#I don't wear patterns often

[rabbitcruiser]

National Floral Design Day

Unleash your creativity and bring nature's vibrant beauty to life through stunning arrangements that captivate the senses and evoke joy.

It’s time to stop and smell the roses! Flower Design Day is all about showing appreciation for floral design as a unique and creative art form. Since flowers have been enjoyed and admired throughout the world since the beginning of human history, it just makes sense that the design of flowers should have its own day to celebrate. 

History of National Floral Design Day

It all started with the idea to create a special way of celebrating the birthday of Carl Rittner, who was the founder of the Rittner School of Floral Design in Boston back in 1947. As a pioneer in floral art education, Rittner has shared his wealth of knowledge in the floral industry and had a marked impact on thousands of students from all throughout the world.

Some people don’t realize that National Floral Design Day was officially proclaimed by the Governor of Massachusetts. William F. Weld, in 1995. Since that time, floral design has been celebrated on this day each year.

History lesson aside, today is an excuse to go wild about flowers and let that inner creativity spark. There are so many things that can be done with flowers – the sky really is the limit. National Floral Design Day is the perfect time to display that innovative and original side when it comes to making the world more beautiful with floral creations!

How to Celebrate National Floral Design Day

Show some love and appreciation for everything related to flowers on National Floral Design Day! Get started with some of these delightful ideas:

Make Some Floral Design Creations

In honor and celebration of National Floral Design Day, show off that floral talent and create a spectacular floral design with flowers – whether real, dried or silk. Draw pictures of floral designs and it might even be fun to get the kids involved. Guys can get in on the fun too. Why not arrange an impressive floral bouquet for that leading lady or to take in and share with the folks at the office?

Learn Some Benefits of Floral Design 

When National Floral Design Day was declared by the Governor of Massachusetts in 1995, the proclamation included a number of reasons that were listed about why this art form is important. Here are some of the main reasons for setting the day aside in celebration and honor of floral design:

Floral design fosters creativity and develops perceptual awareness as an art form.

Floral design allows individuals to express themselves and their emotions in celebration of a variety of holidays and life events such as births, deaths, weddings and more.

Floral design utilizes natural media as a unique art form that includes aspects including line, color, balance, structure and much more to create visual pleasure.

Take a Floral Design Class

One excellent way to get on board with celebrating National Floral Design Class might be to sign up to learn more about the craft. Those who have never been involved with floral design before can take a beginner class that allows them to learn the basics about this art form. For those folks who have a general idea of what they are doing but could improve their skills, sign up for an advanced class at a local community center or floral design school.

Create a Floral Themed Playlist

Celebrating National Floral Design Day can be loads of fun with the right tunes to go with it! Build a playlist on Spotify, Apple music or another online platform to support the theme of the day with the best songs to jam out to while designing some beautiful floral arrangements.

Check out some of these fun songs with a floral theme to get a playlist started :

Everything’s Coming Up Roses (1959) by Ethel Merman

You Don’t Bring Me Flowers (1978) by Neil Diamond and Barbara Streisand

Bed of Roses (1993) by Bon Jovi

Supermarket Flowers (2017) by Ed Sheeran

Source

[youraveragecatastrophe]

[Image description : three drawings of characters from the 2019 show Carmen Sandiego, lined with black ink and colored with pencils. Carmen is wearing a striped shirt with the colors of the original Gilbert Baker flag, and she and Player are draped with a large transgender flag. They are looking at each other and smiling. Julia, her hands in her pants' pockets, wears a brown leather jacket and a horizontally-striped shirt the colors of the lesbian flag. She is looking at the viewer and smiling. Devineaux, his hands on his hips in a proud posture, wears a vintage-styled jacket in the colors of the transgender flag. /End description]

To cap off this pride month, a few of my queer headcanons for Carmen Sandiego (2019) characters!

I headcanon Player as a trans boy and Carmen as a trans woman! I also definitely think Carmen's sapphic but I don't have a more specific identity in mind for her.

Julia is a lesbian ofc. Her shirt is inspired by this retro lesbian shirt! If I had seen it before inking I would have made it an actual shirt with a collar and all but alas I saw it too late.

And I headcanon Devineaux as a trans man. His jacket was heavily based on this vintage jacket, obviously with the colors reworked. That's his new lucky coat probably.

(I have headcanons for other characters but since they're less fixed I won't talk about them here)

[vargaslovinghours]

In case it was ever a question

[atenderofsycamoretrees]

Badgley Mischka Spring 2023 Ready-to-Wear

Photos by Filippo Fior / Gorunway.com

[altruistic-meme]

bought a spiderman suit for. reasons. and ik i was expecting it to be not Great quality bc its a spandex suit from amazon but im so just :(( about it bc i don't like the way it fits but i have no other options so it is what it is

[roaringroa]

i’m not crazy for shopping but there is a very confidence building feeling when i find something in my style that fits me 

[uncanny-tranny]

I think so many people are so deeply alienated from themselves that they have no clue how to exercise their free will and autonomy. For some, this alienation runs so deep that they are afraid of their own autonomy and humanity. It is completely understandable why one would have those feelings, but it can be worrisome.

I want to help others who feel this way, so here are small things I have done to exercise my free will:

Add "guilty pleasure" songs to playlists and actually listen to them (I have a ton of late 1990s-early 2000s music I listen to now proudly that I never listened to in the past out of shame)

Getting the décor item, bath set, bed spread, ect. in the patterns you like, even if it's "childish" (I got a dinosaur-themed wastebasket from the kids' décor section and I adore it)

Taking a new route to get to a place you go to often

Eat dessert first

Celebrate well, and often

Collect things that are "odd" or don't seem like an "acceptable" thing to collect (somebody on my "for you" page collects dandelion crayola crayons and it was so cool!!!!!!)

Incorporate one new piece in an outfit you wear frequently (e.g., a new chain, a necklace, ribbons, bracelets, ect.). Challenge yourself to add onto the outfits if you feel up for it.

Sing along to songs without worrying that you sound "good" or your intonation is completely accurate

Read a book from a genre you weren't allowed to read as a kid (comics, thrillers, mysteries, anything!)

Walk without having a specific destination or goal

Pick up a new craft without expecting yourself to master it or to ever be "good" enough. Get your hands messy.

I don't want to shame anybody for not feeling as though they have free will or that they are exempt from exercising it. However, I wanted to give ideas so that you might read this list and find your own ways to express your intrinsic autonomy and will. You deserve to be a person, to feel alive, not just living. That is what our lives are for.

[shannonpurdyjones]

One side effect of my research for this novel being steeped heavily in textile history is my swelling disgust with modern fabrics.

Firstly they're so thin? Like most things you see in Old Navy or even department stores might as well be tissue paper?? Even some branded sports t-shirts I've bought in recent years (that are supposed to be 'official apparel' and allegedly decent quality) are definitely not going to hold up more than a year or two without getting little holes from wear.

This side of even two hundred years ago fabrics were made to be used for YEARS, and that's with wearing them way more often because you only owned like three sets of clothes. They were thick and well made and most importantly made to LAST. And they were gorgeous?? Some of the weaves were so fine and the drape so buttery we still don't entirely know how these people managed to make them BY HAND. Not to mention intricate patterning and details that turned even some simple garments into freaking ART.

I know this is not news, the fast fashion phenomenon is well documented. Reading so much about the amazing fabrics we used to create and how we cherished and valued them, though, is making it hard not to mourn what we lost to mass production and capitalism. Not just the quality of the clothing and fabrics themselves, but the generations of knowledge and techniques that are just gone. It makes me what to cry.

I need to get a sewing machine.

[fairuzfan]

I do want to say re:food appropriation, for Palestinians it is a very very very sensitive issue. I don't know a single Palestinian who doesn't react vehemently to calling food "Israeli." One, because you have to recognize that this is within a larger pattern of completely erasing Palestinian identity, and two, because food is an essential core part of culture, where historical, familial instruction should be acknowledged.

I find it incredibly.... insulting to say "well food can be exchanged between cultures and people, so what's the big idea?" and neglect the fact that even within the Levant, there is a diverse array of cooking styles. To call certain dishes "Israeli" especially within the context of how the state of Israel was established, plays into the erasure of Palestinians.

It's often necessary to attribute the food we eat to specific cultures. For example, I, a Palestinian, would never claim ownership over Macarona Bil-Bashamil, or Yalenji, because they're "Arab." That's just not how food culture works. Different cultures, different climates, different environments all contribute to the food we eat and the clothes we wear. Food in itself is political because of how heavily it is tied to a location in which things are grown and raised.

Food is what builds community. Women, young and old, pass this knowledge throughout generations. And ESPECIALLY between peasant families that grow and raise the very flora and fauna we rely on in our dishes. This is a professional sort of knowledge that we celebrate and consider incredibly important. To strip our very food of our identity is not only insulting, but negates the centuries worth of food culture we've established in favor of homogenization. So yes, it IS possible to appropriate food, especially when you do not acknowledge the centuries worth of knowledge shared.

[jakesangel]

sitting on jakes lap ><

sitting in jake's lap would happens quite often. doing any activity, in front of the members, in his dorm, outside, literally anywhere and anytime. facing him or not he loves feeling ur weight on his legs.

tho jake would be shy at first, he didn't know how to ask you to sit on his lap without making things weird or making you think of him in a way that he isn't. so when u got comfortable by simply putting ur legs on his legs on a movie night, he felt like his dream came true. he would obviously put his hands on ur legs n draw patterns lovingly. he would love it even more if u wear skirts cause first that means ure really comfortable w him, two, your skin is so so soft to him n he wants to feel your warmth.

one night full of giggles and kisses, you tried doing your makeup on jake face. he also knew what it meant, having a chance to have you close to him. so he would purposely have weird posture to make it harder for you, make silly faces or even not keeping his hands to him. even if u are holding his face in one hand and doing his makeup w the other, the task is munch more complicated w him teasing you. so there you are, your thighs over his, his hands on your waist and jake, finally, is having you on his lap. his pretty baby, right in front of his face. and furthermore focused on his. he truly thinks he is in the seventh sky. he wants to kiss you and hug you closer to his body but he knows he's been a pain in the ass to get what he wants, so this time, he stays still and fully take in the moment. you, on the other hand, don't understand why jakes eyes are finally closed n why he is suddenly pliant for you to apply ur eyeshadow. you also don't understand why he just just smiling or sighing in contentment.

after this, he would never let you sit anywhere else but his lap. you need to do your makeup ? he is right there to be your seat. need to do your homework ? lemme him see your physics homework, he'll do them. you want to watch tv ? he would even prepare the plaid and the snacks.

he wouldn't mind having you on his lap in front the members either. the first time, you got shy but the members know how physical jake can gets. almost thanking you for being his physically-touch-giver instead of them. so it didn't bother them nor him. he would even get offended seeing you sit next to him, and not on him, giving you confused puppy eyes. but jakes gets what he wants so he will (ᵎᵎ) move you in front of them, making you flustered. my shy baby, don't you worry about them, they're so jealous of me having this pretty girl on my lap, he would whisper to your ear, making your blush red-er.

when he feels 'loving' and/or clingy, he would always tell you soft words with loving touch. he would kiss your temple if you aren't facing him, his hands drawing heart on your thighs. if your facing him, he would hum, your arms around his neck, him taking in your hair scent. i love having you this close, baby. it's when i feel the safest, he would say hugging you closer to his. you smell so good for me, my pretty princess, he adds his eyes closing. or he would just convey his words w a kiss. a long a deep one, one arm around ur figure the other guiding ur face to his, his hand softly holding your chin.

notes : none ><

@imaluckygirl @luvj4key @heeseungswifefr @goldenretrieverjakezgirlbaby @jaeyunpinkyring

[comicaurora]

How do you manage to motivate yourself when you're feeling tired or depressed?

Usually I try to give myself time to rest until those feelings lessen, since they're generally symptomatic of having pushed too hard, but on occasions where tiredness seems to be getting a little too cozy with depression, there's a few things I do.

I've observed in myself a habit of sort of… waiting in a holding pattern for something to push me into action. "Something" isn't defined clearly, but it becomes a real problem on depressed or low-executive-function days. This might just BE what low executive function feels like, tbh; like there's some invisible trigger and I can't Do The Thing until something trips it. When I notice I'm stuck in a holding pattern, I have a few tricks to snap myself out of it:

Flip a coin. Heads I get up and Do The Thing, tails I don't. The simple act of challenging myself is enough to motivate me sometimes, regardless of the outcome, but sometimes this makes me realize that I am legitimately tired, so I stay put and recharge a little until I want to flip for it again.

Set a five- or ten-minute timer and do whatever I need to do until the timer runs out. An artificial deadline can bypass the holding pattern. Sometimes this gives me momentum, and when the timer runs out I keep going. Sometimes this does NOT build momentum, and I crash after the timer runs out - but I crash with five more minutes of progress done. Any progress is better than no progress.

Assume Direct Control. This one only works sometimes, but sometimes it's as simple as breaking down a list of individual units of tangible progress - Get Off Of Bed, Put On Pants, Plug In Tablet, Etc Etc - and just grab the manual controls in my brain and make myself do each thing in turn. Sometimes I'll assume direct control to make myself take a Stupid Mental Health Walk, which has thus far worked every time to improve my mood and energy even though when I am in a Low Mood the last thing I want to do is subject myself to the mortifying ordeal of wearing pants and dealing with people.

I also find that sometimes it's helpful to pull the thread of what you're waiting for. Sometimes I'll realize I've locked myself into a weird paralysis because I've accidentally made something a prerequisite for other tasks. For example, I might realize I'm feeling weirdly frozen and uncomfortable because I haven't taken out the trash, and I've told myself I can't do X Y and Z until the trash is taken out, but I don't want to take out the trash, so I've locked X Y and Z behind Unpleasant Task in a subconscious attempt to motivate myself to Do The Task but instead I've just dramatically reduced the number of things I feel I can do. Often just noticing this pattern is enough to break out of it.

I also find that sometimes the invisible trigger I'm waiting for is just waiting to want to do something. That is unfortunately a trap. There are many things you can enjoy or benefit from without wanting to do them beforehand, because the thought of it is unpleasant or scary or anxiety-inducing or otherwise loaded down with what-ifs and caveats. I will never WANT to have a doctor's appointment, but I feel very good AFTER arranging and going to one. I very rarely WANT to exercise, but after the fact I feel very rewarded and more confident in my abilities. I've only WANTED to go on like a third of the walks I've taken this year, but every single one of them has been pleasant and beneficial to my mental health. Sometimes you just gotta say "I don't WANT to do it, but I'll be glad I did it" and manually pilot yourself into Doing It.

[leebrontide]

My autistic peeps, I have one bit of advice for you.

Be extremely selective about who you accept social rule feedback from.

Most autistic folks I know tie themselves up in knots, trying to figure out this social rule book that everybody else seems to have gotten, that they didn't get. In fact a lot of the "rigidity" that I see other therapists complaining about can be put down to the natural effects of people trying really hard to find one goddamn rule that will stay put.

The thing is- most people walk around as if they have the one universal, unassailable, common-sense rule book for social interaction.

And they are utterly full of shit.

In the US in particular there is incredibly low consensus about how people should behave. Just go post on twitter about whether it is or is not rude to wear your shoes in someone's house, or as a 70 year old and a 20 year old about phone etiquette. That's before we get into other demographic differences. Don't even get me started on "professionalism".

Neurotypical people get that feedback to, but are, on average, way more able to flag it as either 1) a rule for working with that person/similar people 2) bullshit. NOT as a universal rule they should have already known, that they should feel bad about not already knowing.

The number of things that people actually universally agree on is really low.

So when people give you feedback that the social rule they expect you to follow is obvious, they are often being a total dick.

Ask questions, look for patterns in specific settings, and make sure you've worked on your values enough to have a reasonable ecosystem of guiding principles.

But remember that nobody has that rule book.

[mechanisedbrainrot]

MECHANISMS REF IMAGE MASTERPOST

Okay, so I put together refs for each of the mechs as best I can. I tried to avoid anything in a show lighting, but sometimes it can't be helped. Notes will be underneath each section

Whole cast

Ivy is the only character leaning on the wall in the second image, but is roughly as tall as Ashes

Jonny D'Ville

Jonny in earlier shows like TTBT wears a black shirt underneath instead of the white. He occasionally has red or black painted nails and his goggles are either black or bronze. He has a black 7 of diamonds. He often holds a mic - which is a Shure Super 55

Drumbot Brian

He usually has just the flower in his hat, but sometimes it's replaced with RAM or his drumsticks. His goggle has a very small crack at the base. The rings seem to be a bit of a motherboard and screws? The visible heart is something I can only find in one picture, but it's cool

Gunpowder Tim

Sometimes wears jeans instead of dark brown trousers. His eye scars are more geometric than Jonny's, and he has dark eye shadow around the eyes where Jonny uses just eyeliner

Raphaella la Cognizi

The top is three layers: a white/cream shirt, a brown puffy shirt and a a top layer which has a halter neck. Occasionally one or both of the undershirts won't be worn (see HNOC liveshow). Tights can be blue or black. Light up wings from DTTM

The leggings/tights are sometimes black and sometimes deep blue

Ivy Alexandria

A few different outfits, in liveshows they're also wearing some outfits not shown here - but always black and red with a waistcoat of some kind.

Nastya Rasputina

The necklace is a little cat :3

Marius von Raum

Kneepads in DTTM. The cards are a jack and ace of hearts. Necktie either has a white or gold pattern on it, but they don't always wear it. The green jacket has a tailcoat

The Toy Soldier

Hair varies a lot. Sometimes it's worn down, in a ponytail or hidden under the hat. Sometimes nails are painted red or black

Ashes O'Reilly

In live shows they often wear this eyeliner which has thick bars that go behind the ears - but I couldn't find any clear pictures of this. Though their outfits changes, always mostly black with some red in the hair

Dr Carmilla post can be found here

I hope this was in some way helpful to anyone who wants to draw the mechanisms. If you have questions feel free to ask me in the ask box and I will do my best to answer them and provide some photos <3 have a great day

[fouryearsofshades]

Some Chinese fashion styles

Disclaimer: The following styles and their definitions were observed by me and are not authoritative. I am only familiar with Hanfu and if I made mistakes and picked the wrong photo examples or fraud shops, please let me know. Also, this post focused on women's fashion because 1. I am not into men's fashion so I don't know much about them. 2. The algorithm also knew that so I don't really see them.

汉服/Hànfú

传统服饰/Chuántǒng fúshì （传服/chuán fú）

清汉女/Qīng hàn nǚ

旗装/Qí zhuāng

旗袍/Qípáo

新国风/Xīn guó fēng、新中式/Xīn zhōngshì 汉元素/hàn yuánsù 茶艺服/Cháyì fú or 茶服/chá fú 唐装/Tángzhuāng 中山装/Zhōngshānzhuāng.

汉服/Hànfú

The ethnic clothing of Han Chinese (not the Han Dynasty).

There was a prohibition of Han clothing and hair styles in Qing dynasty, i.e. the 剃发易服/Tìfā yìfú qu Queue Ordinance, so modern hanfu is an on-going revivalist moment.

Modern hanfu are based on archeological evidences with minor twists to suit modern like, such as the type of fabric used and cut.

As a result, there are many types of garments and sub-styles. The figure above shows some examples.

While which style should be included and promoted is a constant debate, but in general, the cutout line is the Qing dynasty (however small accessories such as purses are alright).

传统服饰/Chuántǒng fúshì （传服/chuán fú）

No example because I am not sure who identified with this label.

The Chinese traditional clothing.

This either referred to historical clothing restorers (regardless of ethnicity) or people who promoted that the traditional clothing of Han people should be in the late Ming dynasty style, since "people should get up at where they had fallen".

They might be agreeable with the hanfu movement or not.

清汉女/Qīng hàn nǚ

The clothing of women of Han Chinese in the Qing dynasty.

Since the Queue Ordinance wasn't that strictly enforced on Han women, the Han women clothing in the Qing dynasty had quickly absorbed Manchurian's elements while retaining the characteristic two-piece silhouette. (Manchurian women wore a one-piece robe.)

I believed it appeared around 2019 when the styles of hanfu had moved to fully embroidered surface to a more tone down brocade or weaved patterns.

旗装/Qí zhuāng

The ethnic clothing of Man people (Manchurian).

The women's clothing are generally in round collar opened on the left (youren) with straight sleeves.

The most basic item is a 衬衣/chènyī, which doesn't have vents.

However, the most common item I have seen on the street is a 氅衣/chǎng yī (probably rented), which should be worn on top of 衬衣, since they have side vents.

They usually have no standing-up collar but in some cases a fake collar could be worn.

On top of changyi they could wear a 马褂/mǎguà、坎肩/kǎnjiān、褂裥/guà jiǎn.

旗袍/Qípáo

The Chinese clothing of women originated from the Minguo era, known in English as qipao or cheongsam.

The male equivalent is 长衫/chángshān.

Currently in style is the retro-cut, while uses the traditional flat cut (no shoulder seam) instead of the more body-hugging modern draping style.

There are also many variations and cuts, but the overall silhouette is similar.

新国风/Xīn guó fēng、新中式/xīn zhōngshì

Innovative clothing that was inspired by Chinese traditional aesthetic.

It is an umbrella term.

汉元素/hàn yuánsù refers to clothing inspired by hanfu specifically, while xinguofeng could be inspired by qipao and other ethnic clothing. In addition, hanyuansu is a term more familair to hanfu-ers, so the target audience is slightly different between hanyuansu and xinguofeng.

茶艺服/Cháyì fú or 茶服/chá fú,i.e tea dress, which aimed to convey a zen and rustic aesthetic could also be considered a sub-style. They are often worn by retirees, artists or workers in tea shops, calligraphy shops, Chinese spas, Chinese traditional medicine clinics etc.

The older "Chinese style" generally refers to 唐装/Tángzhuāng and 中山装/Zhōngshānzhuāng.

Tangzhuang (Tang Suit) was a men suit characterized with a mandarin collar with a row of 盘扣/pán kòu frogs in the middle. There are two pockets at the bottom front of the suit. It was a well-known looked worldwide due to the 2001 APEC summit. However, other clothes resembled a 马褂/mǎguà could also be called a tangzhuang.

Zhongshanzhuang was designed and named after Sun Yat-sen but was often known in English as the Mao Suit. Mao Suit was characterised with a 关门领/Guānmén lǐng（“closed-door collar", but also known as Mao collar in English) with a row of round buttons. There are four pockets at the front of the suit.

中华lolita/Zhōnghuá lolita

A sub-style of the lolita fashion inspired by cheongsam/qipao, hanfu or other Chinese artistic elements.

The same item could appeared in different styles, but with different cut and accessories. The following examples showed a mamianqun used in different styles.

THE END

[awakenedevildays]

「insecurities」 Art Donaldson x F!reader

you can read the other parts here!

━━━•❃°•°❀°•°❃•━━━

"goodnight sweetheart" you whisper to your fast asleep daughter as you kiss her cheek.

You walk out of the dark room and close the door behind you before walking towards the master bedroom of the hotel suite to strip down of your own clothes and to wear the Art's shirt you sleep with as you wait for your husband to come out of the bathroom. Your face inadvertently frowns as you think of Art, he has been acting so weird lately: he is silent, often spaces out and his eyes always looks at you with insecurity, doubts clearly floating in his mind about something you don't know.

Your thoughts are interrupted from him that emerges from the restroom, but he just stands there, eyes locked to the floor and you look at him worried. 

You sit down on the edge of the bed and your hand reaches out to him, "come here baby" you say and Art follows your voice a few seconds later until he is in front of you to his knees. 

His head rests on your lap and you caress his short hair in a loving manner while the other goes to massage his neck to soothe him.

Art's body responds to your touch like a cat to a scratch, he sighs and leans into your touch as his eyes flutter shut, you swear you hear him purr at your caress as he leans in and nuzzles into your stomach, you chuckle softly amused at his antics but don't comment on it, instead you just continue giving him massages while your fingers comb through his short hair, he wraps his arms around your lower back under your shirt.

"What's going on in your head? tell me" you say calmly and Art sigh.

"I really can't hide anything from you, can I?" he smiles sadly and you feel your heart crack when you see his dull eyes closing, Art used to always be such a smiley person so seeing him so down just doesn't feel right, you bring him back to you and take his cheeks in your hands, his back is straight as his face leaves your thighs. 

"you know you can talk to me about anything" you say softly but Art just sighs again, squeezes your hips in his hands and nuzzles in yours like a cat, his eyes still looking down to his hands under your shirt... there are a few moments of silence as you wait for Art to finally talk, your heart beats faster and faster. 

"I want to quit this year, whether I win the Open or not." Art admits, and you can hear your heart missing a beat at his confession. The tension in his shoulders drains away immediately after saying what was making his heart heavy and you sigh out of relief, you thought he was going to say something way worse. Despite the ease you feel after his confession, the news still shocks you and an incredulous "what?" leaves your lips.

He finally looks at you, his eyes begging you for something you're not sure to understand. 

"I said..." Art starts, but the words are lost to a strangled sob "will you still love me if I just... play the Open and retire afterwards? Can you promise me that? Can you please promise me that?"

"art-" 

The man continues, breathless as he forces out another word "please?" his forehead touches your thighs again. His voice is small when he speaks next "...please say you love me," he whispers, and you have to strain to hear him.

You take his face in your hands again "hey there is no need get anxious... of course I'll always love you, you just surprised me... i thought you were happy to play" you say smiling nervously, you don't like this side of him.

Your words seem to have a soothing effect on him, his back slump forwards as he melts into your touch. His face slackens, lips parting as a shaky breath slips from them and doesn't say anything, merely presses his face into your palm and closes his eyes. In this moment, he's entirely yours.

Art closes his eyes as his thumbs trace patterns on your hip, thinking on the perfect way to explain his feelings to you, the words stuck on his throat.

"I'm just tired of it" he lets a humorless chuckle before shaking his head "all the pressure, the stress, the competition... I feel like I've lost the passion I had when I began this sport" Art takes your hand and intertwine your fingers with his "I feel like I'm not doing this for myself anymore, I'm not happy in the court" you hum in understanding.

Your thumbs now caress his temples in a motion you hope soothes him "what's going on in this head of yours, mh? I thought you knew that my love for you was unconditional" 

Your hands continue to coax him towards calmness. 

"...I know," He agrees softly. His eyes remain shut as a shaky sigh slips free. "I know, I just... I worry that I'm a bad husband, sometimes... Y'know? I just have this—this thing" Art tries to elaborate, but his breath catches in his throat "that makes me think you'll find someone better," he grits out, and the admission makes him shudder and you smile pitifully at him.

"Art there is no one in this world that could be better than you for me, you are the best husband and the best father I could ask for: you're patient, kind and loving and i feel so lucky to be loved by you" you briefly kiss his lips before continuing "I want you to be happy with me, with us, i want you to do what you love and if tennis doesn't make you content i'll be the first to support you"

Art seems to take comfort in your words; his mouth tremble when he feels your lips against his, and when your fingers skim across his jawline he almost moans, pressing himself closer to you as if scared you'll move away, he doesn't think he ever craved your affection this much until now.

"I know" he murmurs, lips trailing kisses against your fingertips. "I know all these, I just—" He cuts himself off, shaking his head with a sigh. "Never mind. Forget I asked".

"No, art. I must've done something wrong to make you think that something like this could change my feelings for you, please tell me" 

There's a frustrated huff from Art, though you suspect it's more at himself than anything you've said. 

"Stop." A note of pleading in his voice. "I—" Art tries to protest, but the look on your face clearly communicates that you're not taking no for an answer. For once, he really seems to be at a loss for words. "...You didn't do anything," He finally whispers, defeated. "...I really do know that you love me, I'm just... scared, is all". 

"I'm here, in every step of the way I'll be here" your words feel like salvation for Art.

A shaky breath slips past his lips, "thank you" he whispers against the skin of your hand and kisses it.

"just please... do something for me" you ask and Art answers immediately. 

"Anything". 

"Even if it's your last season, do your best. I don't want you to retire with regrets" Art nods against you.

"I will, I promise," He mumbles, muffled against your skin. "I'll do as good as I can, I swear" he lowers his face to kiss your knees and you feel like he has something else to say, though he looks a bit nervous when he begins to talk

"Before the next slam," he starts, and his gaze skitters away from yours. "...can we spend a weekend just the two of us? Only me and you? Without Eloise or distractions, just us... I miss having you all to myself."

"love how that sounds" you bring him up with you and lay him on the bed, despite his somewhat serious mood, Art cannot help the sharp inhale of surprise he gives when you climb on top of him. He looks a bit bewildered for a second, but he quickly gives into the sensation of your weight pinning him down, his hands caress your thighs softly.

"where were you thinking of going?" you ask and Art thinks for some seconds before answering while smiling: it's tender and affectionate and he looks far more at ease than he ever did in the last twenty minutes.

"I dunno," He murmurs, reaching up to put your hair behind your ears to look t you better "maybe a long weekend up at the beach house? It'll be all ours".

His gaze flicks to your lips, clearly he's already entertaining ideas of what the two of you could get up to in complete isolation.

You laugh and kiss him "i like the idea" Art tilts his chin up to let your lips meet his, his bust rest now on his forearms.

"i'm happy you'll be at home more often, Eloise will be ecstatic to have you around" you confess. 

"I'm happy about it too," Art admits. A brief pause, and then there's a very obvious question he's refrained from asking. 

"...Do you think she misses me? I mean - I know she's only three, but..." Another sigh "...sometimes I worry that she doesn't want me around...".

"Don't be ridiculous Art, she loves you! she can't wait to see you when you're not with us, she also asked for something the other day" 

That piques his curiosity; his head draws back to look at you. 

"Really? What did she say? What did she ask for?" Art presses you for details, clearly eager to know what his daughter desires, he's always been a bit of a doting parent.

"she asked for a little sister to play with, said she got bored of playing with me" you laugh, that brings an amused chuckle out of Art.

"A sister, huh? I think a brother might be a bit easier on her, you know," he muses, grinning as he pushes himself to rest against the headboard pulling you with him, your chests pressed together. 

"Do you want to have another kid, then?" He murmurs against your skin. "Have another little one running around the house?".

"more than anything" you caress his abs "but...".

Art's breath hitches in his throat when your hands come to his skin. One of his hands wander down to lift your shirt while the other goes to your ass cheeks. 

"'But' what?" He prompts, words whispered against the skin of your collarbone.

"i want her to have your curly blonde hair" 

Art hums in recognition of your words, his hands sliding further down past your hips to your thighs. 

"My hair, huh? I thought you'd go after a cute brunette or a ginger, maybe," Art murmurs, lips pressing against your jaw now "are blondes really your type?" he teases, a kiss on your chin. 

"Donaldsons are my type" you wink.

Art laughs at the response, burying his face in your chest. He nips gently at the skin he can reach, fingers kneading into the meat of your ass in a firm massage. 

"Guess I fit the criteria, then," he teases, his breath hot against your collarbones as his teeth graze just above your pulse-point, drawing another shuddering whimper from you.

"are you okay with it?... with having another baby i mean" you ask between your moans. 

Art thinks your question over, expression softening as he lifts his head from your chest to look at you. His hands trail up and down your side, drawing soothing circles into your skin. 

"Of course," he whispers, and he sounds so sure of this "having you and Eloise is the greatest thing to ever happen to me. I'm more than happy to give her another sibling. I'd give you anything, anything you ever asked for."

Your heart swell in your chest "what did i do to deserve you?".

That makes Art's expression turn sheepish, and he ducks his head to hide his blush against your chest. It's the easiest thing in the world to turn him into a flustered boy, even after all these years, even if now you are both adults. 

"I should be asking you that," he mutters, pressing an absent kiss to your skin "I wouldn't be half of what I am now without you, love". 

"the same goes for me". 

A quiet, fond laugh slips past Art's lips, he lifts his head up to look at you, eyes shining with affection and contentment. 

"I love you," he whispers, like it's a promise. The words sound like they're just for you, not to be shared with anyone else. Art presses another warm kiss over your heart, sighing happily. "I love you so much".

"I love you too..." you smile lovingly "so, when should we start working on making a sister for Eloise?"

Art laughs, leaning to press a kiss to the tip of your nose. 

"We can start tonight, love," He murmurs, leaning in to claim your lips with another eager kiss "and if we don't succeed tonight, we can try again in the morning". 

"eager aren't you?" you push your hips down onto his, the laugh Art lets out turns a bit breathless, more of a gasp as your centers touch.

"What can I say, I'm feeling a bit... inspired," he whispers, catching his breath as his hand comes up to cup the underside of your thigh, fingers digging into the meat of your leg.

He meets your kisses gladly, sloppily and messily. He's far more interested in pressing further into your body, arching eagerly against you with a low groan. The hand on your thigh slides higher as Art seeks more contact, more skin, more of you, he lifts up your shirt and you raise your arms to take it off, now the only thing that separates your bodies are your panties and his boxers . 

"I love you," his breath is hot against your skin, his voice low and fervent at your ear. His mouth moves to your jawline, lips worshipping every inch of your skin. Art's intent is clear - he wants to make sure you feel so deeply, truly loved, so that you never doubt his affections or dedication to you.

You are going to push his boxers off but a knock on your door makes you and Art freeze. Your heads turns towards the door, his breath quickening in anticipation.

"Eloise?" He calls, his tone unsure. He doesn't seem like he's willing to take his hands off of you, though, as if the thought of moving away from you frightens him.

"mommy? daddy?" you daughter voice comes from the other side of the door. 

At the sound of his daughter's voice, Art's demeanor softens and slumps in relief, his half hard-on immediately softens "fuck-" he whispers and you chuckle "yeah, sweetheart? We're in here, is something wrong?" he passes you you shirt and helps you put it on hastily, you remove yourself from his body and sit on the edge of the bed. 

"come in" you say after fixing your shirt to cover your body, the knob turns and your daughter pokes her head inside, eyes filled with tears as she looks at the both of you, you stand up worried. 

"Mommy," she whispers, sounding a little unsure of herself "daddy" she looks at him. A smile spreads across her features, and she rushes towards you.

"are you okay baby?" you ask and take her in your arms before sitting on the bed next to Art.

Eloise nods and curls her little body against yours, looking up at you with bleary eyes. 

"I think I had a nightmare," she mutters, cuddling closer to you. Her hand reaches out to grab for Art's, and he immediately holds onto that precious little hand to kiss it softly.

"ow baby, i'm so sorry" you kiss her head. 

She leans up and presses a sleepy kiss to your cheek, her thumb coming up to rub at your jaw as if to comfort you and take away any hurt you may have. 

"You didn't give me a nightmare, mommy," she tells you with a tired smile. Art chuckles and gives you the fondest look he can offer - pride at your daughter, and adoration for you.

You laugh "would you like to sleep with us? nightmare's can't come in here". 

Eloise seems to love the idea, and she nods eagerly as she clambers off of your lap to crawl towards Art, he pulls her on him and adjusts himself into a lying position under the covers, Eloise on top of him, he pats the space next to him welcomingly for you to join them. 

You lay against him, your head on his chest near Eloise's and Art feels like he's holding his world in his hands.

He wraps a warm hand around you, pulling you in closer. You can hear the steady beat of his heart as you lean in. 

"good night, i love you" Eloise murmurs and you kiss her forehead.

"We love you too, honey," Art whispers, leaning down to kiss his daughter's head. Your daughter hums happily at the affection, burrowing into Art's chest. His head turns to meet your eyes as you lean up towards him, he kisses you sweetly.

"I guess we'll have to wait for the week end at the beach for *that*" you whisper on his lips.

There's a chuckle that rumbles from Art's chest at your words, and he lets his head drop back onto the pillow "I suppose so, love," he says with a yawn, his other arm wrapping around Eloise's small frame. He pulls the two of you flush against him as he gets settled in. 

"But this is good, too."

"yes it is" you smile and slowly you drift off to sleep in his arms 

Your husband listens to your even breathing for a while, making sure you've fallen asleep and Art smiles fondly at the two of you. He presses a lingering kiss to Eloise's forehead before turning his head to claim your lips with another, brief kiss for one last time. 

Art feels the full gravity of his affection for you and your daughter, contentment washing over him. Soon, he too falls asleep with his family bundled up in his arms under the covers.

━━━•❃°•°❀°•°❃•━━━

Do not copy or repost.

[crystallilytarot]

Your future partner's appearance. Choose an item!

It's a general reading, so it's possible that not everything will resonate with you, keep that in mind!

Pile 1

Quite tall, a little bit slender but they have broad shoulders. Masculine energy, even if it's not a male, they have this vibe, confident, and like a boss or a leader. For some of you, they can have some grey hair, but for others they dye their hair, can be some unique color too. Something red, can be a coat, jacket. Gold jewelry. Even if their face expression is mostly serious, they can be friendly, especially when they are with friends or family. They can have a scar, maybe from a surgery, but for some of you they have a tattoo, I feel not a very big one though.

Pile 2

They can be serious if they need to, but also an energetic, flirty type sometimes. They have a balanced body type, kinda like an hourglass figure. I think their legs can be muscular. They have a cold expression when they concentrate hard to do something. Their hands can be beautiful, you will like it. They have a sexy energy. I see something grey and light blue. They probably wear hats, caps, beanies often. Thick eyebrows and sometimes they have crazy hair, like when they wake up. Maybe they have a dog or something about pets are important here.

Pile 3

It's some nice, nurturing energy here. I feel summer, flowers, flowy dresses or a little bit oversized shirts from light texture. A little bit feels like a literal angel. They can be a foreigner. They have some very nice legs and feet. But if someone is messing with them, they will fight back, so don't let their looks fool you. They probably don't like to wear too tight clothes. I see different patterns, so I think they have some colorful clothes, maybe some bohemian accessories. They sit like they are a queen/king, something grateful about them.