#[no matter what i'm clocking out by six; queue]

[jikangairodo]

hc + fashion ?

as a teenager, nanami prioritises comfort and making a statement. he lives in band t-shirts, baggy pants and the occasional skinny jeans. his wardrobe, though dreary at first glance (made up of monochromes and every shade of black imaginable) includes well worn tees with colourful logos, flames and the nirvana smiley face. he is every inch a moody, emo teen, complete with the attitude. the jujutsu high uniform is more fitted than he would’ve liked. had he known it was customisable, he would’ve thrown in a hood and opted for loose pants to allow freedom of movement.

as an adult, his focus shifts to looking the part and fitting in. he has never found suits and ties overly comfortable but he gets used to it. as an office worker, and later a financial analyst, he has to and it’s fine. his middle ground is the best quality fabric he can find. comfort comes at a price but he prefers quality over quantity anyway. timeless pieces like his watch and italian leather shoes are investments that will last years. he is not one to follow trends, picking classic cuts in earthy/ neutral tones over the latest fad. it has served him well. everything he buys is later tailored to fit because his shoulders are too broad and waist too trim for conventional sizing. he has a good few shirts, fewer suits but has figured out a capsule wardrobe that works for him. he makes less of a statement with his style nowadays, except for the patterned tie and the occasional coloured shirt. and he only does that much so the people at work stop calling him an old geezer. otherwise he’s all to happy to simply blend in.

at home, he adopts a style that can be described as athleisure wear. he is something of a gym rat and is very comfortable in faded t-shirts and sweats. the contacts are out, gold rimmed glasses are on, and he forgoes styling his hair.

as a jujutsu sorcerer, he simply dresses as he did while working at an office. it isn’t practical but nanami doesn’t want to think too hard about it. he has spent too much on his wardrobe to toss it all out and well, it’s fine. a shirt is like a second skin at this point. he gets really good at taking out bloodstains but he can’t do anything about tears and rips. he stops looking for quality fabric and buys what he can in multi-packs in lieu of ruining all of his nice, expensive shirts.

[meggannn]

Megan's Blorbo Bracket

I got sick of my favorite characters getting knocked out of random tournaments and then me not caring about any of the possible winners. @perihelions suggested I make a bracket of just my favorite characters instead. So I present 32 blorbos: No matter who wins a poll, I will win because my blorbo wins, and no matter who loses, I lose because my blorblo loses. But the people who will lose most will undoubtedly be my followers, who have to sift through more junk posts from yours truly. Without further ado:

"You like so many things. How did you pick?" I limited myself to two blorbos per fandom and every pairing was randomized. I have other favorites that I left out for lack of blorbo energy, or I just wasn't feeling it, or I hit my "two per fandom" maximum. Maybe if I'm bored later I'll make a bracket of just the rejects.

"What's the schedule?" The first eight polls of Round 1 will go up this Friday, May 5. The second eight of Round 1 will go up on Saturday, March 6. Polls will have a 24-hour time limit. (But I'm not sure what tournament courtesy is; I can be convinced to make them a week long if there are strong feelings otherwise.)

"I'll just vote for my favorites and then skip the other polls if I don't recognize anyone." Please participate in every poll you happen to see. Really!

"But I don't recognize/am sick of seeing some of these people." You are welcome, nay, strongly encouraged, to participate if/when you do not know any of the contestants. Pick whomever's design or name or vibe you like the most or flip a coin. I also encourage spite-voting AGAINST ones you dislike. I want this tournament to be as chaotic and petty as possible. I do not however make any promises to change my blogging behavior based on the results.

"I don't know you. You're just some stranger I found in the search/tags." Perfect. Please vote.

"How will this affect your daily content?" My queue will continue running amidst this chaos. I will aim not to reblog poll posts while they're still live, to avoid spamming your dashboards. This means you have to set your clocks if you want to vote or just get lucky seeing a post. If there are any propaganda reblogs, I will only reblog them if I see them/find them funny, again to avoid spamming dashboards.

The tag is #MegansBlorboBracket if you'd like to follow or block it. A full list of Round 1 contestants and their fandoms are under the cut.

Round 1

Claude von Riegan (Fire Emblem: Three Houses/Hopes) vs Fujimoto (Ponyo)

Fenris (Dragon Age 2) vs Jin (Samurai Champloo)

Therem Harth rem ir Estraven (The Left Hand of Darkness) vs Howl Jenkins (Howl's Moving Castle)

Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games) vs Yangchen (Avatar: The Last Airbender/Chronicles of the Avatar)

Kurisu Makise (Steins;Gate) vs Venom (Venom)

Chell (Portal) vs Petra Macneary (Fire Emblem: Three Houses/Hopes)

Joy Wang/Jobu Tupaki (Everything Everywhere All At Once) vs Johanna Mason (The Hunger Games)

Aloy (Horizon Zero Dawn) vs Peter B Parker (Into the Spider-verse)

Greedling (Fullmetal Alchemist) vs Bigby Wolf (The Wolf Among Us)

Garrus Vakarian (Mass Effect) vs Makoto Niijima (Persona 5)

Inej Ghafa (Six of Crows) vs Hawke (Dragon Age 2)

Atem (Yu-Gi-Oh) vs Sokka (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Riza Hawkeye (Fullmetal Alchemist) vs Miles Morales (Into the Spider-verse)

Shepard (Mass Effect) vs Yusuke Kitagawa (Persona 5)

Kaz Brekker (Six of Crows) vs Kim Kitsuragi (Disco Elysium)

Sun-King Avad (Horizon Zero Dawn) vs Aloth Corfiser (Pillars of Eternity)

[dreamiesdotcom]

fireworks | l.jn

Summary:  New Years are chances for drastic changes, so every year you make Jeno promise to never forget several things before the clock strikes 12. Now and then he makes a note to recall all the things he's sworn on, except one: that one time that never really left his mind at all.

Word Count: 2.3k

Life was a little complicated back then, if a little harsh. He was just getting used to having his brother — stepbrother, really — and the only person he knew was Na Jaemin, whose only friend was Lee Donghyuck. That's three new people he's met in four days, and he was so overwhelmed he hid in his bedroom for a day straight.

You come in a little later, and even then he knew you were a force to be reckoned with. The stubborn Lee Donghyuck was in some way caught in your strings, and Renjun (who he's very intimidated by) allows you to pinch his cheeks — what kind of power, right?

It all starts from when he was 12 years old, newly moved to the Neighborhood, on the 23rd of December.

The first shift was when the year ended and another began, welcomed by the brightest set of fireworks Jeno's ever watched. Amidst it all, Jaemin invites all of you to go and hang-out, having already asked your parents way before he asked you all. You had pointed at him then.

"Don't forget to come, okay, Jeno?" you tell him, head slightly tilted. "We're friends now. I would seriously be upset if you don't show up!"

"Sure but uh, my parents— what's that?"

"Nana's got it under control, and well, pinky swear!" you link your pinkies together, and you offer him a sweet smile. "You break the promise and expect me to cut your fingers off."

Donghyuck's friends... are quite scary, per se, but he made a promise that night. His heart raced quickly at that thought, and he shakes slightly, but another round of fireworks burst up the sky, and this time it's much more brilliant, even more radiant, and as all of you exchange smiles, he knows that he's made friends as well.

###

Something about Jeno is astral, you concluded. He just doesn't believe it.

"You see that Jen?" you asked him one of the many times you've asked him to stay up with you. He remembers the honeyed-laughter you let out then, "That's the brightest star in the sky as seen from Earth, and it's called Sirius."

He couldn't form words then. He didn't know what it was that got him so stunned, but he knew that it was something beautiful; whether it's the stars or you.

He remembers what makes his heart go wild: "And to me, if I was the Earth, that'll be you. You're my Sirius."

Jeno hoped it meant something. He wished that it meant as much to you as it did to him because he keeps on losing sleep dreaming of how hypnotic you look, mind void of anything else aside from redamancy. He hopes it means something even after he realizes that it's just like you to associate people with celestial bodies.

"Renjun's like the moon..." you sighed wistfully, chin resting on your palms. "He seems so far away, distant and mysterious. He's the type of person you never truly know... but sometimes, a person always makes effort to glance at it more often than the others. That person knows less of his mystery and more of his misery, at that point."

"And that person, I suppose, is you? You know him the most."

"And I... the things you're implying!" you groaned. "Stop fooling around, Hyuck."

The clock moves closer to 12, and Jeno decides that it's now or never — he asks a question: "If at one point, you have to choose; would you rather have the moon or the stars?"

"I would rather have them together," comes rather too quickly, way too mindlessly. "The stars would be lonely without the moon, and it goes both ways."

"But—"

"No one's more than the other," you shrug, turning to face him. "You overheard it, didn't you? Well, don't worry about it."

Guilt washes over his face, and you shake your head slightly as you raise both your hands to cup his cheeks. It's quiet for a moment just like the way it's always been when the world holds their breaths, counting down and anticipating the last number. That space has somewhat always been empty, the one that makes him think — this silence is the type that echoes, the type that feels cold. It emphasizes all his feelings.

"You're still my Sirius, Jen," you whisper, and if you weren't so close, the fireworks would've drowned your confession. His eyes flutter at the warm feeling your words give him. "You'll always be my favorite. Now, promise me that you won't ever question that."

He nods and makes his promise, but it doesn't mean he stops being anxious. What if one day, you look up at the night sky and realize that you preferred the moon over Sirius, after all?

"I can see the hesitance in your eyes," you say even softer this time. The fireworks subside, just like the loudness of his heart, but then as if in sync they start up again — the fireworks and his heartbeat. You smiled, and both of them returned much stronger than the last. "Please don't doubt me."

It's alright, he concludes. He realizes that he doesn't need to be your favorite. Just as long as he has you — because that's what he wants the most at the moment. He wants you all to himself for as long as he can have you, and you looked so lovely that he almost tells you that and the galaxies of words occupying his mind since summer two years ago — he wants to say them slowly so you won't forget, so that he closes the tiniest distance separating the both of you that feels so big despite being unnamed, a haunting chasm that spreads further every shuddering breath —

But he doesn't.

###

It certainly is illegal.

How it happened is a little bit crazy — well, not really, but just like most of Jeno's irrational decisions, it starts from Donghyuck's stories and then boils down to his curiosity. Flash forward to right now, an unexpected but welcomed masterpiece in front of you, Jeno admiring the painted wall with delight and proudness ebbing through his veins. Around him, spray paint cans lie empty, some half-full.

'Hyuck and Renjun does it all the time, and they've never been in trouble,' Jeno said.

'You're dumb and I can't believe I'm letting you do this,' you replied.

But why should you stop?

Jeno looks regal when he's breathless like this, adrenaline sparkling in his eyes like the golden glitter staining his eyelids. This side of him is nowhere soft — it's too passionate, too unknown, too beautiful to not be overwhelming. You manage a muffled call of his name.

An instant before 23:59 turns to zero, the year beginning again. You spend half of that minute staring at each other, somewhere along the way a force pulling you so close to him.

"I need you to swear on it." you manage to say between the blurs. "Promise me we'll always stay like this."

Ten, nine, eight

"Promise." He says, raspy, pinky finger entwined with yours. He cups your cheeks, gentle, just carefully watching. He smiles. "You and me, like this, forever."

Seven, six, five

His stare is firm, but at the same time, it's so gentle. It's as if he's seeing you in a new light and he wants to miss none of it, not even a split-second. Your eyes flutter shut.

"Can I kiss you?"

Four, three, two

Your heart beats aggressively against your chest, your toes curling in your shoes out of nervousness. Despite that, you nod your head enthusiastically, something he always found so endearing.

"Of course, yes, please."

One

Fireworks burst into sparkling reds and golden yellows, both in the night skies and your hearts. Your lips each a lustrous star, crashing together ever so softly, sparkling like luminous spheres about to go supernova — the kiss a cyclopean shift to the Universe's plan.

###

People change all the time. Friends are people. It's only normal to drift apart a little, right?

After all, it doesn't matter if you don't hang out as much as then. It's reasonable, honestly. Donghyuck's been immersed in his music these days, Jaemin spends most of his time hanging around the dance studio and bothering a certain boy named Jisung (bless his heart for not murdering Jaemin yet) while Renjun's busy... doing his thing. Hell knows what he's been up to, but the last time Jeno's seen him, he has an overwhelming amount of books stacked on his table ("It's a queue, Jeno. I'm reading the next one after this once I finish!"), and he just hopes he doesn't take three years before finishing all those up.

"Why is it that it's so hard for them to make time to be normal friends?"

"It's hard for them to make time to be normal people, what do you expect?" you roll your eyes, turning off your phone and then sitting right across from him. "We'll meet next Sunday, anyway. Let's give those people hell from us both!"

From outside, the world celebrates a new incoming year, but for some odd reason, you two stayed inside his room. Light seeps in from his open window, seeping golds and violets and reds, occasional greens, and other colors. All it does is remind him of that kiss. It sends a flush on his cheeks, especially when you leaned to press a kiss on his forehead, ever so careful.

Jeno would like to believe that it was out of random, but he felt like at that moment, you knew something he didn't.

"Promise me something, yeah?" you asked, nervous. "Promise me you'll never forget that I love you."

"I pro—" he says as if a routine, but then he halts. "You what?"

The fireworks stop, and the both of you knew that it only takes a little seconds before they ignite again. You looked up to meet his gaze, mustering up courage, and making your voice silvery and clear.

"I love you," you said, shaking. "So fucking much, Jeno. Now promise me."

He stays in stunned silence for a little, and then he pulls you into a hug so tight neither of you ever wanted to let go. His breathing was shaky and so was yours, a feeling as unstable and as sweet as the kiss you two shared right after he whispered an answer, "I promise."

And that was enough for you to know that he loves you too.

("I feel cheated that you never told me. We could've been doing this for years," he nags later once you're spooning in his bed, his chest pressed against your back. You break into laughter then, still coming down from the high of sparkling lights and pure euphoria.

"We're just in time, love. There's no need to rush when we have an infinity ahead of us.")

###

It's easier to remember moments that passed like headlights on highways at full speed when all is said and done. If that makes sense at all, maybe that could be the reason why he just realized it now that neither of you two got to tell how much you wanted to be so much more than friends who confessed to having feelings for each other. You never clearly talked where you should stand.

If he were to say his truth, he'd say that there was way more than to how you looked against the bright lights exploding and the towns of stars. There's way more to you than the way you made his heart beat, skip, and ache. The truth is, you were heavenly. It made his heart do all the things it could do so he's unable to speak. The truth is, he knew where it was going, and he didn't want to travel that road. The truth is, he's been falling for the longest time, but the truth is not important.

Because not even the truth could have given you the freedom to have a choice, he says in his mind.

"Promise me you won't forget me." You looked so gentle close to him like that, skin reflecting moonlight and flares. "Please, baby. Promise me."

But it's the last thing he ever wanted to do. He doesn't want you to make him swear to never forget you — you have forever waiting ahead, and you're walking down that road hand-in-hand. Why does he need to promise to always remember when there's no reason he'll forget? It's the last thing he needs. He'll have you next to him every day and there would be no hour that expires where he doesn't hold you, no second that passes that he doesn't feel like he loves you.

He didn't want to have to promise that because people only ask to be remembered if they're planning to leave.

Jeno closes his eyes, lowering his head. "Don't do this to me."

Still, after the most painful kiss he ever had, it lingers both like sugar and poison at his lips, your name, and a promise. A promise he never wanted to make.

"We'll see each other again..." he whispers, painfully fond. "For now... for now, we'll take some time and wish that the Universe brings us back together...If the Universe doesn't do it for us, then I will. I promise."

He recalls the night before, then all the previous others that stands out with vibrant colors and the love of his life. He crosses his fingers and wishes that sometime somewhere, you look up to watch fireworks but see Sirius instead — and it reminds you to come home.

[jikangairodo]

‘ hc ‘  + gluttony

nanami really, really likes food. it's one of life's little pleasures that he rarely denies. unless he's working or busy with something that needs his unyielding attention, he will always make time to pick up his favourite sandwich. or baguette. or roll.

he has a large appetite, mainly because he works out a lot and his metabolism has to keep up to supply his body with energy. it is not unusual for him to order a starter, main and side or simply two mains to keep his stomach content. his parents taught him how to cook and the habit perseveres through his teenage years and well into adulthood. nanami likes experimenting in the kitchen and has enough knowledge of flavour profiles to be able to construct something completely new and have it taste incredible.

food, alongside acts of service, is also his love language. be it romantic or platonic, he feeds people he cares about. either by buying them food or cooking it himself.

[jikangairodo]

‘ hc ‘  + greed

money, money, money. it’s why nanami wakes up in the mornings, works through his breaks, and takes on new client portfolios, despite having his hands full. it’s what drives him into working overtime. his hours at home are restricted to showers, laundry, and getting changed. he cooks when he can. this is how it is for years. it feels like a small sacrifice to make, in the grand scheme of things.

he does not lose sight of the bigger picture. retiring at 40, moving to malaysia. and that’s when he will get the chance to finally live how he wants. a few years of hard, mind numbing employment in return for a decent payoff and a peaceful life is a vision he desperately works towards. as he specialises in investment, he knows, in a way, that he’s trading away his youth for a future that may not come to pass. realistically, this is what everyone around him does, albeit at a much slower pace. as a non-sorcerer, his chances of making it to retirement are improved exponentially. it’s why he left sorcery in the first place. he had no future to dream about there.

he keeps track of his goals, constantly mindful of the bigger picture, of fulfilling his dreams. until he doesn't.

[jikangairodo]

‘ hc ‘  + pride

nanami feels pride in his appearance; suits ironed, shirt collars starched to perfection, hair brushed back without a single strand out of place. there's pride in the pristine condition of his apartment. his watch. the way he caries himself. his cooking. most of all, he's proud of getting where he has and achieving the rank of a first grade. he came from a non sorcerer family, with no prior knowledge or backing. he isn't the strongest, but he isn't delusional enough to think he can be in the world they're in. as long as he can protect those around him, he's okay with exactly where he is.

it's enough. he's enough.

[jikangairodo]

‘ hc ‘  + lust

nanami is not someone who goes looking, not really. people tend to approach him, rather than the other way round because he’s really only there for a drink. but sometimes the stars align, and someone with a pretty face touches his thigh just right and looks at him just so, and he feels a familiar stirring in his gut. he is, at the end of the day, just a man. the rest is easy. he is not shy about taking them back to his apartment or what happens inside it.

although he’s had a few flings at the workplace, romance is off the table for him, as well as the emotional investment it requires. his priority is earning money and retiring early, nothing more and it shows. in a way, nanami prefers the no strings attached element to one night stands. at least he won’t have to explain why he won’t go on another date or why he wont return phone calls. it saves a lot of awkward stares, heartache and gossip at work. the idea of not mixing business with pleasure is a mindset he had to adopt along the way.

sometimes he goes long stretches without sex because of work, and it doesn’t really bother him. he wouldn’t have the energy to get physical anyway, under those circumstances. he is quite efficient at dealing with his own body. usually in the shower, where it requires minimal effort to clean up afterwards.

he carries the same mindset when he starts working for jujutsu high again. plus, there are far fewer sorcerers around than corporate workers and if he fucks up, he'd never hear the end of it.

[jikangairodo]

hc + collection

nanami doesn't actively collect anything apart from books. he has been buying them for years now. mostly because someone recommended a title. sometimes because he has seen it advertised in bookstores or papers and it sounds interesting. e-books exist and would be far more suitable for his lifestyle but there's something very nostalgic and whimsical about a physical book. it's a tangible experience; flipping through pages, feeling the texture of paper in his hands, trying to smooth out the cracks of a spine on a novel that's well-read and loved.

he does have a few varieties of wine and whiskey in the liquor cabinet. when he visits a new place for a mission, he'll add another bottle or two to his burgeoning collection. but when these bottles are drained dry, he doesn't go out of his way to replace them. and he doesn't feel the need to have every single variety. its an ever evolving collection and sometimes, depending on how things are that week, its rather thin. he also has many, many varieties of spices in his kitchen cabinet from all over the world.

[jikangairodo]

‘ hc ‘  + wrath

anger is an emotion nanami has struggled with tbh. it makes people behave irrationally and he doesn’t like the idea of losing control like that. he tries to keeps a closed lid on every single one of his emotions as a result. if he needs an outlet, he’ll hit the gym or get drunk. maybe fuck.

he displays his anger in small, short bursts but he straightens himself out pretty quickly. it starts with him pursing his lips, because saying something at that point will be detrimental to his sense of restraint. and then he gets defensive. usually evidenced by him folding his arms. if, at that point, he’s still feeling irate, he’ll remove himself from the source of his stress. walk it off. come back later with a clearer head.

when he was young, he used to slam doors but he stopped doing that when they started falling off their hinges due to the misfiring of his technique. his parents always thought he was unnaturally strong. especially since he couldn’t get out of a scrap without breaking other kids' bones. curse energy output is linked to negative emotions and these days, nanami keeps his wrapped tight.

[jikangairodo]

hc + caffeine

after spending years and years guzzling an unhealthy amount of caffeine in the form of black coffee, nanami has developed something of a resistance to its effects. it doesn’t do much to his body or behaviour and barely wakes him up in the mornings. he can drink a cup and still fall asleep afterwards, although he finds it makes him slightly restless so he avoids drinking anything caffeinated after 6pm.

nowadays nanami drinks it because he has developed a taste for it, rather than because it does anything for him. he’s equally partial to tea. he prefers wine over both. at home he has a nice, sage coffee machine, which he uses religiously and will probably hiss if he’s ever offered instant.