#i’m trying to let loose and draw more sketches to share

[andromedaisfree]

“what a fucking idiot”

#just like everyone else i am in love with planerider ryn #cr spoilers #critrole spoilers #planerider ryn #andromeda art #fanart #critical role fanart #critical role #critical role campaign 3 #cr 3 ep 43 #cr 3 ep 44 #what a fun funky tiefling character #always love one of those! #i saw someone else say it somewhere but planewalker ryn is so blorbo shaped #pretty sure it was another text post on here #also i’m not totally satisfied with this art but if i waited until that happened i’d never share it so here it is! #i’m trying to let loose and draw more sketches to share #but in the meantime take the fun stuff i work on #there’s more to come that i haven’t put out yet but i will post it! #so stick around :] #love y’all

[sevenpoyo]

school headcanons for because i only got 3 more weeks

margo’s is so long even tho she got like 2 minutes of screen time bc i love her so much and she’s my gf

Margo Kess, 1610Miles, 42Miles, Gwen Stacy, Pavitr Prabhakar

margo kess / spiderbyte

ain’t shorty on zoom in the movie?

my girl dont attend class, she once shut down the entire blocks power so she would have an excuse to not be in class

eats in class all class everyday, only shares with you

takes really good notes and never studies them

like???? ma’am??? share???

all her electives are programming related and she pretends to busy while playing centipede all day

sends you 50 links to stuff you might like while ur in math

she got papers that let her opt out of gym

no matter how much you beg ur gonna be alone in gym and she doesn’t feel bad about it

popular with no friends type

like everyday 50 ppl stop you both and say hi

she only knows like 5 of their names she can’t stand half of them niggas

empty ass backpack like she got one notebook and one binder

all a’s and b’s like bitch how

her memory is absolutely ass but she can remember every story you told her or stuff that happened when y’all hang out

don’t ask her what she did in her class

don’t ask her if her class also has a history test

she don’t know

she don’t care

but she do know that when you were 8 your cousin burned ur thigh while y’all were playing iron vs knife fight

(u were dumb as hell for picking knife everyone knows iron always wins)

i looked it up on her word everybody uses those virtual avatars

she’ll shit on your class choices so damn hard

she just likes making fun of your choices fr

like half of ur conversation go;

damn i’m tired

u was up doing stupid shit last night you don’t get to complain

stfu that’s why ur a bitmoji

that’s why ur granny beat ur ass for something your brother did when you were 9

i hate telling u shit

then stop telling me shit

(i have no clue how accurate this is to her character but i need to write about her i’m in love but damn it’s long)

1610 miles / spider-man 2 lmao

book bag full locker full but never has a pencil

writes notes assignments and homework in paint pen ink don’t ask this nigga for notes

(he gets nigga treatment but not my queen margo bc i got favorites)

he miss mad classes but somehow still solid attendance record???

somehow always present in the record he miss 40 days and get caught on like 6 of them

unless his mom make breakfast and lunch on her day off for him he eating the most random shit from the bodega closest to visions

like what do you mean you got a cosmic brownie and a cold chopped cheese from last night ? it’s literally 7 in the morning no i don’t want none

makes you hype him up every time he slap boxes people and he’s so ass at it

he be ashy with no lotion atleast 5 times every month it’s embarrassing

he calls visions his white people school to his parents and his friends

once he said it to gwen and they sat in literal complete silence for like 10 minutes

prolly took music theory because he thought it would be easy and switched out of that shit so fast

i’d be so mean to him for enjoying physics

like this nigga trying to make something of him self

lil einstein ass nigga

he understands color theory but can’t explain it

12 half full sketchbooks but at school he literally draw on computer paper he don’t let the sketch book leave his bag

i know he’s ass at watercolor, he always spills shit, the colors always end up brown

try’s to be interested in your class choices bc he wants to know stuff he can talk about with you

when you first meet he can’t take meaner jokes bc he thinks that you mean them

but one day he’s gets comfortable, and brutal

no one in your life is safe when he looses a video game

except your mom

rio taught him better than that

42 miles / the prowler

comes to school with no school related supplies in his bag unless you count art stuff

finds a pencil on his way to class

has a change of clothes, rat tail comb, 3 bottles of water, a camera, a flashlight, lotion and cocoa butter.

like bro ur going to Ap Art not a camping trip

once he pulled out a griddle and and pancake mix and y’all started making pancakes in class

forgets his metro pass every day and gets so pissed ab it

runs into people in the hallway bc he’s never paying attention

idk if he goes to visions but if he does he calls it his white people school with his full chest to anybody even if they’re white

he be leaving halfway through the day all the time like bro you miss algebra 2 every damn day

uncle arron always talking him out of school with some bullshit reason

bro’s had his tonsils out 8 times on the school’s records

He will get ur parents to put his uncle on ur pickup list and you will be out of there with him

he will YELL if someone step on his shoes no matter what the situation like the school could be on fire and he fighting in the burning building

also his uniform is so pristine

his pants stiff

that button down is bleached ironed pressed and allat

this mfer is an online shopping addict u just know he be on amazon in class

will offer you the weirdest food combos like no i don’t want to put tajin mangoes on my beef patty i’m sick of you nigga

not school related but he’s super good with kids (both miles fr) but he’s the #1 little cousin defender and apologists

he ride for them always one of ur little cousins could sucker punch u and he be like

‘they just want u to play with them’

he takes a preforming arts class for fun prolly

loves sports but doesn’t play one understands the stats well and would help if you played one

wakes up at the asscrack of dawn on weekends

SICK ASS COSTUME FOR HOLLOWEEN IK THIS NIGGA LOVE HOLLOWEEN

plans costumes for school spirit weeks but always checks to seen if he’s gonna be the only one wearing a costume for it

never eats lunch unless his mom makes it he be hungry all day and be complaining

his socks are never in uniform (yes some uniform schools have sock rules)

gwen stacy / spider woman / ghost spider

idk what to call her

she has every snack you could ever want in her lunch bag

hates her music theory teacher

she literally has the most pristine locker with a calendar and a mirror and all that shit will write down test for you and important dates for the both of you

goes to school plays and shits on the story, like she ain’t pay 5 dollars to be there

some of her teachers hate her

like ma’am ur beefing with a whole 16 year old rn

she hate english teachers but love creative writing teachers

she keeps all her books in her locker never brings them home never brings them to class

always comes through with an extra pad no matter what

she also always has hand sanitizer

in like 4 extracurricular after school things and complains so bad

ur starting to hate that shit to ur sick of hearing it like girl quit then

10/10 cameraman she has every fight and every drama in 10khd and she will share them if you ask

she chews her pens and nails

has her drumsticks out always teachers have banned her from taking them to their classes

can watch tv on her phone but look focused you think she’s paying attention but then you look over and she’s watching good luck charlie

pavitr prabhakar / spider-man india

always late for class never in trouble

always eating and sharing food and never in trouble

how is he blessed like this? it ain’t fair

eats from the school vending machines or begs other ppl to share

will always have and share the homework answers no matter what he’s an angel

his sock always have holes in them like sir please get that shit together

gym try hard ik goes insane in football/soccer

very encouraging for shit u don’t wanna do he believes in you

you him and Gayatri talk so much shit but are somehow all well liked

he tells you what teachers are dating (he can just tell)

he has toothpaste in his bag for some reason?? i can just feel this one

his aunt will let you come over after school she’s so sweet to you.

always got a job at school assemblies

he’s reading poems or shaking hand or leading in the school pledge or something

Pav’s is short because i have no fucking clue if school in India is different form america and Barbados

#miles morales x reader #42 miles morales #margo kess x reader #gwen stacy x reader #pavitr prabhakar x reader #pavitr my beloved #atsv x reader #atsv spoilers #spider byte x reader #the prowler x reader #42 miles morales x reader

[cattocavo]

Six sketch sunday

Thanks so much for tagging me @thewholelemon

I actually have something pretty exciting to share if i do say so myself!

In november 2022 i did a master study of romeo and juliet by frank bernard dicksee. I was very happy with it. But over time I’ve become less and less happy with it, specifically how baz looks :((

This is due to the fact that i traced A LOT in late 2022 (I was 15 ok, I’m sure we’ve all had one of those phases😭) I traced the whole painting, but baz was hard bc the original painting featured a woman, and her whole figure was covered by a white loose dress. 2022 me did their best interpreting the shapes and forming a new body for baz, but honestly they didn’t do it very well. Ive hated Baz’s face and body for a while now, but still loved simon and the painting in general. Which is why I came to the conclusion that for me to be at peace and happy with it again, I have to remaster it!

And again I’ve had this on my mind for a while now, mulling it over, because it’s quite a big project. But 7 days ago i finalized my decision and started looking at references and whatnot. It took me so long to find references bc I was confused of the angle of Juliet’s head in the original painting (so I’ve changed the angle whoops) and i needed to make sense of it all. Before i knew it i had spent 5 hours (according to procreates tracker) drawing, and literally nothing had changed.. but then i spent like 2 hours more and THAT did it. It was like digging a whole in the ground searching for water. You dig a little and nothing happens, and when you finally dig deep enough the water reveals itself like a goldmine.

Anyways, i haven’t gotten around to do any recoloring yet, so ill show you the sketch (ahem, traced) of my 2022 version versus what I have now

The one on the left is the 2022 version. The one on the right is the current sketch.

I’m trying to incorporate a lot more body language from baz this time around. I think the old sketch of baz was very rigid. His torso is very short 💀 my biggest issue was his face though. It was far too feminine. The bone structure wasn’t exactly giving baz, in fact the whole face didn’t look like baz to me. The expression also bothered me, it was too superficial. Like it’s exactly the predictable expression you expect him to have. I tried to spice it up in the new version by making him appear a bit more anguished. It’s romeo and juliet after all.

Im currently looking at references to what clothes he should be wearing (don’t worry, i wont cover up his sleeves. Even if it’s more time period accurate) so if y’all have any inspo or suggestions, feel free to share them with me!

While baz is the inly thing getting completely redone, I’m also touching up some other thins. Just giving it a more refined, finished look overall. The plants in the original were really messily done, so i’m gonna work a lot on those. 2022 me also slacked on the curtains, so I’m repainting those to match the original frank bernard painting.

Once I’m done with it all i think i might sell some prints. Ive gotten requests to sell prints of this one before, but never really got around to do more than research. If i do make prints, I’m a bit worried they’ll all go to waste bc they’ll have to be shipped from denmark, and shipping in expensive :(( (I’ve tried to set up middlemen and it didn’t work for me. Red bubble wont even allow me to add a credit card😬) but if y’all are still interested in prints, do let me know! Ill definitely put in more of an effort to make it happen if i know it wont be in vain :))

Thats all from me for today :3 see ya next time

(Also check out what my COBB partner @thewholelemon is doing! It’s gonna be so good!)

Tags! @monbons @raenestee @j-nipper-95 @orange-peony

Id love to see what y’all are doing!

#simon snow #baz pitch #carry on #simon snow salisbury #fanart #simon snow fanart #any way the wind blows #wayward son #art #carry on fanart #romeo and juliet #sir francis dicksee #frank dicksee #baz pitch fanart #classical painting redraw #classical art #agatha wellbelove #penelope bunce #the mage

[kate-komics]

I think your art style is so cool. Do you think you can share your art process sometime?

Okay, I’m gonna do my best to share my ‘process’ even though I don’t even know what it is 😅 bare with me here!

Rather than give you a step by step (because the steps are never the same for me) I’ll show you one of my speed draws and try to hit a few points about what I consider/ think about while I’m drawing. This will only be for drawing human figures, just FYI.

I’ll use my lil Steddie sketch I did recently since it’s freshest in my mind and I think I did a good job with the posing.

Here’s the video!

Now let's see if I can articulate my thoughts.

I would also like to note that there was no reference for this drawing. This was only a warm up drawing that I developed a little to much because I was having a good time making it

Things I consider when drawing people:

Gesture drawing/ Pose: Make a loose gesture drawing first so you can get a feel for where you wanna go then build off that. Where is the weight of the body leaning? What direction are they facing? As you can see when I first start I keep it all fairly loose until I really figure out wear the body is leaning. Once I have they're torso/ centerline figured out the limbs follow. As you can see I was having a tough time figuring out what position for for Eddie's legs looked the most natural/ interesting. Which brings me to my next point!

Keep your first sketches loose, and don't be afraid to test things as you go. As you can see in the video I basically start from scribbles and build off of that. Adjust shoulders, move limbs around, tilt heads, whatever you think would look best. All in all I probably redrew the figures 2 or 3 times before I started on line art.

Shapes! Once I have the pose and sketch to my liking I build off the gesture by making shapes and angles a little sharper. This is, of course, specific to my personal preference in style but I think just slightly exaggerating the shape of a muscle or the point of a feature really takes a drawing to a new level in terms of style. I believe Ethan Becker (highly recommend his tutorials) has a good youtube video about how an elongated triangle shape is a fun dynamic shape to use in cartooning. I just make things a little pointer than they are. That's all.

Line weight! Building off of how I illustrate shapes, I use line weight to exaggerate it even further and also literally show the weight of the figure. Parts of the body that have weight on them or are foreshortened towards the camera get at thicker outline to exaggerate them. (Though sometimes I don't always do this) Parts that are soft outlines (Facial features and clothing details) get thinner lines or a small series of cross hatching lines. It's all about what you choose to put emphasis on. I also like to use exaggerated lines for clothing wrinkles to add to the gesture. Most of my specific art style is in how I do my line work. I use inking brushes with a dramatic taper to get the shapes I do. I highly recommend getting a traditional art inking brush and practicing on paper just to see the cool shapes you can get.

And finally, black space/ shading. I do have rather dramatic shading being that it's just part of my line art. Honestly, it's often rather unrealistic but really what's the point of drawing if you can't make things look really cool and dramatic? When laying out what the black space will be I suppose I think of how it'll frame the figure and what's really important. For example, Steve's back leg its all blacked out behind his front leg because it's not an important part of his pose and I wanted to use it show the surface he's sitting on without actually drawing it. Draw less details to show the details somewhere else, ya know? Use filled in shadows to frame other parts and put more emphasis on details. Admittedly, it does take some practice to get good at inking this way.

Little drawing rules for humans I don't even think about anymore but use all the time

Shoulders and hips always tilt opposite each other. It's what keeps the body balanced.

The main parts of the human body that show expression are the eye's and the hands. Also emotion in the eye's is like 80% in eyebrows.

It's okay to rework something that doesn't look right at any stage in the drawing.

Most average sized humans are 7 heads high and their shoulders. 2-3 heads across (Think this is in every 'how to draw' book ever)

The blank space of a pose is just as important and interesting as the filled space.

Okay! I think that's all I got. I'm not much of a teacher but I hope this was at least interesting and HOPEFULLY mildly helpful.

Thanks for the ask!

#Kate-komics #art tips #art advice #comic artist

[cinnademon]

Hey! I was wondering if you have any tips/ would be willing to share your process for drawing character faces and expressions? It's something I'm trying to improve in my own art, and I adore how specific and clearly readable yours are across all your different pieces.

Absolutely! To start, I wouldn't say I have a "process", it kind of varies depending on the style of the piece I'm doing. That being said, since most of my art here is mostly all comic book/animesque style, I'll give some info on how I tackle expressions and how to build a good foundation for any expressions you want to draw.

The Basics: The Skull

Everything starts with the skull 💀 I've spent a lot of time learning the underlying structure of the human head, namely the skull and facial muscles. The skull is divided into many zones and regions (of which I do not remember all the scientific names), so to simplify things, I divide the skull into the four main parts below:

(I simplify the maxilla and teeth into a circle, since it's approximately curved when closed.)

I usually spend at least 5 min a day just doodling skulls so that way I don't lose the visual inventory I have in my mind. It makes it easier when I want to sketch characters and expressions on the fly.

That's the structure, but now you need to learn how the motion of the skull actually works. Do studies of how the jaw moves compared to the cranium and maxilla. This is important because if you want to draw your characters screaming/crying/arguing etc., you need to understand how the face stretches to accommodate the open jaw.

It's also important to learn how to draw the skull in 3D space. Yep, I'm talking about head angles. For my Tucker Neon post, since we’re staring down at him from a high angle I drew a rough skull to figure out how his facial features would work in this perspective:

Having a good understanding of the skull will provide you with a solid blueprint for drawing any expressions you want, which brings us to... 

Facial Muscles

If the skull is the foundation, I would say that the facial muscles are loosely the “architecture” of a person’s face. It’s always moving, always changing, and learning how they behave across the human face is a must for nailing expressions. To get a better idea of how the muscles contract/stretch across your face, I would recommend two things: scrunch your face, and use a mirror!

Here you can feel all the areas that crease, which areas are tighter, and which areas “lift” more when you work those muscles! 💪 These creases can add more emotion and intensity to whatever expression you’re drawing; how much creasing depends on the intensity, which is up to you.

This is something that manga & anime make excellent use of; they’re not shy when it comes to conveying what their characters are feeling:

Which brings us to our last topic...

Stylization

Are these guidelines I said so far hard rules? No, they are not. Part of drawing expressions is stylizing and exaggerating realistic human proportions and behaviors. This is why I love collecting anime expression studies. Look at these awesome faces and acting:

And here’s some western animation examples added for good measure:

Do real-life mouths stretch like that? Or do eyebrows move on top of the eyes when you glare? No, but it’s all in the service of exaggerating the expressions and emotions that the characters are feeling and really communicating that intent with your audience. You learn the structure of the skull and facial muscles to get a good understanding of how they work, and then you use what you know to stretch and exaggerate the physical limitations of the human face. 

Essentially:  Learn the rules so that you can break them.

And now that I have subjected you to my long-winded TED talk, let me get to answering your actual question and showing you my process! 😂  

When I’m drawing expressions, I act them out in front of a mirror; this is the best way to learn expressions, by drawing them from real life. As you can see, sometimes I do a quick sketch of a skull to get an angle accurate, but if a character is stylized or facing the viewer at eye level, I just skip ahead to the final sketch. 

I hope this was helpful! I’m going to include a post full of good resources and tutorials on drawing expressions later today! 

#tutorial #my art #expressions #facial expressions #faces #asks #threewaysdivided

[meowjf]

The intended symbolism behind my Hangman Tarot card

I wanted to do a write-up of my thought process behind each major part of this picture. Please note I’m writing this on an iPad while I have covid, so there are bound to be mistakes and weird autocorrects I didn’t catch. If any part is incoherent or weird, let me know and I’ll try and fix it.

Here’s a link to the full hangman piece for anyone who hasn’t seen it/wants to look at it for reference.

So, I wanted to start out by discussing this piece a little bit. Yes, this had a ton of thought put into the symbolism and a lot of the picture had direct meanings I was trying to get across. I think I made it a bit ham fisted at times, but I did make me super happy to see how much people appreciated and noticed the thought put into it. Often times, I would include things because I needed to solve a compositional problem, or I wanted to include something I thought was pretty. So I would try to find a way to solve those problems/include those elements while tying it back to the main picture. I also had some things I didn’t mean to include, but were pointed out in various tags/comments, so I included them at the end because I think they’re super interesting! Overall, this picture took me about 7 1/2 hours from start to finish.

The Hanged Man

My major reason for choosing this card was simply for it’s name. However, I did do some research into it, as I wanted to ensure the card would actually fit him. There’s lots of different meanings depending on where you look, but a common thread was letting go and metamorphosis. I personally really liked these meanings, and decided to make this illustration about that- his change and growth as a character. I started drawing this in the middle of his reconciliation with the Young Bucks. I think as a whole this picture is about him letting go of the trauma associated with the Elite: both he guilt over the hurt he caused them, and the anger over the hurt they caused him.

TL;DR: It’s about letting go of guilt/anger and growing as a person

Broken Mirror Halo

This has a direct 1:1 moment it’s meant to reflect, which I think everyone could guess

This is arguably his lowest moment, but also a major turning point. I wanted to explicitly make this mirror light halos from religious art. Part of this was for aesthetic- anyone who knows me knows I love light halos. But, often the worst points in our life can lead to major changes of the self (like a metamorphosis, winkwink) and turning a moment of despair into something “holy” was imagery I was really interested in playing with.

TL;DR: Sometimes the worst moments of our lives are also where change begins. And what is more divine than the human act of transformation?

Tangled in his Own Noose

This is the biggest example of solving an issue with imagery. In the original sketch, his legs were just sort of cut off at the frame, which looked really weird once I started to clean it up. Originally, the noose was hanging loose around his neck (an homage to his old gear), but while cleaning up the sketch I couldn’t find a way to make the hanging noose look good.

This was meant to represent him being tangled and tied down by his mistakes and strained relationships. The two major elements of this are him being tied tightly to the frame covered with images of alcohol, and to the belt. The belt became a way for him to “redeem” himself, but reality is rarely ever that simple and getting the belt wouldn’t solve everything. I also liked the idea of mixing something representing his mistakes with something representing Kenny’s corruption (the belt). While the ropes may be plentiful, they’re sloppily tied and can still be undone.

TL;DR: the ropes are his mistakes

The Frame

The frame is a little obvious- we all know our favorite cowboy has had his share of problems with alcohol. I did consciously choose to have the alcohol spilling out of the cups and bottles, as if they’re being disposed of. Something I couldn’t quite execute to it’s full potential was the fact that one of the whiskey glasses is directly below where his hand is. I wanted it to mimic him pouring out the drink. Lowering the opacity shows this a bit better.

TL;DR: Hangman likes alcohol too much but he’s better about it now.

The Monarch Butterfly

I was in the middle of working on this when he came out to save the bucks in his monarch butterfly pants. I immediately knew I had to include the butterflies in this pic, and I’m so happy I did. They were mostly there to connect to the recent episode, but I did do a little reading into meanings associated with Monarchs. They’re often associated with transformation. Considering this piece is directly about him growing and changing as a character, I was very happy they fit so well with the theme. Most of their placement was based off of aesthetics- I simply chose what I think looked best. The one conscious decision was to put a butterfly on the noose- a symbol of his new growth on top of the symbol of his previous mistakes.

TL;DR: Butterfly pants, but also transformation.

Unintentional Symbolism

Upside down horseshoes look like an Omega symbol- this was entirely a happy coincidence! I drew him in the in-ring gear he wore during Full Gear 2021. Maybe that was something they intentionally thought about when designing his gear? I’m always a sucker for wrestlers including other wrestler’s motifs in their gear, so having this pointed out was a delight! But since it’s not something I actively meant to include, I don’t have a lot to say about it.

Moonsault Pose- I think this one is really interesting. Him actively being in motion rather than being stuck hanging has really interesting implications. Like before, it’s not what I actively meant to include so I don’t have anything in depth to say about it. But it did make me stop and think about the piece in that context, so I thought it would be interesting to include here as well!

Some things I didn’t get to include/don’t have much meaning.

Dark Order- I didn’t really find a good way to include the dark order in this picture. I wish I did, but I couldn’t find a good way to include it without feeling busy. Unfortunately the purple + eye aesthetic didn’t look very good in this picture.

Bullet Club- I really wanted to find a way to include the bullet club into the noose that’s tying him to the frame, but couldn’t really find a way to that without it being distracting. There just wasn’t a good place to put any bullets or skulls. I did find a better way to do it in the Young Bucks + Flowers pics I did a whole ago.

The background pattern- the simple flower pattern was chosen because that’s what I thought looked the best. It was meant to mirror the flowers on his pants, but no additional meaning was put into that.

The Suns in each corner- the yellow circle in each corner of the frame is the sun. There’s no extra meaning to it, they just looked good with the color palette and matches the “riding off into the sunset” imagery he likes to use.

The End

That’s all for now, folks! This was surprisingly fun to write us. As a thank you for everyone who stuck around and read to the end, here’s the janky rough sketch, along with the final sketch that I ended up lining:

#Adam page #Hangman Adam Page #text #i hope this post gets me a good grade in understanding hangman’s character #something that’s both normal to want and possible to achieve

[wind-becomes-lightning]

Good endings & new beginnings

I made the entire week. Happy happy! Anyway, I've been talking quite some with @kankuroplease about her Aori in my Ikigai Au as Irukas partner and because its been on my mind, i made this. whoop. Its also based losely on a sketch she made of iruka and Aori that I'm not sure I can share, but believe me its cute!

Umino Iruka x OC

Rated G

2640 words.

for @narutoocshipweek Day 7: Free day.

The life long friendship of Aori and Iruka ends in one night.

Iruka was slouching on the chair next to the dining table and watched Aori walk over to take herself a drink from his fridge. She knew where things in his apartment were exactly from the many times she had been over, and treated it like her own second home. He was feeling low lately and had been pretty much since his breakup a few months ago.

Aori was perceptive as ever, knowing Iruka’s many moods very well from a decade stretching friendship between them and so she had spontaneously decided to come over and cook him dinner. Katsura was out on a mission and needed no assistance and so she was essentially free. She had invited herself over and Iruka had known that fighting her on this would do him no good, so he just let her in and let her do her thing.

“Ruki, stop being gloomy”, she said and put her drink down on the table to sit right next to him. “You didn’t have to break up with her if that's so hard for you to take and Naru-chan is also back.”

He sighed. Right, it had been his choice to let Sora go, but it had been the right choice to make. After all Sora hadn’t loved him, never really, not in the way he wanted her to and so it was only right to cut her loose, especially since she would have been way too nice to cut herself loose. “You know I had to”, he said in reply and Aori shrugged her shoulders.

Seemingly assessing the situation she went right back into teasing mode. “Well, I guess she didn’t like your hideous haircut.” She swirled her finger around the top of her hand to mimic his ponytail. “Maybe you should have kept your hair more open.” Iruka only hissed in reply. 

Aori wasn’t one to give up when the first try didn’t work so she poked a little more: “Maybe you just weren’t good enough of a kisser and that was the issue.”

Somehow this accusation riled him up, because his eyes shot up to look at her directly. “I’m excellent at it, thank you” he shot back and Aori shrugged: “I have a hard time imagining that.”

He sat forward in his chair and punched his fist to the table so hard that her drink almost fell from it: “I am a good kisser. Even your damned big mouth can’t take that away from me.” She laughed, “Oh yeah?”

The laugh quickly died in her throat as he jumped up and grabbed her by the sleeve. “Oh yeah”, Iruka said, anger and disappointment and frustration seeping out of him with every movement. He would never be able to make Aori stop teasing him endlessly for many things, but he was able to prove her wrong in this specific regard and he was going for it, before his brain could tell him how bad of an idea it was.

Iruka leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers so quickly that she yelped a little in surprise, crawling her fingers into his arm on her sleeve, but she did not push him away or draw back. Aori just sat there and let herself get kissed and he did kiss her, longer than one second or ten or twenty, longer than necessary. When he drew back he was so thoroughly out of breath as if they’d been making out for ten minutes, even though it was more like two.

The anger had vanished like a doused fire and he now stared the consequences of his actions right into the green eyes. Aori was red from cheeks to ears to neck. Her lips were slightly opened and parted as if she too could not believe what had just happened to her. Because for all her loud teasing and bossy attitude deep down she was a person that was easily embarrassed. Iruka had seen it when she was younger and was crushing on Might Gai. Aori stopped acting like a normal human being when she was around a person she had a crush on, when she was embarrassed. It was like her brain just shut off. 

Iruka took a step back. “I- I’m sorry”, he said and now wished he could turn the time back to five minutes ago. Aori said nothing and just averted her eyes from him. “You - you riled me up and I- I was impulsive, I'm so sorry.” He didn’t know how to save the situation. It was already bad enough that he had effectively ruined their long friendship, a friendship that was important to him, but what was worse was that he had liked it. That he had not immediately drawn back because he had enjoyed it. That wasn’t good. That could lead to nothing good.

Aori put one pointer finger to her lips and breathed out in a way that it whistled a little. She was still red and seemingly contemplating something. “Well…”she said, every word out of her mouth was very slow and deliberate, “... I guess you are right, I can't argue that you are bad at it.”

“I- It does not matter, really…” he waved the answer away with his hand and tried to take another step away from her, but she was now the one who caught his hand before he could. She got up and stepped forward to him, so that she was standing right in front of him. For a moment he thought she was going to tease him, poke him, pull his cheek or ruffle his hair, any of that old friend stuff she normally did, but she just stood there looking up to him. 

“Ruki”, she whispered and he hummed in reply, “Do you think I can do it again?” 

“Eh, do what again?” Of course he had a certain idea what she meant but she couldn’t possibly mean what he thought she meant because that would mean….

Her hand found its way to his cheek and maybe she was after all thinking what he was thinking she was thinking, Iruka thought and felt like he was about to black out. “Sure,” he pressed out and still half believed that she was talking about something entirely different.

But then they kissed again, right there, standing flushed against each other. She kept the hand there on his cheek and he put his on her back. As if they had never done anything else they could follow each other through it, feel and taste the other with ease. Aori was sweet, half from the soda she must have had and half from her own scent and before his brain decided to completely give up control of his senses, Iruka at least could ask himself what this meant for either of them. Then his body switched to automatic.

Dinner slipped their minds completely as they spent the evening over and over kissing each other like they were some teenagers in love. Aori pulled the band in his hair out and stpped back to take in the way he looked with it down. He couldn’t take the stare, couldn’t take the admiration, so he pulled her back into him. Once they found the bedroom they stayed there just getting to know each other deeper than they even had before. They effectively buried their innocent childhood friendship and neither of them objected, even though they maybe should have.

The awkwardness came back in the morning when they both awoke next to each other. Iruka didn’t know what to say to Aori, who seemed thoroughly embarrassed and red faced. So they lay next to each other, one arm of his lazily placed under her head, and stared at the ceiling without talking. At least at first - then the stomach started grumbling.

“Do you want- “ he started, because what else could he do but invite her to stay for breakfast, but she cut him off with an embarrassed laugh: “Oh, funny, huh, that’s the second childhood best friend you’ve slept with… haha… soon you’ll have a bingo… haha.” Iruka furrowed a brow. She was back to teasing him apparently.

“Well,” she said, throwing her legs over the sides of the bed, “I have to go. I have- uh- training to do! So..! I guess I see you around, Ruki.” Aori put on her clothes quickly and he knew immediately she was lying about where she had to go. Not only because she didn’t have either of her weapons, but also because she put on her top the wrong way around and didn’t notice. She was just fleeing from the awkward situation and Iruka couldn't blame her.

Still, it hurt. It felt terrible actually. He’d had no luck dating at all in the past few years when one considered that Sora hadn’t loved him, all the dates after had ended in nothing but disappointment and now this! Maybe if his brain had functioned like a normal brain he could have stopped himself from ruining the strong bond they had still had yesterday, but as soon as he had carried Aori into this room from the kitchen, as soon as he had stepped over that threshold, he had effectively ruined that. Forever.

But Iruka had liked it all. By all accounts it should have been weird between them, it should have felt like kissing a sister or a close relative. That was not how it had been, however, at least not to him, which made the situation complicated. He wondered how she felt about it all and for a bit considered searching for her to talk it all out, but then he shied away and decided that he would just wait for her to come to him. If she didn’t ever come to him at all, well, that would just mean their friendship was over and they could never speak to each other again. Easy as that.

He spent the day in his apartment waiting for the door to ring, which was childish of course, but he couldn’t help it at all. In Iruka’s mind, it was easier for Aori to find him here if she wanted to come talk and he really hoped that she would. Saying that their friendship was effectively over was one thing, but actually realising what that meant was another. He didn't want to lose all of that. There was also this part of him that barely dared to believe that maybe something new had begun, even if something old had ended, but that was such a long shot, that he pushed it away as soon as it crossed his mind.

It was dark out already again when the door actually did ring. Iruka stood back at his kitchen counter and cut his fingers with his sharpest kitchen knife trying to cook dinner. No matter how many times he had done it, he seemed to still be clumsy when it came to cutting vegetables. His whole body tensed when he could hear the sound of the bell and like a machine he turned around and walked to the door, forgetting completely to put the knife down. He held it so hard that his knuckles turned white when he opened the door. He breathed in and out.

“Aori!” The sound escaped him more elated than he wanted to. Aori was in front of his door, now wearing her shirt the right way around. She was red in the face. “Ruki”, she replied and held her gaze somewhere at a point across his shoulder instead of his face.

Iruka stepped to the side to let her walk in and she did, getting rid of her shoes in one swift motion. For a moment he was reminded how she had walked in the day before and decided to cook for him and how much more fun and easy going both of them had been. This now was hard work, the air heavy with anticipation. 

“That’s a really cool knife you have there”, she laughed weakly, “Haha- you are so good with those vegetables, I think, haha.” He blinked in confusion. What the hell was she saying? Sure, it had been pretty awkward between them when she had left, but now she was being completely nonsensical. Was she that embarrassed to have slept with him? He sat next to her on the kitchen table just like they had sat on the night before.

“Th-hanks”, he said and realised he was still holding the knife. He put it down between them as if it was a weapon either of them could grab to end the misery of their existence. He was thinking of what to say, but Aori was once again faster than him. She cleared her throat and said: “Iruka, I - I wanted to talk to you about something.” 

It took him out more than he would have suspected that she used his full name out of a sudden. There was a heat on his cheeks that he couldn’t quite explain. He stammered a “Okey” as a reply and felt a little like he was the biggest idiot in the entire village. What was even happening to both of them?

“Yesterday…” she started and he interrupted immediately: “Oh, we don’t- we don’t have to - to talk about that, we can just, you know, not- not talk about it.” Idiot, idiot, Iruka thought to himself. Of course they needed to talk about it. Aori furrowed her brow and shook her head: “No, no I want to say something, Iruka, ok?” His full name again. He bit his lip.

Aori let out a deep breath: “So… I’ve thought about yesterday and tonight - a lot, actually, like all day really- and uh - “  She stopped for a moment to apparently compose herself. “If-if you wanted, I mean if - if you were up to-to that I mean, if you have nothing else to do….” 

“Spit it,“ Iruka could feel his stomach turn on him with each new word coming out of her mouth. He didn’t dare speculate what her point was, too strong was his fear of being disappointed.

“Right, uh- All I’m saying is if you would- would be up to do it again- , eh, if you wanted to do it again… I wouldn’t mind.”

He blinked in disbelief: “Joke? Are you.. Joking?” He felt like he needed her to confirm it again. All of this seemed so very unbelievable. 

“No! No. I- I mean that, Ruki, I … truth to be told, liked it a lot.. W-with you, you know?” she mumbled and looked like she almost bit her tongue. Suddenly he understood her comment about the knife earlier. In all his confusion Iruka had totally forgotten that Aori stopped acting like a normal human being when she had a crush on someone. When.. she had a crush… on someone…. His brain felt like it was frying itself at the revelation.

“Right, ok, right, yeah, ok..” Iruka tried to piece it all together. Before he knew what he was doing he grabbed the knife on the table and cut the hairband in his hair off to let the hair fall down over his shoulders.

Aori let out a baffled: “What was that for?”

“I don’t know, I’m fired up, I can’t tell you what’s going on. I’m so-”

She once again cut him off by pulling him by his shirt to her and when they kissed he suddenly felt like a weight that he had carried all his life had been lifted from off his shoulders.

Something was ending, but something was also beginning.  Eventually Aori drew back and pulled a little on his loose hair: “Seriously though, Ruki, how tacky was cutting your hair loose. Is that how you think you can get a girl?” He grinned. Maybe not all things were ending.

#fanfiction things #oc: aori #au: ikigai #i just think they are cute your honour #narutoocshipweek2022 #naruto oc ship week 2022

[sunsetfell]

Jesus Camp Days

Toms River, NJ, 2014.

Esther knew how to find the back door into the church’s Activity Center. When she was little, her mother took her there for Sunday School, and then for the occasional Baptist Youth Camp—what she now called her “Jesus Camp days.” So she undid the latch, then she and David stepped into the dark, concrete-walled entryway.

A moment prior, Esther and David had been walking in Toms River, New Jersey when Esther spotted their old church, where she and David had met in Sunday School. Today was first they’d seen each other since they were teenagers, after David, out of the blue, had called Esther’s parents at their land-line phone number. Esther had agreed to walk with David along a street they both knew long ago.

Once inside the Activity Center, Esther was shaken by a familiar smell, and then a host of other small familiarities that trickled in like water through a cracked dam. Much was unchanged: the dusty feel of the painted concrete wall, the low, off-white tiled ceiling, the construction paper on the bulletin boards where the Sunday School kids hung their projects. Other details—like rows of filing cabinets along the side wall—were either new or, somehow, forgotten.

“Do you remember...” Esther's voice trailed off.

“Remember?”

“Like... playing dodge-ball tag down here?"

Of course he did.

The two of them moved to the rainbow tile-patterned rug by the far corner and sat beneath the gray light dripping in from the basement-style window.

“I remembering seeing you here,” David said.

“Yeah... so many times.” Esther leaned back and straightened her legs. She was wearing loose-fitting cotton pants with a design of a field of wheat under a deep blue sky. The serene image clashed with the jarring colors of the rug.

“But I mean really seeing you,” David said. “You were sitting in the corner drawing in your notebook, alone like you usually were. You were wearing a black t-shirt with a cartoon character design on the front. Your hair kept falling in front of your face and you kept brushing it back. I wanted to tell you how beautiful you looked, but I also wanted to leave you in peace. In the end, I said nothing. I’ve regretted that ever since.”

“David, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“When you called my parents yesterday, were you just trying to reconnect?”

David looked up at the ceiling. He did not answer right away.

“Or was it something else?”

“I was serious about wanting to see you,” David said. “I hadn’t thought further ahead than that.”

“I see,” Esther said. She played with the fluffy strands of the rug with one hand. She remembered how she used to like the feel of this rug while she sketched in her notebook. It had been a while since she’d drawn for fun.

“Can I ask you something else?” Esther said, looking up from the rug.

“Sure,” David replied, still watching the ceiling tiles, seeming to find a meaning in them that escaped Esther.

“Am I still beautiful?”

David looked at Esther. After a few seconds, he answered:

“Physically, you are.”

“What about not physically?”

David paused. He looked at Esther’s shoes, pants, shirt (dark maroon, tight, and stretchy), and face—in that order.

“What I thought was beautiful about you then was your complete self-sufficiency. You had no need to prove anything or win anyone’s admiration. The drawing in your notebook would never be shared: it was for your eyes only. Your hair was just how you liked it in the mirror. I don’t know if you still have that kind of beauty.”

Now it was Esther’s turn to look at the ceiling. In so doing, she realized its appeal: the tiles’ familiar shade of grungy off-white that hadn’t changed in years.

David spoke again:

“But that’s not why I called your parents. I still wanted to see you, even if you were no longer self-sufficient.”

There was more silence. Esther wiped her eyes. Then she stood up quickly.

“I’m going to leave,” Esther said. “Please wait a bit before you follow. Let me get ahead of you.”

Then she ran out the back door and into the gray afternoon.

#story #church #romance #fiction #short story #new jersey #toms river

[spacecapart]

@ironqrowweek: Role Swap (technically day 6, but I’m a little late)

I was hoping that I’d be able to draw a proper thing for the role swap prompt, but unfortunately I haven’t had the time this week. I did, however, do these design sketches a while ago in preparation, so for once I’m sharing something from my scribbles sketchbook. So, behold, independent Huntsman James and military general Qrow!

The roleswap idea I’m working with here is basically ‘what if Beacon was the militarised kingdom and Atlas was just the technologically advanced one?’ Don’t ask me how the overall plot of the show works when it’s that way around, but I figure maybe the kids end up travelling to Atlas for the Vytal Festival in the early volumes and after the kingdom is attacked by Salem James ends up being the one who goes on the roadtrip mission with them while Qrow returns to Beacon. He’s probably not quite The General the same way James is, sharing the role with Glynda and with Ozpin above both of them, but Qrow does rather get the short end of the straw in the swap. He gets all of the stress James had to deal with after Ozpin disappeared on top of his other issues, poor chap. James, meanwhile, gets to hang out with the kids more, which I really enjoy because he could have had such a good dynamic with them if he’d gotten to spend more time with them. And, since this is an Ironqrow AU, Ruby and Yang are still technically travelling with their uncle. There’s a lot of fun potential character stuff there, with Ruby and James butting heads over who’s actually in charge, and Yang having someone around to talk to about losing a limb, and then there’s also the fact that Weiss would already know James (since he’d still be a mentor to Winter).

As for the designs, I tried to stick to their usual vibes while moving in a more practical/rugged sort of direction for James and a more military formal one for Qrow. James is probably always going to be the neater of the two, he’s just like that, and I just can’t redesign him without keeping the tie. I also like to think that, without the pressure of being a public figure, he would be a little more comfortable letting people see his prosthetic arm, which is my excuse for the rolled up sleeves. The emblem patch on his shoulder is based on my headcanon for the emblem he used before he was a soldier, which is an anatomical heart shape formed out of the same swirling patterns from his guns. And he keeps the beard because I enjoy it, although here it’s a bit shorter and neater even while his hair is a little more windswept.

I based Qrow’s outfit vaguely on the Beacon school uniforms, reasoning that if Beacon had a military the uniform designs wouldn’t be dissimilar. He gets to keep his usual colour scheme (which, you might notice, matches James - I really liked the fact that their outfits in vol3 were so complimentary to each other so I’ve kept that vibe), and his cape, although this time it’s a half cape to try and lean into the fancy military vibe. I figure the loose tie is his small act of rebellion against wearing a uniform, and went with him being clean-shaven and keeping his hair more slicked back, although I reckon both of those things would slide as he got more overwhelmed with responsibility. I figure the kids would eventually make it back home to Beacon by around vol7 the same way they travelled to Atlas to find military aid, and I can’t imagine poor Qrow would be doing too well by the time they got there...

I do enjoy redesigning these two, and one of these days I will actually get around to drawing some proper stuff with this concept, it’s an especially fun one.

#ironqrowweek #ironqrow #james ironwood #qrow branwen #rwby fanart #mine: fanart #mine: sketch

[dreamingpartone]

Do you have any tips for working on sketches and proportions?

ooh! that's a good and tricky question, anon…. I’m not sure how helpful I can be without a bit more specific direction (especially sketching; there are all sorts of ways to sketch all sorts of things) but I've tried to come up with some general tips! just let me know if you were wondering about anything else in particular!

*usual disclaimer that I’m not an expert and different art strokes work for different folks*

SKETCHES:

✦ Very basic, but start light and loose with sketching — the first thing you want to get down is just gesture/shapes/positioning, then worry about refining and adding detail afterwards

Purely for personal ease, I often use a light pencil (2H) to start my sketches, and then go over it with a mechanical pencil (B). On the other hand: thicker, softer pencils (like 3B+) are really fun to work with for rougher, more gestural sketches or studies!!

(You can replicate this digitally too, by changing brush size and opacity)

✦ Try working small? I’ve never been great at drawing large-scale, but I also think keeping sketches on the smaller side helps me think about what the most important features to capture are

✦ If we’re talking figures, try sketching things in different orders to find what suits you; obviously a lot of people start with the head (including me 90% of the time), but I also like drawing in the angle for shoulders or blocking in the torso first sometimes, so feel free to experiment!

✦ Probably the most important thing: don’t worry about making mistakes in sketches, and especially don’t worry about how nice they look! Unless you have to or want to share them, sketches are just for you, and they’re not meant to be masterpieces. As long as you get what you need from them (whether that’s jotting down a quick idea for later, getting the base ready for a big piece, or practicing drawing xyz) then that’s their job done!

PROPORTIONS:

✦ I'm gonna guess you probably mean the human anatomy kind of proportions? (In which case, I am going to skip over the standard “look at and draw a lot of people” because that is obvious and not-particularly-motivating advice in my experience :’))

✦ Again, make sure to start with simple shapes, and know that it’s okay to use easy references! You're not gonna love working on proportions if you jump immediately to a really complex pose or angle and then get frustrated when you can't get it right

✦ Doing studies is great, but make them suit you. I've never been that diligent about studying anatomy and proportions; I enjoy doing quick pose sketches every now and then, but tbh I mostly took the long road of improving proportions by sketching a crap load of fanart over the years, and therefore using references that I have more of an investment in than just “random man #5 posing”

(e.g. I’m pretty sure just absorbing 45 volumes of Haikyuu gave me a little art boost because Furudate is so good at it  — but it also meant I started using actual volleyball photos for sketches and art references, which was great fun! I have also used cricket, classical sculptures, various tv screencaps, meme-y kpop pics, etc, as studies in the past, because they make me actually want to sit down and draw, which is the important first step!)

(ALSO: taking photos of yourself as a reference is 👌 very quick and useful. I have many random photos of myself posing on my phone)

✦ There are some very general but handy proportion guides that I've absorbed over the years, like: a person’s thumb is about the length of their nose, their foot is about the length of their forearm, when arms are relaxed at the sides elbows reach to the navel and fingertips reach about mid-thigh, from the front nipples are in line with the ears, eyes line up at the edge of nostrils, ears are placed between the top of the eye and bottom of the nose (actually ear placement is super handy for getting head angles to look good), etc etc !

(Obviously though, these aren't accurate for every single real life person and can be broken for interesting character design anyway)

✦ Also the Measuring In Heads trick — a classic and pretty common guide for (standing) proportions, once again not 100% foolproof, but measuring your figure in heads can get you a good basis for overall proportion. The “rule” is that a person is generally 7.5 heads tall, so in my art I usually go between 7-8 heads, with the waist at about 3 heads from the top

(I only bother with/remember those two points, but from a quick google apparently you can also measure where the nipples (2 heads) and pelvis (4 heads) are with this one!)

#anon sorry this got long dhdjdjd i went into it going ''i think i have like three tips'' and then suddenly i wrote all that #this is ur warning that there's a bunch of text behind that readmore #is any of it useful? who knows. i hope so :') <3 #anonymous #ask #art asks #and as i said feel free to send another ask if there were any specifics you wanted!! #these art questions really always make me go ''hmm. how DO i draw actually?'' #it's all habit at this point and i'm never certain if they're good ones lmaoo

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

If I Fell For You (Part 15) - Trouble In Paradise

Summary: The reader is enjoying settling into her newfound children’s book career and shares how important the bracelet she gave Jensen is to her. A rainy day allows the reader to enjoy her shift into motherhood despite all of the bumps that go with it. But not everything is smooth sailing for the happy couple...

Masterlist

Pairing: Jensen x nanny!reader

Word Count: 5,600ish

Warnings: language, angst, mention of past abuse, nightmares, major angst

A/N: Uh oh. Big uh oh. Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

________

Two Weeks Later

“Honey bun,” sang Jensen as he stepped into your home office you’d set up in the small reading room in the house. “Must you work today?”

“I do occasionally have to work on that drawing thing,” you said. He pouted and laid out on the daybed, picking up a copy of the third book. “Give me another hour to finish with these pages.”

“Can I hang out and watch you draw?” he asked.

“Knock your socks off,” you said. You picked up your stylus again and went back to your pad, Jensen sitting up and watching from the other side of the room. “You can sit closer if you want.”

He got up and pulled over a chair, crossing his legs in it.

“I basically draw using my stylus and this pad and it shows up on my laptop screen,” you said.

“We could get you a better screen, like your own separate work computer. I know your stories are picking up a lot of steam.”

“I’m okay for now. All I need to do is finish illustrating this book and my five book deal is done and ready for print,” you said.

“Can I make a request?”

“I would love to put in a giraffe for Zepp but the story takes place in the woods,” you said.

“Baby giraffe? Maybe just in the background?” he asked.

You backed out of your current page and went to the last two where the foxes and wolves were playing with their friends. You tapped on a tree and erased it, sketching out a loose shape.

“Look up a giraffe for me?” you asked. He tapped away on his phone and pulled up a picture. “Thanks.”

You drew a picture of a rough giraffe, softening it some before adding colors.

“You’re really good at that,” he said.

“The characters are easy. Backgrounds can get boring,” you said. You went back to your original set of pages and worked quietly, Jensen watching carefully. “Yes?”

“Just wanna spend time with you is all,” he said, resting his head on your shoulder.

“Okay, baby,” you said. You worked for another hour, Jensen asking the occasional question but mostly staying silent and close by. After you sent off the pages for review you turned to him, Jensen offering a soft smile in return. “All set with work for the day.”

“Awesome,” he said.

“Where’s the munchkins?”

“A movie,” he said. You ran your fingers through his hair and he leaned into it. “Tell me a secret.”

“A secret? I don’t think I have too many of those left from you,” you said. He opened his eyes and looked at you through his lashes. “What?”

“You said you got this on vacation,” he said, holding up his wrist, the bracelet you’d put on him two weeks ago still there. “When we were down there, I was talking to Ray and he kinda implied it wasn’t just a souvenir.”

“I was upset that day when he bought it for me. It meant I was safe was all,” you said.

“How long after did your mom…”

“A few months. She went on bed rest after that trip.”

“Y/N, I know when you’re holding back, honey. I would never judge or tell anyone anything. You know that.”

“You got hurt because you lost someone and you got hurt and it sucks right? But it’s kinda like something happened and then you heal from it right?”

“Yeah…” he said. “What don’t I know?”

“You know how anxious you were to get in the car and drive down to the beach?” you asked as he nodded. “You’ve never been afraid of a person, Jensen. It’s like that feeling...but everyday and you’re expected to live your life normally when you constantly have that over your head.”

He was quiet, glancing past you as the room grew darker from some passing clouds outside.

“Canada wasn’t the first time you saw your father since you were adopted, was it,” he said.

“You wouldn’t believe what a good lawyer and shitty laws will do for a piece of shit like that,” you said.

“You were a kid.”

“With zero physical evidence. Everything was circumstantial. So he got out and he came to apologize or some bullshit and Ray decked him.”

“The more I learn about Ray, the more I like him.”

“My mom kicked him in the nuts.”

“I really like that woman,” he said. You smiled and he moved his chair closer, pulling you into his lap. “I don’t mean to make you talk about your dad. I was curious was all.”

He went to take off the bracelet when you put a hand over it.

“I don’t want to remind you of something bad, sweetheart.”

“Like I said, I was upset. Very upset and in public and I went down to the beach to try to hide away. Ray bought that for me and told me I was safe when he put it on me. All it means to me is that you’re safe.”

“What about you? What do you have?” he asked quietly. You cocked your head and moved your hand to rest over his chest. “Alright, sort of a dumb question.”

“Not dumb,” you said, trailing your fingers down his chest.

“Guess you’ll just have to stay as close as humanly possible.”

“I don’t have a problem with that,” you said.

“Do you have a restraining order against your father?”

“No but that’s only because Ray managed to get him kicked out of the country. He found some loophole law. He was born in the Yukon so technically he’s not American and he got him kicked back.”

“Scratch that. Ray is my new favorite person,” he said. “If only we could send him someplace we’ll never visit like...a deserted island. Or Hell.”

“I appreciate the thought but I’m not scared of him anymore,” you said. “I am however afraid our plans of lunch at the brewery are going to get rained out.”

“We can enjoy ourselves right here. I’ve never heard a complaint yet about my grilling.”

“You know what? I got the perfect idea.”

“Okay,” said Jensen, sliding the foil packet off the grill and onto JJ’s plate. You’d decided to have lunch on the grill, sitting out under the covered back patio off the playroom. It was pouring rain but you were plenty dry there. “Chicken, marinara sauce and cheese. Then we got chicken, ketchup and baby carrots for Arrow. Zeppy wanted to try barbecue sauce and onion which sounded good to me and then Y/N went for the salmon and lemon.”

You helped the twins open up their foil packets and get their food on their plates, dicing up the chicken for them before going to your own plate.

“Daddy,” said Zeppelin while he chewed on a big piece of chicken. Jensen hummed and worked on his own food. “Can we play race cars after lunch?”

“Sure,” he said, JJ shaking her head.

“I don’t wanna play cars,” she said. Zeppelin stared at her and his bottom lip wobbled. “You’re a cry baby.”

“JJ, that’s rude,” you said, Jensen glancing at you and nodding. “Apologize to your brother.”

“Sorry,” she mumbled. 

“We’re gonna play cars after lunch and you’re welcome to join,” said Jensen. “Your brother goes along with what you girls want to play quite a bit so I think you can do the same for him.”

“I still don’t wanna play cars,” she mumbled.

“You play cars with the Padalecki boys all the time,” you said.

“Not little kid cars,” she said. “He doesn’t know how to play right.”

You saw Zeppelin getting upset again and sighed.

“There’s no wrong way to play,” you said. “Zepp’s littler than you. You gotta be the big sister and do what he wants sometimes.”

“Mom would have played dress up,” she grumbled. “Not stupid cars.”

“Enough,” said Jensen. “You’re old enough to know better.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Your brother wants to play cars. We played horses all morning long and you barely let him have a turn at that so like I said, we’re gonna play what he wants and you are welcome to join us but if you don’t want to, you can play something else,” he said. 

“Baby,” she said under her breath. Jensen didn’t catch it but you did.

“JJ you’re in timeout after lunch. Ten minutes,” you said. 

“I didn’t-”

“You just called him a baby. You want to make it fifteen?” you asked.

“You’re not my mom! You can’t give me timeouts,” she said.

“Half an hour now,” said Jensen. She stared at him and he shook his head. “Eat your lunch.”

Zeppelin spent half of it crying quietly and JJ barely touched hers before she was following Jensen inside. You threw your head back and sighed before you went inside to get some tissues. When you came back out Arrow was hugging him tightly.

“Let’s clean you up, buddy,” you said as you squatted down beside them. She let go of him and you wiped off his face and helped him blow his nose. “Feel better?”

“We can play dress up,” he said. You picked him up and hoisted him on your hip. 

“We’re gonna play cars. Arrow, do you want to play with us?” you asked. She smiled and nodded. “Hey how about you go wash your hands and then you can bring out the bucket of cars and we’ll play out here. How’s that sound Zepp?”

“Okay,” he said. Arrow went inside and you carried him around as you collected the trash and threw it in the bag you brought out. You tied it up and left it in the corner to put in the bin later before you you walked to the edge of the covered patio, rain coming down at a decent rate. “Y/N you’re my mom right?”

“I’m one of your moms,” you said. “I’m gonna adopt you that way everybody can know I am though.”

“Cool,” he said softly, resting his head on your shoulder. “Mom can we play in the rain?”

“Hear any thunder?” you asked. He shook his head. “See any lightning?”

“Nuh uh,” he said.

“Then we can play in the rain all you want,” you said. You walked out to the grass and spun around with him, getting a giggle out of him. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” he asked. You spun around again and he laughed.

“There it is again!” you said. He giggled and you spun around a few times until you were dizzy and took a seat. He hugged you and kissed your cheek as you noticed Jensen leaning against the post of the patio. He was smiling and you hopped up with Zeppelin, waving him around in the air until you were back under cover. You set him down and he ran over to Arrow, picking out his favorite cars from the bucket and handing her some. 

“Well that might have been one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen,” he said. 

“You took a picture, didn’t you.”

“Oh several,” he said. He glanced back at the twins and then at you. “It clicked for you just now didn’t it.”

“Being a mom? Yeah.”

“You didn’t look to me on how to discipline JJ and you made him feel better and you made him laugh. You went full mom there and I’ve kinda been waiting for that.”

“I know it’s just playing they’re arguing over but I just hate...there is so much of you in him,” you said.

“I know and that feeling will never go away but it means you love ‘em and loving them is my only requirement for us working so this was actually a really good thing.”

“Those two are so sweet,” you said.

“It’s the twin thing. Oh what fun we have to look forward to when they are teenagers and they lie to us for one another,” he chuckled.

“Yeah but I’ll take it. Did you really give her a half hour timeout?”

“Fifteen minutes. She needs to share more and he doesn’t like confrontation so he goes along with what she wants but it’s not her road or the highway.”

“She’s been a little…”

“I know. Since we told them about the engagement,” he said. “We gotta talk to her on her own.”

“Let me take a crack at her first?” you asked.

“You got a hunch?”

“I don’t think having a mom again is a problem. I think the idea of losing a mom again is.”

“That makes sense considering she was attached to your hip before all this.”

“I’m gonna go see if I can get to the bottom of this. Now go play cars,” you said. He kissed your cheek and you headed inside, drying off some with a towel in the laundry room before you went up to JJ’s bedroom. You knocked and cracked open the door, catching her splayed out on her bed. “JJ. Can we talk?”

She rolled and put her back to you. You sat down on the edge of her bed and took a deep breath.

“You know your brother did what you wanted all day. You have to share,” you said. She didn’t say anything and you lay back on the bed, turning your head. She rolled back the other way and you sat up. She rolled again and you tilted your head back. “JJ do you want me to be your mom?”

“No,” she mumbled. 

“Are you lying?” She didn’t move and you sat back, her face scrunched up. “Are you scared if I’m your mom something bad will happen to me?”

“I don’t want two dead moms,” she said. 

“I have two dead moms,” you said. She blinked her eyes open and sat up. “My first mom, I never met her. She died giving birth to me.”

“You only had a dad when you were born?” she asked. You nodded and pulled her into your lap. “Did he get married again?”

“No. My dad was very mad my mom died. He took that out on me. He was a bad guy. He went to jail and I got adopted by my mom when I was your age. Ray was her boyfriend. He acted like he was my dad in a lot of ways. I was sixteen when my mom died. I understand it hurts, sweetie, and that it’s scary and you don’t ever want to feel like that again.”

“I thought if I was bad you and daddy wouldn’t...and then I don’t have to feel bad again.”

“I am so sorry honey but you can’t stop that feeling from never coming back. The only way you could not get it would be to not love anyone or anything and that’s not a life at all. It’s the price you pay for loving someone. Your mom was an accident. But Daddy is young and I’m even younger and I promise you will not have to feel that way about me for a very, very long time.”

“How long?”

“How about fifty years?”

“Fifty years? That’s forever,” she said. 

“I’ll give you fifty years if I can be your mom and you stop picking on Zepp. Deal?”

“Okay. I’m sorry I made him cry.”

“I’m not the one that needs an apology,” you said. “Now do you want stay in here all by yourself or do you want to come play with us?”

“I can play?” she asked.

“Absolutely,” you said. You got up and carried her down on your back, setting her down to let her run off out to the porch. Jensen got up from his seat and held up a finger, ducking back inside to where you were.

“That’s what I like to see,” he said as she gave Zeppelin a hug and he handed her a car.

“I did have to promise not to die for fifty years.”

“Fifty? You got off easy. I had to promise a hundred after the accident,” he chuckled. “I should have noticed she was scared.”

“I have more experience being a scared little girl than you do. I got experience with letting people get close again too,” you said.

“How’s that working out for ya?” he smirked.

“He’s lucky he’s hot,” you said. He threw his arm over your shoulders and grinned. “Do you want to get married in the fall?”

“This fall?” he asked.

“Can we pull it off that fast?” you asked.

“Yeah. We don’t have to book a venue which is the hardest part. I don’t see why not. What’s the rush?” he asked.

“It’s easier to adopt them if we’re married,” you said. “I don’t really want to wait longer than we have to if that’s alright.”

“I’d say let’s go drive down to city hall and get a justice of the peace right now if I knew my mother wouldn’t kill me for it. How about I call up the lawyer and ask him to start prepping the paperwork as if we already were so it’s all set to go,” he said.

“You have a lawyer?” you asked. “They’d do that?”

“Y/N, honey. My taxes alone frighten me not to mention I own a business with employees and what qualifies as a business write off still confuses me and wait you don’t have a lawyer for your book deal?”

“Should I have one?” 

“Greg is your lawyer now,” he said. “He’s good. He’ll do all the paperwork for us.”

“Oh good cause all the forms online were confusing the hell out of me,” you said. He shook his head and pulled you in close. 

“Silly goose,” he said, a loud boom of thunder shaking the house. “Let’s get the crew inside before it pours.”

“Who wants to build a fort?” you asked that afternoon. JJ jumped up and down on the couch and Jensen walked in with an arm full of blankets and sheets. Three little hands shot up and Jensen lazily tossed the blankets on the couch, covering the three of them.

“Hm, where’d those three munchkins run off to…” he said, Arrow ducking her head out first, hair all in her face. Jensen giggled and she rolled her eyes, the other two climbing out. “Alright. I’m gonna grab clothes pins and a few more things. You guys start designing.”

You stood back and let JJ organize, figuring out her first choice of blanket for a roof was too small. Jensen returned with a bag of clips, some twine and the step ladder, wrapping his arms around your waist and resting his head on your shoulder.

“How they doing?” he whispered.

“Picking out the roof,” you said, Arrow rushing over and grabbing his hand as Zeppelin climbed on JJ’s back and held up a sheet over the two of them with one hand. You smirked and she let out another eye roll.

“Daddy, can you pick up Zeppy so then he can put the blankie up? I told them they’re too small,” she said.

“Sure,” he said. “Tell me where you want it to go.”

Twenty minutes later the family room was covered with sheets, tied off to the stairs, chairs, the ceiling fan after Jensen broke out the larger ladder to get up there and assured you it wouldn’t bring the whole thing crashing down. 

“Can we sleep in here tonight?” asked JJ. 

“I don’t see why not,” you said. “There’s plenty of room on the couch. We’ll bring down your comforters when it’s bedtime,” you said.

“Can we watch Cars?” asked Zeppelin, glancing at JJ. 

“Okay,” she said. She gave him a hug and picked him up, Jensen smiling to himself as he looked on.

“Can we get pizza for dinner like a real sleepover?” asked Arrow. 

“We did cook up all the chicken at lunch,” you said, giving Jensen a side eye.

“Yeah we’ll get one,” he said. “Why don’t you turn on your movie okay? We’ll be right there.”

You let Jensen pull you into the kitchen, smirking as he picked you up and sat you on the counter.

“Seems like today’s crisis has been averted,” you said.

“I’m sure they’ll go back to tormenting each other tomorrow but I’ll take it,” he said, reaching into the drawer next to you, pulling out a menu. “So. You interested in pizza?”

“Oh that looks interesting,” you said, taking the pamphlet out of his hand and tapping at a special. “One cheese, one speciality, boneless wings and garlic bread? My little carb loving heart is in love.”

“She’s not the only one,” he said, leaning up on his tip toes and kissing you. 

“Are you coming?” groaned JJ from in the fort. You shook your head and Jensen kissed your neck, even nibbling before he pulled back. You smacked his chest and he set the menu down, giving you a wink.

“We’re coming in right now. Don’t wait for us kiddo.”

You woke up sweating, Jensen shushing you, arms wrapped around you. You took a deep breath and caught the clock said it was almost three. You turned in his arms and buried your head in his chest, his hand rubbing up and down your back.

“You’re okay. Bad dream is all,” he said softly. You nodded and started to relax, flinching when there was more thunder. “Hey, it’s okay. Nothing’s gonna get ya.”

The thunder shook the house and you tensed up. Jensen pulled the covers over both your heads and you crammed in as close as humanly possible when more thunder hit.

“Honey look at me. Please look at me.” You lifted your head and saw a horrible face in front of you, a scream ripping out of your throat.

“Y/N,” you heard as you woke up absolutely drenched, Jensen’s hands on your face. “Honey, talk to me. Can you hear me?”

“Night terror,” you said quietly. 

“Yeah, JJ used to have them. I didn’t know adults could get them,” he said. 

“Can I have a cold washcloth? And some water?” you asked. He got out of bed and padded into the bathroom in his boxers, settling back into bed and handing you the water. You drank it down while he wiped off your face and neck, running it over your head. “Thanks.”

“You okay?” he asked. 

“Mostly feel embarrassed.” He frowned and you put the glass on your nightstand, staring down at your sweaty shirt. 

“Should I call Ray?”

“It was a stupid nightmare. I’m fine,” you said.

“You were sat up eyes wide open and talking and shouting and I couldn’t wake you up,” he said. “I know adults really shouldn’t be getting night terrors so maybe something triggered you or something during the day.”

“I know my triggers and I know when it’s just a stupid nightmare. Back off,” you said. You got out from under the hot covers and went outside to the balcony, the air nice and cool from the storm earlier. The slide of the door was loud in the the quiet and you rubbed your arm. “I’m sorry.”

“I’ve seen you have nightmares. That was a lot worse,” he said.

“I thought I saw someone watching the house earlier.”

“What?”

“It was the neighbor’s kid, the teenager. It was his friend and he came over late but I thought...it freaked me out. That on top of thinking about the fact my father is not rotting in a jail cell most likely sent me over the edge,” you said. He walked in front of you, resting his hands on your arms. “I’m okay. Needed some air was all.”

“Alright. Tell me if something like that happens again?” he asked. You hummed and he gave you a kiss. “Okay, sweetheart. Let’s head on back to bed.”

“What do you mean?” you growled into the phone the next evening. Jensen lifted his head from his book in the family room and you walked away, stepping out to the private patio area on the side of the house. “That’s not possible.”

“It’s been fifteen years. He has every legal right to be in the country.”

“In the country! He got an apartment seven minutes from where I live!” you said. “I have little kids here, Finn. Tell me there’s something I can do.”

“I can get a restraining order-”

“That doesn’t mean shit to him. I need him fucking deported. I need him gone.”

“Y/N, you know me. I have never agreed to it but he paid his debt as it was assigned and he quietly followed the law. He did what he was supposed to and I’m sorry but until he does something, I can’t do anything besides help you and your fiance’s family get a restraining order.”

“So until he does something horrible again, I can’t do anything about it.”

“Y/N.”

“No Finn. I appreciate the heads up but...I have to go.”

You hung up and squeezed your phone tight. He knew where you lived. He was minutes away and there was absolutely zero help until something went wrong. You sat on a bench and bounced your leg. Nothing could go wrong. You couldn’t let anything go wrong. Who knew what the son of a bitch would do to any one of them.

You stopped bouncing your leg just as you heard the door open. You lifted your head and stood, spinning around to Jensen standing there.

“Everything alright?”

“Actually no.”

“Who was on the phone?”

“My ex,” you said, swallowing. You crossed your arms and thought of the things Jensen had told you about acting and getting in character and all that. You were gonna destroy him. Fuck you were going to end up shattering him into a thousand pieces he’d never put back together. 

You couldn’t really lie just to keep them away from him, could you? 

You saw Arrow run past in the house and made your face hard. Broken heart but safe kids was worth it.

“I thought you didn’t talk to him anymore,” said Jensen. You turned up your chin and he smiled. “You are the worst actress in the world. Who was it really?”

“I think we’re moving too fast and I want to take a break and I would appreciate it if you gave me my space to figure this out on my own.”

“Uh, what?” he said. You brushed past him and he followed you in, all the way up to your bedroom. You got out a bag and he flipped it shut. “What the hell is going on? Who was on the phone?”

“My boyfriend,” you said. He stared at you and you sighed. “You’re a great guy but I’m sorry. I can’t do the house and kids thing. I want to go see the world and not be tied down and you’re just...you’re too damn old for me.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Maybe you should have trusted your first instincts when you saw me and Doug,” you said. He stared at you while you shoved some clothes in a bag. You slung it over your shoulder and he caught the backside of it. You took off your ring and put it on the table by the door, Jensen dropping his hand. “I just can’t do this anymore. It wasn’t you. I’m sorry. I really need to go.”

______

A/N: Read Part 16 here!

#spn #supernatural #jensen ackles #jensen ackles x reader #jensen x reader #jensen series #rpf #rpf series #spn fanfic #jensen ackles fanfic #supernatural fanfic

[shemarmooresfedora]

Rebuilding Family

Summary: Y/N and Spencer were college sweethearts at Cal-Tech but once Spencer got accepted to the FBI Academy, he ended things deciding it was not fair to make Y/N wait for him. When they meet again years later, he discovers something unexpected.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

A/N: i hit 200 followers!! as celebration, i put out a list of 40 prompts and you can send me an ask with up to three and i will write a one-shot including them! i have already received one request and i’m already in the process of writing it but i would love to write more!

Masterlist

Chapter 23

You inhaled sharply as you sat up in the hospital bed. Spencer looked at you, concerned.

“The doctor gave you the option to stay here for one more night. Are you sure you want to be discharged today?” Spencer asked.

“I need to go home. It’s so boring here. I’ll heal quicker at home, I promise,” you whined.

“Scientifically, that’s not possible but fine. Don’t think for a second that I’m going against the doctor’s orders though. Bed rest for a week,” Spencer brushed the stray hairs off your face and placed a gentle kiss on your forehead.

“You’re no fun,” you pouted as he helped you into the wheelchair.

“I think Jo and Penelope have a little surprise for you waiting at home that will cheer you up,” Spencer smiled.

-

Spencer insisted on carrying you bridal-style through the front door because you couldn’t walk up the steps.

“We’re not officially married yet,” you teased.

“Oh hush, I’d keep you in my arms forever if I could,” he pulled you closer to his chest.

You snuggled into his cardigan that smelled like an old bookstore, “I guess I wouldn’t mind that either.”

Spencer slowly put you down and opened the door to your bedroom. Technically, it was you and Spencer’s shared bedroom now because he hardly ever used his bedroom now other than as storage for his things. Most of his clothes had already migrated to your closet and one of your bedside tables now had piles of books, a journal with chicken scratch, and his reading glasses atop it.

Inside, you saw Jo and Penelope holding heart balloons that said “Get Well Soon!” and a big teddy bear.

“Awww, thank you, my lovelies,” you smiled.

“I brought the mini fridge from my office so you are fully stocked with waters, juice, ice cream, fruit, whatever your little heart desires,” Penelope chirped.

“Thank you, Pen. You didn’t have to do that. I feel bad now. Where are you going to put your lunch?”

“Nonsense, my dear! There’s a fridge in the break room I can use. Don’t worry about me,” she assured you.

“And I made you drawings, Mommy,” Jo gestured to the walls of the room covered in colorful crayon sketches of animals, dinosaurs, trees, and people.

“Oh my god, these are so gorgeous, Jo! They are definitely going to help me get better, thank you.”

Jo hopped up on the bed to give you a hug.

“You’re welcome, Mommy,” she said as you planted a kiss on her head.

“Alright, I’m going to head out. Let me know if there’s anything I or anyone else at the BAU can do, literally anything, you just name it,” Penelope stated.

“Bye, Pen. Thank you so much,” you waved.

“Do you want soup? Spring rolls? Tea? What can I do for you, love?” Spencer eagerly asked.

“Could you please see if we have the ingredients for a cake for a special little 7 year-old?” you grinned.

“One cake, coming right up,” Spencer nodded, “Jo, do you want to help or stay with Mommy?”

“Stay with Mommy,” Jo grabbed the TV remote and curled into your side.

“Can you handle it?” you asked hesitantly, knowing baking wasn’t really Spencer’s forte.

“I will try my best,” he smiled, “And if not, I will go to the store.”

-

An hour later, Spencer opened the bedroom door, holding a chocolate cake with purple candles. He looked absolutely adorable, he was wearing your sunflower apron and he had flour residue on his nose.

“As promised,” he smiled, setting the cake down.

Jo was practically drooling as the cake was set in front of her.

“Hold on, I need to get plates and forks!” Spencer rushed out of the room and down the stairs.

“You better hurry. Jo looks like she is ready to just start eating it with her hands,” you laughed.

-

A week later, you woke up super early and jumped out of bed, dancing around a little in Spencer’s sweater, your PJ shorts, and fuzzy socks.

“Bed rest is over!” you cheered quietly to yourself, going downstairs to make banana bread.

Spencer came down fifteen minutes later as you were dancing around the kitchen to your music and whisking the batter.

“Bed rest is over,” you beamed as he came up behind you, tucking his chin into your neck and squeezing you softly, leaving a kiss as he pulled away.

“I love you,” he grinned.

“And I love you too...Spence, I was thinking…” you turned to face him after you put the pan in the oven.

“About what?” he asked, leaning against the kitchen counter with his mug of coffee.

“I don’t want to wait any longer. Can we please get married already?” you asked.

“Like now now?” he smiled softly.

“Like as soon as we can but still having a small ceremony so our friends and family don’t kill us for eloping,” you placed your hands on his chest.

“JJ and Will had their wedding in Rossi’s backyard,” Spencer suggested.

“Penelope did say if we needed anything, just ask,” you grinned.

Spencer already had his phone out of his pocket before you could say anything else. He dialed Rossi and put it on speaker.

“Reid, to what do I owe this pleasure on a lovely Tuesday morning,” Rossi spoke through the phone.

“Hey, Rossi. Y/N and I kind of have a big favor to ask,” Spencer began.

“Name it.”

-

Everything was a whirlwind after that. You decided Saturday evening would be best for the wedding so you and Spencer had exactly five days to coordinate your wedding.

Luckily, the team took care of most of the planning like the caterer and the set-up of Rossi’s backyard but you and Spencer’s opinions were still needed for everything from which flowers you wanted in your bouquet to what flavor of cake.

You and Spencer sat in bed one night criss-cross across from each other and you each had a little journal and pen in your hand. You both wrote your vows over the next hour. Spencer would occasionally look up at you, stare for a minute, silently smiling, and then continue jotting something down.

Spencer pushed up his glasses on the bridge of his nose and leaned over your journal.

“No peeking!” you rolled on your back, flailing your legs so he couldn’t get to your journal.

“Ugh fine, I surrender,” he laughed, grabbing on to your legs to stop your movements, “I guess I can wait 3 more days.”

He leaned down to kiss you.

“3 more days,” you repeated with a dreamy smile.

-

You and Jo met the BAU ladies at a boutique to get dresses for everyone. You had decided on a dusty blue for the bridesmaid dress color but you let them choose which style they wanted so everyone was matching but still got to decide which dress they liked best.

Jo was essentially given free rein in the children’s section of the store and chose a pale pink dress with a bow on the back that would serve as her flower girl dress.

After all that was settled, everyone gathered on the couch near the fitting room to watch you try on dresses, you had been saying from the start that you just wanted something simple. All the options in the store were overwhelming to you but the girls insisted you at least try on a little of everything to get a feel for it.

You came out in a huge poofy wedding dress courtesy of Penelope.

Jo burst out in giggles, “Mommy looks like a cupcake.”

“I think anything overly poofy is ruled out. I want to be able to pee without the help of 3 bridesmaids,” you walked back into the fitting room.

Next was a gown with lots of detailed beading and lace and a long train.

“I think it’s too much,” you sighed, “Plus, I don’t want to trip on this train while walking down the aisle,” you returned to the stall.

You walked out of the dressing room once more and everyone gasped.

“Oh my god,” Penelope was fanning her face to dry the fast-forming tears.

“Y/N, I don’t want to speak for you but I think this is the one,” JJ smiled.

The dress you were wearing was a white satin gown. It was a maxi dress with spaghetti straps and it hugged your hips but was loose around your legs so it was still comfortable.

“It’s perfect,” you smiled softly, looking in the mirror.

Jo hopped off of Emily’s lap and joined you on the little stage, still in her flower girl dress, doing a little twirl. You started to cry from all the happiness and pent-up excitement you were feeling.

-

“Hey, how’d it go?” Spencer asked when you got home.

You rounded the corner to the couch where he was laying.

“That good?” he asked.

“What?” you furrowed your brow, looking at him in confusion because you hadn’t said anything yet.

“You have remnants of mascara on your cheeks indicating that you were crying and that means you must have found the perfect dress because Jo is over there grinning like a fool,” Spencer smiled.

“You know you’re a retired profiler, right?” you teased.

“Mommy looked so pretty, Daddy! You wouldn’t even believe it!” Jo exclaimed.

“Oh, I believe it, Princess,” Spencer lifted Jo up on to his lap, “I know it’s against the rules for me to see Mommy’s dress but can you do a fashion show for me with yours?”

Jo nodded enthusiastically, running up to her room with the bag in her hand.

“Ready!” she called out a few minutes later.

“Now introducing your royal highness, Princess Josephine Y/L/N-Reid,” Spencer announced as Jo walked down the stairs, doing a fancy royal wave.

A/N: i absolutely can not wait to write the wedding chapter

#spencer reid fluff #spencer reid x you #spencer reid x reader #dad!spencer #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid #reid x reader #spencer x reader #cm fanfic #criminal minds

[wafflesandkruge]

One Early Morning in Os Alta

Nikolai accidentally drinks one of David's experiments and becomes obsessed with solving the mystery that is Zoya Nazyalensky. The Triumvirate is his most unwilling audience as he attempts to piece together where she goes at night with nothing but his caffeine-fueled brain and a chalkboard.

Written for the @grishaversebigbang mini bang! Thank you so much to the amazing @kolarpem (x) and @denndrawings​ (x) who created beautiful art for this fic 🥺 ❤️  

ao3

In their three short years of marriage, Genya and David had developed a morning routine. David, eager to get to the labs early so he could have the room to himself, would wake at the crack of dawn like clockwork and share a few sleepy kisses with her before getting on his way. After a few more hours of much-needed beauty sleep, Genya would commandeer some breakfast and find him tinkering away at whatever project Nikolai had put him to. It was a comfortable rhythm, a familiar constant in their otherwise hectic lives.

But today, Genya was just drifting off to sleep again after being woken by her husband when the door to their bedroom slammed open to reveal a very disheveled David. His glasses were slightly more askew than usual and his kefta rumpled. Genya let out a small yawn.

“David? What’s wrong?”

“There has been a development.” He didn’t elaborate further as he strode over to their wardrobe and pulled out her kefta. She tugged it over her head without question and followed him sleepily out of the room. They’d been together long enough that she’d learned not to try to get him to elaborate. He’d either clam up for hours trying to find the right words or talk in circles trying to fully explain a very easily explainable situation. Only the Saints knew what it was this time. She just hoped it was something easily resolvable so she could go back to sleep. Perhaps a puppy running loose in the labs, or an Inferni who’d burned off their eyebrows and wanted her to Tailor them back. Simple things.

But instead of the labs, David pulled her into Nikolai’s bedroom and Genya knew it was going to be a long day. Tamar and Tolya were already seated on a sofa, both with their arms crossed and similar scowls on their faces. Zoya was absent. And Nikolai was animatedly scribbling on a large blackboard that had been wheeled to the front of the room, “ZOYA NAZYALENSKY” scrawled at the top in large letters and circled three times for emphasis. The rest of the board was covered in near incomprehensible writing and doodles.

Genya frowned as David pulled her down into the seat next to him. “Did you steal that from the Little Palace, Nikolai? How will the children learn?”

Her king didn’t answer. He seemed busy working on a doodle of what looked like a five legged tiger on a corner of the board. David patted her hand absentmindedly as he opened his notebook and started scribbling as well.

“Is anyone going to explain this to me?” Genya asked mildly as Tolya slid a cup of tea towards her. She supposed the Triumvirate had seen worse, and their king acting like a man possessed didn’t rank particularly high on their list, but she still didn’t appreciate being woken up early for this. If anything, the twins should have just knocked him out and then everyone could get their well deserved rest.

Tamar crossed her arms. Her short hair stuck up in every direction as if she’d just rolled out of bed. “Well, your genius husband over there,” she starts, her tone not quite complimentary, “was working on one of his little experiments again.”

Genya nodded distractedly as she removed a small mirror from the inside of her sleeve. David took it from her obediently and held it up as she began Tailoring away the dark circles under her eyes. It wasn’t a substitute for her lost sleep, but it’d have to do for now.

“Coffee with a mild strain of parem in it for an extra stimulant,” David explained as she moved on to bringing more color into her cheeks. “Since you’re always complaining about the Little Palace’s coffee leaving you groggier than before.”

Genya’s hands stilled as she offered David a small smile. Even after knowing him for this long, his kindness never failed to surprise her. “That’s lovely, dear. But how does that relate to Nikolai acting like...this?”

Both of them jumped when Nikolai let out a rather concerning cackle. He had moved on from the deformed tiger to a caricature of someone who looked alarmingly like General Pensky. Genya scanned the board, barely able to decipher his scribbling. Secret lover...treason...illicit rendezvous? She furrowed her brows.

Tolya glowered at them from his spot next to his sister. “Nikolai drank David’s experiment. And now he refuses to administer the antidote because he wants to observe his behavior for the sake of science.”

“That’s not strictly true,” David said as he handed the mirror back to Genya and picked up his pencil again. “I don’t have an antidote ready. Instead of taking the time and labor to manufacture one, we might as well just wait for it to wear off naturally.”

Tolya opened his mouth again to argue, but then a piece of chalk flew by, barely missing Genya’s nose. Nikolai slammed his hands on the table and her tea splashed out of its cup. 

All four of their heads turned towards their king. His shirt was buttoned incorrectly, his hair wild, and a distinctly unhinged look in his eyes. His jacket was tied around his shoulders like a cape. It had to be the worst Genya has ever seen him, though there had been that time when Kirigin had convinced him to do a few shots of that whiskey from the Wandering Isles and he’d been convinced he was a saint—

“Friends!” His voice was entirely too loud for the intimate setting. “I have gathered you here today to solve one of our most pressing problems.”

“Our empty coffers?” Genya asked with a yawn.

“Impending war on three fronts?” offered Tolya.

“My brother’s incurable love for five hour poetry recitations?” 

David continued silently taking notes in his book.

“No,” Nikolai declared with an empathetic shake of his head, “we’re here to discuss the mystery of...Zoya Nazyalensky.”

He stepped to the side and for the first time, Genya was able to see the entirety of the blackboard he’d been writing on. Not a single inch of it had been spared from his rather enthusiastic scrawl and doodles like he was preparing to give them the world’s most fascinating lecture on the enigma that was Zoya. Genya felt a headache incoming.

“Perhaps we could do this at a more reasonable hour,” she began, but Nikolai smacked his hand against the blackboard which sent up a giant cloud of chalk dust.

“Nonsense! There’s no time like the present, and Zoya is away so it’s the perfect time to speculate upon her true intentions.” He waved his arm towards a bullet point at the top of the board, but in his eagerness, nearly knocked the entire board over. Genya let out another yawn and sank back into the couch. Maybe he wouldn’t notice if she dozed off.

“Where does she go at night?” Nikolai demanded as he began pacing furiously. The papers pinned to the board fluttered in his wake. “About once a week or so, the palace guards tell me she’s seen walking on the grounds late at night, alone. She’s almost certainly meeting with someone. But who? And why?”

“Are you sure you don’t have an antidote?” she whispered to David.

“Positive.” He scratched his ear, a sure sign he was lying. Genya sighed. She supposed she’d have him make it up to her later. She knew better than to talk him out of one of science moods. 

“A lover!” Nikolai continued. “She has a secret lover!”

Genya knew for a fact Zoya had no one in her heart other than their king as much as she liked pretending she hated him and his entire existence. In her own opinion, it probably had something to do with the very expensive gifts Nikolai routinely offered because Zoya was nothing if not a creature of luxury. Still, she took a sip of her tea and raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Do go on.”

“At first I thought it was General Pensky, but he’s been stationed at the border for over a month and the night walks haven’t stopped. So that leaves no other option than…” Nikolai’s eyes narrowed. He executed a sloppy about-face that any army commander would have had him running laps for and pointed an accusing finger at Tolya. “You’re Zoya’s secret lover!”

Tolya frowned and crossed his arms. “I would rather go back to Novyi Zem and become a jurda farmer. Less chance of sudden death.”

Nikolai grabbed at his hair. “But if you’re not seeing Zoya...and Tamar isn’t– you’re not right?”

“I’m married, Nikolai.”

“Right, right, right,” he muttered. He turned back to look at his board. “Then there’s only one other answer.”

“We all go back to bed?” Genya suggested.

Nikolai turned to her, an oddly intense look in his eyes. “How could you suggest we all retire when Zoya is plotting against the throne?”

Genya blinked. “How exactly did you get there?”

“It all makes sense!” Nikolai babbled excitedly. He waved his arms in excitement. “The late night walks. The secrecy. Why she’s always so mean to me—”

“She’s mean to everyone,” Tamar interjected.

“She’s working with the Fjerdans! Or the Shu! Of course, I should have seen it from the start…”

Genya tuned him out again as he went back to drawing on the board while muttering to himself about how the Fjerdan’s diabolical plan to have Zoya seduce him was working too well. She put her head on David’s shoulder and focused on the page of notes he was working on. Except instead of notes, it was a sketch of a woman’s face. Her face. As she watched, his pencil scratched out the curve of her lips, one corner lifted in a half smile. “What are you doing, dear?”

“Studying something beautiful,” he answered without a moment of hesitation. 

Genya’s lips curled into a smile as she let her eyes shut. “You’re sweet today. Maybe we should let Nikolai poison himself more often.”

“There’s a seventy percent chance his heart would give out if we attempted this more than once a week.”

“Regicide,” Genya said with a sigh, “How romantic.”

#gvbb21 #gvbbminibang21 #gang 21 #check out the art os and misha are so talented 🥺🥺 #kos #king of scars #kos writing #david #genya #denya #zoya #nikolai #zoyalai #tolya #tamar #grishaverse #leigh bardugo #my writing #i love them <3

[coldmorte]

bro i'm a sucker for soft Vandermorgan....dutch reading while arthur sketches.....leaning on eachother.....dutch reaching over to rub arthur's back every few pages........running his hand through arthur's hair...soft k*sses and giggling...

Howdy, anon! 💜

My apologies that it took me a week to get back to this one. I gave time to consider it, and I hope the fic I wrote in response makes up for that!! It’s a very cute ask, and I love tenderness between them, too. But despite my affection for lighthearted stuff, I usually struggle with writing it (I’m a very dark and morbid person - oops 😅). Anyway, I’ve been getting quite a few soft VDM asks lately, so I figured I would accept another challenge!

I was hesitant about actually posting this, but I figured, what is there to lose? It does have some angst sprinkled in (I couldn’t help myself), but I hope I did your idea justice!!!

Oh, and to anybody else who sent VDM asks recently, I am still giving them some thought! So, stay tuned 😉

In the meantime, please enjoy…❤️🖤

“Why are you avoiding me, Arthur?”

Hand freezing and pencil ceasing its scratching within the journal on his lap, Arthur furrowed his brow as he peaked over the fire at Dutch. Yet, his eyes remained wide and questioning as he pushed back, “I’m not avoiding you. I just didn’t think you wanted to be bothered while you read.”

“Oh, come on. You know I never minded it in the past, especially not on a cold night like this. We could use all the heat we can spare between us,” Dutch flipped his book shut, patting the ground beside him.

Likewise, Arthur slid the bookmark of his journal in place as he closed it. “Well, I guess… it’s just…”

Dutch chuckled as he noticed Arthur bite his lip to suppress a timid smile. He gestured to Arthur, beckoning him over once again. “I know it’s been a long time since it’s been just the two of us, but you don’t have to be shy.”

“Alright,” Arthur agreed as he pushed himself to his feet, journal still clutched in one hand. He walked over and knelt next to Dutch, but before he could properly get seated, Dutch reached forward and grasped him by his shirt collars. Pressing Arthur’s back to his bedroll, Dutch pinned him there as he straddled his hips.

The journal got cast aside as Arthur grabbed at Dutch’s back. Their lips met, hungrily and impassioned. Dutch pressed his chest firmer against Arthur’s and moaned at the warmth that radiated between them. He pulled back and grinned down at Arthur through heavily-lidded eyes, “See, isn’t it better on this side?”

“I was afraid this might happen,” Arthur laughed as he reached a hand forward and brushed some loose curls away from Dutch’s face.

Emitting a soft hum, Dutch felt himself glow with a warm, fuzzy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Leaning in close once more, he whispered, “And are you complaining?”

“Never.” Arthur pulled Dutch in for another kiss, before Dutch backed away and sat up.

“I didn’t think so.” Dutch smirked as he reached for his wool blanket and unfolded it. Motioning for Arthur to sit up as well, he handed him a corner. They each wrapped part of it around themselves as they huddled close to the fire.

Arthur scooped his journal up and leaned against Dutch, his back pressed into the older man’s arm and shoulder for support. He reopened the journal on his lap, but his position hid his face and the journal’s contents from Dutch as he returned to sketching.

Attempting to peer over Arthur’s shoulder to no avail, Dutch asked, “What are you working on?”

“What are you reading?” Arthur shot back.

Dutch felt his heart briefly flutter. He couldn’t keep the smile out of his voice as he responded, “Since when do you care about what I read?”

When Arthur gave no response, Dutch slipped one hand around Arthur’s chest, hugging him and pulling him tighter. Gradually, he let his hand glide lower, until it reached the top of Arthur’s pants. Tugging at the shirt tucked in there, Dutch moved it out of the way and slipped his cold fingers inside. Arthur jumped at the sudden intrusion and gave a shriek, “AHH! Dutch! Your hand is freezing!”

Nuzzling his nose against the back of Arthur’s neck, Dutch pressed a soft kiss there. His lips grazed the sensitive flesh as he muttered, “Why are you being so difficult tonight, my boy?”

“Too bad you just ruined any chance of seeing my sketch.” Arthur’s voice had a teasing edge, but it was lighthearted. “Read to me, first. I always liked listening to your voice.”

At that statement, Dutch pulled his hand away from Arthur’s warm skin but still kept it wrapped around him as he moved his head back in surprise. His mouth hung slightly agape at the boldness in Arthur’s tone, though he felt the corners of his eyes crinkle in amusement. “So, that’s how you want to play this game… fine.”

Picking his book up in his free hand, Dutch opened it in his lap and scanned the pages. Arthur continued to sketch as Dutch’s other hand rubbed small circles over his chest.

Landing on a passage that caught his eye, Dutch began to read, “‘But whether the resistance against tyrants is non-violent or physically violent, the overarching efforts to overthrow oppression justifies the means.’ What do you think of that, Arthur?”

“It’s very nice, Dutch.”

“‘Nice?’ That’s the word you’d use to describe it?” Dutch protested, though he affectionately wrapped his arm tighter around Arthur as he did so. He flipped through the pages for a few more moments of silence before his eyes landed on another. “Well, how about this one? ‘The whole point of America is freedom. Freedom of thought, freedom of deed, freedom of action.’”

Letting out a sigh, Arthur tilted his head back so he could look at Dutch. Their faces were close - mere inches apart - as Arthur spoke, just barely above a whisper, “Does it always have to be about politics, Dutch? Some greater good? I thought we came out here to escape all that.”

Dutch wanted to argue and explain how important Evelyn Miller’s writings were to their mission as a gang and their survival. But he knew Arthur was right. This was their moment to share, and it wasn’t any use wasting it on philosophical debates. Those could wait.

Tipping his head forward, Dutch pressed a chaste kiss to Arthur’s lips and nodded as he pulled away. “Okay.”

Arthur smiled at him as he turned his head back towards his journal and continued to work. Looking back at his book, Dutch searched for a different passage to read. Though most of the ones he noted were about ideological teachings, he did finally settle on one that made his eyes narrow and lips tighten in consideration.

Taking a breath, Dutch traced the words with his finger as he read aloud, “‘Say what you have to say, not what you ought. Any truth is better than make-believe.’”

Arthur did not say anything in response, though Dutch felt his hand stop drawing, as if Arthur was thinking about it. Dutch could feel the steady beat of Arthur’s heart as he gently massaged his chest.

Eventually, Dutch buried his face in Arthur’s blond hair as he asked, “Hmm, was that better?”

Arthur flipped his journal shut in his lap and rocked lightly into Dutch as he muttered, “You know I was never much good with words.”

“Oh, son… and you know that I wish you wouldn’t downplay yourself like this.” Dutch squeezed Arthur’s breast as he cradled him closer. “You speak from the heart, that’s what matters most... same goes for when you draw in that journal of yours.”

At that, Arthur bent his head down towards the journal in his lap. He tied the leather flap and slid the pencil in place underneath it. Lifting the journal, he set it in front of where the two of them were seated and pushed it forward. It was like a silent invitation, placed just out of reach.

Adjusting his position, Arthur turned around so he could lean his chest against Dutch as he wound both of his arms around the older man’s waist. He buried his head in the crook of Dutch’s neck, and Dutch couldn’t suppress a shiver as Arthur’s warm breath vibrated across the bare flesh at his collar when he spoke, “Thank you for reading to me. ‘M getting tired…”

“Rest up, it’s been a long day.” Dutch set his own book aside so he could readjust himself and wrap his arms around Arthur’s back. He rubbed soothing circles as he rested his chin atop Arthur’s head and watched the flickering glow of the fire.

This was real.

This wasn’t make-believe, or some long-lost memory. Arthur’s steady breathing and the warmth of his flesh confirmed that fact. Dutch let his eyes flicker shut in thought as he was once again reminded of how right Arthur was.

At the end of the day, all those fancy words in his books and his own philosophizing would be meaningless without Arthur by his side.

Dutch furrowed his brow as he blinked his eyes open. Biting his lip, he took a sharp breath and paused. He hesitated to say the words on the tip of his tongue, but he released a long exhale as he tightened his grip on his boy.

He felt safe here.

“You know, Arthur… you’re right. This life of crime, even I sometimes wonder where it all ends, or if it even ends at all. I try to do what’s best, I really do. I know I talk a lot about loyalty and how important it is to keep faith, but these moments when I’m alone with you….” Dutch let his voice trail off. Even amidst his own speaking, he couldn’t fail to notice the light snore coming from Arthur’s lips.

But rather than feeling anger or frustration, Dutch merely smiled. In a way, it was a relief. Arthur couldn’t hear him, and if he could, he would never remember Dutch’s words come morning. Somehow, it was easier this way. Whatever he said aloud, he knew he wouldn’t have to prove or justify it to anybody. He could speak from the heart.

The truth.

“I don’t know how I could ever go on without you. Please, don’t ever let go…”

At that, Dutch squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. He focused on the way Arthur maintained a tight grip around his waist, despite his steady snores. The words weren’t meant to be literal, but for the moment, Dutch could allow himself to believe it was possible both physically and figuratively.

Dutch blinked the dampness away from his eyelashes as he looked back towards the fire. The journal was still sitting there, illuminated by the orange glow. Shifting on the ground, Dutch lifted his head away from Arthur and peered down at him. He seemed unbothered by the movements, so Dutch decided to push it further. Unwrapping one arm from around Arthur’s back, Dutch leaned slowly forward, until his fingertips were just able to land on the journal’s leather cover.

Pulling the book towards him, Dutch was able to pick it up in one hand and place it in his lap. He briefly feared the action disturbed Arthur, for he whined and pressed his face harder against Dutch’s shoulder. However, his heavy breathing continued, and Dutch proceeded to slide the journal’s strap out of its place. Holding the pencil in his hand, Dutch turned to the bookmark at the back.

There, he found a sketch of two animals - a buck and a wolf. Despite serving contrasting roles in the wild, they looked perfectly at ease within the sketch. They curled around each other as they laid down to rest, their noses nearly touching. The way they huddled together made it seem believable that they really could find harmony, regardless of their true natures.

On the opposite page, a message was written, “‘Couldn’t resist, could you?’”

Dutch chuckled, Was he really that predictable?

Using the pencil, he scrawled his own note underneath, “‘It’s no use trying to fight who we really are.’”

Taking one last look at the sketch, Dutch ran a finger over it. Just as he could speak in metaphorical language, Arthur could draw in it. But the meanings underneath it all remained the same.

Just because it wasn’t literal, that didn’t mean it wasn’t the truth.

Closing the journal and placing it back where he found it, Dutch kept a firm hold on Arthur as he pulled the both of them down to lay on his bedroll. Adjusting the blanket, Dutch made sure it was draped snugly over them as Arthur soundlessly snuggled his face against Dutch’s chest and hugged him tighter. Once Dutch was comfortable, he likewise wrapped his arms around Arthur, one holding him by the small of his back and the other rumpling his hair.

Feeling tired as well, Dutch shut his eyes. With his final words for the night, Dutch thought of what he just wrote in the journal as they held each other close. Continuing along the same line of thought, he whispered, “We just gotta embrace it.”

#dutch van der linde #Arthur morgan #vandermorgan #rdr2 #red dead redemption 2 #rdr #red dead redemption #writing #mine #fanfic #dutch x arthur #sfw #soft vandermorgan #fluff #hugging #kissing #cuddling #Arthur's journal #Evelyn miller #also mentions of Ron Paul and Henry David Thoreau because I could not resist ;) #thank you anon <3 #anon #anonymous #ask #request #(kind of) #dutch van der linde x Arthur morgan #video games

[palbabor-writes]

I know you said you only might accept pregnancy requests depending on what it is so I wanted to try 😅 how about shigaraki and reader break up while she’s unknowingly pregnant with his child and he bumps into said child years later and connects the dots that it’s his? If you don’t like it feel free to ignore this request 😊

I liked this nonnie.

I am terrified that by saying that I’m going to be inundated with pregnancy HC’s, lol. But, this request I really leaned into. Plus, it’s more about a kid than a pregnancy. 

So, thank you for asking and letting me slip out of my comfort zone. It’s always good to do that every once in awhile and this ask was a great reminder of that.

It’s a bit melancholic, but I think it fits with Tomura, at least, in my mind.

Now, this is not in canon. This is not like, pre-war arc, or post-war arc. If anything, it’s more of an AU. I’d put Tomura in his late 20s to early 30s.  

warnings: none really, just some sweet, sweet interactions and mild angst 

Hestia Hestia, in Greek religion, is the goddess of the hearth, a daughter of Cronus and Rhea, and one of the 12 Olympian deities. When the gods Apollo and Poseidon became suitors for her hand, she swore to remain a maiden forever, and Zeus, the king of the gods, bestowed upon her the honor of presiding over all sacrifices. 

The shouting noise of children set his teeth on edge.

Toga had insisted that the bus stop by the school was the best place for the information exchange.

They won’t look for you there, she’d assured him. It’s like hiding in plain sight. Yeah, it’s patrolled, but it’s only an old security guard who does the rounds. Besides, he’s retired from the police force, she qualified, and was more like a lazy cat than an attentive scent hound.  

It’s the best place, really.

So, Shigaraki had made the long trek across Tokyo.

He kept to the shadows as he weaved his way through back alleys and streets. Although the dominance of the League had waned some over the years, he was still a wanted criminal, responsible for countless death and threats on hero society.

He was still the King of his slice of the underworld.

Besides, he reassured himself as he loitered by the bench under the bus stop, he could trust Toga.

She had improved in leaps and bounds as she came of age; deadlier, sleeker, more attuned to the ebbs and flows of the world around her. She wasn’t that girl who chattered about blood anymore.

Oh, she still held a strange fascination with the fluid. But she had more control over those impulses that drove her. If she said it was the best place, well, who was he to argue? Toga had been with him from the beginning, a vital ally. Hell, at this point she was close to being a friend.

Shigaraki is still musing when the ball taps its way to his feet.

It clatters against the pavement; the rubber shuttling it along the loose rocks and leaves. Unthinkingly, Shigaraki lifts his shoe to balance against its unbound movement, stilling its lulling bounces.

Must be from that schoolyard, he thinks, his red eyes flashing up at the low chain-link fence that separates the school grounds from the busy street.

There’s no child dashing their way to retrieve it, so he lets his gaze slip from the teeming masses of giggling youngsters. It’s a pretty blue. The ball looks new. Hardly a scuffed and battered thing.

He keeps it under his sole, toying with it, rolling it meditatively as he slips back into his thoughts.

“Hey! That’s mine!”

It’s a small voice that calls to him and he turns his head back to the fence, looking for the source.

It’s a girl.

She’s leaning against the metal, her hands clutching into the links, cocking her head inquisitively at him.

Her nose wrinkles at his silence, and she shouts another demand.

“Mister, that’s my ball. Toss it back.”

“Aren’t you supposed to say please?” Shigaraki taunts, his lips lifting in a quick grin. He’s not sure why he’s bothering to engage with this kid, but something about her plucky attitude resonates with him.

She leans away from the fence, that scowl deepening on her soft features.

“Aren’t grown ups not supposed to steal things?”

He laughs at her snark. He can’t help it. Oh, this kid’s fun.

Carefully slipping the ball into his hands, he moves closer to the fence. He can see her a little better now.

She’s still got that deep frown on her face and her dark hair is gleaming in the afternoon sun, some strands catching the light, reflecting a deep, auburn, hue. He’s just about to chuck the ball to her when he catches sight of her eyes.

They’re red.

Not that red eyes are unusual. There are plenty of people milling around Tokyo with them. But hers are different.

No, these eyes are like looking into a mirror for Shigaraki. They flint and glare with the same sheen as his own. It’s a prefect reflection.

His feet suddenly feel heavy, leaden, and he can’t lift his arms. Who is this child? Why does she-

“Ok, ok, mister. Can I please have my ball back? You’re still stealing it if you don’t, so I’m not apologizing for that. I might... if you give it back to me, cuz’ it’s my ball, not yours. And, stealing makes you a thief.”

She’s rolling those uncanny irises at his stiff form, and a huffing sigh escapes her small mouth.

“What’s your name?” Shigaraki asks, hands trembling over the rubber of the ball.

“Not supposed to tell that to strangers, mister.”

He smiles again, bemused. Well, he thinks begrudgingly, she’s a clever little thing. Whoever she is.

A sharp bell echoes across the yard and she turns her head at the sound, her dark hair tumbling around her shoulders.

“Here,” Shigaraki relents, gently flipping the ball over the fence, bouncing it to her feet.

“Thanks,” she murmurs, quickly snatching up her prize. Those red eyes of hers meet his own, and he can feel a low shiver echo up his spine. What’s up with this reaction? It almost feels visceral, like some sort of otherworldly pull on him.

“Sorry I called you a thief,” she apologizes, quickly bowing her head, ducking those eerie eyes from view.

He’s not sure what to say, so he continues to watch her. She doesn’t seem perturbed by this, opting to giggle at him as her little head lifts.

“You’re weird,” she assess, a smile finally spreading over her lips, her cheeks rounding and softening. 

Tch, she’s rude, but she’s also cute, Shigaraki thinks, snorting at her frankness.

She turns, dashing away from him, her dark hair flowing around her back as she goes.

Shigaraki shakes his head, trying to dislodge those lingering questions that keep floating to the back of his mind.

He’ll never see her again, he reasons, wandering back to the bus stop. Trying to tamp down the urge to look for her again, to pinpoint her from the other giggling and shouting children on the playground.

But he did see her again.

He comes back to the stop a few weeks later.

There’s no information pickup this time. There’s no real reason for him to even be on this side of town.

He just can’t get her out of his mind.

This little kid had shaken something within his psyche. He kept dreaming about her. Well, not her, really. No, there was someone else haunting his dreams.

He hasn’t thought about you in years.

But now? Now, he can’t get you out of his head. He even feels like he can feel you some nights, warm against his side. He sulks in the memories of the familiar touches that the two of you shared, the love that you’d pressed into him, so, so long ago.

He saw the girl in those moments. Resting in your arms as you looked up, your eyes bright against her dark head. The girl would laugh and run to him, those reflective red eyes shining with mirth. 

It was fucking strange.

He both hated, and loved, the repetitive nature of these illusions. They made him feel safe and warm, but they also chilled him to his very bones. It was unsettling.

Unsure what else to do, he’d back come to the bus stop.

It’s early afternoon. Close to the time he’d visited it before. He waits on the lonely bench, his hands pressed together and that strange tremble races through his veins.

This is stupid, he thinks, his eyes lowering from the sea of kids, all twisting and turning in a heap as they play. It’s an impossibility, really. The chances of that girl losing her ball again is minuscule. There’s no way he can call to her either. It’s a waste. He shouldn’t even be here.

He’s standing to leave, when that small voice reaches him.

“Oh! You’re back.”

His head whips around, his long white hair glowing against the sunlight.

There she is.

She’s gripping the fence again, and she’s staring right at him.

Shigaraki smiles. It’s a gentle lift and he can feel his heart tapping a rough tattoo against his ribs. He steps toward her, kneeling when he gets close, careful to not overstep his bounds.

He’s not wanting to startle her.

No, he’s wanting to talk with her. Maybe she’ll drop some kinda clue why he’s so drawn to her. Or maybe she’ll morph into any other child again. Plain, uninteresting. Slipping from that odd ghost that she’s become to his subconscious. 

He hopes it’s the latter. But part of him also longs for it to be the former.

She’ll hop to the fence around 3:15.

She looks for him now, used to the routine of his presence.

He told her to call him Tomura, and the name falling from her lips made his heart ache.

Tomura stopped by on Fridays. Careful to not stay too long, to not draw too much attention to himself.

At first, he’d sneak her little trinkets. 

A little plastic toy of his, one that he had since he was a kid. She’d squealed with delight and clutched it to her. He’d grinned at that, remembering how he’d once held onto the thick plastic himself. 

Once, he’d just plucked a nearby flower as he walked to the school, presenting it to her outreached grasp. He’d watched proudly as she tucked it behind her ear, the color glossy beside her hair.

She’s still a sassy little thing. But she’s softened a little, too. Her voice losing that early, untrusting, edge.

He didn’t ask her much. Sometimes they both just sat in silence as she sketched designs into the dirt. Sometimes he would listen to her chatter about her day. Her classmates, her teacher. Once, she’d even pressed something over the fence to him.

It was a drawing.

He’s not sure if it really was all that well done, or if it’s just his heavy bias toward her. But he loves the mix of color and lines. He’d asked who the people were.

One was her friend, Kenji. One was her teacher. One was him.

He’d pinned it to the wall in his room. Displaying it, flaunting the gift. He looked at it every morning, admiring her work.

He’s late one day, and she scolds him, her small arms draping over the fence.

“I didn’t think you were going to come,” she chatters, her red eyes lingering against his, the two colors casting back the same hue.

“Was running behind,” Tomura replies, leaning against the low concrete barrier, resting his back against the fence.

Her little hands reach for his hair, playing with the pearlescent tendrils, weaving some into knots and braids. 

He doesn’t mind.

“Hey, Tomura,” she says, working a tiny hairband into her creation, her voice curious.

“Hmm,” he hums, careful to not shift his head, not wanting to disrupt her hard work.

“You didn’t ask my name again. At least… not after that one day.”

“Do you want me to ask?” He queries, his pulse lifting.

He’d wanted to ask her again, but he didn’t want to startle her, to shatter these innocences that they shared.

“It’s Beryl,” she answers. She says it confidently, and he turns to face her.

She grins at him, wiggling one loose tooth playfully at his serious expression, trying to tug a laugh from him.

“Beryl?” he repeats, unable to keep that awed hush from his raspy tones. It’s a pretty name. It suits her, really. But it’s strange. It’s not Japanese. 

You hadn’t been Japanese. 

“That’s a good name,” he assures her. “But, it’s not… you don’t hear that name very often.”

“Yeah,” Beryl concedes, her vermillion eyes roving over his face. “My mom’s not from here.”

His nostrils flare at that.

He hasn’t asked her about her mother. He’s unsure if it’s a general disinterest on his part, or trepidation. He fears it’s the latter.

Gulping, he tilts his head at her, feeling that soft braid she’s plaited into his hair shifting.

“Who’s your mother?”

“Who is she? She’s my mom, silly.”

“No,” he pauses, ignoring that creeping tremor that’s working its way to the top of his skull, his skin prickling and cooling. “I mean…what’s her name?”

“Oh! Her name is-”

“Beryl! Beryl, it’s time to come inside.” A teacher is calling for her. 

Tomura startles away, drifting to his feet and pacing quickly back to the bus stop. He can’t help the snarl that etches its way across his lips. He’d been so close. So fucking close…

He chances a glance back at the fence and catches sight of Beryl. She’s dashing across the playground, her dark hair waving in the sun.

Japan is about to slip into summer. School will come to a close, moving into a long break. He won’t see her again for almost a month.

His heart sinks at that realization and he grits his teeth. Slipping his hands into his dark trench coat, he steps across the street, away from the bus stop, away from the little girl that’s feeling more and more like his own.

Edit: oh hey. so, i couldn’t stfu about this and created a sequel: Materfamilias 

hahaha & part iii

#asks #answered asks #on kiddos #tomura shigaraki #shigaraki tomura #tomura x reader #tomura x y/n #shigaraki x y/n #shigaraki x reader #tenko shimura #drabble #pal muses

[zulies-doodles]

Hey! I just wanted to say I love your art style and how awesome your characters are. I was wondering if you have any advise for drawing like dynamic/action poses if that makes sense? I've heard about lines of direction and gestures but I guess that's hard to get the hang of and I was wondering if you had any tips. Thanks for sharing your art! :)

Thank you so much! :D

I have a few things that have helped me out when learning to make more dynamic poses, but i’m still learning myself! so take that into consideration

Forget about anatomy for a lil bit, do ‘bad’ sketches

I find that a lot of artists can get caught up in the details or always want to finish a drawing they start but sometimes its good to just, draw knowing that you’re not trying to make something good at the moment.

Try a bunch of practice sketches without worrying about doing perfect anatomy or keeping things looking ‘good’ just try to make poses that are readable but exaggerated. Just focus on keeping the sketches loose and not worrying too much about mistakes. This sketch doesn’t have good proportions and I did it in a few seconds without erasing anything, just focused on giving it movement and making sure it reads as a punch!

Fill a page with these lil sketches where your only objective is working on the poses. Technically, this is another way of doing gesture drawing, but instead of focusing on anatomy, we’re trying to capture the movement of a pose. 

 Try to keep in mind line of action while you work on this.

But mostly just feel free to have fun with this, it doesnt have to look good!  I recommend not letting yourself use the eraser while doing this or doing it in pen traditionally. It might take a bit to notice a big change but eventually you find yourself being looser in your sketches.

Push poses

Try pushing poses as much as you can. If you draw a pose and it doesn't feel dynamic enough, try redrawing it on a layer above it but trying to ‘push’ it more and see how it looks. You can try this as many times as you like till you find something that feels right!!

A way you can practice this too is by grabbing photos and trying to redraw the poses but more exaggerated! More dynamic!

Try to find continuous lines

Okay so what i mean by this is try to find parts of the pose that can be simplified into a single line to help maintain the flow of the pose. I find this is especially helpful when drawing in a more stylized artstyle, but its still good to keep in mind when drawing in other styles!

Those are the main tips i can think of right know but most of it comes down to practice practice practice and sketch sketch sketch. Don’t be afraid to mess up, just make a new layer and try again. (I find its helpful to not erase a pose im not happy with and just make a new layer, sometimes looking back at what you did before can help you improve when you try again)

Hopefully this was helpful to some people! if i can think of more tips i’ll add some in a reblog

#myart #sketch #tutorial #ask