#which is nice! having a fun art prompt definitely made the day improve. and also there are cupcakes in my house which makes everything bett

[creativesplat]

Doodle some Miphlink, if you want to!

I hope you're having a great day :3

What a great suggestion! I was watching Disney's Robin Hood and Maid Marrian and Robin fit Miphlink so well. A princess and a commoner childhood sweethearts who were separated and then came back and were together again. So I doodled a rough sketch!

#thank you so much snails! I loved this #it got my creative juices going and the art block is being fought off! #Robin Hood #maid marian #disney's robin hood #miphlink #mipha #link #botw #tloz #today is going better than expected #which is nice! having a fun art prompt definitely made the day improve. and also there are cupcakes in my house which makes everything bett #hope you're having a great day too!!

[datastate]

do you have any hcs about mishima and nao?

SOOO MANY! BUT for now, i'll stick with a small one on their beginning friendship :D

nao used to be very quiet in a lot of her classes; a nice person, certainly, and easy to talk to! but rather closed off unless you tried to pry, where even that would just be rude and she'd say as much.

but of course, there were small things here and there she'd share with her friends should you happen to overhear. usually, it'd be anime/manga that she'd recommend to others (usually horror with interesting concepts, though she wasn't immune to well-written 'slice of life's) - which resulted in hana (her best friend) actually buying her a keychain for her bag!! nao doesn't usually wear/buy merch, as she fears she'll lose/damage them, but... since her friend got it, she felt she'd be disappointed if she didn't show it off.

&...! this is the spark for professor mishima to actually prompt her on her interests; one of the few things she'd end up rambling on about... and he has enough context to keep her going!

it was nice getting to see her actually relax a bit, if a bit surprising to realize that she liked horror so much... and of course, it was when she inevitably brought it back to art (she was inspired to become an artist from such a silly thing, though mishima assures he understands) that she started getting nervous again; as much as she loves it, she can't draw it well. it doesn't feel like it could fit her style much at all - she intimidates herself out of drawing it.

however! mishima does not lose hope so easily. he encourages her to keep trying & experimenting with her art. after all, art is something she should have for herself if nothing else...

although mishima doesn't typically work with horror, he does have plenty of pointers on how to incorporate characters into a backdrop (it provides variation + reflects his current views too... people being a part of something larger, connected through means they don't quite realize); he had a similar start to nao in that he often relied heavily on portraits/character focus, but for that reason can help lead her along into slowly branching out.

a lot of what nao likes is the eerie - something that you have to really look at to realize how off it is. working on backgrounds such as these definitely helps with integrating characters in a more natural manner! and helps improve her work altogether, too...!! she's having more fun than she used to with her personal projects, where she previously felt stagnant but couldn't pinpoint why (and felt guilty to ask hana, as the response would always be a well-meaning "but i like your art! i don't think that at all" rather than critique she wished for), so it was...!! really nice for her to have <3

and... getting to show a trusted adult that, too, made her very happy. her parents didn't often see art as something that'd work out... but she finally felt pride in her work, and had something else to look forward to when it came to classes, rather than simply skirting by day-to-day. it took about a year and a half of school to get here, but... it makes it feel worth it.

it's also around this late time of the year, too, that mishima casually mentions he's trans.

one of the other students is complaining about the cold, and he agrees a bit too personally that skirts are awful in this weather before offering his usual advice... and it's this moment that stays in nao's mind. combined with previous comments here and there about the dysmorphia in horror...

despite this near-confirmation... nao waits until the very end of the year before she admits to the professor that she's trans. she hasn't really socially transitioned yet, only a few friends know, and she's still a bit afraid she might've misunderstood that he's trans... but it all turns out well by the end of it <3

however, since she's about to enter her last year with people who mostly knew her as a boy, it's only when she graduates that mishima offers to help put word in to adjust her uniform; which she greatly appreciates... also, throughout her last year, they get to actually discuss how it is to be mixed & that is when he offers to learn arabic with her. she was never taught it, and is too embarrassed to ask her parents, so he's taken it upon himself to help her with that too... here and there, still as her mentor and friend even after their time in school :'D

#i kind of digressed toward the end but <3 i love them... #i have. so much to say. but at this rate it 'd be a whole ass timeline...!! #ask #mutuals #zomplush #yttdposting #yttd hcs

[aerialworms-art]

October wrap-up

So! October is at an end! And I have not finished Spocktober/Trektober. Let's see how I did!

My goals for the month were:

To have fun :3

To get used to finishing drawings

To get used to posting them, too!

To have fun :3

To improve my sketching and lineart skills

To end up with a bunch of finished drawings (of Spock!!!) :3

To let go of a bit of my perfectionism

TO HAVE FUN :3

So how do I think I did?

Having fun:

I had a lot of fun with it this year! In previous years, I've pretty much immediately devolved into an anxious mess because there were too many options and I bit off more than I could chew. This time around, thanks to my guidelines (only inking, not spending too much time on each day, sketching and thumbnailing in advance), it was a lot easier to let loose and have fun thinking up ideas and enjoying the process. Plus, I let my friends know I was doing it this time around and got encouragement and support, which was lovely.

Getting used to finishing drawings:

I did better at this than I thought I would! There are several drawings I've finished this month that I would have given up on if not for this goal. Do I think they were all my best work? No. Did I learn from the process? Yes! And some of the ones that have gotten the most notes were ones I thought no-one would like and struggled to finish. So! I also figured out new ways of motivating myself to finish things, which is also very helpful.

Getting used to posting things:

Also went better than I thought! Although I didn't manage to maintain a cushion of queued posts like I wanted to, the response I've gotten from actually posting my art has been amazing! I've gained several new followers (hello!!) and gotten so many nice comments, and went from being afraid of posting anything to tentatively looking forward to people's reactions, which is a huge improvement for me. Getting that accountability of posting publicly also helped keep me going when I felt like giving up - seeing my friends laugh when I showed them my silly comics or getting nice comments really made me feel like sharing my art is worthwhile. So thank you to everyone who reblogged my art, commented, liked, etc. I'm glad you did!

Improving sketching and lineart:

I definitely think I improved my art skills. Getting into the habit of thumbnailing really helped take the pressure off the sketching phase, and trying so many different ideas pushed me out of my comfort zone and forced me to try drawing things I wasn't so confident on - look how many hands I drew!!!! As for the lineart, I think I've gained a bit more experience in using pens, although I did buy a whole new set of them halfway through the month which put me on a new learning curve. Lineart's never been a huge favourite of mine, and I do miss using my tablet to do lineless art, but the nature of the challenge did help me to loosen up and experiment to keep my mind engaged the whole time.

To end up with a bunch of finished drawings of Spock:

Check! I have 14 finished drawings, with another four sketched and needing inking, plus a whole load of thumbnails to work from in future. I may go back and add colour to some of the days for funsies, but there's several that I can just put on my wall as-is and be proud :)

To let go of a bit of my perfectionism:

I definitely did! Like I said, there's a few of the ones I've posted that I'm not too proud of and know I could do better on, but I've spent all month purposely smacking my hand away from perfectionism, and I know I've tried my best given my limitations. I'm still proud of myself for getting this far, and for posting when I was anxious, and for improving my skills, and now I get to stick up my art on my wall and be proud of it! I'm not magically cured by any means, but I do have a bit more evidence that perfection is not a good goal to pursue, so I'm going to keep this experience in mind for the future.

So what now?

I do have thumbnails for almost all of the rest of the prompts. I am doing NaNoWriMo this month, and I have a digital piece that I want to finish for the 5th (holy shit. three years.) So I think I'll take a little pause on these prompts, but I don't want to stop. I'll keep coming back to them, and keep posting them, until I run out of prompts or motivation, whichever comes first. I've really enjoyed seeing people's reactions to my Star Trek art, especially the comics! I also have a backlog of SPN fanart I want to post, so I'll probably queue some of that to come out soon.

TL;DR: Watch this space!

And if you've been following along/commenting on/reblogging my art this month (or anytime), thank you so much! It's folks like you that make sharing art worthwhile!

#original poast #artie talks #i am feeling so much more positive than any of my previous attempts at an inktober style challenge! #this has genuinely been so much fun and it's so nice to feel like part of a community #i'm sad I didn't get to any of the suptober prompts #cause I had some ideas for those too #but given various life stuff and also my very last minute decision to even attempt it this year i think i did excellently #and I am going to record the fact that I am proud of myself for future-me to look back on #also. uh. the askbox is open if anyone would like to send prompts. i can't make any promises but if something catches my imagination #i may doodle a little thing for you! #chatting is also encouraged! i like making new friends :)

[she-who-the-river-could-not-hold]

Creative Journal [July 18]

inspired by @kinetic-elaboration who made a post a bit ago about sharing updates throughout July about what we’re working on! It felt good to compile my thoughts into one place as I think about what I’m trying to accomplish!

Taking a creative hibernation has been one of the best things I could have done for myself! But it also means now that I’m wanting to get back into things, the itch is twice as intense as before! I think my plan is to still keep things either somewhat vague or at least without any update plans. Getting to work in my own little cocoon has been quite lovely, especially since I do plan on making most of my work this month try to be outlining. 

WRITING PROJECTS

As warm ups, I’ve taken to picking a couple of the prompts from the 2021 Crackling Fires and combining some and writing either summaries or outlines for my ideas for them. I’m thinking once I get all of them outlined, I can get to writing them as actual writing warm ups. I also have a horror/slasher oneshot that I’m attempting to wrangle (base idea = good, execution = struggling) that I’d desperately love to write in time for spooky season. Also a follow up to my Bellarke + CAOS AU would be really fun and I’ve gotten multiple people requesting one (since I mentioned it in the author’s notes). That one is the least likely but we’ll see! But since I’m getting married this fall and all of the stuff involved with that, we’ll see. But I would love to get some fun Halloween content pre-written for the season! 

I’ve fallen victim to my old Stranger Things addiction so some plot seeds have taken root with that as well. The zombie rewrite is always floating in my mind but I do think I have more plans for that now rather than just a simple rewrite. Flushing out plot holes, upping the stakes. Making it the truly complex story I think it deserves. I’ve also fallen for a side ship and am in the depths of planning something out for that one as well! But that’ll be a secret one until it’s further along I think. 

As for my other WIPs, I think I’m settling into a place that I can open them up again. I have a couple that I really don’t think I care about anymore, but I don’t want to write them off quite yet. I think I’ll first look at the ones that have a more defined direction and see what I feel most inspired to work on again! It’ll be nice to write off of ~vibes~ again though and not feel as much pressure. I’m hoping that’ll make it easier to finish them! I’ve also begun to lay the groundwork for a Bellarke AU I promised my partner I’d write and I’m SO excited for that to take shape!

DESIGN PROJECTS

There are definitely some creative projects that take precedent over everything––aka my two contract jobs right now as well as all of the designs for my wedding lol. I’m working on improving my scheduling of work and removing distractions so that I can work more productively during the day. I also need to finish updating my portfolio, which is woefully lacking.

In the more fun element of designing, I want to keep doing some character and episode graphics for Tumblr. I can’t believe my Eddie one is almost to 1k notes!! Those are great exercises for me and a fun way to play with fonts that I don’t have a place for in my day to day work. I also have an idea for making a series of badges/patches inspired by camping that I want to do. Plus my million other art ideas on my Notion board! 

As always, “intention” is my word that I’m focusing on. Planning and being intentional about my time, especially even when it’s not “working” on things, is so crucial and I’m excited to be shaking off the cobwebs and getting back into things!

#kathryn chats

[thebeautyoffanfics]

Okay thanks! Then can I request a Shijima Mei with a female reader who starts to see her as an older sister. The reader also draws (but she isn’t as good) so when she saw Shijima’s works she was just in aw.

She is also really bubbly around her and can act a bit childish loving hugs, head pats, and other fluffy stuff! She also go to Shijima when she’s sad and want to vent about life

The reader is alive and also Hanako assistant so they met at the fake world she made and she just stuck with her! (Confused Hanako wondering why reader isn’t like that with him lol)

Thank you! Headcanons please!

(platonic) shijima mei and f!reader

a/n: sure thing!! I haven’t written for her yet (despite my undying love- no pun intended), so let’s hope it turns out alright! You’re so very welcome, and thank you so much for requesting, especially such a cute prompt-!!

warnings: none <3

word count: 1,001

Shijima, at first, is a tad bit confused. After all, she doesn’t typically associate with very many humans. You managed to know the world she created was fake, so she knew it was safe to assume you were close with Yashiro and Kou- but a part of her found you somewhat interesting. Especially when you seemed so enthusiastic to meet her.

Nonetheless, once you returned again and again, she took you under her wing. She even looked forward to your visits, as they always seemed to brighten up her day.

Your cheerful childishness is definitely a reason that she starts to appreciate you as a sister more than just a human. Being alive is one thing, but you somehow just… feel alive? Your grins and giggles warm her heart, and honestly make her want to protect you. The way that you’re childish, especially in how you enjoy such simple acts of affection, brings out some sort of “big sister instincts” in her. Or maybe… you even remind her of the “true” Shijima?

One thing that Shijima also found interesting about you, a reason out of many that she became fond of you, was your interest in art!

While Shijima sees flaws in her own art, when you point out flaws in yours, all she sees are rooms for improvement- not mistakes. As she gives you encouragement and advice for your art, your enthusiasm towards hers makes her smile, even if she doesn’t agree with all of your statements. It really just… warms her heart.

Shijima would feel rather proud of herself should you incorporate her art advice into your art. Every time you bring her a piece, showing it to her with a half-nervous-half-excited grin, she’ll praise you, ruffling your hair affectionately. Should you be especially proud of a piece, she won’t be able to resist hugging you- most likely to your delight. She definitely returns your enthusiasm about your art, often tenfold since you’re bound to criticize your own art.

Offer to give the art to her, and she won’t hesitate to accept, placing it in a spot where she can look at it whenever she so desires.

While she, when upset with her art, grows frustrated and ends up destroying it, Shijima would feel a bit saddened if you did the same. She appreciates the stage that your art is in, and tells you to save it- especially since, as you get older, you’ll be able to look back and see even more improvement.

“It’s an amazing feeling, I’m sure,” she’ll tell you, smiling and trying to remember a point at which she could appreciate improvement in her own artwork. No, she never really got that… but the true Shijima certainly did. This Shijima, the supernatural girl, was sure that she was glad to see those little changes. You had every right and deserved to enjoy that feeling as well.

If you go to Shijima, informing her that something made you feel upset, she’s all ears. Vent as much as you need- raise your voice, cry. Let it all out, because she’s going to actively listen, and most likely get worked up alongside you. Once you finish venting, she’ll offer advice, and comfort you. Hug her as much as you need, as tightly as you need, for as long as you need- she won’t let you go until you’re feeling better.

Even after you’ve calmed down from venting, she usually prefers for you to stay just a tad longer. She’s honestly worried that you’ll leave, then start to think about it and feel sad again. Shijima’s a bit protective over you, and doesn’t want you to feel upset- so, she does anything within her abilities to make you happy/feel better.

She gets so genuinely angry if someone has done you wrong and caused you to need to get it off your chest. If you’re angry about it, she’ll voice her anger as well, eyes narrowing as she tells you that the person that did that is pure garbage.

“I promise you, (Y/N), send that jerk my way. No, no, for real- or send them Number 7’s way. I don’t care if your friend’s an exorcist- tell him to-”

Having someone understand your emotions regardless is nice, and Shijima is glad to be that person. She’s honestly very glad to have you as a little sister figure, and is glad that you consider her as a big sister. Shijima was made to be the more perfect version of the previously living Shijima, so she never personally got to experience family. You gave that joy to her, and she’s so happy that you found her interesting during those fateful events.

(Call her big sister, and she may cry about it later- actually, no, she definitely cries about it later. Then, she’ll proudly refer to you as her little sister. As if treating you like one was where her admiration for you ended!)

Overall, Shijima really is a 10/10 big sister. She cares about you so genuinely, and sees you as a big light in her afterlife. While at once, all she had were her fake worlds and art that never seemed to be good enough, she now had a real person from a real world. You made her feel alive- you gave her a reason to still love the world the original Shijima had been born into. Plus, there’s not a doubt in her mind that, if you met the Shijima Mei who once lived, she’d love you as dearly as the “idealized Shijima”, Number 4 does.

---

“I’m done sweeping!!” You exclaimed, putting the broom up, then turning to Hanako.

“I’m off, bye-bye-”

...

“I just don’t get it, Yashiro. What does Shijima have that I don’t?? She’s my assistant, not hers???? She doesn’t get the opportunity to clean in Shijima’s boundary :(( is that really any fun?? :((( wouldn’t she be bored????? :((((”

Poor Yashiro would sigh, suddenly somehow deemed Hanako’s therapist, while you had the kind Shijima to talk with……

#anon #request #platonic #platonic x reader #x reader #f!reader #x f!reader #shijima mei #headcanons #tbhk #jshk #toilet bound hanako kun #jibaku shounen hanako kun #tbhk x reader #jshk x reader #toilet bound hanako kun x reader #jibaku shounen hanako kun x reader #shijima mei x reader #shijima mei headcanons #tbhk shijima

[lilydalexf]

Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.

Interview with Circe Invidiosa

Circe Invidiosa has 11 stories at Gossamer, but there are even more X-Files stories at her website. Some of my favs I’ve recced here before, like Make It Worse and Slap a Goatee On Me and Call Me Evil. She also made a bunch of X-Files collage art, including some cover art for fics (hers and others), which you probably saw if you were reading fic back when authors posted fics on their own websites where art could be shared. Big thanks to Circe Invidiosa for doing this interview.

Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)?

Well, it would surprise me if people did read my fic. As it happens, I don't hear much feedback from my fic these days. Probably because the bulk of it is on Gossamer and my own site rather than AO3. Also, I was never a BNA. I worked a lot behind the scenes – hosting other authors' sites and making fanart and dustjackets. I think that's what I'd be remembered for, if anything.

What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience?

I miss the collective excitement and discussions we had as groups. When you got in with a group in the XF fandom, you felt like you knew everybody there. Now the fandom feels a little faceless except for the people I still follow from my old groups.

Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)?

Most of my experience was on Yahoo Groups. I joined Scullyfic while it was still there and then E-muse when it became an e-mail list, which I'm still a part of. I was part of several Yahoo Groups (can't remember all of them now), where I'd post my fic, RealPlayer slideshows (remember those?!), and collages. I never really took part in discourse because I'm shy and don't think anyone cares about my opinions (still don't!). The e-mail address I used for those groups was purged a couple of years ago, so I've lost all those messages.

What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?

My take away is that fanfic made me a better writer, thanks to having some great betas, and it made me a better professional writer for it (my real-life work is writing but not fun writing) because I learned to take criticism.

I also used to make a lot of fanart, collages and dustjackets for fic mostly. My big take away from that was that I really got into graphics and I got super proficient at Photoshop, which helped my own artistic endeavours and photography. I didn't realize how much skill I had developed until I've had to help someone with their graphics or photo editing.

What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show?

My mother was watching X-Files before I was and she was raving about it. I don't have a great relationship with my mom, but one thing she was usually right about was TV shows. It's where I got my love of Sci-Fi.

I think the first episode I watched was Ice, which definitely hooked me. As for when the shipping started, I remember we were watching Lazarus, and when Mulder was yelling at Lula (I had to look that up) about hurting the hostage Scully, my mom said, "Oh, he's so in love with her." And I was all, "What?! Pfff." But then I could not stop thinking about it. And then I thought about it way, way too much.

What got you involved with X-Files fanfic?

I was in my late 20s, and it was around the end of S7 and I kept thinking about what if these two dumb idiots actually talked one day. And I kept thinking about dialogue in my head about what they'd actually say. The internet was still in its infancy back then, but I'd seen fan sites here and there. So I decided to search around to see if other people were talking about it and thinking about it like I was. I was such a noob I'd never even heard of fanfic. Imagine my delight when I discovered it. I found a few stories and thought, 'Well, I can do that.' And I wrote up my first story, found a place to post it (wasn't Ephemeral the best?), got some kind feedback, found a really nice person (not sure she wants to be named since she used her real name in the fandom back in the day) who encouraged me a lot and directed me to all the e-mail lists and Yahoo Groups that I needed to be on, and then, Bob's your uncle, I wrote more and more.

What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom?

Periphery. Most of my experience in any fandom is now on Tumblr because that's where my attention span is. Show me pretty pictures and funny stuff. I am old now and don't want to think hard.

Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files?

Veronica Mars was my next fandom experience. A number of my XF friends got me hooked on VM. The VM fandom was a LOT younger compared to the XF fandom. When I joined the XF fandom, I was the kid compared to most of the other fans who were all goddesses and royalty in my eyes. But in the VM fandom, I was in my 30s and the rest of the fandom were all in their early 20s if not younger. It often showed, so I stayed out of discussions and just posted my fic once I started writing it. I took a new handle (invida) when I started writing VM fic. Just in case these kids felt like my writing sucked, I didn't want it getting back to the XF fandom that I’d branched out and failed spectacularly.

By then fandom experiences had moved over to LiveJournal. I never really got involved in the discourse or the fandom fights. I knew what people were saying and where the schisms were, but I was all about the fanfic and the pretty pictures. Most of my LJ friends just discussed the episodes and posted their fic and that was good with me.

What got me writing fic for VM was Anjou's brilliant VM fic Into the Blue. Seriously, if you love VM S1, read her fic. Just so beautiful.

VM was also where started writing a WIP, which was a wild trip. I wrote a much-loved WIP called Damn, Damn the Circumstance which people still ask me about finishing to this day. Someday…*wistful sighs*

Who are some of your favorite fictional characters? Why?

Scully. She was everything! Lapsed Catholic, degrees in science, skeptic, always trying to work within the rules but still not taking crap. Yeah, she was the best.

Veronica Mars was great until she wasn't. I have a lot of issues with her beyond S2. And don't even talk to me about S4. For me, S1 was the best, I enjoyed the movie, the books were okay, but nothing else happened after that. NOTHING.

And the first character I ever loved was Princess Leia. She was also everything to me growing up. I wanted to be her. I still do.

Do you ever still watch The X-Files or think about Mulder and Scully?

Now and then. Not as much as I used to. I sometimes have it on in the background when I'm doing other things. Back before the pandemic, my BFF and I would have get togethers where we would play Scrabble, eat a lot of candy, and binge several XF episodes. I miss doing that. Hopefully, we will get back to that soon.

Do you ever still read X-Files fic? Fic in another fandom?

I am not an active XF fanfic reader right now. I will read any stories my friends put out. Otherwise, I only occasionally read some I come across on Tumblr in my feed, but I am not seeking them out. I will beta for any XF author who asks me as well.

I am reading fic in other fandoms though – Endeavour, Broadchurch, Sherlock…huh, I'm just realizing that's a lot of British stuff. I have been really into British detective series for the last few years.

Do you have any favorite X-Files fanfic stories or authors?

I used to run an XF fic recommendation site called How Will It End usually with at least one other person (I went through at least 4 partners on that project because I'm a control freak). We'd compile our recs and then I'd post them on my site. We'd also feature authors we really liked and interview them. Not unlike these interviews!

I'm terrible at giving feedback/comments. So I solved that problem by making a rec site. That way I could tell authors I loved their fics by recommending them. I didn't have to comment, I'd just say, 'I'd like to rec your fic'. And then they'd get promotion. Win-win. Back in those days, the fandom would absolutely roast you for promoting your own fic, so to get on a rec site was a big deal. Not that I had a popular rec site or anything. But I think authors really enjoyed being asked.

All that to say I've liked a lot of fics. I can pull up the archives of HWIE and show you all the faves I liked. :)

What is your favorite of your own fics, X-Files and/or otherwise?

Back in the day, E-muse would hold Improv Challenges, where other members would give you a prompt that you had to include in your fic. I was always really proud of the stories I created from those challenges (No Earthly Means and Elephant in the Room if you want to read them).

I enjoyed writing Dead to Rights which is an XF/Dead Like Me crossover because I loved the challenge of writing a crossover. It was the first crossover I ever tried writing even though I only recently published it.

Otherwise, I like re-reading In a Graveyard, Importuning Life for Life, and Some By Virtue Fall. Of my more recent fic, I like Slap a Goatee on Me and Call Me Evil because the premise was ridiculous and I think it's funny as all get out.

Probably my favourite of my VM fic was Stay Outta Riverdale. Because: 1. The title is a Simpsons reference who doesn't love a Simpsons reference? And 2. I think I was hilarious throughout it.

Do you think you'll ever write another X-Files story? Or dust off and post an oldie that for whatever reason never made it online?

I'm always open to writing more fic (and, of course, I don't mean my WIPs…don't look at me like that). Lately, my only motivation has been from writing prompts on Tumblr. I haven't had anyone give me a prompt in over a year, so here we are. I have snippets of dialogue in journals and word documents that have never found their way into stories. I'd be happy to dust off any of those and shoehorn them into a new story.

Do you still write fic now? Or other creative work?

The last fanfic I wrote was a mini-fic over a year ago (with a prompt from Lilydale!). I've written a bit of original fiction but I haven't been able to finish it. Otherwise, I do have a number of real life hobbies which are where my creative outlets lie now.

Where do you get ideas for stories?

Lately, challenges and prompts. It used to be from wanting to see more from a scene. I really had a thing for fill-in-the-blanks or scene continuations. And sometimes my motivation is just plain old spite. :)

What's the story behind your pen name?

Circe Invidiosa is the title of a painting by John William Waterhouse. Love the colours and the absolute malice on the face of the subject. It felt like a good pen name – the envious witch. That's me!

I chose it when I posted my first XF fic (which I cringe to read now, ugh so terrible) without knowing there was already a Circe in the fandom. Whoops. I tried to go by the full Circe Invidiosa or Invidiosa as much as possible after realizing that (invidiosa is my url and my username on a lot of sites, etc.). Now I think that I've been around long enough that it doesn't matter as much but I still like it.

As I said, I took the name Invida for the VM fandom which is just a shortening of Invidiosa.

Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions?

My significant other knows and that was quite a reveal (oh how awkward). However, the SO has been very supportive and has read all my stories since the reveal and sometimes betas them. The SO also wants us to collaborate on writing some original fiction but we haven't found a project that works for both of us creatively or timewise.

My BFF knows because I dragged her into the online fandom. We've known each other since we were 14, but our love of XF really solidified our bond in our 20s. She wrote some short but sweet fics under the penname Helen Quilley which I bullied her into posting, and we wrote Of Ladies Most Deject and Wretched together. She is mostly embarrassed that she wrote fanfic now but we still fangirl together.

No one else really knows other than fandom folks I've met in real life. And some friends know I've written 'short stories' but I don't elaborate. I work in a stodgy, uptight industry where anything fun or actually having a life is frowned upon.

Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now?

Over the first lockdown, I got my shit together and got my fic site, invidiosa.com, up and running again. My site houses fic by Rain (now @doctorhelena on Tumblr and AO3), Helen Quilley, ML (who I miss so much), Folieadeux, Shelba, TLynn, Oracle, Piper Sargasso, Diehard, and me. And I made all their dustjackets (except Folie's). The site got hacked a few years back and it was so much work to get running again that I put it off for years and years. I still feel terrible that I did not get the site back up before ML passed away, especially when ML had asked me about it a few months before she passed.

Anyway, all my XF fic is here: circe.invidiosa.com. I have 3 of my newer XF stories on AO3. And my fic-LJ also has some of my stories. Some of the newer stories are on Tumblr but the tagging is so erratic that I'd have to list several tags before you'd find them all. I don't know why I haven't moved everything over to AO3. Probably laziness.

I'm @invidiosa on Tumblr. I'm still on E-muse. I'm still on LJ. I'm always reachable by e-mail (invidiosa at gmail).

Is there anything else you'd like to share with fans of X-Files fic?

Thanks for reading, writing, and commenting. It is always appreciated.

(Posted by Lilydale on January 5, 2021)

#new post #old school x #xfiles fanfic #xf fanfic #xf fanfic author interviews #circe invidiosa

[bonesliketambourines]

top five of ‘20

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 (ish) favourite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

thank you @xanthippe74 for the tag!

well! it’s been quite a year, hasn’t it? 

i hadn’t written fanfic at all since like 2012 prior to this year, and that was in a completely different fandom; when drarry grabs you, it grabs hard, eh? i wrote 51 fics this year and there’s still time for more 😬

picking my top five is hard! i already went a little too into my feelings about what are probably my automatic first choices here and here, so i’m going to exclude those from this list!

i always make the ‘i love all my children equally’ joke from arrested development about my fic, but for the most part i’m really telling the truth—i know not all my fics are incredible or excellent, but i put time and effort into all of them, and even the not as good ones are part of my journey as a writer, because i really feel i’ve improved by leaps and bounds this year. i’ve certainly gotten better at producing a quality fic at the eleventh hour, haha.

honestly though, there absolutely are some fics that are a little closer to my heart (besides the two mentioned in the links above), so i’m going to attempt to narrow that down into five!

in no particular order:

the best kind of bad: this was an expansion of a discord drabble, and is my first attempt at writing first-person, ever! it also was a bit of a tone shift from my previous efforts up to this point—a little darker, a little ambiguous, less focus on humor and snappy banter and more on making the atmosphere match the vibes i was going for. this was my first more ‘open ending’ fic that doesn’t answer all the questions it put forth, and i definitely have taken that and run with it in the intervening months!

push and pull you down: so i think by now everyone in the drarry fandom knows about this gifset, right? of course when a fest all about inspiration from gifs and images came out i had to use this one! i’ve always loved the idea of a totally unredeemed draco who isn’t trying to be nice and conform to post-war life, a draco who still uses his money and his name to get his way no matter what. and what better exemplifies that than drug-peddling and sex on potions? i also have a lot of thoughts about harry as an auror—i love writing him as confident and competent, of course, but equally do i enjoy writing him questioning himself and wondering if maybe this path isn’t for him after all. also, smoking is sexy and that’s that on that.

in knots: so, full disclosure; i didn’t like this one at all when i first wrote and posted it. it was kinktober and here i was writing a sad, strange little fic about PTSD and living up to our legacies and how our images of ourselves are based so much on our parents, and the adults in our lives, and the things we were told as children. what the fuck is that doing in the middle of all the relatively hot smut i wrote? but, up it went, and when i re-read it the next day, i completely changed my tune. it’s rough, sure—all of my kinktober things are as they’re not edited at all, but this one has probably more feelings per capita than almost anything else i’ve written, and it got right to the heart of a lot of the character motivations that i have in my head when i write these two, but don’t always articulate.

in His name: ahhhhh man. okay. so this one really, really got away from me as you can tell by the word count. i didn’t edit or revise any of my kinktober fics before posting them, but this one i spent a lot of time researching first, and i’m thrilled with how it came out. as someone who grew up watching buffy and had a long-time love affair with supernatural, writing something with sexy demonic possession has always been on my wish list, but it’s not exactly a common thing to work into the harry potter universe! i got to sprinkle this fic with all of my favorite tropes and i think i managed to maintain the intensity of the fic throughout the whole thing, even though it’s so dang long haha.

in charge: so anybody who’s read my writing knows that i have a pretty particular style of draco and harry that i write. even if i adjust their personalities, there are some core tenets that remain. i went a totally different route for them with this one, and i love how it turned out. forcing myself to step back and throw away everything i’m used to for characterization was so, so fun, and this dynamic and vibe is just so tasty that i may have to come back to it!

and yes, three of the five of these are from kinktober. i found that having to come up with new ideas every single day really stretched my writer muscles and forced me to go outside my comfort zone in so many ways; it was a challenge to not just write the same exact scenario with a cut-and-paste kink for the smut, but at the risk of sounding self-aggrandizing, i really think i achieved that, and i’m quite proud of everything i wrote that month. it made me a better writer and i highly recommend that everyone participate in something like this if they’re able!

and hey would you look at that—you’ll get the chance! i’m going to take this opportunity to link to @hpkinkuary, which will be a list of 28 kink prompts i’ll be posting in mid-january and hosting throughout the month of february! there will be an ao3 collection and some very pretty graphics that i’ve yet to make, and there are no rules or participation requirements, so if you feel like you might want to give it a shot go ahead and give that account a follow!

i’m tagging @tackytigerfic, @dracoladon, @shealwaysreads, @maesterchill, @p1013, @quicksilvermaid, @pineau-noir, @peachpety, and anyone else who sees this and wants to do it; make sure you tag me in it so i can see your replies!!

#tag game #my fic #drarry #drarry discord #drarry squad

[shes-an-oddbird]

Merry Christmas to my Fitzsimmons Secret Santa giftee @springmagpies​  ironically started working on my Christmas at River’s End Mall fic a couple of weeks before I received your fantastic prompt: working at the mall during the holidays! It was a fun coincidence and it was nice to work on this as a stand alone fic that could exist in the same universe as that story. 

I also wanted to make a moodboard to go with it since I’m so inspired by yours! I hope you enjoy it!

The Good & The Bad Of Seasonal Jobs 

Summary:  Leopold Fitz hates his seasonal job demoing the poorly made gadgets on the top of everyone's Christmas lists. Jemma Simmons loves her seasonal job wrapping those gifts. Together they make a a perfect team, even if they haven't officially met yet. Until Jemma is presented with a task that dampens her Christmas spirit and her and Fitz team up to get it back.

His expertise is being wasted.

Fitz is convinced they’ll be by to revoke his credentials any moment now.

If he sells one more shotty piece of home gadgetry with the promise that it will improve their customers everyday lives he might as well tear up his doctorate degree.

But he’s still short the cash he needs to get home for the holiday so here he is. Standing in a crowded mall, demoing cheaply made drones, remote control cars and robotic animals. Couldn’t one of these manufacturers create a monkey instead of the typical dog and cat? Are opposable thumbs that much of a challenge?

He knows the morning rush is starting to settle when he can hear the slightest jingling coming from the gift wrap kiosk across from him. A noise that would normally put him on edge has become a bright spot in his day. It came from the silver bell worn by the gift wrapper, Jemma, who worked the kiosk. She kept the bell tied around her neck on a long blue ribbon and with every move she made it rattled a cheery sound that added to the festive atmosphere in the mall.

He wasn’t much for Christmas cheer himself. He wasn’t a complete grinch, despite what Hunter might say, but if all of his income from the lab didn’t go straight to student loans, rent and food he definitely wouldn’t have bothered with the seasonal work at all.  

Every time his spirits started to fall though, he’d glance over at Jemma to find her glancing back at him. No matter if it was irate customers or screaming children or an upset manager, she was close enough to hear and observe and would shoot him a supportive smile.

They had yet to actually speak to each other but they had found other ways to communicate. One of the most in demand drones of the season utilized a camera and messaging system. She had taken to writing notes on scraps of wrapping paper that he could read through the drone camera and he was able to send back messages to her.

He would love to talk to her in person but the more and more he learned about her from their notes the more and more nerve racking that prospect became. She was brilliant. A double PHD. She worked for a lab he interviewed at a while back but had ended up recruited for a project at another lab across town. He almost regrets taking the project now, the one she was in the middle of sounds fascinating and he thinks they’d make a good team.

But then again, that would involve talking directly to her.

Which would happen, eventually.

It’s early afternoon, kids not yet out of school but late enough that mall walkers and nannies with young ones were heading home. This was the time when they usually found a chance to “chat.” He readies the drone to fly it over to her station but stops when he sees she’s got a customer. A well-dressed man, expensive suit and a pair of matching jewelry boxes in his hands. He spends a moment talking to her, a charismatic smile on his face. She’s not impressed if he’s flirting. She nods curtly back at him as she takes the boxes and he leaves.

Fitz watches her shoulders sag and her demeanor change as she examines the boxes before setting them aside and turning to fetch some paper. Her bell jingles and she stops in her tracks. She removes the necklace and tosses it aside before returning to the task.

Fitz doesn’t know what it was the man said or did to ruin her day but after she’d done so much to improve his bad moods, he felt like he should do something. He quickly packs up the drone and waves to his manager that he’s going on his break.

****

Jemma couldn’t imagine a better holiday job.

When Daisy had told her she could probably get her the open gift wrapper position at the mall she had jumped at the opportunity. It wasn’t exactly science, although Daisy claimed she’d made an art out of it. Just because she liked her patterns to precisely line up and her ribbons to match, it wasn’t that special.

She does love the look in her customers eyes when they pick up their presents.

She also loves the light in the customers’ eyes when they hand her their gifts to be wrapped and she just knows they had found the perfect thing for their loved one. Sometimes the gifts would come along with a story, the hours they waited in line, the dozens of stores visited, the didn’t-plan-on-it-but-I-saw-it-and-thought-of-them. She loved that. It made her want to wrap each gift with just as much love and care.

She thinks that might also be why she maintains her Christmas cheer while Fitz, who works at the shop across from her station, is so grumpy all the time. Poor Fitz. He gets the customers before she does. When they are frustrated from having been on their feet all day with the end not in sight. Their kids tugging and pulling and screaming and begging for this and that. And a manger breathing down his neck, pushing him to sell drones that she knows he thinks are poor quality and will inevitably break.

He’s an engineer, she found out one day when he was messaging her about the poor controls on the drone after apologizing three or four times for nearly hitting her with it.

The day is starting to quiet down for the afternoon lull. She’s caught up on all of her work and is gathering up scraps to write her notes to Fitz on when there is a tap on the wooden counter. She looks up to see a tall well-dressed man waiting for assistance. He’s got just two matching boxes in his hands so she thinks she can knock them out quickly and still have plenty of time to chat with Fitz before the afterschool rush hits.

“Yes, how can I help you today.”

He grins down at her with a charming smile and an unconvincing look of innocence in his eyes.

“Yes, you certainly can, I’ve got a sort of special task.” He places the identical jewelry boxes down between them. “You see this one here, is for my wife,” he slides the first box forward, “and this one,” he places his hand on the other box, “this one if for, well not my wife.” Jemma narrows her eyes in confusion, “so you understand it’s important not to mix them up right?”

Then it hits her and her stomach fills with dread. She looks at the boxes again. They’re branded on the side with the logo of the expensive jewelry shop down at the other end of the mall. “May I?” She asks, reaching out for them. She opens the first to reveal a pretty gold bracelet with a woman’s name engraved in cursive and three sparkling charms. She opens the second box to find a second bracelet, exactly the same except for the name. “Um, they’re lovely.”

“So we don’t have a problem here?” He asks.

Did they? Could she refuse service to this guy because he was cheating on his wife and possibly misleading some other poor woman? Its certainly what she’d like to do.

“No, I suppose not.”

“Perfect, I’ll be back for them this evening, dinner with the girlfriend first, then dinner with the wife.” He taps the counter again. “Do them up real nice for me.”

Jemma nods and collects the boxes. She moves them to the back worktable and starts to select a wrapping paper when the bell on her necklace jingles and she stops. Her bell was tradition. She wore it all through the holiday season thinking the gentle sound was a pleasant way to spread holiday cheer. But now, now it was like it was mocking her.

She takes the bell, pulls the ribbon over her head and tosses it aside.

Maybe it’s a side effect of her frustration or maybe it’s her desire to give the woman being two-timed something individually beautiful; whichever it is she wraps the two bracelets exquisitely. The paper is elegant, the ribbon satin and she even takes the time to add little decorations like pine bristles and bells. She carefully inscribes the cards for the top and gently tucks them under the ribbons before placing them with the rest of the gifts ready for pick up.

It’s exhausting. She has an overwhelming desire to close-up for the day or call out early so that she doesn’t have to be here when he comes back for them. Fitz isn’t even at his usual post, ready to make her laugh.

Someone clears their throat behind her and she spins around on her stool. Fitz is standing at the front counter, two to-go cups in his hands. She’s unsure how to proceed for a moment. Her and Fitz hadn’t actually spoken in person since they started their seasonal worker comradery.

“Hi.”

“Hey.” He shifts back and forth unsure what to say either.

“Thirsty?” She asks, curious about the two cups. Maybe one for now and one for later?

“Oh, no, um one is for you, I hope hot chocolate is okay.” She feels a smile fight its way through her gloom. She can’t help it, hearing his voice for the first time is thrilling. He’s Scottish. Which she had learned from their messages, he was trying to earn money for the ticket home, but it still threw her off just a bit.

“Thanks, but why?” Why today, she really wants to ask.

“I don’t know, you’re always so positive and then that guy came by earlier and you looked upset, I just thought this might cheer you up.”

“Oh, thank you.” She except the cup and the warmth spreads through her chilly hands. She takes a sip and the warmth runs through the rest of her. She savors it for a moment then cringes. “Was is that obvious, that I was upset I mean, do you think he noticed?”

“I doubt it, seemed a bit self-absorbed to me.”

“He’s horrible, bought his wife and his girlfriend the same bracelet for Christmas and didn’t want me to mix them up.” She gestures to where the boxes sit on the very top of the pile.

Fitz face scrunches up in disgust. “What a wanker – sorry.”

She tries not to laugh. “Its okay, he really is, would you like to sit down, I’ve got a second stool back here.”

“Sure, I’ve got a little time.” Jemma excitedly sets aside her beverage and flips up the countertop so he can join her. They settle onto the stools and he swivels his back and forth nervously. “Its strange talkin’ to you in person.”

“Not bad strange, I hope.”

“No, no definitely not bad.”

She ends up asking him about how his work project is coming along and he tells her about the snags they've hit but that its really coming along. He thinks they could use a good biotech person to which she has to decline, being in the middle of her own project. Their conversation slows and Fitz chugs the last bit of hot chocolate before looking for a bin.

"Its under there." She points to the trash can next to the stacks of gifts. Fitz tosses the cup and examines the mountain of presents.

“So why not just switch the cards on these?” He asks as he grabs the bracelet boxes off the pile and places them in front of him.

Jemma frowns. “I can’t do that.”

“Why not?” Fitz asks as he traces the cards with his finger. “Its not like the guy doesn’t deserve whatever would come of it.”

“Well yes he would but it’s my job, I can’t just let my personal feelings effect how I do things, besides he could take it out on the mall if he wanted to, May shouldn’t have to deal with that.” She reasons.

“I think May would on your side.”

“I still can’t Fitz.” She insists as he slides free the tags.

“Fine.” He slips the cards back onto their respective boxes. “Still want to get back at him for ruining your day.”

“Fitz I promise, today is turning out to be pretty great, here – “ Jemma picks up her discarded silver bell necklace and carefully loops it around Fitz’s neck. Her fingers graze his neck, just above the collar of his work polo and she draws them back quickly.  

“What um, what’s this for?” He asks reaches for the bell.

“It’s for spreading Christmas cheer, I think you’re doing a better job of that right now than I am.”

****

Fitz promises Jemma he’ll return her bell at the end of the day. They’re both working open to close and by nightfall the mall is bustling. Friday nights are always busy, usually with teenagers but now with everyone shopping for Christmas its wall to wall people. He’s out demoing drones again. They draw the biggest crowd into the store and the manager had convinced May to let them project the camera’s video feed on to the big screen downstairs at the mall’s Christmas set up.

It keeps him busy. Trying to find interesting things to focus in on. He does enjoy the opportunity to stray farther and farther from the shop. From the balcony he can swoop the drone down to the kids waiting in line for Santa. They wave excitedly and screech with joy when they see their faces up on the screen.

As he retreats the drone back to him there is an audible ‘aww’ of disappointment but if it gets too far away it’ll loose connection and he’ll have to go fetch it when it crash lands. As it comes back up over the railing he does a fancy little spin hoping Jemma is watching. The bit of trick flying always earns him a smile and an eyeroll but when he looks over he sees she busy.

The man from earlier is back to collect his packages. He wishes Jemma would have swapped the cards on them or that he had just done it for her. He knows he shouldn’t but he swings the drone around anyways, he’s a good distance from the guy but its enough to startle him when it wizzes past his head.

“Watch it with that thing!” He snaps.

“Sorry, shotty controls.” He apologizes and holds up the remote guiltily. Still scowling the man take just one of his packages and leaves in a huff.

“Fitz, that was dangerous.” She chides but doesn’t sound as cross as he suspects she could be about it.

“I wasn’t gonna hit him.” He lands the drone on Jemma’s workstation. She’s fiddling with the bow on the man’s other gift. “Why didn’t he take that one?”

“Dinner with his girlfriend, didn’t want to be caught with it.”

Fitz rolls his eyes before returning to the store.

Their long day continues on and the crowds slowly start to dwindle. There are a few stragglers getting in last minute purchases but most of the patrons are either waiting on restaurant reservations or letting out from the evening’s first seatings.

Fitz has just finished charging up the camera drone before locking it up for the night when Jemma rushes into the store.

“Okay, I can’t take it anymore I have to do something or say something.”

“What are you talking about?”

“That guy, that horrible, horrible man just kissed his girlfriend goodbye and marched right over here to get the bracelet for his wife who is waiting for him at the restaurant literally around the corner and I just can’t take it, he’s so arrogant and and awful and – “

“Okay, okay, calm down.” He places his hands on her shoulders gently hoping to sooth her frantic motions. “I thought your hands were tied, that you could do anything.”

“They are,” she stresses, “but it’s so unfair Fitz.”

“Okay well,” Fitz doesn’t know how to help in a way that doesn’t get them involved. He could march right up to the guy and confront him but he suspects that will end very badly. If there was away for them all to figure it out on their own maybe with just a push on their side.

“You said you saw the girlfriend?”

“Yes.”

“You think she’s still here?”

“Maybe, I saw her head downstairs, I assumed that she was leaving.” Fitz takes Jemma’s hand and rushes her over to the balcony. Her eyes scan the small crowd below. In a small seating area by the North Pole set up a woman has set down her things on an armchair and is pulling on her gloves, Fitz sees the shimmer of a bracelet on her wrist. “That’s her.”

“Okay, go try to keep her there.”

“But I can’t tell her, I can’t just delivery that sort of news she may not even believe me.” Fitz is already shaking his head at her protests.

“That’s the thing about Christmas isn’t it, adults don’t believe in Christmas spirit and Santa and all that because for them seeing is believing,” Fitz rushes back into the shop and grabs up the camera drone. “Let’s give them something to see.”

****

“Excuse me, Ma’am, excuse me.” Jemma races up to the pretty blonde woman who has just finished pulling on her coat and scarf. The woman looks at her startled.

“Yes, can I help you?”

Jemma froze. She didn’t want to be the one to pass along such horrible news. But she only needs to buy Fitz some time. “I, I – I’m sorry you don’t know me, my name is Jemma Simmons, I work upstairs at the gift wrap station, I actually wrapped that lovely bracelet you’ve got there.” She says, pointing to the piece of jewelry the woman is trying to free from her coat sleeve.

The woman smiles. “You did an incredible job, my boyfriend wanted to claim it was his own work, but I knew he could never manage anything like that, he can be such a slob.”

“Among other things.” Jemma mutters quietly but not enough that the woman misses it. Her eyes narrow suspiciously.

“Is there a problem?”

“Um, no, well yes you see – “

“Aww, check out the big screen.” Someone calls and both women turn to the large television. Jemma recognizes the feed from the drone immediately. The camera is trailing along a line of guests waiting to be seated at the restaurant upstairs. They wave cheerfully at the camera which comes to a stop on the man and his wife as he gifts her the bracelet and she excitedly rips open the package and throws herself towards him in gratitude.

Jemma worriedly turns to the woman who has lowered her attention from the screen back to the bracelet. One identical to the one on the screen. For a moment she looks terribly heartbroken.

“I’m so sorry, I feel like I’ve just ruined your holiday.” Jemma’s not even sure she hears her. She’s about to ask if she’s alright but then a look of determination crosses her face and she looks up at her with a smile.

“Thank you, um, you set this up?” She gestures to the screen.

Jemma nods cautiously.

“Prefect, can you make the feed go away, there are children here and they really don’t to see what’s about to happen to him.”

Jemma breathes a sigh of relief. “Consider it done.”

By the time she texts Fitz and returns to her kiosk he is already there looking rather pleased with himself. “You’re not even going to ask if it worked first?”

“Didn’t have too, heard the woman coming when I was clearing out of there.”

“Oh dear, I hope it doesn’t get out of hand, I still feel awful.” She says as she leans against the counter next to him.

Fitz nudged her shoulder with his. “Jemma they were being two-timed, if it was you you would have wanted to know right?”

“Yeah I guess so.”

“Then let it go, please, because I need you to go back to being the cheerful one, it’s too much work for me.” Jemma laughs and nudges his shoulder back. He slips the bell off from around his neck and carefully drapes it back around hers. She looks up at him, her whole body feeling jittery and her eyes land on his. She thinks, and blushes at the thought, that she would kill for a bit of mistletoe right now.

She aims for his cheek instead. Landing a thank you kiss on his scruffy jaw and watching happily as he turns a cute shade of pink.

“Um – “ He stutters out.

“Excuse me.” Jemma and Fitz step apart quickly. Standing a few feet away are the blonde woman from downstairs and a second woman who looks elegantly dressed and perhaps a little frazzled. “Sorry, we didn’t mean to interrupt, I was told I might owe you both a thank you?”

“Oh no, it was nothing – “

Fitz cuts her off. “No please thank her, she’s convinced she’s ruined your Christmases.”

“Well, its certainly taken a turn, but for the best in the long run.” The second woman says. She looks between the pair of them. “Actually, as a thank you, would you two like our reservations, someone should have a romantic date night.”

Jemma blushes and Fitz clears his throat. “Oh we’re not together and we should really be working actually –“

“Yes working, right.” Fitz scoops up the drone and hurries off.

Jemma watches him go before turning back to her company. “Thank you, that was very generous of you to offer.”

“Of course.” She says. “And please, don’t worry over this.”

“Yes, its our problem and its being delt with,” the blonde woman agrees. “Should have known something was up, all the time we were together, and he never once looked at me the way that man there looks at you.”

Jemma doesn’t know what to say in response. She looks back at Fitz who glances up at her at the same time and sends her a boyish smile.

“Have a good night Jemma, you’ve given us a lot to think about, maybe we’ve given you something to think about as well.” The women leave and Jemma is left standing at her gift wrapping kiosk, fiddling with the silver bell around her neck.

#fitzsimmons secret santa #fitzsimmons #leo fitz #jemma simmons #fitzsimmons fic

[ravenwolfie97]

2020 Art Summary

Yep, it’s 2021 already. 2020 is finally over. It felt like it lasted forever, and it felt like the end would never come, but here we are. Crazy how the time flew by.

I felt like I didn’t get much art done this year because of Current World Event, but I made a lot more than I thought I did. Even some of my new favorite pieces came out of this year, so I think that’s worth celebrating and looking back upon!

I was insanely productive during the first month of 2020, and looking back I was surprised at all the stuff I did, but then I remembered that that winter season was actually one of the best times of my life! I started being more socially involved, and I think my newfound drive at the time translated into all the art I pumped out this month. This is just a small fraction of what I made in January, but I only have so much space. Quite a few complex pieces in both style exploration and polishing my own style.

Apparently February was a rather intimate month. Things began to slow down in terms of my own art here, with me spending more time in social settings and school work ramping up, I didn’t have as much time to coop up in my room to draw. I did wanna do something for a friend’s Valentine’s Day OC art challenge, so I drew my lovey-dovey couple from Dance of 1000 Words havin’ a dance. Nothing actually came of that challenge, but it was fun to do regardless.

One of the things I was most proud of in the winter season was making more friends, and one of the closest friends I made was completely coincidental. I met a person named Kiri on the bus one night I decided to volunteer somewhere by myself, and we ended up chatting and getting along. They quickly told me their tumblr username, and I shot them a message immediately after they left. A couple days later, we met up for brunch, and we started becoming really close friends and creative partners!

Not much else happened in March cuz that’s when Current World Event started becoming an issue, but Kiri and I still kept in close touch and we randomly started developing a concept for a Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Galar Edition. These are a handful of characters we thought up, with Skipper the Scorbunny and Dross the Dreepy as the main characters, Morgrem as the main antagonist, and some shopkeepers such as those of the Greedent Bank and the Indeedee General Store. This was also my first time drawing all of these Galar Pokemon (except Scorbunny, but I also made Skipper a bit more unique than a regular Scorbunny).

Lots of events happened this month. First of all, Steven Universe Future ended, one of my favorite and most influential shows was no longer continuing. I had to do something as tribute, both as a send-off to one of the greatest cartoons in the world and as a cathartic release for my feelings towards it.

A while later, I got the opportunity to start playing an MMO in beta called Fer.al, by the same people who made Animal Jam, which coincidentally I had also beta tested for back in the day. I ended up getting really attached to my first character, a Senri I named Sasha, and though I’ve made more characters than them since, they’re still my absolute favorite. Though I haven’t touched the game in a few months, I was really engrossed for a long time and enjoyed playing through the beta and early access phases.

At the end of the month, some friends of mine invited to a roleplay group with some mutuals, and we all played characters in a crime syndicate. Just a bunch of ragtag thieves and criminals who ended up together in order to protect an artifact called the Crown of Thieves, which was essentially a flag to be taken by other groups to prove that they are the best thieves in the land. My character was based heavily on my sona (if it wasn’t obvious) and was also influenced by Cloud Strife, since the FFVII Remake had just come out and I was super into watching the cutscenes at the time. My character’s (code)name is Valkyrie, and they are a mercenary, going between multiple different employers to carry out whatever duties they need to do. They have a more complicated backstory, but presently they were recently hired by recommendation of their friend Shark (played by @shmoots-universe​ who is also My friend now ily maya) who works with a group called the Court Cards who are currently in possession of the Crown of Thieves. Valk never really had a place to call home, but staying with this group of people had to be the closest they could get to that feeling. They still sleep with a knife under their pillow because of trust issue but that’s okay.

Okay, so technically these examples started in April, but I continued making content with them in May, and the month was just pretty void of art in general, so here I am addressing them.

There were two main things I worked on this month: a Steven Universe AU of my own and the whole #sixfanarts thing that kicked off around then. Let’s start with the fanart bits. I did two and a half of them (six in April and nine in May), and it was so much fun to be able to draw stuff I don’t normally do! My personal favorites are shown here: Blake Belladonna from RWBY, Roll from Megaman, Yuki Konno from Sword Art Online, and Link from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. The other thing I’d been planning for a while was a Steven Universe AU, probably to cope with the show being over but also because I was inspired by a lot of those SU AU artists I started following at the time. I won’t share the details here because it’s gonna have its own blog at some point, but the example I’ve shown here is of a comic I made loosely in order to introduce a divergence in the plot of the story as well as introduce a character unique to my AU. It was a lot of fun figuring out how to draw the characters and get a feel for the style.

As the year progressed, my amount of art I made per month began to dwindle, this time mostly because school was kicking my ass especially hard with finals. However, I took what time I had to get some backburner pieces finished, like the Tigerlily picture which I sketched out a couple months back, and the Gunvolt picture which I started working on SIX YEARS AGO. I don’t quite know why I got the urge to work on it again after so long, but it was nice to finally realize. The other drawing for DOTS was done in the dead of night but I was really happy with how it came out.

Despite only having two summer classes left of school, this month was really rough because they demanded a lot of my time and attention. I did not have the gumption to do anything digital, so I stuck to my sketchbook to get out what I felt like getting out.

My friends and I did a stream of the game Helltaker, and I really enjoyed the concept, so in following my friends I made my own Helltaker demon OC named Raksha the Ravenous Demon (it’s a pun but also got mythical insp). I also got super into Hazbin Hotel at this point, mostly because the Addict music video dropped and I couldn’t get enough of it, so I doodled Angel Dust cuz I felt like it. The other drawing I did was actually a free commission I gave a friend of mine as a prize for a trivia game show I ran back in June. He along with a couple other friends got some free drawings from me for getting the top three scores, and this one in particular was fun because of how interesting it was. He wanted me to draw a video game reviewer called the Irate Gamer from a specific moment, and I decided to go ham and just make it as dramatic as possible.

University classes finally wrapped up and right after that I was in the process of moving out of my apartment and getting adjusted to living with my parents again. I did a couple of agg.io drawing sessions with my friends from the Court Cards group as well as a new Dungeons and Dragons homebrew group I had joined. I drew some more of Valkyrie and came up with a design for my DND character Qakuqtuq (or Kai for short). He is monkey grandpa and I love him.

My main focus was on finishing a polished piece for my friend Cake, whose birthday was in the upcoming month. I wanted it to be as amazing as possible, so I put a lot of time into getting more detailed and making them look good. In addition to that, I did a few TOME doodles just for fun. The creature on the bottom was for this month’s art challenge on my Discord server where we made original TOMERPG monsters, and I created Hundylow, a Crystal-element monster based on the Grindylow from English folklore.

This month was a lot more productive than the past few had been. I tried to do a 31-day art challenge called Creatober but failed to get past the third prompt because I was still swamped with other work. I’m still happy with what little I did, including the piece with my characters Kyle and Guarudan from DSWD.

I don’t remember how, but I also suddenly rediscovered an old Flipnote Hatena series called Tales of LostClan, a Warriors fan series that I would say was the most obscure thing I’ve ever been super invested in. It was what got me into the actual Warriors books, and I liked it so much I redrew the animations into a comic... twice. Didn’t get nearly as far the second time but clearly my love for this little fanfiction had not waned after nearly a decade. I felt like drawing a book cover/movie poster for the series, just to get it out there and see how much I’ve improved over all that time.

Also I felt like making a vampiresona just before Halloween because I never dress up for Halloween in art (or real life anymore, for that matter), and I wanted to do something like that for once. It was short-lived but I really liked the design!

The focus of this month was definitely on Pokemon stuff. As per usual I contributed to the current Gotta Draw ‘Em All collab, and I was tasked to draw Regieleki. It was really fun to figure out how to make it stand out and look like it was made of electricity.

I also committed a lot of my spare time to my Fakemon Gym Leaders, as I had been working on bringing them to life in the past year or so now. As of this post, I’ve finished rendering their full body poses and gym badges, but I’m still working on completing all eight VS portraits, the first half of which are shown here.

I... didn’t draw anything this month, actually. What I’m showing here was worked on in the last few days but has actually been in progress for a couple of months, and I just finished it earlier today, in 2021. But I needed to show something off, and it’s also about time I mentioned it.

Back in October, I kept seeing people rave about this game called Genshin Impact, and I was interested but not so much as to start playing it... until my friends started playing and I was like “fuck it, let’s download it”. Since that day, I have been super immersed and in love with this game, to the point I came up with my own canon based on my gameplay experiences. This also included the creation of an original player character: Astra, the non-binary Traveller. And now, I’ve finally drawn them and brought them to life.

It has been one hell of a year. I had some of the highest highs and lowest lows in 2020, lots of changes, and I have now officially moved onto the next chapter of my life now that my time at university is finally over. I’m very excited for what 2021 has to offer, and I’m going to go forward with great ambition.

#my art stuff #art summary #this is always a joy to do every year and i'm glad to keep up the tradition for the sixth year in a row #this year was super good for this as well just to look back on what i was actually able to accomplish #long post #tome #hazbin hotel

[vs-redemption]

who are your favorite top ten my hero academia characters & ships? talk about them! ~tat!

From Cindy: Hello again Tat! Sorry, I’m a little late with posting this. Thank you for being patient. Now I’m wondering about your top ten characters and ships from my hero and black clover now. 

Again, I’m not a huge shipper so I just wrote a few that stand out to me. If anyone wants to know my thoughts or feelings on a specific ship, feel free to ask. I’m pretty much cool with anything as long as it’s legal.

Top 10 BNHA Characters

Shoto Todoroki

Todoroki will always be my precious sweetness. I really don’t think there’s anything I dislike about him. He tried to be a grumpy bean in the beginning but that didn’t last long. I admire him for wanting to be a hero even despite his tragic/horrible upbringing. I mentioned this in a different post, but I’ve really enjoyed watching him develop a sense of self and come to the realization that it is okay to open up and rely on friends. He’s willing to learn and change and grow and that’s amazing. He’s come so far in his relationship with his classmates, and his relationship with his father. I’m very proud of him! Of course, I also love the way he takes everything too literally.

Katsuki Bakugo

Another character I could write an entire essay about. Basically though, I love Bakugo’s raw passion and determination. We all know his personality is a little rough around the edges, causing people to compare him to a villain or question his goal of becoming the best hero. And unlike Midoriya, Bakugo doesn’t have the overwhelming support of family, friends, and even All Might. Despite all that, he never wavers. He continues to run full speed ahead and I admire both his independence and confidence so much. His growth as a character has been incredible too. He’s become more aware of his own shortcomings and the reasons behind them and has tried to improve upon those shortcomings without any prompting from other characters. I also love that he follows the rules and is more responsible than most of the other kids in class 1A. Plus, he can cook!

Tokoyami Fumikage

Underrated badass bird boy. The story focuses heavily on Midoriya, Todoroki, and Bakugo, but I think people forget that Tokoyami got third place in the sports festival. Without him, Midoriya wouldn’t have even made it to the individual fights that day. I love his admiration of his classmates. It was so cute that he hyped up Denki, recalling the way they’d bonded during the culture festival. Even just the whole thing where he figured out Hawks was in danger and escaped Fat Gum’s fat to go rescue him shows how smart and strong he is. He’s best boy.

Hawks

I know Hawks is a very controversial character, but I’m on the side of supporting him (sorry). When you think of his position when he was first introduced, he was a young, attractive hero in the number two spot with the second highest popularity rating. When he accepts the mission to go undercover with the villains, he agrees to not only put his life in danger, but also give up his reputation and trust with the public. Plus, his dedication to keeping people safe and alive is probably stronger than any other hero. The Hero Commission straight up tells him he’ll have to sit back and do nothing while innocent people get hurt, but he still refuses to let that happen by saving all those people with his feathers during the High-End nomu fight. Plus, he was able to find a way around killing Best Jeanist, and tried everything he could to avoid killing Twice. If you hate him for the things he’s done… I’m pretty sure Hawks is going to hate himself more than anyone else ever could.

Present Mic

Sometimes I forget that Present Mic has a radio show on top of his other duties as a teacher and pro hero. Does this man sleep? His work ethic must be insane. I think I really started getting into Present Mic when Todoroki and Bakugo were doing the makeup license exam. He really could not sit there and watch without providing some commentary. It was cool to see him use his quirk in a real fight during the recent arc. I wouldn’t mind seeing him doing more hero stuff in the future.

Neito Monoma

His chaotic energy brings me mass amounts of joy. Not only that, how could I possibly dislike someone who is so proud and supportive of his own classmates? Does he do it in an obnoxious way? Absolutely. But I can’t fault him for bragging about and advocating for his classmates when he knows they deserve more recognition. Also, can we talk about how amazing it is that he got into a UA hero course at all with his particular quirk? Monoma is a badass and I wish more people agreed with me about that.

Best Jeanist

Best Jeanist is my favorite pro hero. This guy really saw how savage and out of control Bakugo was and said “I really do not want him at my agency but someone has to do something about this…” Also, even when he was face to face with someone like All For One, he didn’t let the fear overtake him and decided to leave himself completely open to the full force of the attack in order to save the lives of all the other heroes around him. I have mad respect for him for having that level of bravery and resolve. Even in the most recent chapters, he shows up after so many heroes struggled and single handedly restrained Machia and the entire league of villains. So cool.

Momo Yaoyorozu

I don’t hype Momo up enough but when I think about all the things she’s done up until now I get really excited about her. I know her confidence took a huge hit after losing to Tokoyami in the sports festival, but she’s come a long way since then. I liked seeing her get the acknowledgement of Todoroki during the final exam against Aizawa. She also had a lot of badass moments in the provisional license exam against that tea drinking girl. I also really liked how much her teammates relied on her during the joint training, and her whole little rivalry thing with Kendo. I felt so bad for her in the current arc too when Midnight put so much pressure on her with the decision to either fight Machia or flee.

Shota Aizawa

Aizawa is another character that I should seriously talk about more. It’s no wonder he looks so exhausted all the time because he spends every second of his life looking after and caring for everyone with every fiber of his being. He doesn’t show it on the outside really, but he makes it clear through his actions. I like that Aizawa is one of the only people to really understand Bakugo too. He was so fast to defend him during the Sports Festival and publically criticized anyone who questioned Bakugo’s resolve to become a hero after he got kidnapped by the villains. The more you learn about Aizawa, the more you realize how amazing he is. Even the tiniest things, like finding out he re-enrolled the students he expelled to teach them the meaning of “loss” so they wouldn’t hesitate or fear it when they encountered it in the real world. I mean, I could list a million examples of why he’s amazing, including Shinso, Eri, and the whole war arc in general. Gosh, he’s incredible!

Eijiro Kirishima

Kirishima is another precious boy. I have a little bit of a bias because he has the same birthday as me, but there are plenty of reasons to love him beyond that. I think I saw him described before as the one to bridge the gap between the other students in class 1A, and I think that’s pretty accurate. He gets along with everyone and has such a positive and encouraging personality. I was honestly kind of surprised to learn that he had so many insecurities and self-doubt. I remember losing my mind over his “unbreakable” form, and I loved that he got to ‘redeem’ himself in the current arc by jumping in and saving Mina when he’d failed to have the courage to do so in the past before he went to UA.

 Top 10 6 BNHA Ships/BroTPs

Todoroki x Midoriya

I totally understand why people ship this. Midoriya played a huge role in helping Todoroki move past some of his mental obstacles that kept him from being as powerful as he could be so of course it’s not too farfetched to think he could develop deeper feelings.

Todoroki x Bakugo (brotp)

I really did not understand why people shipped this for the longest time. But after the makeup provisional license exam and internship with Endeavor I can at least appreciate them as friends. Bakugo is still so aggressive and offensive and Todoroki is standing there like “look at my best friend, I love him.”

Todoroki x Momo

I know they don’t interact as much but I do like Momo’s admiration and respect for Todoroki, and I do like the way Todoroki become more aware of her and showed concern for her self-confidence during the joint training arc.

Midoriya x Uraraka

It doesn’t really seem to be going anywhere anymore, but I do think it’s cute that Uraraka gets inspired by Midoriya’s drive to be a better hero and that she uses him to inspire her to reach for her goals. They both had the cute “getting flustered around each other” thing going on and that’s fun.

Bakugo x Uraraka

I think this ship gets a lot of criticism, right? I don’t understand why though. Sure, it’s never going to be canon but I liked that Bakugo saw Uraraka as a worthy opponent during the sports festival. Uraraka is a (not so) secret badass. I love that she did her internship with gunhead and learned all sorts of martial arts. She’s bubbly and cute, which is a nice contrast to Bakugo. But she’s also strong and determined which I think he can respect.

Denki x Jiro

This is like… really adorable. Denki praising Jiro when she was all insecure about her music was so cute. And the way they were thinking of each other and rooting for each other during the war arc. I can definitely get onboard!

#Tat anon #chat with cindy #mha #bnha #shoto todoroki #katsuki bakugo #Tokoyami Fumikage #hawks #keigo takami #present mic #hizashi yamada

[ltleflrt]

Ltleflrt’s Writing Year in Review

Once again I felt like I could do more this year, so this is the theme for the decade.  But I got SO MUCH DONE too!  And more than I did last year, so I’m happy to see an improvement :D

Total 2019 Word Count: 215,491 Total 2019 Kudos: 7,581 Total 2019 Hits: 63,620

My 2019 Fics:

Dreaming in Digital: 173,818 words (44,142 from 2019)

When Dean finds a deactivated sex bot, he knows it’s his lucky day.

Set in a Cyberpunk world where global warming and climate change has driven most of the human population into domed cities, Sam and Dean hunt rogue tech and science experiments gone wrong in the shadows, protecting the lives of those the government doesn't care about anymore. On a trip to the dump to scavenge for valuables Dean finds Castiel, an Angel Industries sex bot, which is worth his weight in credits. But when he turns the sex bot on, he learns that Castiel is sentient.

Artificial Intelligence is illegal, and for good reason, but Cas doesn't put off dangerous vibes. That doesn't stop Sam from researching his creators while Dean's off making friends with the android. If there's someone out there creating a robot army unconstrained by the 3 rules of robotics, Sam's going to make sure the operation is shut down for good.

Castiel just wants to exist. He wants to read and work in the Winchester's greenhouse and have movie nights with Dean. But he also wants to understand. Himself. His unexpected reaction to Dean. What it it means to feel.

I started this fic in February 2018, and finished it in April 2019.  As of this post, it is the longest thing I’ve ever written.  And definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever written.  You know that saying about blood, sweat, and tears?  So true. (the blood was from a cat scratch when Kitty Cas tried to jump in my lap while I was writing and I got clawed, but it counts!)  I am proud of the results, even if I got tired of it and cut out a bunch of stuff I wanted to do.  2020 goal is some timestamps!

Where The Heart Lives: 12,876 words

Home is where the heart is, but it's nice to have a cozy little love nest too.

A collection of related short ficlets without a plot. Just small glimpses of Dean and Castiel being happy and in love.

This was a 30 day art challenge called Cottagetober, that I turned into writing prompts and added a 31st day since it was an October thing and I wanted a ficlet for every day.  Writing these fluffy snippets every day made me very happy, and I think I might do something similar in 2020 if I can find a list that sparks joy.

Reunited: 2,681 words

Castiel has changed a lot in the 10 years since he was a shy bookworm in High School. But it seems like few of his previous schoolmates have grown up much, if the revival of the rumor mill as soon as he walked in is any indication.

Dean Winchester certainly grew up, though. And he seems far more interested in Castiel than the rumors.

Written as a prompt from  @melilovesmakeup-blog, this little fic spawned much joy, and inspired a prequel from @bendingsignpost, which is honestly so dang flattering.  I love this little universe, and I’m heckin’ glad I randomly decided to take prompts.

Cloud Nine: 2,254 words

“Hey, angel.” Dean’s voice is warm with love and pride, and it makes Castiel squirm in his bindings. “You think you can take more?”

I love finding new ways to write non-traditional a/b/o!  One day I was driving around, and thought you know what I need?  Dom!Omega!Dean and sub!Alpha!Cas.  Not a lot of it out there yet, so had to write it myself.  And I really want to revisit this and write a prequel.  I Have Ideas!

The Git (you) Up: 1,323 words

Dean's been crushing on his new neighbor across the street from afar. When he gets an invitation to a neighborhood BBQ, he's finally going to meet the hottie. Now if only he can get the courage to talk to him.

I saw a ridiculously cute video on the internet and I was inspired!

Burning For You: 1,998 words 

Due to their busy schedules, Sam and Eileen hire a wedding planner. As Best Man, Dean steps in to help as much as he can. The fact that Castiel is gorgeous and immune to the dangers of Dean's touch is a bonus.

Another prompt!  I do prompts like never, but I’m so glad I did and got this one.  I had an immediate, and visceral need to write this fic as soon as I saw the ask, so thank you very much @alessariel!  This prompt was for both of us! :D

To Build A Bower: 633 words

Dean decorates his home to attract a mate.

Look.  Look.  I just really fuckin’ love bower birds okay?  Okay.  Thanks for the prompt @zarauthforsaken!

Special Delivery:  2,012 words

Castiel accidentally gets a package meant for his sexy neighbor.

Another prompt! From @queenandthree <3 

Fun story about this fic, the premise was originally going to be used in Satin and Sawdust, but got discarded.  I’m thrilled I found a reason to use it in a short story!

Work Life Balance: 2,227 words

As leader of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, one of Dean's duties is to balance Order with Entropy, and enforce the will of the Fates. When Castiel's nature as the demigod of War urges him to destroy more than he should, he seeks out Dean's council.

A prompt from @kazshero!  I have had Four Horsemen headcanons for years, and could never come up with a story for it until I got this prompt.  Super grateful for it!  Death!Dean is my jam :D

The Menagerie: 1,452 words

Baby the Pegasus is giving birth to her first foal. Dean and Castiel are there to help her through it.

A prompt fill for @nickelkeep!  An excuse to turn Baby into a pegasus!  FLUFF! <3

A Trip To The Beach: 734 words

Camp Counselors Dean and Cas take the kids on a field trip to the beach.

Yes, this was definitely based on a conversation I had with @jupiterjames.  When I got the prompt from my bestie, I *had* to make it about us lol

Quoth the... Wait that's not a Raven: 930 words

Dean, Castiel, and Sam are paranormal investigators. Tonight's haunted spot is a Pet Store.

A prompt from @purgatory-jar!  And to be honest, I may revisit this idea with something longer someday.  Writing TFW as paranormal investigators is too much fun to pass up :D

Hunter's Caress: 142,229 words (WIP)

Castiel Jameson won't rest until the outlaw who murdered his brother faces justice, and Dean Winchester is the only man alive who can help him track the villain down. Some say Winchester is a cold-blooded killer himself; others say he'd been wronged his whole life. All Castiel knows is that the desire glinting in Dean's green eyes is even more dangerous than he is. Castiel fights to keep his mind on business, but during the long nights on the trail with the dangerously handsome hunter he finds himself dreaming of yielding to Dean's illicit kisses and losing himself in lawless passion.

Dean Winchester is about to hang when Castiel saves his neck with his crazy plan. But dying might be better than spending day and night playing nursemaid to such an infuriating city slicker. He appreciates the stubborn detective's desire for justice, but he'd appreciate Cas a lot more if he'd stop being a lawman long enough to just be a man. He certainly has all the right equipment. Dean aches to run his fingers through Castiel's dark hair, yearns to know how Castiel's golden skin will feel against him. And before the coming of the next dawn, Dean vows to teach him the pleasures and sweet rewards of a Hunter's Caress.

I’ve had this idea since the first year I started writing Destiel fic, and it’s been sitting in my WIP folder since 2014.  I don’t want to be done writing Destiel, but I’ve been struggling with my writing for about 2 years now, and I’m afraid it will only get worse when the show ends and the fandom starts to slow down without new content.  I figure if I don’t do this story now, it’ll never get done.  And that’s unacceptable, because this has been on my mind for far too long to let it never see the light of day.  Of all of my stories, this one is the most For Myself thing I’ve ever written.  And based on the way it’s going, it’s probably going to overtake Dreaming in Digital as my longest fic by the time it’s done lol

#oops i ficced #destiel #year in review #2019 year in review #long post for ts

[incorrect-marauders]

THE OWLS ARE IN! IT’S TIME FOR THE SURVEY RESULTS!

So, as many of our followers are probably aware, we recently did a survey to get a feel of what people thought of our blog. We got a total of 57 results and we are grateful to each and every one of you for taking the time to let us know your thoughts. Now, we’re here to share the general consensus of what people thought and how we will accommodate these opinions.

We’ll definitely have some changes to the blog, so read on to see what those changes are!

Before we begin, we have a few things to briefly mention.

The results are pretty scattered. We didn’t want to restrict anyone, so most were free response or included “Other”. In hindsight, there were a few questions that could have easily been multiple choice without really restricting anyone. (Side eyes the first question.) Therefore, most of these will just summarize the results we got. Occasionally drop the graph for the multiple choice questions.

Because of the large amount of responses we got, not every answer will be listed here. We highlighted the things that were either most commonly mentioned or had us thinking the most.

If anyone would like to see the full results for some reason (par the names, to keep anonymity), feel free to email us at [email protected] and we’ll send it over!

And yes, we are making changes to accommodate these results! That’s what this survey was all about!

We’ll be opening applications for new mods within the next couple days as well.

We’ll have a tiny hiatus as all of this is going on.

Now, we begin...

How long have you been following incorrect-marauders?

The most popular answer seemed to be around 2 months or 10 months. A lot of people filling out this survey seemed to either be relatively new or here since the beginning. Kudos to you incorrect-marauders veterans, and welcome newer followers!

How did you find incorrect-marauders?

Somewhat as we expected. Keep reblogging us, lovely people!

What do you love MOST about incorrect-marauders?

"It's funny.” (x50)

No really, we got 50 variations of “It’s funny,” “It’s hilarious,” “The humour,” “The funny text posts.”

Thanks, we appreciate it!

“How weirdly in character the quotes always are.”

(Similar variations include, “How actually accurate your post are,” “That not every post is as funny, imho, but that they do keep true to the characters,” “How much they fit the characters.”)

“They offer new content to the Marauders 'franchise' as it were because some stuff within the fandom is constantly being reused.”

“How correct it actually is if Joanne made it canon.”

“McGonagall with the marauders and that the sources are listed.”

“Accurate representation, variety of ships and relationships, isnt toxic.”

“Very funny and can be great art/writing prompts.”

“The taste.”

“EVERYTHING.”

These are all very nice, thank you all. Glad we hit where we were aiming.

What do you love LEAST about incorrect-marauders?

The most common response was, “Nothing,” or a variation thereof, but that’s no fun for this question, so here are some of the legitimate criticisms we received!

“Quote sources, I think, occasionally aren't there.”

Our original quotes often don’t have sources. But if there’s one where a mod forgot to credit a source, please just message us and one of the admins will fix that!

“There isn't a particularly nice aesthetic to the blog, e.g. a matching layout and profile picture or quote.”

Yeah, we’re working to fix that. I like pretty blogs too.

“Could be updated a little more.”

(”Not much posting in my opinion,” “Long time between posts.”)

Strangely enough, we got this a few times but our later poll about how often to post were contradicting this. So, unfortunately, we will not be adjusting this.

“I mean I would say that Peter is on it, but can’t really get rid of him...”

(Got a few of these, like, ”Peter being seen as a good person.”)

Sorry!

“Some are a bit too small.”

“I don’t like the long quotes.”

Well, then.

“Seeing my #notp but that isnt rly a minus?? Its called diversity so im not gonna hate or anything.”

Thank you for appreciating the diversity. We get occasional hate over it, but we also get hate over not posting some of the other ships. I suppose that’s what happens when you have lots of different followers of different opinions.

“If I send you a text post you credit the source in # but i'd like you to include a link to my tumblr in the post itself so people would actually find my tumblr. I doent send you text posts anymore, cause it doesn't really profit me and it feels like you get credit for my work.”

We’re sorry you feel that way. We always put it in the tags, just in front of the source. We are more of a mod-based blog rather than a submission-based blog. Anyone is welcome to submit, but about 98% of our posts are created by our mods.

“Sometimes I feel like the wrong characters were chosen or not well thought out.”

We can assure you our mods put a lot of thought into what characters to use, but you are welcome to message us with your own suggestion! (But please note that we are a Marauders blog; we got a few comments about how we don’t post enough Hinny or Romione, but that’s not what our blog is about.)

What makes incorrect-marauders stand out?

Once again, we got a lot about how funny we are, so we’ll skip over those and highlight the more unique answers!

"They don't use things from other people without credit.”

“The love and attention put in to everything.”

“Don't think there are any other blogs about marauders in this style.”

(We got this a few times. ”Like the type of blog and incorrect-marauders was the first one Harry potter themed I found,” also, “Its really funny and pretty much the only blog that just does this kind of post and i LOVE it.” But alternatively... “There are a lot of textpost blogs like it, but it is one of the only ones that I have found that consistently keeps characters in character in the posts and appeals to my sense of humor.”)

“I feel the quotes are in character and from multiple sources which Is cool.“

“How open it is.”

“The continuous content.”

“The posts arent so often that my dash is spammed like other blogs of the same nature.”

“Not sure but I like you.”

Not much to comment on these except we’re happy to see people think this about us!

How satisfied are you with the blog and the posts, in all?

So, you’re telling me, we opened a public, anonymous survey and not a single hater filled it out? Am I impressed or disappointed?

Please explain your response to the previous question.

“I just love the whole blog.”

“It's not my favourite blog ever ever which is why it's not a 10 but i still love it.”

“You guys are just so awesome! But it'd also be cool to have a little, meet the creator(s).”

“Its good but I don't have or want notifications on.”

“It’s the #qualitycontent i signed up for.”

"Always room for improvement, and also there's no 9 3/4 option.”

Awesome! We definitely agree that we can always improve, which is what this survey is for!

How often should we post?

We got a lot of variety here. Some say once a day (which is how often we currently post) was ideal. Others put stuff like...

“I wouldnt mind my entire blog just being filled with your posts.”

While Once A Day is the most voted for, the rest of the options put together, which we’ll name Two or More Times a Day, do win overall. Since we have one new post followed by a reblog, we’ll compromise by posting two times a day, but with one new post a day (the second being a reblog).

In UTC, what times do you prefer us posting?

As expected, not many people cared. But two people felt very strongly and voted for 12am, 1am, and 6pm UTC. So, we’ll consider that.

What characters, relationships, universes, etc. would you like to see more represented in our posts?

We got a lot of responses here, primarily being more Wolfstar, Jily, and BFFs James and Sirius. We also got a lot saying we should post about Hinny, Romione, next gen, FBAWTFT, etc. in which I remind you that this is a Marauders blog.

We also got the hilarious response that said we should maybe post about the “merauders”. Well, we can certainly promise you that.

We also got a lot of people saying more McGonagall. That’s something we can definitely do.

Would you like to see more original quotes from us?

For the longest time, the option 50/50 was at exactly 50%. Kind of disappointed that is no longer, but the 25% option is at 25%, so that’s something. Anyway, we’ll aim for 50/50.

What else would you like to see us post?

This was one of the results that will make the biggest change to the blog. People seem to really love these ideas. So expect...

Marauder Mondays! Every Monday we’ll have Marauder Monday, where we’ll answer asks, reblog posts, and have a party! Probably when we’ll post the “extra” posts, like our GIFs, graphics, aesthetics, videos, etc.

How would you feel if we did sponsored posts?

Combined, it seems like ~75% of those who took the survey are good with sponsored posts.

These results honestly surprised us. We’ve gotten a lot of offers of sponsorships in the past but have always denied them because we didn’t know how our followers would feel. We probably won’t do this in the near future, but it’s an option.

What kind of projects would you like to see us host?

We got so many people suggesting merch. Shirts, stickers, pins, other merch... So we’ll keep that in mind! We’d love some Marauders shirts ourselves.

“Projects that other blogs can get involved with to help other accounts grow.”

Noted!

“An art challenge maybe? like, 30 day challenge where you have to draw them as characters from movies/tv shows? like, friends, clueless, avengers, dc characters etc.“

Definitely interesting. Art challenges would be a lot of fun. Hopefully there’s an interest for this!

Which of our other accounts do you follow/would like to follow?

We’ll look into bringing on people to regularly post on other sites.

What device do you use to browse our blog most often (whether through Tumblr or our site)?

Why are we bothering with a redesign again? Oh, right. Personal vain.

How often do you visit the blogsite?

Those numbers are higher than expected...

What kind of things would you like to find on our blogsite?

“Character aesthetics.”

“Fanfiction links.”

“Marauders fan art would be cool.“

We’ll be working on this! Thank you for the suggestions!

More meet the creator(s) (if not comfortable with should, maybe just telling a funny story)

We got a lot of people saying they’d like to know more about us. We are anonymous, but this particular comment had us thinking. We’ll be implementing something in the near future. We will still remain anonymous, but we will have “blog identifies”, I suppose you could say. More info to come!

Other than show, character, and ship lists, what would you like to see in our navigation?

We didn’t get many new suggestions for this, except for fanart, aesthetics, etc. which we will add as more people join the blog!

Do you have any additional suggestions for us?

"Maybe find a blog that could do fan art, but only if you’re comfortable with it. Also, you’re blog is already so amazing, and any redesign would just make it more awesome!!! Don’t let anyone get you down espically if some one puts something negative on the survey because it is so so great already.”

We got no negative feedback (just constructive criticism), but thank you for your concern!

“um. keep doing this. i like it. it helps fill the gaping void in my soul“

Mood.

“Thanks for making the survey, caring about our feedback, and being awesome overall :)”

Of course! This is not just our blog, this is the Marauders fandom blog. Your feedback means everything to us and we hope you will like the changes we’ll make in response to it.

And that covers all of it! Cookies to anyone who read all of that! Keep an eye out for those new mod applications if you’re interested in joining our team!

We’ll be taking a tiny little hiatus as we’re figuring some stuff out.

#admin #survey #survey results #updates

[comicteaparty]

February 24th-March 1st, 2020 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from February 24th, 2020 to March 1st, 2020.  The chat focused on Whispers of the Past by Crona J.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Whispers of the Past by Crona J.~! (https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/whispers-of-the-past/list?title_no=191366)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace until March 1st, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Discussions are freeform, but we do offer discussion prompts in the pins for those who’d like to have them. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic! Whether you finish the comic or can only read a few pages, everyone is welcome to join and chat with us!

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 1

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic?

2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)?

3. Who is your favorite character?

4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most?

5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it!

6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores?

7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content?

8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

FeatheryJustice

So far, first impressions, holy cow the art is amazing.

Ash🦀

1. My favorite part about the beginning was the style. It immediately drew me in how everything was lovingly rendered in color that made me feel like I was seeing the world for the first time. It made me want to paint, too! 2. When we first see the man. Whoo buddy. Whoooooooo buddy. That was... a finely sculpted painting there. I could’ve framed him and hung him on my wall if the artist would let me. WHOOOO BUDDY. 3. My favorite character so far is Martel. I don’t write them often, but I love seeing kids in media, and I love the design of her hair. I know it’s a random thing to make me like her but I just... really like her hairstyle. She’s cute, and I’d guess she’ll be a breath of much-needed light air later in the story. 4. Mystery man and Martel are precious. 5. I point to answer 2 here. That lovingly sculpted chest? My heart was a-flutter I tell you what. 6. The art style is just... SO LOVINGLY RENDERED. The quiet moments of baking bread juxtaposed against a chaotic battle was SO. GOOD. Aaaaaah Could also be that that particular part is my favorite part of making bread so it was extra special aaaaaaah 7-8 I haven’t seen enough of the story to answer these yet! But the art is banging and I can’t wait to read more. Subscribed.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I've read this before and the art and story aren't really my thing. Since critique is allowed I could give art comments if CronaJ would find that kind of thing helpful? But even though I won't be following the story I was still impressed by how much care the author puts into it. Both from looking at their comic and from reading their comments on this discord and on the tap forum it's clear they've put a ton of effort into the art and story, and haven't cut any corner.s And all the panels are so rendered. I wonder how long it takes to draw a page?(edited)

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Hey everyone! I'm the artist and writer of Whispers of the Past. I want to thank you all for your kind comments and observations so far. It really means a lot to me to hear what others think of this heartfelt project. I know that the story is in the beginning stages right now. But I'm looking to post the end of the first chapter this week, so hopefully a bit more will be revealed soon. Please feel free to ask me questions about anything, or (to answer @Eightfish (Puppeteer)'s question), to offer critiques for how I can improve what I'm doing.(edited)

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

@FeatheryJustice & @Ash🦀 I'm glad you enjoy the artwork. The painting process is probably what takes me the longest when it comes to pages. In response to @Eightfish (Puppeteer)... It takes me around 30-40 hours per page, and I try to post 2-3 page updates. Obviously, the amount of time spent per page varies depending on several factors, such as: the number of panels, the level of complication of poses, how many characters/background elements there are, and sometimes just whatever weird reason my brain isn't working that day ^^; So for my average 5-7 panel pages, they typically take longer than, say, a full-page spread. @Ash🦀 I'm so happy that the first few pages pulled you in! I spent a lot of time deciding on how I wanted to draw those panels, and what style to use, etc. I actually redrew the first 3 pages at least 5 times before settling on them as they are. And, you can hang and frame the image of our male MC if you want, haha, I actually don't have prints of it, but it is something to consider That particular panel was a one-page spread, so I was able to dedicate a bit more detail to it. Maret is a worthy favorite character. She is too pure and precious, and she just wants to make friends with everybody. Even when the "strange man" is kind of curt and unfriendly to her, she wants to befriend him. Also, I am SO unbelievably glad that you picked up on the juxtaposition in the bread-making scene! Ahhhh! I had a lot of fun with that one

FeatheryJustice

1. The Pacing, I love slow starts to comics because I get to absorb it and learn more. 2. Favourite Moment? Dude trying to climb out the window and failing. That was really funny XD 3. Mysterious dude from the water of course. He has pointed ears, you know something is up. 4. I like Maret and the mysterious man, it seems like a child being like 'this is new and I want to learn more' Also thank you for not writing a grating child character. They sometimes turn up too pure to be real, or too grating because they are too real. Maret at least has that nice balance of a healthy child will not acted spoiled but still want things because child like the scene where she was shoo'ed out of the room. 5. I think we talked about htis a long time ago, but I love the way you draw hands and feet! 6. Nothing so far, not sure where the story will head so I can't answer this. 7. I like the start of the mystery and the slow ramp up. We are just getting comfortable and I'm sure we are going to get rocky soon! 8. Art, from seeing Cronaj spend so much time on it, it's freaking amazing. I can almost feel the characters come to life.

Also on a side note, I want Maret to hear from the Conch shell (As a memey joke) "Under the sea, under the sea" XD

(Mysterious man has red hair, I wouldn't be surprised he turned out to be a mermaid XD Sorry I'm just on slight crack theory mode right now. He didn't sell his voice though)

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

When I was first writing and planning this comic, I was a little scared about how slow the start was, but I'm glad that it has been interesting despite the slow nature of the exposition.

2. Favourite Moment? Dude trying to climb out the window and failing. That was really funny XD

@FeatheryJustice Accurate! He's kind of an idiot, and he panics over nothing. For Maret... I actually based her character partially off of my two younger sisters, so that might be a lot of what contributes to her personality and realism. We did talk about hands and feet before! I love drawing hands, because they are so expressive and complex, but hate drawing feet because they are complicated. But I did study from life to draw Maret's feet, because I felt like I would mess it up otherwise ^^;

Hahahaha! I could definitely make an edit of that, tbh.

FeatheryJustice

That would be a funny joke panel if you ever want to do one. XD It's like replace the diaolgue memes XD

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

And I was partially making a mermaid joke when I had the reference to mermaids in the comic because he is a redhead

Definitely an idea....

I would title the episode "Whispers of the Crack"

FeatheryJustice

OMG YES I would love to see that XD

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I have a WotP meme folder on my computer already

carcarchu

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic? Mystery man pretty 2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)? i liked the part where maret was listening to the conch for mermaids, had a lovely magical charm to it 3. Who is your favorite character? mystery man 4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most? not too many interactions so far but maret and the mystery man were cute 5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it! the sunset scenery had a nice vibe

also i can see why people were saying it reminded them of ruroni kenshin, mystery guy especially with his hair up and on the cover image is reminiscent of kenshin but storywise doesn't remind me of it at all

carcarchu

I have some critiques that i'll cover in case you don't want to see them. SPOILER The anime-ish emotes (the blush and the anger vein) to me clash against the realistic artsyle and detracts from the moments, some more subtlety with them would be appreciated. And Maret doesn't really look like a child to me, her face is very mature so it makes her look older than she is. Moreover the 3 characters that have been introduced thus far have very similar facial features. For maret and agatha they are siblings so it makes sense but the mystery man is (presumably?) not related to them so i'm not sure if that's intentional. In any case more facial diversity would be appreciated going forward (if it's just your style that's fine too). And this is a really small nit-pick but the first panel of chapter 6 has horse hooves with the sfx thump thump thump. In my opinion this sfx should be clip clop clip clop END SPOILER

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

@carcarchu Thanks for the notes! I actually had a hard time deciding how to portray blush noticeably in a more realistic style, haha, but I can definitely see why it's jarring. Do you have any tips for how to depict blushing without anime emotes? I would just make it more reddish/pink, but it always looks weird to me (or too unnoticeable). As for Maret... She looks like a child to me? She's six, so she isn't quite a toddler, so I don't know if that changes your perception of her. She actually resembles my youngest sister a great deal, and my youngest sister was 5, almost six, when I designed her. (I just looked through the pages again, and there's maybe one panel that I think she looks slightly older in, so if anything, I'll try to fix that panel.) So yes, obviously Agatha and Maret look very similar, hahaha. They are biological sisters, so that makes sense. There will be at least two more characters introduced that are also related to them (and look fairly similar as well) and one character who will be mentioned who is also related and looks just like Agatha. Other than that, Izrekiel does look somewhat similar, I suppose, but it might also be partially that he canonically has a very feminine face as opposed to other male characters to be introduced later. It could be that and also a bit as a result of my style. I'm not sure. Ahhhh, sound effects! I also struggled with deciding what to do here. I wanted to do something different than "clip clop," mostly for a stupid personal hang-up. (I don't know why, but "clip clop" always looks so comical to me.) But if it helps translate the sound better, I might just have to bite the bullet and change it. Thanks for your feedback! Even if I don't agree with all of it, it does help me to take a closer look at what I've done with some different eyes. (edited)

carcarchu

That's fair! You don't have to accept anything just my thoughts (i hope nothing i said was too harsh) for me thump thump is a dull sound whereas clip clop or clippity clop is a sharper and harsher sound

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

yeah, I think you're right about that

thump is more like a heartbeat

or someone falling on carpet or something

carcarchu

and as for the blush question i think there are ways to depict a similar emotion without relying on the blush itself as a short hand like the softening of the eyes, the shape of the eyebrows, looking down and heck even body language can help with this. expression is more than what is shown on just the face

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Thank you. I always feel like my characters look too stiff, like mannequins. ^^; I'm probably not going to completely redraw any old panels at this point, but I might make a few alterations to these panels to make it more consistent with later panels down the line.

carcarchu

i also noticed that a lot of your panels are the characters looking straight towards the "camera" and i would appreciate more varied angles and perspectives

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Particularly with the first ten pages, that is certainly true

I got that note before, but I didn't redraw every panel, only some which looked particularly bad.

carcarchu

personally i never edit old chapters unless i 1. forgot to draw something important 2. there's a huge typo 3. it's missing a panel

any critique you can just keep in your heart and implement if you choose to do so moving forward

keii'ii (Heart of Keol)

2. I really liked "what if it's mama?" - a lot of hints condensed there: family history, how the topic of deaths/ disappearances are handled around children (either in that family specifically, or in that culture), and also a moment that shows a glimpse of Agatha's sisterly love instead of having the readers assume it.

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

Really loving the comic so far! Right now, I'm most interested to learn about this family situation. I'm guessing their mother is dead or missing, but what about their father? I suppose his clothes were still in the house so maybe he just went out? Or maybe they're both missing and it was just fairly recent?

Also, the paint-y style of this comic is just incredible

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

https://media.tenor.com/images/878a64d90a1139bcb1e863ee29bfa929/tenor.gif

I'm so happy that you guys picked up on the clues about their mother. It alludes to some pretty plot heavy stuff that very few people have really commented on so far.

eli [a winged tale]

Oooh I’m so excited for your story Cronaj! Here are my answers~ 1) I love the beach scene! Maret with the shell is adorable and you established their relationship right away 2) Fav moment is probably the scene transition to our lad waking up with Agatha going about her day. It’s very peaceful and I’m a sucker for slice of life stuff. 3) Can’t pick just yet~ I like Agatha as a solid protagonist though. 4) More Agatha x mystery man please 5) I loooove the illustration aesthetics. Bold colours! 6) haven’t gotten to the core theme yet I’m sure but first impressions/meeting are always exciting. 7) I’m excited for what is to come. Can’t wait for the call to adventure. 8) Strength is definitely the art - beautiful and bold. Keep up the wonderful work!

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

@eli [a winged tale] Woah!!! You're the first person I've heard say that they like Agatha! She's mah girl! (And don't you worry, there will definitely be a lot more Agatha x Mystery Man ) Thanks for participating

eli [a winged tale]

she’s a solid sister!

sagaholmgaard

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic? I like how the intro had a nice balance between art and text. Usually if there’s a lot of text on the first page I can get deterred from heading a comic, but here I think it worked really well! And the loverly painting of the ocean sunset also reeled me in and fit really well with the poetic text! 2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)? ”He’s the prettiest man I’ve ever seen!” LOL (and she’s right too…) 3. Who is your favorite character? I like the kid! But I’m excited to learn more about the other characters as the story goes on! 4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most?
I liked Agatha and Mystery Man interacting, it felt very natural and I’m curious to see what comes of it. But the dialogue felt pretty strong which I gotta applaud 5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it! The beautiful shot of Mystery Man on the beach of course, lol! I love the way the hair is rendered, it really feels like it’s has weight and is spread out in the sand, if that makes sense? 6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores? It seems like it will explore a lot of interesting themes in the future, such as grief and finding where you belong, so again I’m interested to see what the story brings! I’m sure it’ll be good no matter what :D Overall I like what I’ve read so far! It’s not the type of art style I usually gravitate towards, but I can tell a lot of love is going into rendering and I think we’ll be seeing Crona’s art improve a lot as the story goes on, which is always exciting to see!

RebelVampire

What I like about the beginning of the comic, which also goes for what I like about the art in general, is the attention to detail in the background colors and lighting. I've never seen such a beautifully rendered (what I assume is) a sunset. It really makes everything have this great almost mystical atmosphere to it. In general, though, the art so far is definitely the comic's strength because you can see the sheer passion in every drop of it. My favorite moment so far is when Maret gives Izrekiel some flowers and then drags him off and he's just meekly protesting. It was both cute and comedic and the preciousness hurt my heart. This is also why this is my favorite pair of characters interacting so far. I think the age gap combined with the context of Izrekiel's situation is gonna lead to lots of awkwardness that I look forward to. As for fave character, though, I would have to go with Agatha right now. I don't know what it is about her, but everytime I see her I feel like I'm looking at an old soul. Like maybe someone who still has a lot to learn about the world, but is wise beyond her years in other regards. And it makes her a captivating character for me.

While I'm not sure if this will be an overall theme throughout, I like that the comic starts to deal with the theme of loss and hope. On one side you have Agatha who just kind of accepts loss and deals with it, and then you have Maret who just lives on in hope. And I kind of feel they represent two dynamic sides to the issue about whether its better to cling to hope or just move on and deal and how both can be harmful if not expressed in the correct way. As for overall story content, while we're not that deep in, I do like it starts with a multitude of mysteries cause mysteries are always great for making ppl want answers

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Since Crona said they were good with art critique: The main thing I noticed when I first saw the art was that, though lovingly rendered, the characters' faces and bodies are kind of stiff. They don't really scrunch up their eyes and faces when they emote- it's mostly just the eyebrows (this was especially noticable when Maret was crying, or on the latest page, first panel, where Agatha's face doesn't really match her body language or words). And characters often don't seem to twist their bodies as much as they should. Oh- also the same camera angles of faces and bodies are repeated a lot. Front, 3/4, and profile. It'd be cool to see some shots with foreshortening from above or below the characters. Also the lighting is pretty diffuse- the characters seem to be shaded about the same way, and with the same colors, regardless of the lighting situation. I can still tell where the light is coming from, because there are those strong bright highlights in the direction of the light, but other than the bright highlights everything else seems to be shaded as if there was another light source coming from straight ahead. Also, sometimes characters seem to lose their shadows? Like on this page https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/whispers-of-the-past/ch-1-what-the-waves-left-behind-pt-3/viewer?title_no=191366&episode_no=4 where Agatha doesn't cast a shadow on the man, or this page https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/whispers-of-the-past/ch-1-what-the-waves-left-behind-pt-8/viewer?title_no=191366&episode_no=10 where they're running.

Those things being said though, I was still very impressed by the sheer amount of effort put into this comic. 100 hours/ update is absolutely insane. And you pay so much attention to the inanimate objects of this world. It makes the story feel grounded. About what someone else said: I agree that the cartoonish blush looks out of place. But I disagree about Maret- I think she does look like a child. 5. Favorite illustration? Definitely Agatha's hands when making dough. Not a critique but just a question: I was confused on the location of the story. Where is this?

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Ooof. Finally got a chance to sit down and respond to all these comments. I keep rereading them over and over again, so thank you so much for sharing your thoughts everyone! I've noticed a few themes with what people have commented so far: Maret is most people's favorite character, the panel of Izrekiel on the beach is also very popular, and the theme of loss/grief is apparent to the readers (which I'm very happy about.)

@sagaholmgaard I'm glad that you mentioned the theme of "finding where you belong" too, because it is and will be a very prevalent theme in the comic. And reading your comment about how the dialogue seems natural made my day. I used to worry about how the dialogue came off constantly, and to hear that it's strong is so encouraging.

@RebelVampire As is expected, your comments are very thought-out. The interaction between Izrekiel and Maret after he falls from the window is one of my favorite moments so far as well. I'm happy that Izrekiel's behavior came off as meek in this scene, because that is one of the defining traits of his personality. I'm glad for another Agatha fan! She is such a fun (and difficult) character for me to portray. There are so many layers about her that even I am still discovering. She is definitely an old soul, and he experiences growing up have definitely matured her beyond her years. As I mentioned before, the theme of loss is definitely a major theme of the comic overall. And hope as well, since I think the two are very connected.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

@Eightfish (Puppeteer) Thank you for offering your critiques! Character stiffness is definitely one of my major problems that I'm working at. I definitely see what you mean about Agatha's face in the latest update. Her eyebrows look painted on (pun not intended). I have been looking forward to having some more dynamic poses, especially foreshortening, but I do find it somewhat difficult when most of what the characters are doing so far are standing, sitting, talking, and maybe doing something with their hands. ^^; Hopefully, in the future, when more "action" happens, it will be easier to do this. As for bird's eye or worm's eye shots, I'm not gonna lie, I struggle with them so much. I had two bird's eye panels, and those took so much time, and I still don't know how I feel about them. If you have any tips for exercises, I would be so grateful. (Finding reference isn't always possible.) I also would love some tips/resources on how to get better at lighting. Again, lighting reference isn't always possible for specific panels, so it would help me a lot to learn how light works in general. OOOOOOF! I don't know how I missed the lack of shadow on Izrekiel in that panel. That was 100% a stupid oversight on my part. The scene with Agatha making dough had some of my personal favorite illustrations for a while. :) Also, your question about the location, I'm not entirely sure how to answer it?(edited)

It's a high fantasy story, so the location is entirely fictional.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

The best I can answer that is to say that the story takes place in a country called Shai-Ryam, consisting of four major "districts" in a semi-tropical temperate peninsula called "The Aka Peninsula," named after the native people who originally lived there. As of right now, they are in a city called Gon Atam, a seaside village on the western shore of the Nuata District, near the Ocean of Saturuna. It is a city heavy in trade and with a long history, yet quaint and small due to a disaster several hundred years ago. It is only now being repopulated.

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 2

9. Where do you think Izrekiel comes from, and what is his past history that seems to haunt him? Additionally, how do you think he wound up with amnesia and seemingly abandoned by the sea?

10. How will Izrekiel’s past history affect events of the story? In particular, how will revelations about his past affect his relationship with Agatha and other characters?

11. How do you think Agatha’s life will change from her encounter with Izrekiel? Will it somehow lead her to a more exciting life? If so, will it make her miss her simpler life with her family?

12. What are the biggest questions you have so far and are hoping to see answered over the course of the story? Also, what do you think will happen in the story in general?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

Ash🦀

9. Okay, so, here’s my theory. Just a guess. So Izrekiel is from a very war-friendly people up north who need land. Izzy just isn’t all about that life, but feels like he has no choice. Then he gets hurt fighting someone close to him (I’m putting money on brother or cousin who lives on the “wrong” side of things, hurt because he just couldn’t fight them at full strength. And then he realizes he can’t do it, while on the ship bound for new fight zones. His captain gets wind of it and is like “oh no I can’t let Mutiny Happen” so HeS all long ike “either fall in line or get off my ship” and Izzy is like “no I don’t wanna fight anymore heck you guys” and the captain proceeds to yeet him off the ship, leading him to the island, which, unbeknownst to him, is the next target. That’s my guess. Might be wildly off. He might be part mermaid. (Merman? Is mermaid gender neutral?) 10. Izzy or his bros probably killed one of Agatha’s family members, possibly the mom? Possibly violently? Which is why she never told babygirl what’s up. It’s probably going to be remembered in the buds of their relationship, hes going to try to hide it but it’ll come to light and she’s gonna be like “Izzy I hate you” and it’s going to make me cry. 11. She’s going to have a bread making partner in the end. They’re going to have adventures and go back to a domestic bread making existence, I speak it into being now /smacks table That may just be what I want to happen, though, as I very much enjoy bread making and wish others the same simple joy of giving dough a good smacking. 12. IS THE MOTHER REALLY A MERMAID OR WHAT Is Agatha a mermaid Are they like Selkies where they can come onto land a little Is babygirl a mermaid too(edited)

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Omg... I love reading these theories. I won't say you're wrong or right, but this is a riot. I'm thoroughly enjoying this.

FeatheryJustice

9. Pulls out my Crack Theory brain Okay, so Iz is actually not a very hot man, but actually a really hot princess, transformed into a man since she was exciled from her country but their rules are to give the exiled a new life so they shape shift them into something else. Iz got shifted into a man, and the lovely wide bare chest was because their top was lost to the ocean like how someone would lose their bathing suit top to the sea. Anyways, knowing nothing about themselves, Iz now lives their life as a man never remembering they were a princess in the first place. Ends Crack Theory 10. Don't know, can't say for now. 11. She could always politely kick him out later, so I can't say for now. XD 12. I want to know if there are monsters in this story or just like different species warring it out.

RT|NitghVision

^ I like this theory

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

@Cronaj (Whispers of the Past) Oh! I missed that it was high fantasy. I thought the story was historical fiction. No wonder mystery man has pointed ears. I was so confused- I kept thinking, oh, she looks Polynesian and lives by the ocean. But wait, her name is Agatha and she makes bread? And the houses look Japanese? What culture are her clothes from? The world being completely fictional explains all that. I think I was confused by the real names in a high fantasy story- you don't really see that a lot. Finding the right reference for lighting or pose is impossible for me. I have no tips. The only way I've found is to make my own references. I will sit in front of a window, or take a lamp into a dark room or something, and prop my phone up and take photos of myself in the poses and lighting direction I need. But hey, at least that way I don't have to worry about stealing someone else's work?

(i also like feathery's theory)

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

@FeatheryJustice Crack theories are best theories.

@Eightfish (Puppeteer) Oh! I had no idea you thought it was historical fiction No wonder you were confused! There's a lot of weird cultural-mixing shenanigans going on in the setting, and it's a bit confusing.

I should try that, for now the lighting has been primarily sunlight, or diffused sunlight (which I don't think I depicted correctly).

RebelVampire

Time to crack story theory. I don't know enough about the world to guess a name to where Izrekiel is from. However, wherever it's from, I get the impression its embroiled in a bloody war that is suffering heavy casualties. I imagine that Izrekiel mightve been in a battle and just wound up in the sea by circumstance - like maybe was taken as a prisoner of war and jumped overboard to escape. Something like that. As for the amnesia, well, Imma chock that up to PTSD cause the brief flashbacks we got don't look pleasant. However, I definitely think someone will come looking for him, and that these someone's will make trouble with the people he's just met - perhaps even forcing them to abandon their home with people in pursuit. And I'm sure as Izrekiel remembers more, others are going to really view him as potentially dangerous and blame him (but then get over it cause he's pretty O_O) Given that, I do think Agatha is gonna leave home because of Izrekiel's past running after them. I do think she's inevitably gonna miss the simpler life. Not to the point she won't rise to the challenge, but to the point that she's gonna be like "wait theres danger out here and i didnt even get a sword from an old man in a cave!" As for biggest questions, right now I'm just kind of hoping to see more of the world cause current world events really are gonna dictate a lot where the story could go.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Dude I was literally googling the names to see what country they were from because I thought they were from some obscure real island with a history of cultural mixing that I hadn't heard about before.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Hahaha! Yeah, Agatha is an English name. Maret and Kelan (a character that hasn't been introduced yet) are Irish names. Aalia (another character that isn't introduced yet) is an Arabic name. Kehhasan (another character) is a made-up name. Izrekiel is a made-up name inspired by the biblical names Israel and Ezekiel (although technically it is often spelled in their alphabet as "Isarikieru," which has a particular meaning and pronunciation in an even older—fictional—language). Ryukou (another character), is a real-ish name, based off of the Japanese names "Ryu" and "Kou," which mean "dragon" and "peace/light" respectively. Four other characters have fictional names: Ia, Tammamori, Soro, Ghita (although technically it's a Greek name, that wasn't my inspiration). And of course there are hundreds of side characters with a combination of weird names and name origins.

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 3

13. What are you most looking forward to seeing in regards to the comic?

14. Any final words of encouragement for the comic?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

Deo101 [Millennium]

So! I don't really do so well with answering questions, but I do want to say it's inspiring to me to see just how much WORK is put into this comic. It's really lovely to see so clearly how much you care for it. Just want to give some general words of encouragement, keep it up!

Ash🦀

I’m most looking forward to seeing more of Izzy how the story develops along with your painting. There are so many hints and peeks at the world, and I can’t really guess where it’s going. I feel like I already care for these characters, and I can’t wait to see their journey. I am also not good at encouragement, as generally I’m fueled by spite. But I just wanted to say, keep going! You got this! We believe in you!

eli [a winged tale]

Keep up the good work Cronaj! Your art is beautiful and I can’t wait till we start rolling into act 2!

FeatheryJustice

I'm excited to see what else comes up next!

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Thanks for all the kind words and encouragement everyone! I'm so happy to know that you are enjoying the story so far!

RebelVampire

I'm most looking to learning a bit more about the world structure I think. Since I think current events are really gonna hint at a lot what's going on. As for final words, this is an artistically wonderful comic with a lot of love put in, and I can only imagine how things will improve in the future!

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

I'm just really looking forward to seeing these characters grow! This is a beautiful comic, and I can't wait to get more of it!

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Before the book club ends, I just wanted to pop back in and say thank you to everyone for their participation. Your kindness, insight, and critiques will stay with me for years to come. I'm so happy to have found a supportive community of readers and fellow creators!

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Whispers of the Past this week! Please also give a special thank you to Crona J. for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Whispers of the Past, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/whispers-of-the-past/list?title_no=191366

Crona J.’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cronasonlyfriend

Crona J.’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/cronaj

Crona J.’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/CronajArt

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #book club #bookclub #webcomic book club #webcomic bookclub #comic tea party #ctp #whispers of the past #crona j.

[mia6363]

The mia6363 Starter Pack!

Hey guys!

I’ve gotten a few new followers, mostly because of the follow up I wrote for @reapersun’s amazing, dark, and adorable comic! So to the new faces, hello! I’m Mia and I bounce around fandoms, though I’ve really found a nice home in Teen Wolf. 

For the new faces I thought I’d do a little self-rec post/starter pack of works that I really like/are a good intro into my style and the tropes I shamelessly revist.

Goodbye to a World: 

This is the first Teen Wolf fic I ever wrote. Is it my favorite? Absolutely not. Like with any first venturing into the fandoms, I have a hard time looking at it again because I’m going to constantly pick it apart and wish I’d done things better. It’s very popular, which is very flattering and I’m glad it just didn’t die out in the wind when I posted it, but yeah. I’m always someone who wants to improve.

I wrote it for @cywscross and it was a time travel prompt. Some ideas within the prompt were that Stiles was magic and… well, if you know me, you know I celebrate humans going toe-to-toe with supernatural beings and supernatural problems. Stiles has magic in this fic for about two minutes before he’s rendered a human being, in a time that isn’t his, with a Pack he doesn't know. It’s angst-city with a happy ending, but yeah. I got into his fandom because I was tired of humans being shunted. And time travel fics where it all just works out right away isn’t my cup of tea either, so this was a fun way to explore how it takes a lot of hard work and sacrifice just to make something work.

Sing Among the Stars series: 

After getting my feet wet with Goodbye to a World, and getting more confidence in writing for the fandom, this is what came next. So far there are two installments, and I will get around to writing a final third.

This is really me just being pretty blatant about human beings being worthy of standing up with other beings. This is an AU where I took some Star Trek and Mass Effect and blended them all together. It was a challenge and a huge risk, but it really paid off and I am still proud of this series. This is a science fiction/space fantasy where it’s Stiles, a legendary Commander of a military ship in an alien galaxy, just wanting to get home to Earth, the planet no one has ever heard of.

There was also that tumblr post going around about humans being space orcs, and that definitely had an influence. If you’re up for some found family and space adventures, I’d consider checking this out.

The Kindness of Strangers: 

Ahh KOS. I’ll always have a soft spot for this fic. It was my first multi-chap for Teen Wolf and it was hitting yet another point I LOVE to make: Sheriff Stilinski is not a good father. When I first started getting into Teen Wolf and going through fics and gif-sets, the fics told me that the Sheriff was such a sweetheart, but the gifs told me another story. One in particular, when he says, out loud in front of his son, that he wished Scott was his son and it was supposed to be funny… yeah. He just lost me at that point.

Does this still have humans being on an equal playing field as supernatural creatures? Of course it does.

I work mostly in AUs because I like the added challenge of maintaining character despite throwing them into a totally different setting. This is where Stiles is a fantastic liar who finds himself working for a strange agency: The Kindness of Strangers. He’s the first human that can maintain his heartbeat and body chemistry even when telling outrageous lies, and it spirals out of control from there. Grey morality, slow burn, suspense, and that slow and brutal spiral that happens when, inevitably, your lies catch up to you.

This is totally a cathartic work and yeah. It’s also totally self-serving just short of being mastabatory but I had a really fun time writing it and I’m glad it resonated with some other folks.

If you’re into a big heaping layer of angst with a mostly happy with a sprinkling of hopeful ending… check this out.

The Last Trolley Stop: 

If you read the blurb about KOS and were like “whoa, Mia, I don’t need that kind of stress in my life,” I totally understand and that’s how TLTS came about.

The way I love to describe this (and how others have as well) is that this fic is a cup of rich soup on a long, cold day. It’s a hot bath with soft music on in the other room, it’s reading your favorite book on a rainy day, it’s just a soft bed to fall into when you just need to feel good.

This is an AU about a children’s show, which ran for 3 seasons and made a huge impact, not just on the viewers, but on those who worked on it. I live out in Los Angeles and work closely with the industry so it’s a little bit of wishful thinking on my part, an optimistic dream that there are teams like this out there. It’s also a multi-chap with two different slow burns, one emotionally slow, the other physically slow, so you can get a taste of both!

I also had wonderful art commissioned by it from @trashyscarface whose style just spoke volumes to the story.

Also, it’s when I really just hit my stride with Bobby Finstock/Kira Yukimura. The weird rare pairing that I created the tag for because of a few pictures on Instagram. I took that plunge and haven’t looked back.

It’s ten chapters of character development. Nothing shocking happens, there aren’t flare up fights, no one is unfaithful, and a chapter doesn’t end on an unresolved argument. This is just… a group of people who came together to work on a show, and ended up finding friendships of a lifetime because of it.

TLTS is my little darling. It’s also half a tourist brochure for Los Angeles, so if you’re ever out West and need restaurant suggestions, this is the place to find them.

And that wraps up my little starter kit. I’ve written more but the stories seem to gravitate around certain themes that you’ll find in these pieces. I like to get dark, but I also love heartfelt fluff. This is little samplings and if you like any of these, consider checking out others that I’ve done, usually one-shots that are wrapped up with a bow by the end. Sometimes it’s an ambiguous bow, but a bow nonetheless.

#steter #Bobby Finstock #kirkstock #mia recs herself #wrecks herself #because i never check myself #anyway #woo hoo hello new faces! #which i might lose now because of this haha #love you guys!!! #stiles stilinski #Peter Hale #kira yukimura #Sheriff Stilinski #stilinski family feels

[datheetjoella]

I’ll Paint a Smile on Your Face - Part 1

Fandom: Free! Pairing: MakoHaru Rating: T Summary: What was supposed to be a calm afternoon of painting with the children goes a little different than planned when Makoto comes home from work and Haruka greets him with an unexpected surprise. Shenanigans ensue and the afternoon turns from calm to unforgettable.

That evening Makoto and Haruka reminisce about the past, appreciate the present, and make a promise for the future.

Word count: 24,547

Notes: Ho Ho Hey, @tachinanabananase, guess who your gift-maker is? ME BITCH! In all seriousness, merry christmas! This fic is not only based off your prompt (Inspired by BTS Crystal Snow) but also off of an otpprompt that I once reblogged and that you sent to me and told me to write. When I saw your prompt, I had the (in my opinion) perfect idea of what I wanted to write and I thought it might be nice to mix the two prompts into one massive fic! Because it is so big, I decided to split it up in two parts because I didn’t just want to throw this massive fic at you all at once when you’re probably very busy and it’s totally not because I haven’t finished part two yet or anything. Unfortunately, the main part that was inspired by Crystal Snow is in part two (”that evening” part of the summary) and this part one is mainly just the prompt that we’ve talked about before. I really hope that’s okay, I’m sorry if that disappoints you but I’ll try my best to get part two out as soon as possible. I just hope that you’ll like part one enough to stick around for part two. I’m sorry this fic is so long and I’m sorry that you have to wait for the second half, but I still hope you’ll be able to enjoy this fic because I had a lot of fun writing it. 

I also want to thank the sweet @anunyun for organising this exchange! I had so much fun doing this with you, Inna, and I hope you had just as much fun as I had. Thank you, dear!

Just one more thing: this fic is set in the same universe of the fic “My Most Precious Treasure”. It is by no means necessary to read that fic because this can be perfectly read as a stand alone, but in case you want a little more context and background, then I would advise to read that fic first because it’s set about half a year before this one.

Sorry for rambling for so long, I’m not sure if I said everything that I wanted to say but I hope this covers it. Merry Christmas and I hope you enjoy!

Read at: AO3 - FFn or right here

"Daddy?"

Upon being called, Haruka peered over his shoulder to where Umiko and Mizuki were sat at the kitchen table. He had just picked them up from school and was now pouring them a drink and getting their afternoon snack. "What?"

"I want to paint," Umiko said, mindlessly tapping her fingers against the wooden surface while she was waiting.

"Paint?" Haruka questioned as he put the cups in front of them - lemonade for Umiko and fruit juice for Mizuki - to which she nodded vigorously. It wasn't very surprising that she wanted to paint because she had been getting more and more into arts and crafts lately. Ever since she had found one of his old sketchbooks from back in high school with Makoto's image plastered all over it in the attic, she constantly wanted to draw and colour to improve her own skills, like the portraits and illustrations her dad had made of her father had inspired her to master the art as well. Perhaps it was only a fleeting interest and she would become obsessed over something entirely different next week, but Haruka wanted to encourage her creativity and enthusiasm nonetheless and he knew Makoto completely agreed with that; he honestly thought it was adorable that Haruka was such a role model for her and when Haruka told him about her discovery in the attic, he was endeared with reminiscence. But then he remembered some of the drawings Haruka had made in the past and his endearment turned into mortification, but Haruka assured him that she hadn't found one of the more… eccentric and intimate sketchbooks he owned because if she had, then she definitely would have asked him about it. He had made sure to tuck those further away and out of sight and reach of the children that night to spare them all from a highly inappropriate conversation taking place in the near future. "We can paint. It's a nice day so why don't we take advantage of that and go paint outside?" Haruka proposed, seeing that as a chance to not only enjoy the nice weather, but also to keep the house clean.

"Yes!" Umiko cheered before taking a big gulp of her drink.

"Slow down a little," Haruka advised with a chuckle, mentally shaking his head at her eagerness, "There will be plenty of time to paint later so there's no need to rush."

"Yeah," she agreed, catching herself on her own enthusiasm and she put her drink down, still grinning to herself.

Seeing how excited she was made Haruka smile as well as he walked back to the counter to get the plate of leftover chocolate-chip cookies from the batch he had made earlier that week. Before he went to put it on the table though, he grabbed a few of them and wrapped them in the aluminum foil that had been covering the plate. He knew Makoto would want some too when he came home because he had mentioned craving his homemade cookies when they were having lunch together earlier that day, and he couldn't seriously expect their little monsters to resist the temptation and leave some for their father so Haruka made sure to hold some back for his husband beforehand. He was certain Makoto would really appreciate that.

With the plate and a mug of tea for himself in hand, Haruka joined their kids at the table, sitting down in his usual seat. In his head he was already planning what the best setup would be for painting in the backyard and it was then that he realised that Mizuki hadn't actually confirmed that he wanted to paint as well. Although he usually wanted to do whatever his sister was doing too, it could be that he had something else in mind as to how he wanted to spend his afternoon, which was fine as long as Haruka could keep an eye on both him and Umiko. He figured that it didn't hurt to ask him directly rather than just assuming.

"Mizuki?"

The little boy, who had been completely focused on the cup that was clutched tightly in his tiny hands as he held it to his face, looked up to his dad without ceasing to drink.

Knowing that he had his attention, Haruka asked, "Do you want to paint too?"

Mizuki only nodded in return before he put his empty cup back down onto the coaster and then he grabbed a cookie from the plate, taking a bite that was slightly too large for his mouth. This didn't stop him from trying to speak, though.

"Don't speak with your mouth full," Haruka gently reminded before he could finish his sentence.

"Oh, right. Sorry," Mizuki mumbled instead, completely unaware of the fact that he was still chewing while he said it and Haruka couldn't repress a snort of amusement. Disciplining little kids was so hard when they didn't even notice what they were actually doing; since Mizuki had already apologised and wasn't even aware of his own action, Haruka decided to let it slide. When his mouth was empty Mizuki made a second attempt. "Can I have more juice?"

"Of course," Haruka answered and he got up to go to the fridge again, "Umiko, do you want more too?"

"Just a little."

Once he had provided both of their children with a refill of their respective beverages, he sat down in his chair again and took a sip of his tea. Immediately Mizuki put the remaining half of his cookie down on the table to drink some more, the action leaving Haruka in bewilderment.

"Are you that thirsty?" he wondered at the rate he was gulping down his juice and Mizuki simply nodded again. "You must have had a busy day if it made you that thirsty."

"Yeah," was all Mizuki said in response and it made Haruka smile once more out of fondness. In some aspects their son really reminded him of himself when he was younger, like in how quiet and reserved he was, not wasting any words when he spoke and only answering questions and remarking the things he wanted to mention. But his silence shouldn't be mistaken for shyness or disinterest, because he was always perfectly able to make clear what he wanted without holding himself back. At home he could be pretty talkative, but only in an engaging conversation that someone else had started. Therefore Haruka knew that he had to specifically ask him what he wanted to know.

"And did you have fun at school today?" he questioned, knowing how much he had enjoyed going to school so far. He had recently started kindergarten and he had made quite a few friends already, contrary to Haruka himself when he was his age since he had only had Makoto back then - though Makoto was really all he had ever needed. Even if Haruka was pretty sure that he wouldn't enjoy going to school anymore a decade from now, he was glad that he did find it fun right now. After all, having to drop the children off at school every morning was already hard enough as it was, so the fact that they actually wanted to go definitely made it easier than if they hated it.

"Yeah," Mizuki repeated, and it was all he said before he he took another bite of his snack.

Since he had just told him not to speak with his mouth full, Haruka decided to leave it at that for now. He could always inquire further when he wasn't eating, so Haruka directed his questions towards Umiko instead. "And you, did you have fun as well?"

"Yes!" Umiko exclaimed excitedly, and unlike with Mizuki, Haruka didn't have to ask her in order for her to elaborate on what she had done that day that had made it so enjoyable. In that sense Umiko was similar to Makoto, in how cheerful and enthusiastic she was, although she wasn't shy like Makoto had been at her age and was a lot more bold and daring. She always had fun at school because she loved gathering knowledge and making friends, and school happened to be the perfect place to do both of those things. Because of that he wouldn't be surprised if she would still like going to school in the years yet to come.

Haruka listened attentively to their daughter blabbering on and on about what she had learned that day and what she had done with her friends, adding commentary here and there in between sips of tea and small bites of a chocolate-chip cookie. Throughout conversation he was also able to decipher the enigma that was Mizuki's eventful day at kindergarten whenever he added his two cents and shared his own experiences. In return Umiko asked Haruka about his day at work and because the finances and administration of the swim club were hardly interesting to little kids, he just told them that he'd had lunch with their father and had purposely finished early so he could swim some laps in the pool once he was done.

"I want to have lunch with you and Papa too," Mizuki pouted, making it obvious that he disliked the fact that he couldn't be there with them and Umiko immediately expressed her agreement.

It was adorable that they wanted to have lunch with Makoto and him and he honestly would have liked them to be there too, but on weekdays that just wasn't possible since they had to go to school while Makoto and he were at the swim club. Because of that, Haruka decided to turn the impossible into something a little more positive. "But you already have breakfast and dinner with us every single day, and we do have lunch together on the weekends. Isn't it more fun to have lunch with your friends too for a change?"

"Yeah," Umiko concurred and she nodded in understanding, seeing that there was a point of truth in her dad's words because she did like having lunch with her friends too.

"But it's still unfair," Mizuki insisted and he crossed his arms, completely sure that he was right about that.

"Unfair? Unfair that Papa and I get to have lunch together but you don't?" Haruka questioned and Mizuki nodded in confirmation. Admittedly, in a way he was right; it was a little unfair, but if he told him that then he'd never hear the end of it and he knew that it wasn't something that he could actually change. So instead he just had to give different arguments to convince their son otherwise. "But you get to have lunch with your friends, and I get to have lunch with my friend," he reasoned, hoping that Mizuki would find that an acceptable answer and that it would suffice as the end of this discussion.

Fortunately, Umiko cut in with a different subject that her dad's words had brought her on, diverting the attention away from the topic of lunch. "Papa has always been your best friend, right Daddy?" she asked, already knowing the answer yet loving to hear her parents affirm it and she grinned brightly.

"Always," Haruka muttered and warmth and affection spontaneously overflowed in his heart at the mere thought of it. They had been joined at the hip from the first moment they met, even though that was so long ago that he couldn't remember a time Makoto hadn't been by his side and even now, decades later, they remained inseparable and Haruka knew they would be together forevermore. Because Makoto was the love of his life, his other half with whom he had spent every day and had vowed to continue to spend the rest of his life with.

Lost in daydreams of his husband and their eternal love, Haruka hadn't even noticed that their children were still talking. But they didn't seem to be bothered by it and just continued the conversation with each other; it wasn't a rare occurrence that their dad's thoughts drifted off for a little while so it wasn't very remarkable to them. Although it may have seemed a little odd, Haruka didn't mind dissociating from reality for a second because it was nice to stand still and really feel how happy he was, like joy and love liquified and coursed through his veins, filling him with too much bliss to contain. It was good to take a moment to properly take everything in and he truly appreciated all that he had; the things that Makoto and he had fought so hard for and were now reaping the fruits of. And every day was truly a gift that was meant to be cherished and enjoyed to its fullest.

Suddenly he was overcome with a need to see Makoto and to hold him tight for the adoration he felt was too strong to go unexpressed, but alas Makoto was still at work. It wouldn't be too long until he got home though, so he would just have to bottle up those feelings until then and let them run wild later. For now, he could show their kids his affection and he made sure to do that like he did every day.

"Dad? Daddy?"

The sound of Umiko's voice pulled him out of his reverie and he blinked a few times before he met her large brown eyes. "Sorry, what?"

"We want to go see Papa and swim too," she announced decisively and her brother nodded in agreement, showing that that was what they had been discussing while his mind was on cloud nine.

This statement surprised Haruka a little, considering they had been so excited about getting to paint before yet it appeared that the revelation of what his early afternoon had been like gave them a change of heart. He would never be one to turn down an opportunity to see his husband and swim on top of that so if the kids really wanted to go to the club then that was completely fine with him. But he supposed that it couldn't hurt to remind them of their previous plans since it seemed like the idea of a trip to go see their father at work was one that entered their mind suddenly and made them suggest it on a whim. "That's fine, but I thought that you wanted to paint?"

"Oh yeah!" Umiko recalled, the tone of her light voice clearly showing that she had forgotten about that in her enthusiasm.

"So, which is it?" Haruka questioned, wanting to let Umiko and Mizuki decide since he didn't mind either way. "Painting or going to Papa and swimming?"

Mizuki simply peered up at his sister like he was waiting for her answer and would go along with that, but Umiko appeared to be seriously torn up. Her adorable face was twisted into a frown and she hummed softly as she deeply pondered about the options, finding it hard to make a choice when they were both so appealing. Since it was obvious that she found it very hard to make up her mind, Haruka made the decision for her.

"I think Papa will be home in about an hour, so what about this," he started, and both Umiko and Mizuki stared at him attentively, waiting for his proposal, "We'll paint today and tomorrow we go swimming together with Papa. If it's as warm tomorrow as it is today then we can go to the beach, and otherwise we'll just go to the pool. Is that alright?"

"Yeah!" the kids gushed in unison, making Haruka smile at their enthusiasm. He knew just how much they loved going to the beach and because they lived close to the coast they went whenever the opportunity presented itself, which was quite often around the summer times. It was still spring so warm and dry weather wasn't exactly guaranteed, but it was gradually getting warmer outside as the summer approached and if the forecasts were right, then they should be able to go to the beach tomorrow for the ocean would be warm enough to swim in.

Although Makoto was still afraid of the ocean and would most likely be forever, that didn't stop them from going often because Makoto wanted them to go; he didn't want to take away something his husband and their children loved just because he feared it himself - they had never told Umiko and Mizuki about their father's fear because he didn't want them to become afraid of it too just because he was and therefore they were waiting to tell them until they were a little older. Truth of the matter was that Makoto enjoyed going too, he loved watching their kids play and his husband swim and swimming together with them. As long as Umiko and Mizuki were supervised and accompanied when they went into the water and didn't go too deep then everything was alright for him. Arm floaties used to be one of the requirements as well, but since Umiko was old enough now and could swim pretty well only Mizuki had to wear them, much to his chagrin. Telling him that it was necessary for his safety didn't alleviate his dismay, but once he was in the water and playing with his family, he forgot all about the uncomfortable arm-traps and he was just having fun. The promise that he wouldn't have to wear them anymore once he was able to swim properly made him even more eager to learn how to swim as well, so a lot of time would be dedicated to teaching him how to swim this summer.

The children weren't the only ones who were getting a little excited, but Haruka told himself to postpone his enthusiasm about swimming until tomorrow; today they were going to paint together and that was a lot of fun too. "Well, go finish your drink and cookies so we can get started," he teased and Umiko and Mizuki didn't need to be told twice.

Once all of their cups were empty and the plate was cleared, Haruka took the kids upstairs so he could change them into some old pyjamas that he didn't mind Umiko and Mizuki getting dirty. Even though they always made sure that the paint they bought for the children was non-toxic and - according to the label - would wash out of clothing if stained or spilled, it was better to be safe than sorry and he didn't want to risk ruining their good clothes. For good measure, he put on some old clothes of his own as well.

When they were all dressed, he took the children to the bathroom so he could tie Umiko's hair into a ponytail and clip back Mizuki's fringe so their hair would stay out of their face and wouldn't bother them while they were painting. Although it usually wouldn't be necessary for Mizuki, he had been complaining that his fringe was too long and was constantly adjusting it. Haruka really needed to cut them soon, but for now hair clips would do so Mizuki wouldn't have to keep pushing them back and wouldn't accidentally smear paint into them in the process.

While he was brushing Umiko's long black hair she kept unconsciously bouncing up and down on her legs out of jitteriness, which didn't exactly make it easy for him to make a ponytail because the locks kept being pulled out of his hands.

"Sweetheart, can you stand still for one second? Otherwise I can't tie your hair," Haruka requested because he knew it wasn't going to work otherwise. Although he had never really been one to use pet names with anyone, that gradually changed when they first adopted Umiko; the pet names just rolled off Makoto's tongue when he was cuddling with her or playing with her or begging her to please stop crying and go back to sleep, and that proved itself to be quite infectious because soon the pet names were leaving his lips without his awareness as well. He hadn't done anything to stop it though, because he supposed it was just another token of affection towards the children and he wanted to do everything he could to let them know how much they were loved. Since then, calling Umiko and eventually Mizuki by the occasional pet name just became a habit.

"Oh, sorry," Umiko mumbled and she stopped moving, allowing Haruka to make a neat, tight ponytail. Then he turned her around so he could clip her fringe to the side as well.

"Daddy, hurry up!" Mizuki complained for the minute that had passed had taken far too long for his liking, already growing bored and impatient.

"Calm down, I only have two hands," Haruka replied, not fazed at all by the little boy's attempt at rushing him, "We have all the time in the world so there's no need to hurry."

"I know…" Mizuki sighed with a pout and although he understood, he was still rather displeased by what he interpreted as his dad taking his sweet time for something that could have been done much faster. Rather than trying to explain the situation to Mizuki, Haruka decided to just focus on Umiko's hair so they could get started soon and wouldn't have to dwindle on useless discussions like these.

When all of Umiko's stray hairs were pinned aside, he walked into Makoto's and his bedroom and the children followed him like he was luring them along with enchanting pipe music. He opened the door of one of the closets and got up on his toes, rummaging through the contents of the highest shelf before he pulled out an old sheet. "Here," he said as he handed it to Umiko, "If you two go lay this out in the yard then I'll go grab everything else."

"Okay!" Umiko easily replied with newfound excitement, quickly leaving the room to fulfill the task her dad had given her and Mizuki immediately left after his older sister.

With a sigh of fondness Haruka watched them go before he went up to the attic to grab some stuff. A little while back when he was at the art store to get some new watercolours for himself, he had seen these miniature easels that were meant to go on tabletops. He had figured that the kids might like them and therefore he had bought four, one for each of the kids and the other two for Makoto and himself so they could play along - although Makoto's artistic skills hadn't improved much from when he was a child himself, he did always play along when they were doing something crafty even if his abilities when it came to art obviously couldn't match up to Haruka's, but he saw it as an opportunity to teach Umiko and Mizuki that it didn't matter if you were good at something or not as long as you enjoyed it. The easels hadn't been for a special occasion or anything, it had been a little gift just because and like he had expected, the children were really happy with it. Admittedly, Makoto and he spoiled them a little - a lot - but he honestly liked spoiling them and didn't see the harm in it; they could afford it and as long as Umiko and Mizuki didn't become haughty or ungrateful, there was nothing wrong with spoiling them a little and they were still kind and humble and appreciated everything they got. In the end, that was all that mattered.

With three of the four easels tucked under his arm and some small canvases in his other hand, Haruka went downstairs so he could set everything up.

At last he had gathered all the paints, brushes and other miscellaneous painting necessities and they could finally start, much to Umiko and Mizuki's joy and relief. He had set them up in a half circle, with Umiko beside him and Mizuki across from him and all the supplies in between them so they could all easily reach everything. He had already put dollops of all the colours of paint onto a paper plate from a stack that he had found somewhere in the back of the pantry so the kids didn't have to struggle with the tubes and could access everything without having to ask him for help - of course, if they needed more paint then he'd happily oblige and get them some more, but it was less complicated this way. Next to that he had laid out numerous brushes in varying sizes to satisfy all their painting needs and a cup of water and some paper towels so they could rinse out the bristles. The perfect recipe for a fun afternoon of painting together, Haruka thought.

"Daddy, what are you going to paint?" Umiko asked, peering up at him with her large, shining eyes in an attempt to gather inspiration from him.

"I don't know yet," he answered truthfully after a moment of pondering. "And you?"

"It's a secret!" she exclaimed with a grin and she turned one side of the easel closer to herself so Haruka wouldn't be able to see what she made. In actuality, he could still look onto her canvas if he really wanted to but he decided to humour her and not mention it, yet he did keep his gaze averted from it like she had requested because he respected their children's boundaries, regardless of how insignificant the situation at hand may have been. He also didn't mention the fact that not a single stroke had been applied to her canvas yet.

"And you?" Haruka then asked while suppressing an amused smile, turning to Mizuki who was already holding a brush with the bristles covered in black paint, "Is yours a secret too?"

Mizuki thought for a second before he nodded. "Yep," he said and he got started, pushing the tip of his brush down on his canvas and applying rough strokes onto it.

"Alright," Haruka replied with a shrug, knowing that they would eventually let him see it anyway because they always showed Makoto and him everything they made, whether it was a drawing or a sandcastle or anything in between. Until that time, he would respect their privacy and focus on his own painting.

But as he was staring at his blank canvas he unfortunately concluded that his mind was equally blank, really not knowing what he could paint. He looked back at the children - all the while making sure that he didn't catch a glimpse of their work in progress - and saw that Umiko had also eagerly begun to paint with an excited twinkle in her deep brown eyes, contrary to Mizuki who seemed to be in utmost concentration, his small mouth pressed into a firm line as he assaulted the canvas with his brush in a way that would most certainly destroy the bristles sooner or later. Because he knew that he wasn't intentionally rough but simply lacked the motoric capabilities to handle to brush with more finesse, Haruka decided to not stop him or correct him but let him paint to his heart's content. Brushes were replaceable and as long as Mizuki enjoyed himself then it didn't matter if the bristles died in action; it was a very low price to pay for their son's happiness and Haruka would gladly spend every penny on him - and on Umiko too, of course, but since she had mastered a painting technique that was much gentler he was pretty sure she wouldn't unconsciously destroy anything.

As he was watching over them, the need to capture their adorable faces onto his canvas welled up inside of him and since his models were sitting right in front of him, he would have acted on that feeling if it weren't for the art supplies he currently had. With nothing more than various shades of paint that were clearly designed to be used by children and paintbrushes to match, he wasn't confident that he could make a painting that would do them justice; he couldn't sketch them first because he had no pencils and this wasn't exactly the type of paint that he was used to either, so he couldn't guarantee that it would turn out the way he envisioned. He didn't want to risk ruining their cute faces so painting them would have to wait a little longer. For the same reasons he couldn't paint his husband either, who was usually his favourite subject to draw - even if Makoto wasn't here for reference, after more than thirty-five years of studying his features and about thirty years of relaying his image on paper, he didn't need the reference because he could draw him with his eyes closed and in his sleep.

There was nothing he could do right now besides looking for something else he could paint. In a sudden wave of nostalgia, he was reminded of something else that he loved - granted, not as much as he loved his husband and their children, but still - that he didn't need any references for. With that in mind, he grabbed another paper plate from the stack he had found and begun to mix some paints in an attempt to get the exact shade he was looking for. When he was satisfied with it, he smeared off the excess paint at the edge of the plate before he turned back to his canvas and started.

From then on, it was silent for a while. It didn't surprise Haruka at all, because even though Umiko and Mizuki could get quite loud and jittery when they were excited, that didn't mean that they couldn't be quiet and sit still at other times. He definitely didn't mind it when they were a little noisy and active, but he had to admit that he rather liked moments like these when everything was calm and serene yet they were still happy and entertained. These moments wouldn't last forever though, so he had to savour every second while he could.

Like he had already expected, it didn't take much longer until the silence was disrupted by Umiko's light voice, speaking in that honey-sweet tone that she always used when she wanted to ask something that warranted Makoto's and his approval but wasn't sure if they would go along with it - a tone she had learned from none other than her father. "Daddy?"

Curious as to what her question would be, Haruka decided to play along for now and not show that he already knew her intention. "What?"

"Can we get a dog?"

"A dog?" Haruka asked in bewilderment, not knowing where that suddenly came from when they hadn't seen or talked about anything related to dogs all day - then again, the mind of a six-year-old worked in mysterious ways. Before he could question it any further, Mizuki chimed in.

"Yes, a dog! I want a pom… pom…"

"A pomeranian?" Haruka helped, seeing his struggle to find the right word and filling it in for him.

"Yeah, that one!"

"No," Umiko objected, "I want a golden retriever!"

"A golden retriever?" he wondered, being a little perplexed since he didn't know why she was so specific about it. He knew that Mizuki had a special fascination and adoration for pomeranians so him mentioning them wasn't very surprising, but Umiko had never shown any particular interest in golden retrievers before; she loved all dogs so he had figured that it didn't matter to her what kind of dog they would hypothetically get as long as they got one. The fact that she was so steadfast about it now had to mean that she had put more thought into it than he initially expected. Perhaps her proposal was not as sudden as it had seemed. When he was about to ask her why she was adamant about her choice of dog, he was reminded of something that happened in the past and he could hardly suppress a snort, therefore he couldn't not make a remark about it. "But we already have a golden retriever."

"Huh?"

"What do you mean?" Umiko asked in confusion and Mizuki wore a matching frown at their dad's statement because they clearly didn't have a dog, much less a golden retriever.

The looks on both of their faces rendered Haruka unable to stop himself from chuckling. In a silly conversation back in high school about what breed they would be if they were dogs, Makoto had been compared to a golden retriever and Haruka still hadn't forgotten about that because admittedly, he did see the resemblance. Since explaining this would only distract from the discussion at hand, Haruka decided it was better to let that anecdote be saved until later, perhaps as a bedtime story tonight. So instead he just mumbled, "Never mind."

In spite of the fact that he still didn't understand what his dad had said before, Mizuki saw this as an opportunity to steer the conversation back to where he wanted it to go. "If we already have a golden retriever then we can get a pom… pomer…"

"Pomeranian," Haruka supplied again, knowing that he still had trouble recalling and pronouncing some words, especially if they had that many syllables.

"Yeah, so are we getting one?" Mizuki gasped excitedly, interpreting his dad's assistance as agreement and he leaned up on his knees, his sea-green eyes widened in hope.

"That's not what I-"

Before Haruka could finish his sentence, Umiko interrupted him, "No! We don't even have a golden retriever so we can get that one!"

At this point the children were full on arguing about what kind of dog they were going to get - without providing any arguments as to why the dog of their choice was the best for their family - and Haruka knew he had to put a halt to this before it escalated. "Hey," he called, a little louder than he usually would have so that they could hear him over the sound of their own bickering. Usually this would be something that he would have to discuss with Makoto first, but in this case he knew for sure that Makoto would agree with him and he thought it was better to stop Umiko and Mizuki's dream from developing further rather than giving them false hope. "We can't get a dog."

"Aww," Umiko sighed in defeat, a sad pout forming on her lips.

"Why not?" Mizuki questioned and suddenly his sister and he were on the same page again in their shared melancholy about their dad's disapproval.

"Dogs aren't toys," Haruka tried to explain gently, part of him feeling bad that he had to disappoint them when he wanted to give them the world but the rational side of him knew that their current lifestyle didn't have place for a dog, "They're living creatures that need time and attention and care-"

"We will take good care of it!" Umiko quickly assured and Mizuki vigorously nodded in agreement. "We'll love it and walk it and play with it and-"

"I know you would," Haruka interrupted, shaking his head dismissively, "But dogs are still a big responsibility. Who is going to take care of it when you are at school and Papa and I are at work? We can't get a dog and then expect Grandma and Grandpa to look after it all day, but we can't leave a dog alone in the house all day either. That would be sad for the dog, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah," Umiko agreed and although she still seemed disappointed, Haruka was glad that she understood that it simply wouldn't be possible.

"But can't the dog just sleep when we're not here?" Mizuki bargained, desperately looking for a solution because he just wanted to have a dog and he didn't quite understand the issue as much as his older sister did.

"You can't expect a dog to sleep all day and then sleep at night as well," Haruka opposed, thinking that a comparison might help him understand, "Would you like to sleep the entire night and then have to sleep during the morning and afternoon too?"

"No…" Mizuki admitted, averting his gaze because he knew his dad was right. He wouldn't want to be alone all day either, let alone having to sleep when the rest of his family was gone, but that didn't take away from the fact that he wanted a dog really, really badly. Although he knew that it was a wasted effort, he couldn't give up without trying one last time. "But… I could take it to school with me," he mumbled dejectedly despite knowing that Haruka wouldn't approve of that either way.

"You can't take a dog to school with you," was the already expected answer. "You can't learn or play when you have to look after a dog the entire time and your teachers would never allow you to bring it, and neither would Papa and I."

"Well… you could take it to work with you," he reasoned for there was no boss to tell Haruka that he couldn't bring the dog since Makoto and he owned the swim club. Unfortunately, this suggestion also wasn't plausible either because a swim club had no place for a dog.

"Mizuki…" Haruka sighed at their son's insistence. If Mizuki truly wanted something then he wouldn't easily give in, and although Haruka knew that, the time for him to accept the rejection had come because it was useless to argue about this back and forth when the answer would ultimately stay the same. "I'm sorry, sweetheart, but we can't get a dog. We just can't."

The finality of that answer paired with the fact that he wasn't able to come up with any more solutions to the issue made Mizuki come to terms with the fact that there was really nothing more he could say or do. He stopped objecting, but it wasn't without a big huff of disappointment leaving his mouth before he puffed up his cheeks in discontentment. He resumed painting in silence, though there was an obvious lack of enthusiasm in his movements now.

And even Umiko, who had long since given up on pushing her dad into agreeing to get a dog and had continued to paint much sooner, had lost her usual cheerfulness when she had been so excited before.

Seeing the disheartened looks on their faces made Haruka feel a little guilty, but he knew that he couldn't give in to them on this. Perhaps it was good that they didn't get their way this time, because they would have to learn how to deal with disappointments that would surely come in the future. Still, that didn't mean that it didn't make him feel bad, because he completely understood how they felt; back when they were young, Makoto and he had found a stray cat and had decided that they wanted to keep it. They went to ask Makoto's parents if he could keep it, but unfortunately that wasn't possible since his mother was allergic. So they had gone to his parents instead, but he wasn't allowed to keep it either. The memory of the dejection he had felt when his parents refused was very vivid and he had been so upset back then because his parents hadn't even given a reason as to why they couldn't keep it. Although he had hidden his dismay quite well, Makoto had seen right through his demeanour and tried to console him a little even though he was just as upset himself. They had vowed to each other that one day when they were old enough, they would get a cat together.

About thirty years had passed since that promise, eighteen of which they had lived together, yet that day still hadn't arrived - although he frequently fed the stray cats around his house and Makoto and he often played with them back when they were in high school, that didn't exactly count as truly owning a cat. It wasn't so much that they had forgotten about it or had changed their minds, but more so that it never seemed like the right time to get a cat. Whenever it was brought up in conversation, they agreed that it would be better to wait a little longer until things settled down a bit because they were currently too busy; college was way too time-consuming and stressful, once Haruka's Olympic career truly kicked off they were away from home too often, after he retired they were occupied with taking over the swim club and planning their wedding, and once they were married they were diving headfirst into the complicated adoption process that brought along more stress and nerves and once they were finally blessed with Umiko and Mizuki, they had more than enough on their plate with just raising them.

But now, the children were a little older and didn't need the same kind of constant attention and care that they needed back when they were still babies. Everything had settled down into a comfortable and pleasant daily life without them being obligated to do anything, but with a wanting to do many things that brought them joy. Perhaps it was time for that day to come.

"We can't get a dog," Haruka repeated, breaking the somewhat tense silence that hung in the air around them and Umiko and Mizuki both looked up upon hearing their dad's voice. "But, maybe we can get a cat."

"A cat?" Umiko gasped, the excited glint returning to her eyes and Haruka nodded in confirmation.

"Why can we get a cat and not a dog?" Mizuki questioned in confusion and he furrowed his eyebrows.

"Because dogs and cats are not the same animals," Haruka stated because that seemed pretty obvious to him, but then again, Mizuki probably didn't see any difference other than their appearance so he explained, "Unlike dogs, cats don't really mind being alone that much and they sleep more than dogs. Cats don't have to be taken out for walks either so we don't have to worry about that when we're gone during the day, but since we are here in the late afternoon and evening, they're not alone for too long and can still get the attention and care they need."

"Oh… okay," Mizuki said and he nodded in understanding. It luckily hadn't taken much to convince him this time despite him usually being quite stubborn, but Haruka reasoned that that was because even if it wasn't a dog, getting a different pet was better than having no pet at all. "I want a white one!"

"No," Umiko objected once more, "I want an orange one!"

And another discussion ensued. It was almost funny how this always seemed to happen at one point or another, but the factor that Haruka found to be the most amusing was the fact that instead of arguing about breeds like they had earlier, they were now solely worried about what colour their potential future cat's fur would be. He figured that they simply didn't know any specific cat breeds, but he honestly couldn't blame them because he didn't know any either when he was their age.

"Hey," he called once more because he didn't want them to get into a fight over this, "I said 'maybe'. I have to discuss this with Papa first."

"But Papa loves cats so I'm sure he will say 'yes'."

Well, she wasn't wrong. He only had to pronounce the word 'cat' and Makoto was already looking on the website of Iwatobi's shelter to see if they had any cats up for adoption. Still, he couldn't just promise them a cat without getting Makoto's permission, and although the chances of Makoto disapproving were miniscule, that was just not the way they managed things in their home; they would always discuss everything with each other before making a decision, no matter how insignificant or obvious the decision at hand may be.

"What are we going to name it?"

"Tora!" Mizuki chimed in excitedly, and despite it being a common name for cats, Haruka didn't entirely understand where the suggestion came from since it didn't exactly match the image of the white cat he wanted. Then again, he probably didn't even think of that; he just yelled out the name and colour he liked best without considering whether or not they were fitting for one another - though arguably, whether something was fitting or not was an entirely made-up concept that most four-year-olds didn't find any value in to begin with.

"Wait," Haruka interrupted, shaking his head dismissively, "We're not naming anything until we have Papa's agreement. I'll talk with him as soon as I can, so for now we can stop talking about this and talk about something else instead. Alright?"

"Alright," they said in unison, but the expressions of joy that lingered on their faces told him that their minds were already entirely set on that they would get a cat and that even if they didn't mention it anymore, their thoughts were still filled with cats.

Since they agreed and continued to paint in silence, Haruka decided not to say anything more on the matter either. He was pretty sure that their family would be expanded with a feline friend in the near future because Makoto was surely on board, but he didn't want their kids to think that he made all the decisions on his own - which he didn't because Makoto and he'd had this conversation many times before, but they didn't know that because they hadn't been there and had never been told about it either. So for now, it was just better if they postponed this talk until after he spoke with him about it.

With newfound enthusiasm Umiko and Mizuki painted and Haruka continued where he had left off as well. But based off their jittery movements, their focus had long since drifted from their paintings to kittens, resulting in their strokes becoming a lot less refined and coordinated. It was all fine though, as long as they were content.

"Daddy?" Umiko sang again, disrupting the tranquility that had settled once she and her brother had been satiated with the likelihood of getting a cat, and although her voice was still light and high-pitched, it wasn't in the same tone that she had spoken with earlier.

"Yes?"

"Can I see your painting?"

"Sure," Haruka replied and he lowered his brush so she could see the entirety of his canvas. It wasn't finished yet, but unlike those of the children, his painting was no secret and after years of being watched as he worked, he was more than used to curious eyes roaming over every line of the unfinished whole.

Umiko scooted over to his side and a beaming smile lit up her face when she saw what he had been drawing. "Iwatobi-chan!" she exclaimed, catching the attention of her little brother who looked up when he heard that familiar name despite not having shown any particular interest in his dad's painting before, too absorbed in his own ministrations.

"Can I see too?"

"Of course," Haruka muttered, and when his gaze drifted from his canvas to their son's face he saw that Mizuki had been absorbed in his work quite literally: a smudge of green paint stained his cheek and he seemingly wasn't even aware that it was there. Wondering how it got there, Haruka's eyes naturally went to his hands and he had a hard time suppressing a grin at the paint coating his little fingers. Although he didn't quite know how he managed to get it all over himself, he honestly wasn't surprised since he had already anticipated that this would happen at one point or another, so in hindsight he was very glad that he had put him in some old pyjamas; if his face was already smudged then it was only a matter of time until his clothing followed. "How did you get paint all over your face?" he asked in amusement when Mizuki was sat next to him as he rubbed his thumb over the spot on his chubby cheek. The paint had dried up almost entirely already, and Haruka didn't know if it was because the paint simply dried quickly or if he'd had smeared it on his face much sooner than he noticed it.

"Paint?" Mizuki questioned in confusion, his sea-green eyes looking downward until he realised that he couldn't directly see his own face. This silly action made it even hard for Haruka to keep himself from smiling at their adorable son. Since the first plan didn't work, Mizuki opted for plan B and looked at his hands instead, seeing that the fingers on his right hand were covered in the shade he had just been painting with. "I don't know."

Although Haruka was quite certain that he had unconsciously scratched his face earlier, he didn't exactly know how the paint got onto his fingertips in the first place considering he had been painting with a brush the entire time. But that in itself shouldn't be much of a surprise either, because regardless of what Mizuki did he always ended up making a mess of himself, whether he was eating ice cream or brushing his teeth or anything in between, really. Even if that was a little inconvenient sometimes, he couldn't deny that it was very endearing. "We'll wash it off later, alright?"

"Okay," Mizuki responded with a shrug, not caring whatsoever either way. It wasn't like he could blame him since he couldn't see it himself anyway, so it was useless to be bothered by it.

"Who is that?" Umiko asked, steering the attention back to Haruka's painting and she pointed at the figure on the right side of the canvas.

"That's Samezuka-chan," Haruka said and he realised that Umiko and Mizuki had probably never seen her before. "Remember that we told you about the school that Papa and I used to have joined practices at? This is their mascot."

"Oh, I see."

"Iwatobi-chan is cuter," Mizuki thought and Haruka chuckled at that remark since he honestly couldn't argue it. Just like him, Umiko and Mizuki loved mascot characters so it was nice to finally have people who also thought they were cute because no one else ever agreed with him on that - well, except Nagisa, but his tastes were honestly all over the place. "And what is this?" he asked, tapping on the wet surface of the left side of the canvas that Haruka had been working on and getting blue paint on his index finger in the process.

"She's also a mascot," Haruka supplied with a snort, not finding it surprising that he couldn't make out what she was since he had just started working on her, "Her name is Shimashima-chan and she was modeled after the islands Mizushima, Ooshima and Sukishima."

"How do you know her, Daddy?" Umiko wondered, interest clear on her face. "I've never seen her before."

"Back when we were in high school, our swim club held a training camp, right?" Haruka reminded because he knew they had told them about this before, but he didn't know if they had forgotten about that already and therefore how much he needed to tell them right now. When they both nodded in return, he continued, "It was my seventeenth birthday and it was the last day we were at the islands for training. There was this event featuring Shimashima-chan and I really wanted to go to it, but for some reason Papa and the others were acting very strange and they kept finding excuses to stop me from going to see her and kept me inside the cabin. Since the event was over before they let me go, I at least wanted to go buy her strap but Papa objected and was saying all kinds of weird things that didn't really make any sense."

His story was interrupted by Umiko, whose eyebrows were furrowed in disbelief. "Why didn't Papa just let you go if you wanted to get it?"

It wasn't like he didn't understand her confusion since he knew that that didn't sound like Makoto at all, so he just answered her question while simultaneously resuming his anecdote. "Because Papa and the others were preparing a surprise for me on the beach right in front of the cabins, and if I went outside then I would see it and that would spoil the surprise."

"A surprise?" she asked in a mix of excitement and curiosity, "What kind of surprise?"

"A giant birthday cake made from sand," he recalled with a smile, "Instead of candles, this cake was so big that it had fireworks instead."

"Wow!" Mizuki said, his large eyes lighting up at the mental image of that.

"It was really pretty," Haruka affirmed, the sight of that cake permanently etched into his memory, "I think we might have some pictures of it too so I can show it to you sometime."

"Yes!"

"But you didn't get to see her then," Umiko commented and Haruka understood what she meant with it, because how could he know what she looked like if he didn't get the chance to see her or buy her strap.

"Well, even though I really liked and appreciated the surprise that Papa and the others made for me, Papa still felt bad that they had kept me away from her. When we got home that night, he was sleeping over at my house and right before we went to bed, he gave me a gift. It was Shimashima-chan's strap that I had wanted to get and because he knew that, he had gone out to the souvenir shop right before we left and bought it for me, mostly for my birthday but also because he wanted to apologise for keeping me from meeting her."

"Aww, that's so sweet of Papa," she sighed, a dreamy smile appearing on her lips and Haruka mirrored her smile before he nodded in agreement. "Do you still have the strap?"

"Of course I do," Haruka said like it was obvious, because he kept everything Makoto gave him, no matter how small or insignificant it may be; he treasured even the tiniest of things because they were gifts given to him by someone who was so special that everything he touched automatically became special as well. The mere thought of throwing out or losing something that Makoto had given him was enough to make his stomach churn. Therefore he knew exactly where everything was, putting it in places where he could easily find them so he could keep them safe and cherish them forever. "I'll show it to you later too, alright?"

"Alright!" she echoed excitedly, her grin widening in anticipation.

"Your painting is very pretty," Mizuki suddenly remarked, drawing the attention back to the image at hand rather than the story behind it.

"Thank you," Haruka replied with an unwavering smile, "Can I see your painting too?"

"Yeah." Mizuki crawled back to his easel and tried his best to turn it around so his dad and sister could see his picture. The canvas was filled with a whole array of different things without a clear theme, suggesting that Mizuki just put down whatever it was that was on his mind that second: from a stick figure with pitchfork-hands and spikes for hair in the middle to stars and hearts surrounding it to a smiling sun in the corner, Mizuki had painted it all. It was very colourful to say the least.

"Yours is really pretty too," Haruka complimented and those simple words were enough to make a satisfied grin settle on Mizuki's face, which in its turn made Haruka's smile soften as well.

Not wanting to be left out, Umiko immediately went back to her own easel and shifted it towards her dad. "And mine?"

"Yours is very pretty as well," he assured, finding it adorable that she wanted to get praised too and of course he would always give her the approval and attention that she was seeking. In terms of the painting itself, the one Umiko made had more of a clear subject that Mizuki's had; contrary to her brother, she had upgraded from stick figures to figures who had bodies and clothes - although the hands of her characters still resembled gardening equipment, though he supposed hers looked more like rakes - and she had painted four of them on a patch of grass next to a yellow blob of what he assumed to be a dog, which indicated that the four figures were her and their family. So much for that 'spontaneous' idea of wanting to get a golden retriever.

"Thanks!" she beamed and a joyous smile stretched her lips as well. But as her brown eyes went from her own canvas to Haruka's canvas and back, the smile soon fell from her face and made place for a sad frown. "Why can't my drawing be as good as yours?" she questioned, sounding almost desperate.

Rather than biding her false words of comfort and assurance that hers was just as good as his, Haruka thought it was better to just be honest with her because she could clearly see the difference between the two paintings and wouldn't buy those white lies anyway. "Because I have thirty years more of experience than you," he stated kindly, still wanting to sound reassuring and encouraging because he didn't want her to feel insecure or inferior, "You can't expect to be super good at something at first because you aren't born with those skills. You have to practice a lot and then you can improve; and I have had much more time to practice in my life than you have had so far."

"So if I practice a lot then I'll get just as good as you?" Umiko asked with a tiny flame of hope rekindling in her shining eyes.

Haruka nodded in return. "Perhaps even better than me, because I think you're already better now than I was at your age." He didn't recall if this was true or not but that honestly didn't matter, because this was the type of white lie that the kids would easily believe.

"Really?"

The undiluted excitement in her voice was too cute, the tone reminding him of how Makoto used to sound when he was her age and that mental comparison made it even more endearing than it already was. But before he could respond to it, Mizuki spoke up.

"You can't get better than Daddy," he said resolutely, "Because Daddy is the best."

It was absolutely adorable that he felt that way, but it was far from the truth. "That's not true, there are people out there who are even better than me, who have even more years of experience and practice or who just have more natural talent than me," Haruka defended because he saw this as a stepping stone to teaching them another one of life's lessons, "There will almost always be someone who's better than you at something, but that's alright. You shouldn't compare yourself to others, because it's not about what others can make, but what you can make yourself. If you think about the drawings you made last year then these ones are better, right?" When Umiko and Mizuki nodded in confirmation, he continued, "That shows that you have improved since then, so if you practice more then you'll get even better. But even if you don't, that's alright, because it's not about how good you are at something, it's about having fun and as long as you have fun it doesn't matter how good you are. And if you're not good at one thing, then you shouldn't feel bad because there will be always something else that you are very good at," he trailed off because he didn't want them to get upset if they ultimately didn't improve as much as they wanted to even though they practiced a lot, "Take Papa for example: he's not that good at arts and crafts, but he's super good at games and he can explain things really well and he's so strong and smart and-"

He cut himself off because he realised he was going off-topic; instead of using Makoto as an example, it was more like he was bragging about him to their kids and even though he could go on and on about his husband for hours, there was no reason to do that because they knew like no other how amazing Makoto truly was.

"He's not good at art, but he does always have a lot of fun when he's drawing with us. And even though he beats us in every game we play, we also have a lot of fun playing with him, right?"

"Yeah!" Umiko exclaimed and she seemed a lot more elated and enthusiastic than she had before his little speech; although he didn't know what exactly it was that she had found strength in, it didn't matter either as long as she was happy.

"One day I am going to beat him," Mizuki vowed solemnly, nodding his head in determination.

A chuckle escaped Haruka's lips without his intention. "Well, you're going to need to practice a lot then, because Papa is only going to get better and better too."

"I will," he declared and Haruka believed that he would try his best, but whether he was going to succeed was a whole different issue because just like with Haruka and Umiko's art skills, Makoto had thirty-two years worth of gaming experience more than Mizuki and he was only getting better with the day.

Back when they were kids themselves Haruka was still able to beat Makoto sometimes, but those days had long since passed and from a certain point in time, it became nearly impossible to win from him. Regardless of what game they were playing, whether it be a video game or a board game or even a card game, Makoto completely obliterated everyone time and time again. It used to be a little annoying, but that soon changed when they decided that whenever they played a game with just the two of them, the loser would have to 'reward' the winner. Needless to say, he never minded losing after that because in the end, they both won.

And now, when they were playing games with the children, it was only amusing to him how even in four-player games, Umiko and Mizuki always insisted on playing in teams and then immediately called dibs on teaming up with their father so that when Makoto destroyed them, they still felt like they had won, too. They weren't as sore of losers as Ran and Ren had been when they were young, but that didn't mean that they didn't want to win because they were pretty competitive when it came to games, always telling Makoto that he shouldn't go easy on them because if they won from him, they wanted to win with everything they had. Makoto always complied with their wishes, for it was blatantly obvious if he lost on purpose anyway.

Speak of the devil, it was at that exact moment that he heard the distinct sound of their car coming to a halt in front of their house; the sound that indicated that Makoto had arrived back home - and a little earlier now than Haruka had expected. Although that sound always filled him with joy and relief, there was now another feeling that was put into the mix: mischief.

"Papa!" the kids cried out in unison, immediately jumping up from where they were seated on the blanket and about to run inside to be the first one to greet their father home, but Haruka stopped them.

"Wait!" he called, holding his hand up in a gesture for them to not make a beeline for the door and luckily, they both listened and looked at him with large, questioning eyes. His gaze quickly shifted from the stain on Mizuki's face to his tiny hands and then to the paint that was still on the paper plate before he proposed, "Shall we play a trick on Papa?"

Those words made clear interest appear on their faces that soon morphed into playful grins. Knowing that they both were on board, Haruka pressed a kiss to the silver band that was wrapped around his finger before he took it off. He always hated to take off his wedding ring because it was a symbol of their everlasting love that he carried with him everywhere he went, but he still took it off pretty often for that exact reason; he would never risk getting it dirty or damaging it in any way, so he would much rather take it off and keep it safe even if that meant missing the familiar pressure around his finger. But whenever he took it off, he always knew exactly where he put it because losing it would be even more of a disaster, for losing it would be like losing a part of himself - despite usually not being materialistic at all, Haruka couldn't help but safekeep everything that was connected to Makoto in one way or another, protecting it like he was protecting their love with his bare hands. When he did take off his ring, he always made sure to kiss it beforehand in a short apology and because kissing his ring felt like he was sending a kiss over to Makoto when they were apart and he was confident that Makoto felt and received every single kiss too.

There wasn't much time left after that, so Haruka quickly explained his plan to Umiko and Mizuki, whose playful grins turned even more mischievous with every word that left their dad's mouth.

"I'm home!"

Makoto's gentle voice rang out through the house, that was unusually empty. From where he was waiting in the kitchen, Haruka did his best to repress any form of noise at the image that he could see so clearly in his head: Makoto looking around himself in confusion, wondering where the children and he were since they were always at the door the second he came in to welcome him home and tackle him in bear hugs and claims of how much they had missed him during the day. He was probably wondering if they were out, if Haruka had taken the kids out to the park or took them along as he went grocery shopping; these were all speculations from Haruka himself, but he was almost certain that they were the thoughts coursing through his husband's head at that moment and that made it even more difficult to stop himself from laughing. Finding that he had kept him waiting for long enough, Haruka stepped out from where he had been hiding and walked into the living room.

"Haru! Umiko! Mizuki!"

Instead of his handsome face lighting up at the sight of him, Haruka was met with Makoto's backside because he was facing back through the door that led to the hallway, attempting to peer up the steps to see if his family was upstairs. In order to suppress the chuckles that were bubbling up inside of him, Haruka told himself to focus on the joke at hand.

"Makoto."

Surprised to hear that lovely voice, Makoto abruptly turned around and the smile that Haruka had been expecting adorned his features. "Ah, Haru!" he said with obvious joy in his tone and his smile softened when he met his husband's beautiful face. "I'm home."

Without replying, Haruka went over to Makoto and came to a halt right in front of him, smiling back at him before he got up on his tippy toes - because Makoto hadn't been tall enough already in high school and just had to grow even bigger, hadn't he? - and cupped his face into his hands before he kissed him tenderly.

A startled noise escaped from Makoto's mouth at the feeling of Haruka's hands against his cheeks because they felt different than usual, but he soon forgot that train of thought as Haruka pressed on and he simply melted into the kiss, his mind void of any thoughts besides the love for his husband. Naturally he wrapped his arms around Haruka's waist to support him and hold him against himself as he kissed back, sighing deeply in contentment because he was finally, truly home.

After exchanging a few slow and sweet kisses Haruka pulled back but did so with great reluctance. He could honestly do nothing but kiss Makoto for the rest of his life and enjoy every second of it, because he would never get tired of the wonderful sensation of his husband's lips sliding over his so gently to convey their affection for each other. But he knew he couldn't get sidetracked right now because their prank was still full in motion and the kids were waiting for the result in the yard.

When they parted ways there was a hazy look in Makoto's gorgeous eyes, like he had literally kissed him senseless and a smirk stretched Haruka's lips at the sight of it.

"Welcome home," he whispered against Makoto's mouth and then he pulled away entirely and released Makoto's face, innocently holding up the palms of his hands that were covered in blue and green paint before simply stating, "The kids wanted to paint."

It was easy to pinpoint the second Makoto realised what was going on; the dreaminess in his gaze dissipated and made place for confusion that soon turned into shock and he lifted his fingers towards his face and ran them over his cheek. When he saw the paint that lingered on his fingertips, everything hit him at once and he sped over to the nearest mirror that hung on the wall. Once he was in front of it, he was greeted with the familiar image of his own face but with a light coat of paint covering his skin in vague handprints.

"Haru! I already thought I felt something weird!" he whined in protest but as he heard the sound of his husband's beautiful laughter ringing in the background, his astonishment turned into mischief as well and he turned back around to Haruka with a sly grin, which looked nothing but silly when it was surrounded by paint. "Oh, you're going to get it now," he promised in a playful threat and even though it was hard to take him seriously when he looked like this, Haruka didn't wait to find out what Makoto meant with it and ran away from him, back outside where the kids were waiting with Makoto following closely behind him.

The high-pitched giggles that sounded out shortly after he left the house told him that Makoto wasn't far behind. Haruka knew that he would catch up to him sooner or later because he was much faster than him and it wasn't like he had any place to run in their backyard - he could simply go around the house and onto the street, but he didn't want to bring the whole neighbourhood into their little joke and besides, he had gone into this knowing that Makoto would catch up to him eventually. Unfortunately for Haruka, that moment came way quicker than he had anticipated as he felt Makoto's arms catching him around his waist and Haruka let himself fall to the ground, deciding to give Makoto a chance to get his revenge a little. But even though they were fooling around, the protectiveness in Makoto never wavered as he felt him cup the side of his head and wound his arm around his torso to shield him from the impact despite it being soft grass that he landed on.

Once they were both safely on the ground Haruka turned to lie on his back and Makoto immediately straddled him, pinning one of his wrists down - for good measure, Haruka held down his other wrist as well - before he raised a paintbrush that he had quickly snatched from the blanket while he was chasing him down. "Got you," Makoto taunted as he brought it down to Haruka's face and Haruka squeezed his eyes shut as he braced himself for Makoto's attack, not even making an attempt at dodging because Makoto deserved to get at least one strike on him as well and he could barely contain his laughter. Besides, struggling would be useless anyway because if Makoto really wanted to, then he could easily maneuver him with brute strength alone but Haruka knew that he would never do anything that could possibly hurt him.

Seconds ticked by but the impact never came. Confused as to why he wasn't doing anything since Makoto was not one to back out of a game, Haruka opened his eyes again. While Makoto had definitely started to bring it down towards him like he was going to stab him with colour, he had halted halfway through when he realised that there was no paint on the bristles and Haruka burst out in laughter when he saw it. In his haste to get to him, Makoto had grabbed the first brush he saw without checking if there was actually any paint on it and the blank stare on his face was priceless. "So much for your revenge," Haruka giggled and upon hearing his voice, Makoto recovered his demeanour and smirked back at him.

"For this plan, yes," he admitted, "But this is not my only plan; I've got a few more tricks up my sleeve." He discarded the paintbrush next to them and his now free hand took ahold of Haruka's other wrist. But instead of pinning him down again, this time he did his best to move his arms because he wanted to bring Haruka's palms to his own face so his skin would be covered too. Of course, Haruka already knew that that was his plan but this time he wouldn't play along; he had already given Makoto a chance to get him back but he had wasted it himself, so now he was back to resisting.

With all his strength Haruka tensed up his muscles to prevent Makoto from maneuvering his hands towards his face, but it was honestly like fighting a losing battle: for Makoto, that was. Because Makoto was not battling against Haruka, but against himself; he wanted to get back at Haruka and strength-wise he could easily win, however, there was the risk that he would hurt him by handling him so roughly and the fact that Haruka was resisting only increased that risk. And that risk was one that he was never willing to take, even if it meant losing their silly little paint fight.

Realising this, Makoto gave up and slackened his hold, letting Haruka's wrists fall back onto the ground but he didn't release them just yet. "Well then," he sighed, shaking his head in what was supposed to resemble defeat, "Seems like I have to resort to the old fashioned way." He brought Haruka's hands together over his head and shifted his hold until he was holding down both wrists with one hand - damn Makoto for having such large hands. Then he held up his free hand again and wiggled his fingers in the air. "Ready?"

When it dawned upon Haruka what Makoto was planning to do, his eyes widened in horror. "No, Makoto… please don't," he pleaded but it was in vain; it was at that moment that Makoto brought his hand down and started to tickle him, assaulting his most sensitive spots with his sneaky fingers. Although he usually loved the fact that they had been together since the beginning and therefore knew everything about each other, in scenarios like this it proved that their connection could work against him because Makoto knew exactly where to tickle Haruka to reduce him to a tearful, giggling mess. And he was rapidly succeeding in doing just that. "Makoto!" Haruka managed to get out in between his loud laughter, but sadly he couldn't speak beyond just his name, "Makoto!"

"What? I'm sorry, Haru-chan, I don't understand what you mean," Makoto said innocently, batting his eyelashes like he was trying to comprehend Haruka's laughter, "You're going to have to be clearer than that."

"Makoto!"

The children, who had watched their parents' scene unfold in amusement, saw this as the cue to step in and get involved as well, no longer content with just standing on the sidelines.

"I'll save you, Daddy!" Mizuki proclaimed as he ran up to them and jumped on Makoto's back, wrapping his legs around his waist and clinging to him like he was a baby koala.

In order to let him play along, Makoto let out a big huff as if the collision of Mizuki's small, light body against his own had actually impacted him in any way and he stopped tickling Haruka, both to make Mizuki feel like he had won and because he had teased his husband enough already. He straightened his back to give Haruka more room to catch his breath, which Haruka dearly appreciated as he heaved deeply with remnants of laughter, wiping away the stray tears that had leaked from his eyes with the back of his wrist.

Now that he had gotten his revenge on his husband, Makoto intended to tease their kids a little as well since they had been his accomplices. He was about to grab Mizuki from where he hung off his neck and lay him down on the grass next to Haruka to get a few tickles on him as well, but before he had the chance to do that Umiko decided to join in since she surely couldn't be the only one left out when the rest of her family was playing together.

With a paintbrush in her hand, she walked up to them and stopped right in front of Makoto. "Daddy, you missed a spot," she remarked and she promptly ran the bristles over Makoto's closed mouth, leaving behind a quick, crooked stroke of red.

"Ah!" Makoto gasped in surprise, his mouth falling open at that unexpected addition of colour. "How unfair is this?" he questioned in feigned disbelief, "The three of you are always conspiring against me." It was obvious that he was pretending to sound offended, but it was hard to buy when Haruka could see that Makoto had to do everything he could to stop his genuine smile from breaking through the demeanour he was putting on. "So unfair, three against one!"

"All is fair in love and war," Haruka simply reasoned with a shrug, not even bothering to cover up his own smile because there was not a single fiber in his being that wanted to hide just how much joy there was coursing through his veins at that moment - and at any other moment spent with his family, really.

"Oh, is that so?" Makoto mumbled, nodding his head like he was contemplating that, "So what is this? Love or war?"

"Love!"

"War!"

"Both."

At those three different answers being chimed out simultaneously, Makoto really couldn't hold himself back any longer and he chuckled merrily. "It's good to know that you're at least all on the same page about that."

"It's a war of love," Haruka explained, trying to recover the façade that their plan had been more thought-out than it actually was, more so for the kids than for his husband because he always saw right through him anyway. Like he had expected, Umiko and Mizuki immediately voiced their agreement, making Makoto chuckle once more. "Don't you see, Papa?" Haruka continued as if all of this was very logical and it was just Makoto who didn't understand what was going on, "The paint symbolises how much we love you."

Once again Umiko and Mizuki vigorously nodded to show that that was what they had meant all along, putting on what was a very convincing act in their own eyes, but of course their parents knew better than that and did their best not to snort at their little thespians.

"Oh, I see," Makoto played along, rubbing his chin to make it look like he was in deep thought, "In that case-" Before he had properly ended his sentence, Makoto swiftly swept Umiko up in his arms and pressed a kiss against her cheek, smearing paint onto her skin in the process. She burst out in a mix of giggles and screeches as she tried to free herself from her father's grasp but unfortunately for her, he wasn't about to let her go so easily, not until she'd had her fair share of paint as well - of course, he made sure that his hold couldn't hurt her, because it wasn't just Haruka who he would never risk hurting, but the children as well.

In addition to the mark his lips left on her, he also rubbed his own cheek against hers and only when one of her cheeks was covered in a mix of green and red paint did he let her go and she immediately ran away, not waiting for her father to possibly change his mind. Luckily for her Makoto had already set his sights on his next victim, and when it got through to Mizuki that that would be him, he released his hold around his neck and was about to run off as well, but unfortunately he was too late.

"Not so fast!" Makoto objected as he caught their son before he could escape and he proceeded to give him the same treatment his sister had received as well; though Makoto placed the kiss on his nose instead before using his other cheek to get some paint onto him as well, leaving vague blue smudges on his face before he granted him mercy.

Like his sister, Mizuki didn't waste a second before he was gone and he went back to the table to grab some more paint to get his part of the retribution as well - after all, he was the only one who hadn't actually gotten paint on Makoto's face directly despite being in on the plan, so he had to make that right.

But Makoto's interest had already shifted back to Haruka, who was still lying beneath him in the grass. Knowing that he had nowhere to run, Makoto didn't make any haste in blemishing his porcelain skin since he thought he had all the time in the world. The playful smirk returned to his lips as he stared down at his husband, not even caring about how foolish he was looking at that moment because he knew that he could always be himself at home regardless. "Then that leaves just you, Haru," Makoto provoked for even if he had already gotten him back when he tickled him, the game had changed the moment Haruka said that the paint symbolises love; after all, he just had to show his husband how much he loved him, right?

Haruka wasn't very impressed by Makoto's taunts and snorted in response. "Fine. Come at me, Makoto," he retorted like he was ready to take on that challenge when in reality, he was already more than prepared for whatever it was that came next and would welcome it with open arms.

Of course, Makoto didn't need to be told twice and he leaned down once more and began to drop kisses all over Haruka's face. There wasn't much paint left on Makoto's lips because he had smeared the majority off on Umiko and Mizuki, but that didn't stop him from continuing with his mission. The most prominent mark was left on the apple of Haruka's left cheek, and from that point on the kiss marks only got vaguer and vaguer.

Because Makoto was so focused on showering every free patch of Haruka's skin in kisses, he didn't notice that Umiko and Mizuki had returned for a rematch; Umiko wielding two brushes with yellow and purple paint - because she loved colourful things and those colours were still missing on her father's face - and Mizuki with only his fingers covered in more green paint since he couldn't care less about the whole image and only wanted to get some hits in as quickly as possible. They ambushed him at once and Umiko ran the bristles over Makoto's nose and once more over his cheek while Mizuki jumped on his back again, not caring where he landed and leaving smudges of green on his father's neck and throat.

When Makoto felt the cool paint on his skin - and the child on his back - once more, he focused his concentration back on the kids and sat up straight. "Oh, so you two still haven't had enough ye-"

Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a loud gasp leaving Umiko's mouth and her brown eyes widening in horror. "Mizuki!" she shrieked, immediately gathering all attention from both her parents and the boy in question, "You got paint on Papa's shirt!"

That accusation made Mizuki frown and he let go of Makoto so he was standing on his own two feet again. "What? Where?" he questioned since he was still facing the back of Makoto's shirt that was seemingly spotless.

"Here, look!" Umiko beckoned him with a wave of her hand and when her brother was beside her, she pointed at Makoto's shoulder where there was indeed a vague blotch of green on the light blue fabric of his work shirt. "You ruined it!"

Since the smear of paint hadn't been there before and he was the only one who currently had green paint on his hands plus the fact that it was undeniably there because of how carelessly he had climbed on his father's back, Mizuki knew for sure that it had been his doing. He had ruined his father's shirt and that thought made tears well up in his sea-green eyes. "I didn't mean to!" he quickly exclaimed, not wanting his parents to think he did it on purpose and scold him because of it, "It was an accident!"

The second Makoto and Haruka saw that his eyes were glazed over with tears that would soon be shed, every ounce of their playfulness immediately dissipated and turned into worry. Makoto leaned up from where he was still straddling his husband and collected their son in his arms, not caring about the paint that lingered on both of their faces because he prioritised comforting Mizuki and he held him against his chest. "It's okay, darling, it's alright," he assured as Mizuki began to cry and he stroked his fingers through his brown locks, "Shh, it's okay."

"I-I'm sorry," Mizuki bawled and he tangled his fingers into Makoto's shirt, too upset to realise that he was only getting more paint on it in the process but because he was already so distraught, Haruka didn't remind him of that and just wanted to do everything he could to make him stop crying.

So Haruka pushed himself out from underneath Makoto and sat up on his knees, reaching out to caress Mizuki's back in support. "It's okay. We know it was an accident."

"Yeah," Makoto concurred, loosening his hold so he could pull him back a little and wipe the colourful tears from his cheeks, "It's just a shirt, it doesn't matter."

"B-But Daddy s-said…" he stuttered as he hid his face in Makoto's chest again, unable to finish his sentence because he was sobbing too hard so Haruka filled it in for him.

"I said that we didn't want to get paint on our clothes and that's why we're wearing old pyjamas," Haruka explained to Makoto, who nodded in understanding yet never stopped rocking their son gently to calm him down a little.

"It's okay, Mizuki," he murmured softly before pressing a kiss to his forehead, "It's just a shirt, we can wash it so there's no need to be so upset about it. And if it doesn't come out, then that's alright, we can always get a new shirt. It was just an accident and there's nothing we can do about it now, so please don't feel bad."

Fortunately, those words seemed to soothe him a little, relieved to know that neither of his parents were mad at him and his hiccups gradually passed. Haruka was glad about that, because no matter what the reason behind the tears was, seeing their children cry always broke his heart and he knew that it broke Makoto's too.

When he had calmed down a little he let go of Makoto's shirt and removed his head from where it had been buried in his father's body. Makoto offered him a gentle smile before he raised his hand to brush the remaining tears away. "We were having a lot of fun, right?" he said and Mizuki nodded in agreement before sniffing deeply.

"Yeah," he answered and a small grin appeared on his face as he thought back at their little war. He had seemingly already forgotten all about the reason he had been crying in the first place.

"So why don't we go have more fun?" Makoto proposed, his smile softening and he tilted his head in that adorable habit he had never grown out of, addressing both Mizuki and Umiko, "It's much more fun to smile, so let's smile a lot today, alright?"

"Alright!" they echoed in unison before large smiles stretched and adorned their faces as well, and the sight of seeing his three rays of sunshine so happy automatically made Haruka smile too, contentment settling into his previously troubled heart.

"So let's forget about this," Makoto muttered as he pulled off his shirt - most likely because he didn't want Mizuki to notice that he had only stained it further when he was crying - baring his toned torso. Haruka was almost grateful that Mizuki had gotten paint onto the shirt, because he would always shamelessly indulge himself in ogling his husband's wonderful body. Makoto crumpled up the shirt and threw it aside before he resumed speaking, "And let's go have some fun. Is there anything you want to do?"

The children pondered about that for a second, not immediately giving an answer and as Haruka ran his eyes over Makoto's face and his naked chest and abdomen, he was struck with an idea. "I have an idea," he declared, making three pairs of curious eyes turn their gazes onto him, waiting for him to elaborate, "Since Papa's face is already covered in paint anyway, why don't we use his torso as a canvas too? We have the paint ready and Papa's torso is as large as a canvas anyway, so would you like that?"

"Yes!" Umiko gushed, enthusiasm lighting up her face at the thought of that.

"But how will we do that?" Mizuki wondered sincerely because his dad's proposal had piqued his interest, but he didn't know exactly how that would go down.

"We just paint on him like we would on paper or canvas; you get his front, Umiko gets his back."

"What about you, Daddy?" Umiko questioned, because even if it was fair that one of them got their father's back and the other his front, that left no room for Haruka to paint on.

"I'll take his arms," Haruka simply shrugged, not really caring beyond that as long as the children wouldn't argue about it. But then he realised that he forgot something vital, something he otherwise never forgot and he could practically hit himself for being so dumb because the children were already getting so excited about this; he forgot to ask Makoto's consent. "If Papa wants us to, of course," he quickly added but then again, he should have known from the start how Makoto would respond to this.

"Of course," Makoto echoed, his smile never leaving his handsome, paint-covered features, "It's been a while since I've been drawn on so that should be fun!"

He was right; it had been a long time. In the past, long before they even had Umiko and Mizuki, Haruka frequently used his skin as a canvas, whether it was by making an elaborate painting on his back when he felt like it or simply by doodling little stars on his lower arm when they were on the train together and he was bored. Drawing on his lover's skin just felt really intimate, to use the natural lines and planes of his body to make an artwork that was almost as beautiful as the person it was painted on. Whenever he drew on him in the past, Haruka felt like he had grown a little closer to him even if that seemed impossible since their hearts were already connected at the core and they practically shared a soul. It was just something that was really pleasant to do and he wanted to share that experience with their children. They probably didn't think about it as deeply as he did and just saw it for what it was: them drawing on their father's skin, but nevertheless Haruka felt like it was something special, like they were about to make a memory that would be treasured for years to come. A moment of family bonding that would be cherished forevermore even if they might forget all about it when they grew older because it left an everlasting mark on their relationships as a whole. Something that seemed so mundane yet held deep underlying feelings, at least to Haruka.

"Wait a minute," he called as he got up and walked inside where he quickly washed his hands to rinse the majority of the paint off his palms before he went to retrieve the camera. After all, it would be a shame for such a wonderful activity to take place without capturing it and eternalising the moment to be reminisced about for years to come. Taking pictures of his family and loved ones was a hobby and habit he had adopted from his mother-in-law. There were photo albums filled with the entire childhoods of Makoto - and therefore, his own too - and Ran and Ren, and it was really nice to have those pictures to look back on, to thumb through them with each other and recall all of the wonderful adventures they had gone on together. Makoto and he had always taken pictures of important events and also on some normal, everyday occasions, but it was around their wedding that Haruka truly started to document their lives. Since then, whenever there was a moment that felt special or significant in one way or another, his hands were already itching to get the camera and snap photos and take videos. And today was no different.

When he was back in the yard again, he first took pictures of each of their faces to commemorate the paint war they were having before it got interrupted - for good measure, Makoto took the camera from him to capture his image as well, since he obviously couldn't be left out considering he had also been part of it, proven by his face adorning its fair share of paint-smudges. Because Haruka had been taking pictures since long before they were born, Umiko and Mizuki weren't camera-shy at all and happily posed for more pictures, both by themselves and with their sibling and parents and Haruka and Makoto gladly took turns snapping photos.

Once the immediate need to have their picture taken had dwindled, they finally got started on the main event; transforming Makoto into a living canvas. They made room on the sheet, putting the easels aside to be cleared away later and Makoto seated himself on the center of it. Mizuki instantly settled himself in Makoto's lap and Umiko sat down on her knees behind him as they both began to paint on their father's tanned skin.

Despite it being pretty warm outside, Makoto shivered at the cold feeling of the paint being spread out over his chest and back. Unaware of this - or perhaps just unbothered by it - the children wasted no second by pondering about what they would draw because they were so excited about getting to paint on their father that they didn't want to wait any longer.

The sight of Makoto doing his best to keep his spine straight while Umiko and Mizuki applied stroke after stroke on him, making his skin burst with colour in a matter of minutes, was incredibly endearing to Haruka and the familiar itch returned to his palms. A need to capture his three favourite people in the world having fun together on video so he could relive this moment whenever he pleased welled up inside of him, so he switched modes on the camera and began to record them instead.

"Hey," he called to get their attention, wanting to let them know he was filming so they could engage with the camera, "What are you doing?"

The question was asked not because Haruka didn't know - because he obviously did, considering he had been the one to suggest it in the first place - but to give the video a little more context and to spark a conversation. The children knew this of course, and were more than happy to play along and explain it to the future audience.

"We're painting on Papa," Umiko provided with a beaming smile before she concentrated on her image again, rinsing out the bristles of her brush before dipping it into the dollop of orange paint.

"Oh, really?" Haruka wondered with feigned astonishment, "So what are you drawing?"

"It's a secret," she claimed just like she had earlier that afternoon. Apparently everything she made was a surprise today. To respect her wish, he made sure to not film onto Makoto's back until she gave explicit permission.

"Hmm, it feels like a circle," Makoto muttered teasingly, trying to get a reaction out of her and easily succeeding.

An offended gasp left Umiko's mouth before she chided, "Papa, don't spoil it!"

For the umpteenth time that day, Makoto chuckled heartily and Haruka felt extremely blessed that he got to capture the wonderful sound to be replayed whenever he needed to hear it. "Sorry, I promise I won't do it again."

"I'm making a heart," Mizuki interrupted, deciding that his wasn't a secret this time and that he wanted his image to get the attention that it deserved. To comply, Haruka extended his arm so the outline of the heart that Mizuki was drawing on Makoto's chest could be seen more clearly. "Because the paint means love and I love Papa."

"Aw," Makoto cooed, voicing Haruka's exact thought as well, "That's so sweet of you; I love you too."

"My paint means love too! Even if it's not a heart," Umiko quickly said, not wanting anyone to think that her drawing held less meaning just because it wasn't a heart, "I love Papa, too!"

"I know that and I love you too," Makoto assured because he didn't want her to feel left out, craning his neck awkwardly in an attempt to look at her while he spoke. Then he faced the camera again, staring straight into his husband's endlessly blue eyes as he murmured, "And of course I love you, too, Haru-chan."

That sudden declaration of affection being caught on video still made blood rush to Haruka's cheeks even after all those years of hearing him say it. Now Haruka was kind of grateful for the fact that he had random smudges of red paint on his face to hide behind, and if anyone mentioned something about the blush that dusted his cheeks, then he would just blame the paint. "Drop the '-chan'," Haruka mumbled out of habit, but the words held no bite and only conveyed the same sentiment that Makoto had expressed as well. I love you too.

Completely ignoring the tender interaction between his parents since it was honestly nothing out of the ordinary, Mizuki continued to speak his thoughts as if that had never happened in the first place. "It's good that you're not drawing a heart because Papa only has one heart and it's here in his chest," Mizuki reasoned as he tapped with his brush on Makoto's sternum.

Rather than getting into a complicated discussion about the human anatomy, Haruka only snorted at his reasoning before he mumbled, "Well, he has a point."

"But I can never have enough hearts to contain all the love I feel for you guys," Makoto argued just in case Umiko had planned to draw a heart later on so she wouldn't feel hindered by her brother's statement.

"One heart is enough," Mizuki disclosed decisively and dismissively, making both of his parents laugh once more at how steadfast he was about his own beliefs.

"Whatever you say," Makoto chuckled, his body shaking slightly as he did. The last thing he wanted was to get into a discussion with their four-year-old son about how many hearts one person needed so he figured it was better to just leave it at that.

"Papa, sit still!" Mizuki scolded with a frown, which only made Makoto laugh again because it was funny how instead of saying it to the kids, he was now on the receiving end of that order.

"Sorry, sorry, I'll try my best," Makoto promised, though the amused smile still stretched his red lips.

Deciding that the time to give that part of their activity a little more context had long since come, Haruka questioned, "So what happened to all of your faces?"

"We had a paint war," Mizuki clarified, no longer looking into the camera as he spoke because he thought that that was not worth it anymore because it only distracted him from painting.

Umiko, on the contrary, hadn't had enough of the camera yet and leaned up to place her head on Makoto's shoulder as she continued where her brother left off, "A war of love. The paint symbolises how much we love each other," she repeated what she had heard her dad say earlier like a big, adorable parrot.

"Oh? We must love Papa a lot then," Haruka commented as he zoomed in on the colourful mess that Makoto's face currently was.

"We do!"

"But we love Daddy a lot too," Makoto supplied, not letting Haruka get away without having displayed his face in this video too. "Look at him, only kiss-marks!"

To humour him, Haruka turned the camera around to briefly show his own face before he directed it towards his family again. "This is all Papa's fault," he accused as he pointed the camera to Umiko and Mizuki's faces as well.

"You started it!" Makoto yelped, doing his best to sound insulted but utterly failing, "Welcoming me home with two handprints on my cheeks. So mean!"

"Umiko and Mizuki told me to do it," Haruka lied to provoke a reaction out of their children and he was a lot more successful in his game of pretense.

"That's not true!"

"You're lying, Daddy!"

They simultaneously shot back their defenses, definitely not eager to take the blame for something they didn't do because truthfully, Haruka was the mastermind behind this plan and no one else.

"I'm just joking," Haruka admitted easily because it would be bad of they got really worked up over something that was intended as a joke. "It was all my idea."

"You're not supposed to tell lies, Daddy," Mizuki said disapprovingly and Haruka had to do everything he could to hold in his laughter since it was his turn now to be lectured by their kindergartner.

"You're right, I'm sorry," he apologised, his voice trembling with amusement but luckily Mizuki found it an acceptable apology and left it at that.

"Daddy, you should stop filming now," Umiko thought, her words honestly taking Haruka by surprise because it was quite unlike her to propose something like that.

"Why? Do you not want to be filmed anymore?" he wondered and if that was the case then he respected her wish and would turn the camera off like she requested.

"That's not it," she replied, shaking her head to indicate that that was not what she meant, "But if you keep filming then you can't paint on Papa. You have to paint with us."

It was endearing that she wanted him to join in too, and he had to admit that he was also looking forward to getting to paint on his husband again for the first time in what felt like forever. He had always really enjoyed doing it, but these past couple of years they had been so busy and occupied that it hadn't even crossed his mind until a little while ago. But now that he was reminded of it, the urge to pick up that old hobby bubbled up inside of him and he decided that he had waited long enough already.

"That's true, I'll come join you then."

"Alright. Bye," Makoto said, closing his eyes and smiling brightly as he waved towards the camera and Umiko and Mizuki naturally mimicked him and waved the future audience goodbye as well.

Knowing that was his cue, Haruka pressed the button to stop recording and switched back to picture-mode, snapping a few more shots before he turned it off for then and sat down on the sheet as well. The need to take pictures still hadn't completely left him, but it was satiated for now and he would continue to take more when they were a little further into their drawings. So he put the camera down behind him so he could easily reach it but wasn't close enough to them to accidentally get splattered with paint in a moment of carelessness.

Unlike the children, Haruka didn't have an immediate idea of what he was going to draw yet. He started out with stroking Makoto's left arm, caressing his hard muscles as he ran his hand down over his skin, hoping that the shape of his arm would give him some inspiration. After all, he didn't exactly have that much room to work with: his arms were bigger and more defined than most arms, but it definitely wasn't the same as getting to work with his broad shoulders or his wide chest. But he adored every part of Makoto's body and he was determined to make this work, to shower Makoto's arms with all the love they deserved in the form of a drawing to express his feelings with.

With that in mind, Haruka grabbed a medium sized brush, dipped it in paint and began to draw on his shoulder.

Although Umiko was very secretive about her own paintings, she couldn't help the curiosity she always had to know anything and everything, so soon she was peering onto her father's arm, but she wasn't quite able to make out the pattern her dad was drawing. "What are you drawing?" she wondered, furrowing her eyebrows as she tried to see the complete image but failing to do so.

"Scales," Haruka simply replied, never ceasing to stroke his brush down Makoto's arm in the half-circle pattern.

"Scales?" Makoto echoed in confusion before he whined, "You're not turning my arm into a mackerel, are you?"

"No, don't worry," Haruka assured and a teasing remark entered his mind at his husband's complaint: a joke about mackerel being fitting for him because he was just as delicious as a mackerel was. He decided to keep this joke to himself though, because it was a little too inappropriate to make in front of the children. The last thing he wanted was them to bombard him with questions about what he meant with that, because they were quite a bit too young to hear and even think about stuff like that. Nevertheless, a small smirk appeared on Haruka's face at the thought of Makoto's possible reaction to him making a joke like that in front of Umiko and Mizuki.

"Scales?" Mizuki repeated, "Are you making a reptile? A dinosaur?"

"Good suggestions, but no," Haruka denied, thinking that it was his turn to leave his family in the dark for once, "You'll see what it is eventually."

"Can we still look, though?" Umiko asked because she had been taught the same respect of boundaries that her parents had as well.

"Yeah, looking is fine, but I'm not going to tell you what it is."

"Okay," their daughter mumbled and as Haruka resumed with the same pattern down Makoto's arm, her deep brown eyes never left his hand, determined to find out what exactly it was that her dad was making.

"You can't finish your drawing if you only keep looking at mine," Haruka commented, not averting his gaze from his husband's arm because he didn't need to to know that she was staring at him since he could practically feel her eyes burning a hole through his fingers.

Feeling caught, Umiko quickly faced away from him and leaned forward to get some more paint onto her brush, acting as if she hadn't been staring and she wasn't the one he had addressed with those words. Seeing this made Haruka chuckle a little and he did his best to repress it as much as he could. She was just too cute.

Silence settled between the four of them as Haruka, Umiko and Mizuki were concentrated on their respective images while Makoto was content with just sitting there and providing enjoyment for his family. But it was never quiet in their home for long, and soon Umiko's honey-sweet voice sounded out again.

"Papa," she called, this time using her pleading tone on him and Haruka could pretty much guess what she was about to say. But in case he was wrong, he didn't speak up and chose to wait it out instead, letting her bring up whatever it was that she wanted to talk about.

"Yes?"

"Daddy says that we're getting a cat."

Of course he was right. What else could it have been? Although that was not what he had said at all, he was more than relieved that she didn't bring up the subject of dogs again so she didn't put them all through an awkward conversation as to why a dog wasn't a plausible pet for their family to get again.

Makoto's response, however, was something he hadn't predicated yet knowing Makoto, he should actually have been expecting it.

He turned to him with his gorgeous eyes widened in surprise. "We're getting a cat?" he asked with a beaming, hopeful smile. Instead of the thirty-six-year-old man he was, at that moment Makoto looked like his six-year-old self to Haruka and it was both incredibly endearing and quite amusing. Like Makoto forgot for a second that he was a fully-grown adult who got to decide everything himself. So Haruka thought it was good to remind him of this fact.

"No, that's not what I said; I said maybe," he emphasised, not only for the children this time but also for Makoto, "I was going to talk with you about it first so we could decide together."

"Oh," Makoto muttered, suddenly reminded that he was a parent in this scenario and not a child, "Well, I want a cat. You know I've always wanted a cat. And you always have too."

"If you both always wanted a cat then why don't we have one already?" Umiko questioned in confusion since things just didn't add up to her, because she hadn't been given all the information required to paint the full picture.

"Because it just never seemed like the right time to get one," Makoto explained with a melancholic smile, "We were always busy, either with school or work and Daddy's swimming career. And after that we had you two and we decided that it was better to wait a little longer so we could focus all of our attention on taking care of you."

"Oh," Umiko mumbled, nodding her head as she was trying to comprehend that and she soon found a conclusion, "So now is the right time! We are big enough now and we will also take care of it!"

"Yeah!" Mizuki agreed, not really having much else to say besides that but wanting to express his support nonetheless.

"I do think you are big enough now," Makoto concurred, but Haruka doubted whether he really thought that or if he simply said it because he also dearly wanted a cat. Probably a mix of both. "I am for getting a cat," Makoto declared as he raised his right hand, "and you, Daddy?"

Three pairs of awaiting eyes turned his way and Haruka sighed in defeat. How could he ever resist those adorable faces? "I suppose we're getting a cat then."

"Yay!" they all cheered at Haruka's approval and Haruka knew that even if he hadn't wanted to get a cat himself, he wouldn't have standed a chance against his husband and their children because they had him completely wrapped around their fingers.

They all resumed painting even though the conversation was far from over, but Haruka guessed it was because the most thrilling part had already been addressed. Before they could continue to chat about cats though, something else caught Haruka's eye; Mizuki's enthusiasm had made him fall back into his old habit of rough strokes and although it didn't matter if he destroyed the brushes or even the other canvas, Haruka didn't want him to destroy his father because even if Makoto's rock-hard abs could handle some roughness, it just had to hurt and could possibly even damage his smooth skin.

"Mizuki, don't put so much pressure on your brush; you'll hurt Papa with those rough strokes," Haruka lectured and the sound of his voice made Mizuki look up at him with big, questioning eyes, proving once more that he simply wasn't aware of his own actions.

"Oh, sorry," he mumbled as he pat Makoto's abdomen in apology, not realising that he had just painted all over it and now had a fresh coat of yellow paint on his hand. He stared at his palm as if the paint had physically manifested there and was almost offended that it had the audacity to stain his hand.

Makoto only giggled in response at their son's antics. "It's alright," he said to that apology, the fondness at that reaction making every bit of pain that had possibly lingered on his skin from the rough bristles disappear immediately.

This time around it was Umiko completely ignoring an interaction because she wasn't done yet with talking about cats. "Can we go get a cat tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?" Haruka inquired in confusion. Umiko's memory wasn't as optimal today as it usually was since she kept forgetting things in her excitement. "We can try, but I thought you wanted to go to the beach tomorrow."

"Oh yeah!"

"We're going to the beach tomorrow?" Makoto asked in the same intonation he had earlier and it reminded Haruka of the fact that he hadn't told him about that yet.

"If you want to and if the weather is nice," he stated because even if it wasn't as significant of a decision as getting a cat was, he wanted Makoto to be on board too.

"Of course," he affirmed with a gentle smile and Haruka knew that hidden behind it was his fear of the ocean but that he didn't want to let that shine through, so Haruka obviously didn't mention anything about it either. "We can go to the beach tomorrow and in the meantime I'll try to look for a cat that is suited for us to adopt. Is that alright?"

"Yes."

"Daddy, if we go to the beach tomorrow, will you make me a mermaid again?" Mizuki asked with a glint of excitement in his eyes.

"Oh, me too!" Umiko added, her face lighting up at the mention of that.

"Sure," Haruka responded, knowing just how much they liked it when he did that and the children cheered again. One time they had seen old pictures of when he made Makoto into a merman out of sand back when they were younger, and since then they wanted to be transformed into merpeople as well. He'd cover their lower bodies in sand and shape it in the form of a tail so that they resembled merpeople and even if it was hard to see it for themselves when they were lying down on the beach, they still loved the idea of it and often didn't even want to get up because that broke the illusion. They always made sure to take pictures of it so that they could properly see themselves as merpeople afterwards, but no matter how many pictures were taken, during the next trip to the beach they wanted to experience it all over again. It didn't matter how often he had already done it before, because as long as it made them happy, Haruka would gladly oblige every single time.

He made a mental note to clear off the camera that night so that they could take it with them to the beach the following day.

"And me?" Makoto inquired with amusement lacing his beautiful voice, and Haruka had to stop himself from saying his initial response to that. It wasn't so much that it was an inappropriate remark, but it would spoil something that he didn't want to reveal yet.

Ultimately, the remark wasn't even needed because just this conversation as a whole was enough for Umiko to put the pieces of the puzzle together. She gasped, "That's what you're making: a mermaid tail!"

"That's right," Haruka confirmed, chuckling lightly because she had guessed it sooner than he had expected. Then again, it did kind of resemble a mermaid tail - for as much as it was possible to make an arm look like one with cheap paint - so it shouldn't have been that surprising that talking about mermaids enabled her to connect all the dots and see the full picture.

"What is this on his fingers?"

"That's the end of the tail," he explained as he gently held Makoto's hand up in his to show Mizuki what he had made.

"That's not what mermaid tails look like!" Mizuki objected since it looked nothing like the tails of mermaids that he had seen before.

"Not traditionally no, but mermaid tails can look different ways. They can look like anything you want, really," Haruka reasoned because he didn't see why he should let his creativity be restricted by what others generally thought a mythological creature looked like. It was his creative liberty as an artist to reimagine that what so many others had created in the past and make it his own. Besides that, he had to keep the natural shapes of Makoto's limb in mind when drawing it and it would never look like a traditional tail anyway since that shape was a little contrasting with the form of his hand. But using those reasonings as ways to describe his creative choices might be a little too complicated for Mizuki to comprehend, so instead he just said, "It'll look more like a mermaid tail when I'm done. And even if it doesn't, that's fine because we're just having fun, right?"

"Yeah."

"I think it's really pretty, Daddy," Umiko commented as she leaned in to study every line of the unfinished whole closely.

"Thank you."

"I didn't say it wasn't pretty!" Mizuki denied, not wanting to have given off the impression that he disliked it when that most certainly wasn't the case. "I think it's pretty too!"

"I know," Haruka chuckled because he hadn't taken his observation the wrong way. He had long since passed the point in his life in which he took offense to critique, mostly thanks to Ran and Ren who used to share their thoughts without second thought or hesitation. "Thank you."

All of those compliments made Makoto curious as well and he craned his neck so he could see his arm without moving it. "Ah, it is very pretty. It's really starting to look like a mermaid tail," Makoto gushed in awe. Although he had been the witness of pretty much every artwork Haruka had made in his lifetime, it never ceased to amaze him how skilled his husband was and it completely blew his mind time and time again. "I can't wait to see what it looks like when it's finished."

"Papa, you should see mine too!" Umiko suddenly said, apparently discarding the idea that it should stay a secret until she was finished because she wanted to get praised by her father too.

"I would love to, dear, but I can't directly see my own back," Makoto muttered regretfully, an apologetic look appearing on his face.

"That's a problem we can easily solve," Haruka stated as he reached behind him to grab the camera once more, "May I?" he asked Umiko just to be sure he had her permission and when she nodded, he scooted over to her so he could take a proper picture of Makoto's back and the painting that was being made on it.

When he saw what it was that she had been working on, a deep sigh left his lips. Of course. Haruka should have known from the beginning that she would use her painting to reinforce her wish and attempt to get her family on her side.

With the image displayed on the little screen, Haruka held the camera up in front of Makoto's face, who smiled when he saw it. "A cat!"

"Yeah!" Umiko agreed, "I really want an orange cat."

"No!" Mizuki protested once more, "I want a white cat!"

Before they had the chance to get into a discussion about it, Makoto cut in with, "I want a black cat," he declared with a cheeky smirk, "One with large blue eyes and really soft fur. And it would love to bathe but it would also loves being dried off and-"

"Oh, shut up," Haruka interrupted with a scowl, knowing that Makoto was teasing him. Back in high school he once dreamt that he was a cat and that Makoto had found him in the bathtub and proceeded to dry him off before taking him to school with him. When he told Makoto about it some time later, he had giggled and cooed at him that the dream hadn't been a far-fetched one because he was quite similar to cats. This was only strengthened when the dog-breed conversation was held some time later and Nagisa had proclaimed that he was a cat. It wasn't so much that he disliked being compared to a cat, but when Makoto teased him about it like that then he couldn't help but get defensive about it. He was about to say that he wanted to have a cat with messy brown fur and droopy green eyes, but he decided not to be childish for once; he had already teased Makoto without his awareness earlier when he had called him a golden retriever, so he thought it was better to just leave it at this.

"In all seriousness," Makoto continued even though the joke had gone completely over Umiko and Mizuki's heads, "I'll go see what kind of cats the shelter has and see if there's one suited for us to adopt. If that's the case then we'll just adopt that one, but if there aren't any then I'll look if there is anyone in the neighbourhood who has a kitty litter, alright? And then we can always see what colours they have and which one we want."

"Alright," Umiko said, proving that she was always the easier of the two to please.

Fortunately Mizuki didn't seem to have any objections for once either because his father's explanation made sense; and besides, when push came to shove then he always had the opportunity to state his preference again. So for now he was appeased about that, but that didn't end his list of kitty-criteria. "Are we getting a boy or a girl?"

That was something that Makoto and Haruka hadn't actually discussed before, because it honestly didn't matter that much to them since cats deserved love regardless of their sex and they were more than willing to offer it to either of the two. But just because they hadn't thought about it yet didn't mean that no one had made a decision.

"I want a girl!" Umiko exclaimed eagerly, "Because then we can have kittens!"

The protests that had begun to form on Mizuki's lips vanished when he heard that conclusion. A female cat meant that they could get even more cats. He had originally wanted to get a male cat, but male cats couldn't make kittens and female cats could so his preference completely changed when he comprehended that and he nodded in agreement. "Yes, a girl!"

"We'll see about that…" Makoto chuckled awkwardly in an attempt to hide that the prospect of having a litter of kittens themselves made him incredibly exhilarated. The mental image of having so many tiny kittens to take care of and cuddle with melted Makoto's cat-loving heart, but rationally speaking he knew that raising kittens until they were old enough for adoption took a lot of time and effort, and he wasn't exactly sure if they could manage that. And then he didn't even mention the factor of how heartbreaking it must be to have to give the kittens they raised with so much love and care away to strangers. "If there's an older cat up for adoption then it doesn't matter what sex it is, and if we're getting a kitten then we can always see which one we want, just like with the fur, alright?"

"Alright," they said again, simultaneously now because they did see what their father meant.

"And…" Makoto continued in that voice that always indicated that he was about to tell them something thrilling, "If Daddy agrees and if we're getting a kitten… then maybe we can get two kittens."

The large pairs of eyes that were staring up at him widened at that. "Really?!"

"Hmm," he hummed in confirmation before he turned his head so he could look at his husband, "But only if Daddy wants to as well."

"Daddy?" Immediately the gazes were directed at him and Umiko and Mizuki looked at him while trying to put on their best sad, pleading puppy eyes and Haruka only sighed again.

"Okay," he said, making it seem like they convinced him rather than that he actually loved to have two as well. "But just so they have a friend and won't feel lonely."

"Yay!"

"Then we can get a boy and a girl!" Mizuki cheered, but Makoto promptly shook his head in response.

"No, if we're getting two cats then we're either getting two boys or two girls."

"What? Why?" Mizuki whined with a pout because he thought that had been a good solution; then they could get kittens and he still had a male cat too.

Makoto didn't reply immediately, thinking of the best way to explain this to their four-year-old son and from the corner of his eye he sent Haruka a look that was asking for his assistance.

"Otherwise they'll fight," Haruka simply surmised, not really eager to get into the whole issue of mating and heat cycles, so he just fabricated a white lie that would scare them off the idea of wanting to get a male and a female cat. "We don't want the cats to fight, we want them to be friends."

"But I thought anyone could be your friend regardless of if they're a boy or a girl," Umiko said, a confused frown settling on her face because her parents had taught her this themselves yet her dad was now claiming the opposite to be true.

"For humans it doesn't matter, but for cats it does," Haruka pointed out, hoping that she would accept that and wouldn't inquire any further because his lies didn't exactly have much basis.

He was fortunate that he wasn't alone in this, because before the children had the chance to respond, his husband cut in to help him out. "But enough about cats for now," Makoto diverted with an innocent smile, "How was school today?"

Luckily the children fell for it and began to jabber about their days. Because he had already heard these anecdotes earlier today, Haruka tuned them out for a moment and mixed some paint so he could get a lighter shade of green to fill in the scales on Makoto's arm, wanting to give them a shimmering, contrasting look. He wasn't sure if he would succeed because he didn't trust this type of paint to give the desired result, but it was worth a shot at the very least.

The afternoon progressed like this, with Haruka working on Makoto's mermaid-tail-arm and putting his paintbrush down every once in a while to take some pictures while Umiko and Mizuki excitedly told their father about everything that they had done that day that was remarkable enough for them to recall. Since the children were pretty divided between painting and talking, not quite having figured out the art of multi-tasking yet, Haruka was able to finish the transformation of Makoto's arm before Umiko and Mizuki deemed themselves done with painting on Makoto's torso.

"I'm done," he called to get their attention and immediately three sets of curious eyes turned his way. He had only done the upside of his arm, since going around and doing his entire arm would have been much too time consuming.

"Wow!" Umiko gushed as she ran her gaze over her father's arm.

"It looks amazing, Haru," Makoto murmured as he stretched out his arm and fingers, shifting it so he could properly see it himself. "How did you even do this?"

Knowing that it was just a rhetorical question, Haruka didn't answer it and just mumbled, "Thanks."

"You should paint on Papa's legs so he really is a mermaid!" Mizuki suggested with an excited grin.

The thought of that made Haruka chuckle awkwardly, "I'm not sure if that's a good idea, but painting on Papa is pretty fun so it would be nice to do that more often. If Papa allows us to, at least."

"Of course," Makoto said with his angelic smile, and it shouldn't have been surprising that he agreed because Makoto used to model for him a lot in the past, so having to sit still for extensive periods of time was something he had gradually gotten used to. Next to that, Makoto loved to make his husband and their children happy so this was a small sacrifice for him if it meant that they were entertained for the afternoon.

"Daddy, you should paint Papa's other arm now!" Umiko proposed in a need to see even more of his talent brought to life through another drawing.

"Yeah!"

"Alright, what do you want me to make?" Haruka asked, not necessarily having an idea himself and wanting to let their kids get a request in. Maybe they had some good ideas, children had a very vivid imagination after all.

It was quiet for a while as the children were thinking and in the meantime Haruka got up and walked around them before sitting down on Makoto's right side. He caressed Makoto's arm again, not so much to come up with an idea this time but just because he wanted to. After all those years, Makoto's arms were still so beautiful and they hadn't lost their shape whatsoever, and neither had the rest of his body courtesy of his job as a swim teacher and the generally healthy diet that was forced upon him by his husband's cooking - although forced was not exactly the correct word considering that he found every meal Haruka made for him absolutely delicious, like he was served little pieces of heaven. To appease his - and the children's - sweet tooth Haruka also made cakes and cookies every so often, but that in and of itself wasn't that bad because he made sure to balance it out enough. Besides, Haruka couldn't not do that even if he wanted to because he loved to spoil his three rays of sunshine, and seeing their beaming smiles when he served them some delicious homemade sweets always brightened up his day in every sense of the word.

"I know!" Mizuki suddenly exclaimed, halting the train of thought that had quickly left its track and calling Haruka to attention again. "A robot arm!"

"Yeah, that's cool!" Umiko chimed in, her eyes gleaming with exhilaration.

"A robot arm, huh?" Haruka mumbled under his breath, already trying to form a mental image in his head of what that would look like. He shot Makoto a questioning look and Makoto chuckled in response, not needing any words to know what his husband was asking him.

"Fine with me," he giggled, "I guess this is my chance to finally be a cool parent."

"But you are cool, Papa!" their daughter insisted and her little brother wholeheartedly agreed.

"Yeah! The coolest!"

Those declarations only made Makoto laugh harder. "Daddy, did you record that? I need to let them listen to that ten years from now to show them that they once thought I was cool."

The confused reactions from Umiko and Mizuki made Haruka laugh as well. "You're going to change your minds about that one day," he told them, but their children didn't believe that at all which only added to their amusement.

"Are you implying that I'm not actually cool?" Makoto asked with feigned offense, but he was giggling too much to successfully execute this act.

Biting his lip to repress his smile, Haruka raised his hand and placed it over his chest in an attempt to look as sincere as he could and he said, "You'll always be cool to me." Before he had properly finished his sentence, Haruka snorted because even though he did think Makoto was cool, he also thought he was a huge dork. And he loved that huge dork so much, it was almost ridiculous. He supposed that made him a dork as well, but he didn't mind it at all. They could be massive dorks together for every single day, for their entire lives.

"That doesn't sound very convincing, but I'll take what I can get," Makoto muttered and Haruka knew for sure that he had just read his mind because he could see the same sentiment reflected in the forest of deep green, could see the hints of a smile tugging at the corners of that lovely mouth that, in spite of being covered in paint, looked no less inviting than it usually did. The mere thought of it made his own lips tingle in a way that could only be resolved with a firm yet passionate kiss.

"Anyway," Haruka uttered, shaking his head to rid it of the stupid, love-struck thoughts. It was strange how the love and desire he felt for his husband had never dwindled, on the contrary, it seemed to have grown only stronger day by day. Then again, it wasn't that odd, because his husband was Makoto, the man who he had loved since they were merely kids themselves and who he would continue to adore until his very last breath left him - and probably long after that as well. When he realised that the smitten thoughts were still coursing through his head, he cleared his throat before he mumbled, "Robot arm."

He grabbed a smaller brush this time and dipped it into some black paint as he began to lay out the basic form of Makoto's robot arm, following the natural shape of his biceps and triceps for a realistic effect. When he got the basic outline done, he slowly started to fill it in with some grey. He noticed that this robot arm would probably require much more time and concentration than the mermaid tail had because he had more experience drawing merpeople than robots. But he supposed it was a nice exercise and the children really wanted to see it, so he was determined to make this work.

With that in mind, Haruka focused all of his attention on his husband's arm and continued to paint.

The afternoon slowly passed but it seemed like the time had gone by much faster than it actually had and before Haruka knew it, the sun was starting to set. The children had finished their own images some time ago and were now content with just watching Haruka work, letting out little gasps of awe and making little suggestions of what they would like to see; per Mizuki's request, he drew bolts on the joints of his shoulder and elbow and Umiko thought it was too boring if it was only in various shades of grey so he added some dark reds on certain parts for her. In the meanwhile, Umiko wanted to take some pictures of her dad's work progressing as well so Makoto quickly explained which button she needed to press to snap photos.

In the end, Makoto's robot arm didn't look realistic at all in Haruka's opinion, because rather than looking like a cyborg, he frankly just looked like someone painted onto his arm. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't necessarily great either but considering it was only his first time doing anything like this, Haruka told himself to be satisfied with it; he was sure he could do an even better job if he had better materials and references and maybe a little more practice. But no one shared his opinion of it not looking good though as Umiko, Mizuki and Makoto flooded him with compliments of how amazing and beautiful it was until he was practically drowning in them. From a more trained and experienced artistic eye, Haruka knew that it wasn't that good, but if they loved it then it everything was alright because that was all that really mattered.

At last he put the brush down and took the camera from Umiko so he could take some final pictures of all of their drawings: the mermaid tail and robot arms that Haruka had drawn, the heart on Makoto's chest and flowers and butterflies on his abdomen that Mizuki had made, and the big orange cat surrounded by little kittens and framed by curly and colourful lines that Umiko had painted on Makoto's back. It was a shame that unlike with canvases and papers, these drawings couldn't be preserved, let alone be stuck on the fridge, but fortunately they still had the pictures and memories they could safekeep and cherish.

Once he had taken numerous photos just to be sure, Haruka stretched out his back and Makoto directly followed his lead.

"Well then," Haruka muttered, "If the three if you go take a bath, then I'll clean up this mess and get started on dinner."

"But if Papa takes a bath then the paint will go away!" Umiko protested, a somber pout forming on her lips at the thought of all of their hard work going down the shower drain.

"That's kind of the point," he replied, understanding that it made her sad but knowing that that was really necessary, "You can't expect Papa to walk around with paint on his body."

"Still, it's a waste…" Mizuki thought as a sorrowful expression appeared on his face as well.

"I'm sorry," Makoto apologised sincerely, for even if he knew that he had to wash it off, having to disappoint their children still stung him regardless. The gears in his head were turning as he tried to come up with something that would cheer them up a little. "Even if I don't bathe, the paint is going to wear off sooner or later anyway, and then it will look really deformed. So it's better if I wash it off entirely now so your drawings will stay pretty until the end. And besides, we always have the pictures to look back on."

"Think of Papa as a whiteboard," Haruka added, also wanting to lift up Umiko and Mizuki's spirits while simultaneously wanting to make sure that his husband could bathe like he definitely should, "If the whiteboard is full, then it's pretty but you can't draw or write on it anymore. But if you clean it off, then you can draw on it again and again."

"So we can draw on Papa again?" Mizuki questioned, interest lighting up in his sea-green eyes at that prospect.

"Yes, of course," Makoto affirmed with his ever-gentle smile. "I'm not sure how easily this paint will come off, though, so we might want to look into some actual body paint for that next time."

"Okay," Umiko replied, a tiny smile blossoming on her lips as she thought of all the things she could draw on her father in the future. She was going to practice a lot on paper so that the next time her father was her canvas, she had improved a little and could maybe draw something similar to her dad's paintings.

"And if it makes you feel a little better, then I can put you two in bath first so you can look at your drawings a little longer. Is that alright?" he proposed, the kind expression on his face never wavering, his eyes holding the softness and fondness that they always had when he was looking at their children.

"Yeah!"

Those chiming answers made Makoto tilt his head sideways in that adorable habit before he said, "Why don't you go on upstairs then and I'll be there in a second."

"Alright!" they reiterated before they bolted off and disappeared inside, leaving their parents behind in the backyard.

"Are you sure you can manage cleaning all of this up?" Makoto asked just to make sure, "I'll help you."

"It's fine," Haruka muttered, rejecting his husband's offer to help but appreciating it nonetheless, "You really need to go take a bath."

"I do," Makoto chuckled in confirmation, "I don't know how I currently look, but I'm assuming I look terrible."

"You could never look terrible," Haruka murmured sincerely as he averted his eyes, "Not even with a whole bucket's worth of paint on your face." Because Makoto was so unbelievably gorgeous, both inside and out, there was nothing that could ever take away his immense beauty.

The somewhat shy words that left Haruka's lips only made Makoto's smile soften in affection; the smile that had always been his. Makoto reached out and placed his hand over Haruka's own, intertwining their fingers before he lifted them to his face and pressed a loving kiss against the back of Haruka's hand. "Thank you, Haru-chan."

"I told you to stop with the '-chan'," Haruka mumbled under his breath and Makoto only chuckled again, softly as to not disrupt the tranquility that always seemed to settle between the two of them. Instead of muttering a remorseless apology like he would have in any other situation, Makoto only squeezed his hand lightly and naturally Haruka squeezed back to return the silent gesture of adoration. It was quiet for only a second before Haruka broke it again. "Makoto?"

"Hm?" Makoto hummed, his eyebrows raising in a questioning look that encouraged him to speak his mind.

"Sorry about the paint and… welcome home."

Instead of responding verbally, Makoto raised his free hand and cupped Haruka's cheek before he kissed him chastely, making sure to keep his mouth closed so Haruka wouldn't have to taste the paint that stained his lips. It was only a short peck, but it conveyed everything Makoto needed him to know; that he didn't need to be sorry for the paint-surprise because he had really enjoyed himself and, "I'm home."

It was a small whisper against Haruka's lips, so quiet that it was almost inaudible but Haruka had heard him clearly, had felt it in every fiber of his being and he briefly rested his forehead against Makoto's as his eyes fluttered open and his cheek was caressed by a large hand. The touches lingered for a moment before they pulled away, knowing that they could only last this briefly because they still had stuff to do. But Haruka promised himself that he would let out all his cravings for his husband's affections later that day, when it was just the two of them for at least a couple of hours.

As if that thought had been read, Makoto stood up and offered out his hand to help Haruka get up as well. Even if he didn't really need it, Haruka would never reject that hand and allowed his husband to effortlessly pull him up like he had done for so many years already and would continue to do in the future.

Once they were both upright, Haruka gave his hand one final squeeze before he let go. "Come on, you really need to go take a bath."

"Yeah," Makoto agreed with a longing smile before he realised something, "But how will I get the paint off my back?"

That question gave Haruka the mental image of Makoto in the shower in a flailing mess of limbs as he tried to scrub his own back and he snorted lightly. "I'll help you. I'll clean this up first and then I'll come upstairs to help you out."

"Thanks, Haru," Makoto beamed, grabbing his discarded shirt off the ground to be thrown with the rest of the laundry before he chuckled as well, "Then you can go wash your own face as well."

"Oh yeah," Haruka sighed, since he had already forgotten that he had paint on his face as well. He really hoped they'd come off, because having to walk around with these kiss-marks on his face was pretty embarrassing.

"I really hope the paint comes off too because I think I look a little more embarrassing than you do," Makoto remarked, proving that he still hadn't lost his ability to read his mind and Haruka laughed lightly.

"Yeah, yeah, just go upstairs," he said in what was supposed to be a scolding manner but came out more amused than anything else, "The children are waiting on you."

Makoto only stuck out his tongue in a childish response before he went inside and disappeared from sight as well.

Shaking his head in a mixture of endearment and happiness, Haruka sighed again as he began to clear off the mess that they had made in the backyard.

They were a handful, really, but they were all Haruka could ever ask for and more. Even if cleaning up their mess was quite troublesome sometimes, he always did it gladly because he loved them immensely and it was a small price to pay for their happiness. And as long as they were happy, then so was he.

#mhgiftexchange2017 #i'm sorry i'm stupid #makoharu #makoharu fic #my fic #i'll paint a smile on your face #part 1 #i'm sorry this is so long but i put a lot of time and effort into it so i hope that you and everyone else who reads it will like it #i honestly don't know what happened either with a prompt this short #no makotos were harmed in the making of this fic #but the author was #lmao i literally burned my leg while i was writing this fic but it's cool it's fine #idk what i'm saying at this point help me #also thanks a lot alex now i'm addicted to crystal snow please take full responsability