this kinda thing?

Javier shakes his head. "No, I don't think so." he answers, voice low and tired. "I was gonna get married, but I don't think I loved her."

You prop into your elbow, turning to look at him. "What happened?"

He closes his eyes and takes a drag from his Marlboro. "She told me she was pregnant just to tie me to her. The day before the wedding, she called me," his voice turns bitter and somewhat disappointed, "and said she had gotten her period. I fled from there and drove without stopping for fear of her brothers following me."

You know who he’s talking about. Lorraine isn't someone he talks about much, but when he does it's never with a good tone, though never anything rude. Javi isn't much of talking anyways.

You nod and plop back to the bed. Silence fills the room again, hot and foggy from the sweat you worked up to with your activities.

This is a bad idea, you know it. Fucking and not actualy having a settled relationship is maybe the worst decision you've made with Javi, and the talks that always follow just make everything worse.

He lets out all the sounds he wants to, and you're sure he's not like that with other women. He's a sentimental man, sure, but he's too scared to let someone he doesn't know get too close, even if he aches for that kind of attention. He communicates a thousand things by touch, things that make you ask yourself if they're real or if you're only making everything up, too hopeful. You figure he feels safe in your embrace, thinking it's worth risking your working dynamic and your friendship by your actions.

You're happy to provide it, no problem. You just wonder how long will it last before you break or one of you gets hurt.

You cannot bring yourself to care enough to stop.

"What about you?" He asks. Summers in México come to mind, along with days of the training in Ventura and parties in California, different names popping up. None of them make you feel quite as Javier always does with just a glance.

"I don't think so either." you answer honestly, "Not that I can remember, at least."

He shrugs. "If you can't remember any, then there isn't any. Love is not something you can forget about."

Javi also tends to become slightly poetic after a good fuck and a cigarette.

His ribs are still a little bit bruised from the gunshots of a few days ago, purple spots covering his waist and his chest. And you don’t like to think back to that day, it still haunts you. But every time you and Javi fucked in between that day and today, you have to ball your hands into fists and clench your teeth to stop your tears from falling. You have to remind yourself it’s just sex. Yes, you agreed to be exclusive but in no other way could you be considered a couple. Besides, relationships between agents are forbidden.

(Not that it would stop you, but still)

“And have you ever wanted to be in love?”

Javier frowns at the ceiling.

“I don’t think we have much of a choice when love comes our way. Either you fall in love and suffer, or you fall in love and embrace it.”

----

If he only knew.

Javier and Steve both turn to look at you, the question marks in their eyes are evident to you. You stand up, as clueless as them when you walk to the door.

“Bera,” the Ambassador’s voice comes from her office with too much volume. It makes you jump slightly. “Come here.”

Once inside, she gestures you to take a seat in one of the chairs in front of the desk. It feels like coming to the principal’s office as a little kid who got in trouble.

She just stares at you for a few seconds, not saying anything.

That’s never a good sign.

The silence becomes heavy, and you have to push down the urge to squirm under her stare. Once she speaks, you wish she hadn’t.

“Are you sure about what you’re doing?”

She doesn’t even have to say it aloud for you to understand what she’s talking about.

Fuck, is it really that obvious? You and Javier don’t even act different in front of anyone. There’s not even a big change to begin with. It's just sex. You’re not staring lovingly at each other’s eyes or playing footsie under the desk, Javier even stopped buying food for you only, now you have to share with him.

You take a deep breath, torn between feigning ignorance or acknowledging the situation with as much dignity as possible.

She doesn’t even give you time to think.

“Don’t even try to act like you don’t know what I’m talking about, I’m old, I’ve seen some stuff and you can’t play dumb with me.”

Well, there goes that.

“Can I ask something first?”

That surprises her. She breaks from the intimidating posture from before and leans back on her chair, nodding.

“How did you notice?”

She laughs, interlacing her fingers in front of her and looking at you with amusement in her eyes.

“Honey, I noticed even before anything happened. You two are obvious as hell. Even a little kid could notice it by staying two minutes inside the same room as you.”

That doesn’t make any sense. Before Cali, even before Steve, you were never sure about Javier’s feelings. You knew he wasn’t indifferent to you, but with the way he carries himself around, it’s difficult to figure out if what he’s showing is really what he’s feeling.

You decide against saying anything else and nod. She sighs, shaking her head as she looks at you.

“I just hope you don’t regret it later.”

Well, you’re right there with her on that one.

She ushers you outside and you quickly stand up, forcing your legs to work at a normal pace and not run away like your brain urges them to.

Just as you’re about to get out of the office, you hear her speak again, but the words are not meant for you to hear.

“I’m gonna kill him. I’m gonna kill him and then bring him back to life just to cut his balls off if he ever hurts her.”

You cover your mouth to stop the giggle from escaping, and walk to your desk with a smile on your face.

Javi arches his eyebrow at you. “Everything okay?”

You bite your lip. “Yeah, everything’s great.”

He smiles at you and winks. You chuckle, shaking your head and turning to read the reports you have to deliver that day. Most likely than not, you’ll have to say late to finish. Javier too, just like the day before yesterday.

Blood runs hot down your body as you remember. It had been an amazing night. Javi’s desk has a crack on the edge to prove it.

Realization hits you.

Oh God, so that’s why she noticed.

Tabaco y Brea taglist: @larakasser @storiesofthefandomloversreblogs @fioccodineveautunnale @thisisthe-way @synystersilenceinblacknwhite @marydjarin @ithinkimhardcore @nellyneko

#javier peña x you #javier peña imagine #javi fic #javier peña x reader #javier peña fanfiction #javier peña #narcos fanfiction #my writing

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