#took a break from working on a big project to make this and I dunno whether it’s actually funny??

[alangdorf]

[ns-imagines]

What they drive

141 Guys x domestic/everyday life

SFW | Word Count: 1.4k | Headcannons

**Long post with lots of pictures!

A/N: I dunno much about cars but I always wonder what the boys would be driving. See what they’re picking me up in for date night… this is just for fun and highlights the modern life they have outside of missions. Also the gif of Soap falling on the car took me out lmao. Not requested. -Kiv

John Price

A man who takes pride in his vehicles. He has two Chevy trucks. A nice truck for everyday use and a project truck. The perfect person to talk to if you are thinking of purchasing a car or truck. Price has got the “dealership scam” game down. You'll be leaving the lot with a good deal.

The project car being a 1985 Chevy C10. Price is always going on about how “this is every man's dream car to work on”. He says it everytime he opens the garage. Without fail! It's got a classic blue color with a few rust spots but, nothing a good layer of paint can't fix. Its the 90s car from the movies. Nothing else to say about it!

Ahh the project car. Price works on it when he can. Set up a lawn chair, get a glass of lemonade, and just watch that man work. Sometimes hell even explain to you what he’s doing. That is if you can even pay attention. There’s something so attractive about a man talking about what he’s passionate about all sweaty with a nice pump. HEY, wipe that drool off your face.

Price’s personal truck is nice. It gets him from point A to B. Everything on it is stock. He’ll always tell you hes gonna sell it once his project car has been fixed. But there’s still quite a lot to do on the project car. Its a 2012 Chevy Silverado in cherry black with a covered bed. Good on gas and can pull a trailer or boat! He doesn’t invest money in it for other than maintenance costs.

It smells specifically like “Lakeside Morning” from Bath and Body works car scents. The packaging is what got him. It was honestly super cute when he read the package out loud. “Smells like: Cool, Sweet, Fresh, and alone time on the dock” followed by a shrug and him throwing it into his cart. Does he even fish?

Oh, whenever he turns a corner in the Silverado theres a thud coming from the bed. Its a cooler that has been there FOREVER. He swears he’s going to take it out. Price brought it when 141 met for a cook out and some beers a few months ago.

-

Kyle “Gaz” Garrick

Don’t ask about the APR please. Kyle is going to use this bad girl till it breaks. Its his dream car. Price took him away from base to get a better rate for it! Its fast its speedy its a 2015 Ford Shelby GT350. Oh yeah racing stripes and all. He got it wrapped in a matte ocean blue. Im talking leather seats, tinted windows, and custom wheel.

Kyle loves this car and will always offer to pick you up. Ur always going to be passenger princess. Kyle always drives up reallll slow, rev the engine a little, and rolls down the window to smile big at you. He gets the door for you when you are both approaching the car. Don’t test him. He will literally sprint to get the door for you. An actual cutiepie

Hes so damn cute when it comes to long drives. Hand on your thigh and singing to the music together. Expect spontaneous trips!! He doesn’t even know where you guys are headed today.

Loves to speed up when there no cars in front of him. That feeling of the car pushing into you the sear is his favorite. Kyle is definitely the type to lightly bang on the steering wheel and go “Wooooooo” when returning to the normal speed limit. Hehe. Hope it didn’t freak you out too much. You will without a doubt get a few reassuring thigh squeezes.

Classic Black Ice scent. Cant go wrong with it! Its his car’s signature sent if you ask him. Kyle keeps his car clean. Theres a few half empty water bottles in the back but never straight up trash. He makes sure to buy the premium wipes for the interior. Like I said that car is his baby. Ugh did i mention the sound system?! Its absolutely amazing. You can feel the bass in your bones. Literally sounds like you’re in an air pod pro.

-

John “Soap” Mactavish

His car is the hangout car. Like if were going out with boys were taking Soaps car. He drives a pearl colored 2020 Honda Accord. He ordered the under the seat lights and everything. Its actually a vibe in there. The music changes the lights or he has an app on his phone to change the color. Another amazing sound system tbh.

Similar to Gaz the glovebox in the car is yours. He even puts stuff in there for you as a surprise :,). Sweet baby Johnny. Like one time you got in the car like usual and opened the glovebox to grab chapstick or some perfume/cologne and sitting on the car instruction manual was a bag/box of ur favorite snack. When you looked back over, Johnny was looking back at you with a big derpy smile.

Since his car is the hangout car it can get messy pretty easily. He has to do “trash runs” to empty the random things people leave in his car. Dont get it wrong, It isnt nasty with random food left behind!! Soap has tried those like little trash cans on Amazon but they always end up lost under the back seats.

Johnny always goes with New Car Smell. He doesn’t have a specific brand he likes he just gets whatever’s at the gas station at the time. He also has the bad habit of never locking his car. Soap swears he always forgets to but you think its just a habit at this point.

CEO of spontaneous trips. You would never believe how much camping stuff his car can hold. Soap will give him car encouraging words as it struggles to go up the hills to the hike or camping site. He always keeps an emergency box under the passenger seat. Its shaped like tackle box. It has a first aid kit, some portable batteries with chargers, flares, and an emergency flash light. Last time you both went camping he was so excited to show you the random hatchet he bought. He keeps it in the trunk for no reason. I mean, he cant have it in the barracks so you suppose it makes sense.

-

Simon “Ghost” Riley

Simon currently owns two bikes. Hes in the process of selling his old one. Which is a chameleon purple painted 2006 Suzuki GSXR600 with 750 cc. It gave him a good year and half off rides. He took care of it and rode it to its top speeds. It has a scuff on the side from when he tried to do a wheelie but, he was going to slow and had to jump off before it fell to its side. Your heart sunk when it happened. Ghost was super embarrassed because he thought he had it down. He’ll never tell you though.

After a long deployment where he was getting quite a big of hazard pay (extra pay when you’re in a dangerous location) he saved it all up. As soon as he got back he bought a black 2021 Honda Rebel 1100 DCT. This bike is fast but it’s more for cursing. Trust that he’ll ride it to its max speed at least once for the adrenaline rush.

Bought you a matching jacket. He wont say anything about it being matching but you noticed almost after putting it on. Best part about riding is when you get to wrap your arms around his waist. Simon always makes sure to take it slow especially if you get nervous on bikes. Don’t even try to do your hair. He wont move the bike unless you have the right gear on. Ghost doesn’t wanna lose you from an accident.

You are probably wondering what he does when it rains… or maybe you already knew he chooses to ride anyway. I promise though that after a ride in the rain he will slightly complain about how wet the road was. It makes you worry because so much could happen with one slip. Simon will always reassure you that he’s an experienced rider. If you pick him up in your car he won’t be upset. Definitely wont say no to a free and dry ride!

[likedovesinthewindd]

Heeeyyy I really love your stories!! <3 can I request hobie being a runway model and reader being fashion designer for him. I been thinking about the fact he said he was briefly a runway model and I can’t get it out my head. I dunno what direction you’d want to take the story in if u wrote it but im pretty sure I’d b great! :) (sorry about the vagueness)

hi babes, thank you soo much you're so sweet:')) also so sorry this took so long!!

hobie brown x reader

warning: mention of pins/needles

wc: ±1100

a/n: don't really like how this came out might rewrite it later on. not fully proofread.

You didn't consider yourself any Westwood or McQueen just yet, but even the best had to start somewhere, right? It just so happened that your "somewhere" would be the old community hall in your neighborhood. This would be your very first fashion show, not something you took very lightly. This could make or break your almost nonexistent career, so it was important that everything was absolutely perfect.

Planning this had been an absolute pain; trying to find an affordable venue that wasn't on the verge of complete degradation, finding a way to decorate said venue accordingly, promoting and hunting for possible columnists and other industry players to invite, along with a million other things.

One of the most important aspects were models; the people who ultimately would be representing your brand. The only problem was that you didn't have money to hire any people, much less approach an agency, so you had to get creative. You had held "auditions" in your neighborhood; basically asking your friends and other people if they'd like to model for you.

You were upfront, admitting that you would not be able to pay them properly. People were reluctant at first; the idea of no compensation turning some away, but after a few days you managed to find and recruit a handful of people to help you, most of them being friends and people you knew from scool. Things were looking good, and your project was on the right tracks so far.

You were running around in your apartment-turned-studio, frantically searching for the tracing wheel you had lost once again, when you heard a knock on your door. You opened it to find a tall and lanky young man, hands in the pockets of his jacket. "Heard you're looking for models," was all he said in a low deep voice and you raised your brows. "Y'know I can't pay you right?" you said, and he nodded in reply. "Long as the clothes look good I don't care," he said.

After first glance, you already knew he'd be a showstopper. He just looked perfect for a runway; you could already imagine the way your pieces would fit him. That's how you had met Hobie, how you gained a model, a muse, aswell as a friend.

✴︎.˳⁺⁎˚｡⋆

It still shocked you just how much you've managed to pull off in these few months leading up to the big event. The whole thing had been one big family-friend initiative; everyone stepping in to help where they can.

Your old roomate, who worked at a hair salon had asked her colleagues to help with doing every model's hair. She had a friend who worked as a beautician in a salon, who had asked her colleagues to help with everyone's make-up. The choreographer had been your aunt, courtesy of her "certified pageant mom" status. The lighting and sound provided by a friend who worked as a part-time DJ at some dingy club. He had smuggled some equipment to use for the night.

The small closet rooms that served as backstage facilities were packed with people doing make-up, running around in robes and adding all the final touches.

When the time came for everyone to get dressed, you were running around like a headless chicked, hemming a few pieces here and there and filing down slippery shoes, even having to calm one of the girls down due to an anxiety attack.

"How does that feel? Comfortable?" you asked pulling and adjusting at the top of Hobie's outfit, trying not to restrict his airflow. "Good," was all he said. "Are you nervous, superstar?" he asked, as you worked on a piece of stubborn material at the back of his pants. You scoffed quietly at the stupid nickname. "Yes," you answered truthfully, "there's a few important people out there. If they like what they see, they'll be writing articles. Articles mean exposure, and I really need that right now." You laughed nervously.

"But it's gonna be great," you added, moving away from his pants and taking a moment to admire your work, albeit from behind. "because I have my showstopper right here, and he looks incredible," you added with a smile. He turned around, giving you a coy smirk in return. "You outdid yourself love," he said, looking down at his attire, "on your way to becomin' the new Westwood, yeah?"

You scoffed at his comment. "C'mon you have to go line up," you said.

★˚｡⋆.˳⁺⁎˚

The show itself was absolutely perfect. You watched backstage with bated breath as each model disappeared through the dark curtains, then like clockwork returned, some to change into new pieces, then fall back in line.

Hobie had both opened and closed for your show, and by the end of the night when everyone stood in applause, he and your mother had urged you to go on stage to give your final bow. You thought it was corny, but you humored them, walking onto the runway until you were visible and giving everyone a wordless thank you, before making your way backstage once again.

You had thanked every single person who worked with you, giving everyone a warm embrace aswell as thanking them profusely for their hard work. When you finally got to thank Hobie, you wrapped your arms around his neck, placing a fat kiss right on the apple of his cheek. "You," you started, pulling him away from your embrace, but keeping his shoulders in your two hands, "stole the fucking show."

He laughed lightly, shrugging dismissively. "You're the one that made this possible," he said, and you flashed him a megawatt smile, the adrenaline from the night pumping through your body.

"Y'know, there were a few casting directors scouting here tonight," you said, "you might be getting a few calls soon, they'd definitely want to sign a catch like you." He only scrunched his face his dismissal. "Nah," he said, and you furrowed your brows. "I'm not committing myself to some agency, wouldn't want to leave you," he added.

He continued to work with you several more months; working closely with you when designing and creating your pieces, than modeling those same pieces. Your popularity grew, and with it the demand for him; numerous agencies looking to potentially sign him. When it all became too much, he decided to stop all together. You respected his decision, and still remained close with him. You still called him showstopper, and he still called you superstar.

[notroosterbradshaw]

Kisses #11 with Bob and maybe a pilot!reader?

PROMPT: 11. a kiss that says ''we're late for work, but let's be later''

thank you for this, nonny. Let's go!

A/N - I have another 10 or so kiss prompts. I'm going to close the requests. Thank you for your submissions, I'm enjoying writing them. Def overwhelmed but will continue with what I’ve already received xx

“You need to go that way, I need to go that way,” you mumbled against Bob’s lips, reaching for the collar of his flight suit to pull him closer. He huffed a quiet hum, your actions not mirroring your words in the slightest. 

You were about two minutes away from hearing the riot act from Cyclone, Bob was about to hear the same from Phoenix for the 200 push-ups she had coming because he was surely going to be late and well, you know, partners. Your lips had been glued together for the better part of five - 

“Uh huh,” Bob said, pulling his grip against you tighter, his big hands pressing into your hips and curving your spine to him. 

It all started innocently enough. You grinned at each other as you crossed pathways in the hallway. You have just left a morning meeting and Bob had just gone through his morning seminar, heading to pre-flight. “Just,” he lifted his wrist from your side, spying his watch over your shoulder. “90 more seconds and we can make a break for it, okay?”

“On the clock, so sexy,” you muttered, rolling your eyes. He caught your lips again. Sweet Bob, how this was turning into a daily occurrence was baffling to you. You’d met him in his graduate year, and as deceptive as his shyness projected, Bob wasn’t overly timid around those that he knew. You’d got to talking one night over a few drinks at The Hard Deck and you couldn’t get enough of his stories of growing up on the farm but also needing to break the chain of his family’s expectations for what he truly wanted in life.

He thought that was to fly but his fate brought him to the backseat, a role he relished and knew he was damn good at too. 

A few beers that night and he had you a quivering mess as he pressed his body against yours outside the bar. It never really eventuated further that. But this time was different. You had both found yourselves in the right places at the right time. Funny that.

His strong palm would wrap around your wrist, drag you into the closest classroom and kiss you ferociously until the very last second when you’d both escape before being caught. To this point... there were way too many near misses for your luck not to run out. And soon. 

Your phone started to buzz and Bob only fought harder for your kiss, his slick tongue sweet against your own. You’d learned so much from him. Like... how not to underestimate the quiet ones.

“Bob, I gotta go. It’s Cyclone, I have another meeting - ” 

He groaned against your lips. He knew he was in for it too. “Okay, okay,” he said, reluctantly and stepped away. He took his BCGs off (good lord, they weren’t meant to be attractive by any stretch... but Bob definitely found a way to make them work) and he rubbed the slightly foggy marks away against his flight suit before adjusting them back on his eyes properly, a goofy smile on his lips. Proud, pleased. Both.

Collecting yourself, you were scared the open the classroom door in case there was a gaggle of new students on the other side. You straightened your clothes and breathed evenly. “Have a good day, Lieutenant.”

“Yep,” was all he could reply as you ducked out and left him to his devices. Reading his wat, he knew: Natasha Trace was going to kill him. He was late. 

“Think this is funny?” Phoenix asked as Bob scurried across the tarmac as she inspected their aircraft a few moments later. “You wanna go on this mission, we gotta be on our A-game.”

“Of course,” Bob said, his skin flushing. 

She frowned at him, glad they weren’t spotted by any of their seniors. “I dunno who she is, Bob, but this is the second day in a row your mouth is covered in lipstick. I think yesterday’s suited you better though,” she smirked to herself, using her thumb to rid away the last of the evidence.

He nodded. “She’s everything,” he told his partner. 

“She works here?” 

He gave a single nod. 

“Say no more - tell me everything tonight over a beer,” she instructed as Bob’s face brightened slightly.

“Well, ok.” 

[pleucas]

Would you ever consider doing a colouring tutorial?

Heyooooooo

I've done a coloring post before (a few months prior), but somehow, my coloring/painting process has changed a lot since then lol. I'll give a breakdown of my process (and go into specifics on coloring) here, but please do take it with a grain (or a spoonful) of salt... I'm still very much learning, and though you can use my process as a guide, experiment on your own to find what works for you! This post got a little long I'm ngl so. open at ur own risk. it's really just me rambling and being a bit too pretentious for my own good

using my recent post as an example, my process is basically just:

first i get a clean sketch (after many hours of pain finding detailed references lol), not gonna go into that since you asked abt coloring

then i immediately go to block out shapes over the sketch. For big paintings, I don't do lineart (because i find that it eliminates a lot of depth that can be achieved with shapes and shading) — for smaller sketches and pieces, i'll do lineart tho.

I started darker to lighter in this painting because I knew I wanted harsh light. For me, it's a lot easier to project "additions" onto a surface — ie, if there's a harsh light, that's the addition vs. a shadow in neutral lighting as the addition. dunno if that makes sense, but breaking tones down like that helps me understand how i want to chronologically color smth and choose my bases:

for example, since I knew I was gonna have harsh light here, I felt comfortable with just getting the tones for my shadows down immediately. There won't be many midtones due to how extreme I saw it to be, so there was no point in finding a neutral base tone.

how i choose colors varies from painting to painting, but for this one, I decided to lean purple-blue because skk are just one of many red and blue gays (same reason why most of my other skk works lean red-blue-purple), and also because I knew I wanted my light to be on the warmer side — thus, the shadows and unlit areas will be cooler.

i also wanted it to recede (to emphasize the perspective and for depth), so for the base colors, i made them cooler + darker as they went back. This wasn't as clear in the finished product, but i think it did a good job at reminding me the vibe i wanted as i rendered

By how much I've written for this step, I guess you can assume that it's the step I put the most consideration into — and you'd be right. I think base colors really determine the vibe, and it sets you up for the rest of the painting. Sometimes I have to color adjust my bases over and over (with hue adjustments, color balance, curves) until I'm satisfied. I think that satisfaction is obtained w/ more ease as I've painted more and more. Alongside the sketch, this step takes me quite a while. Sometimes it's fun to mess with really wild color combos, but that's another topic.

Then I block out the lighting, which is probably the most drastic step but also somehow the quickest for me. Once you understand how light affects color (warmth, tone, etc) and you gain confidence with it, blocking out values in relation to base tones isn't too hard. That ofc takes practice and a lot of fundamental understanding of Shapes & Colors but there's a lot of stuff online abt the theory specifically from professionals, so I'm not gonna lecture y'all as a fanartist for glorified literary author rpf

then i just start rendering, layer by layer. above is a screenshot i took mid-rendering; at this point, dazai's clothes were basically done but I later worked on the face + hair more and textured the tie.

I try to do the stuff I want people to focus on first, because at least for me, that's when I have the most energy to make smth detailed — the more detailed an area is, the more naturally drawn you eye is to it (this is because the brain likes areas of high contrast, and details are entirely founded on the placement of contrast).

My art has never been too extremely detailed — I enjoy flatter + bigger shapes, styled texturing and silly patterns, but I find that "detail" still translates into "effort". When I look at paintings, it's very clear where someone put most of their effort — and when I can't tell, then I know I have a very confident + experienced artist who can effectively distribute their workflow (goalz). So yeah, I render in my very silly poly style but still keep that in mind.

eventually, I finish rendering. This part is kinda a blur tbh, and it always varies from artist to artist. I'd say the things I keep in mind are:

shape + form (making sure my rendering doesn't mess up gesture or vibes, and that it keeps things loose)

composition (making sure i don't overdo areas where i don't want people to focus on)

and tone (ensuring that the depth and believability of the scene stays intact so that my non-realistic style can work)

I added the bullet because i wanted a reason for the goofy expressions, just a bit more pizazz so that skk's drama was also believable lol. also visual storytelling or whtv (but that's not something i usually prioritize, it mostly comes with the concept and sketch).

I also added the bullet for some compositional spice. the dark shadow on dazai's arms was there to also emphasize the warped perspective, but it also left a weirdly empty vibe that I didn't enjoy lol. So yeah, bullet! and ofc my favorite, weird flowy line pattern thing that doesn't adhere to the laws of physics

I think a lot of my traditional painting experience leaks into my digital painting practice. I don't like lineart too much, and since I mainly work with acrylic, I rely on opaque color blocks, layering, and "carving out" shapes. probably explains my affinity for solid flat brushes in Procreate,,,,, but yeah. It's a little all over the place, but at its core, it's a lot of technical stuff mixed with habits after finding what works for me.

Dunno if this helps at all, or if it was interesting lolol. Thank you for reading until the end if you're still here! I appreciate it. I'm still learning but I've definitely learned a lot since I started this blog so it's exciting to track my progress. I'm sure I'll see this in a few years and laugh lolol.

[the-present-is-a-gift-au]

Chapter 31: In Which Kip Loses a Race

Twig wasn’t necessarily acting off as Kip ordered a meal to split between them at Spinda’s Cafe. She was still herself. She still laughed the same, over-loud way, she still loved the seasoning on that one grilled berry dish and wanted to figure out how Spinda made such a bland, slightly sweet fruit the star of a savory meal, and she still hated juice and always ordered water instead. But there was something underlying all of that. She laughed loudly, and it seemed like a performance— a way to convince him that she was having a good time. She chit-chatted about that one dish and it seemed like she was trying to distract him from the way her tail nervously twitched against the floor. She ordered water and always took a sip when he asked her a question, like she needed to buy herself precious seconds to think of an answer. 

They finished at Spinda’s and started on the walk home. It wasn’t too long of a distance, but it certainly wasn’t to the market and back, so it was starting to get dark by the time they hit Treasure Town. 

They chatted as they went, and Twig seemed more relaxed as they walked holding each other’s hands. Maybe Kip was judging Twig’s nervousness too harshly. It had been three years since he had last set foot in Treasure Town, and Twig always did have a habit of making things up in her head into bigger sources of stress than they needed to be. He should know— he had the same bad habit of overthinking and catastrophizing. 

They really were a perfect match for each other in that way. They both knew how the other’s brain worked— for the most part, at least— and knew how to talk them down from whatever mountain of worries they had worked up for themself. It was a good fit for them to be friends. It made for a wonderfully self-regulating dynamic. 

“You look more like a swampert than a marshtomp,” Twig said, breaking the silence as they walked. 

“It kind of freaked me out, to be honest. I thought I was sick or something. Our medic said it was an evolution that almost doubled over. Can you believe it? I almost became a swampert in one fell swoop! Imagine how tall I’d be…” He trailed off, elbowing Twig playfully. 

She didn’t elbow him back, instead looking crestfallen all of a sudden. 

“Are you okay? Did I say something weird?”

“You’re fine, Kip, I just… I was thinking about how I barely evolved at all.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that I’m more charmander than charmeleon. Sure, I’m a bit beefier and I’ve got less baby fat, but I still have a charmander’s coloring and everything. I talked to Celebi about it, actually, and she said it’s probably the temporal distortion acting up. She’s not sure I’ll ever evolve again, or if I'll fully evolve if I end up getting another evolution by some miracle.”

“Hey—” Kip put an arm around her shoulders. “You know evolution isn’t that big a deal, right? Lots of pokemon only ever evolve once, or not at all. It’s not an important thing around here. Not unless you want to evolve like Ursaring did. And then you have all the trouble of people mixing you up!” He joked halfheartedly. It killed him, seeing Twig so upset. She didn’t react to the humor, and he worried he overstepped, but he wasn’t sure how to cheer her up.

Twig’s brow creased in frustration before she sighed, relaxing. “Yeah. You’re right. I dunno why I’m treating it like getting good grades in school or whatever. Why cry over it? It’s not a problem worth worrying over.”

“Yeah! Though, um… Definitely get checked out by a professional if you evolve again and it’s another half-evolution. You might have some health problems if you do, and as much as I love Celebi, she’s not exactly certified.” 

A small smile twitched at the corners of Twig’s mouth. “You’d think that she would be, after how long she spent bragging about bringing Grovyle back from the brink of death.”

“It’s a little worrisome how proud of that she is.”

“Seriously. I get that she’s saying she’s good at healing people, but I thought that she would be a bit more tactful about it.” 

“You’re one to talk, Miss I beat up multiple Legends and only died once on a technicality, therefore I am the best fighter ever.”

“Wh— that was a joke! I was joking! I was doing a funny bit! And it wasn’t even that concerning!”

“Grovyle looked like he was going to have an aneurysm. I thought that I was going to have an aneurysm.”

“You guys just can’t handle a good laugh. That’s all.” 

“Or maybe you can’t handle us worrying about you, kidder.” 

Twig fell abruptly silent, eyes wide and mouth still opened in whatever rebuttal she was prepared to launch back, but then snapped her jaws closed, silent.

“… Twig? You good?”

She shook herself, and Kip recognized how she tried to disguise the shift in whatever she was thinking about as a shiver. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m just tired. And cold. It’s freezing out here.”

“Oh! Yeah, we’re having a really late frost this year, apparently. Dugtrio said he could feel it in his toe-claws. Which… is weird. I didn’t know he had claws. Or feet.”

“Yeah, that’s a bit… extremely unsettling. But a late frost? Again? It’s been warm for ages, but we’re getting one final little hurrah of a cold snap! We had one a couple years ago, and it was the worst. I was practically holed up inside for the first few weeks of spring.”

“You need to get tested or something. It’s not often that a water-type handles cold better than a fire-type.” 

“It’s not often that a fire-type didn’t grow up as a fire-type, either.” 

Kip slapped his forehead. “Oh. Duh, of course. I know you were once a human, but sometimes it feels like you were always a charmander before we met. I mean, it might as well have been that way, considering that you don’t remember being human much.”

“Uh… yeah. Yeah, you’re right.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yep, just chilly. Come on, let’s pick up the pace and get back to the bluff already!”

“Wh—” He froze, shocked when Twig took off in a sprint. He rushed forward to keep up, struggling to match her speed. “Slow down! I’m not as fast as you!”

“Loser has to make dinner!”

“We just ate, you menace!”

Twig let out a cackle, high and proud in its sound, and Kip held onto the hope he was just making up the way she looked so terrifyingly sorrowful when he mentioned her amnesia.

[poupeesdecirque]

2024 - Half a year review

Long time since the last blog entry, I have to admit I was terribly buried under work and I can now breathe a bit again. I poured the very little time I had left into crafts and the attempt to feed myself well.

The first half of 2024 was wild, for the first few months it felt more like a fever dream and it still kind of does.

I did a lot in regards of crafting, mainly sewing, but photography got less and overall other hobbies were (and still are) on hiatus for me.

A big chunk of my artistic energy went into the D.Gray-man redraw project, the panel redraws were an intense project and the anniversary group as well, I was challenged a lot with my own approach of art and as all came together I directly was rewarded with a terrible crisis/art block which took a month to get through (kinda), I am now not hating on my drawn art anymore, it's only just the scans now, the colors look terrible flat when scanned but that's good progress.

Other than that my AU Fanfic 'Warmth' and the outtakes of it are nearing it's end, I don't intend to publish the outtakes but I can tell together the whole thing is over 700k words and I still do work on the final details... it's hard to end it.

Then, oh boi, I finished a lot of dolls, some were in progress since 2022 and with everything that happened the last year I it was for the better to put a lot on them on hiatus, to step back from the hobby and just do my own thing for several months.

I had cut ties with the community in begin of December and am trying to get back to it since the end of May but I feel detached still, but in a good way somehow. Like, I am not having that "omg I wasn't online for a day i have to read EVERYTHING that happened" I just... don't care. I scroll here and there and if I miss a thing, it's that. I don't even care about any feedback anymore as I cooked up my own things and let it sit for me to absorb to be fine with everything.

I can announce that except one doll, which was ordered in begin of 2023 and I see no real chance to even get it this year, if I ever will have it, we'll see, all my projects from prior 2024 are finished and the progress will be posted across the next weeks.

There are new projects, I am delighted I found inspiration in new dolls again after being withdrawn for long enough and even have a wishlist again. I am not pleased I have to deal with collars again but eh...

With everything I handled in sewing regards I will handle that as well.

I can also tell that I have grown as a person, it would get too personal here to go into all details but I can connect with people again and I have finally developed good coping mechanism, I have a better feeling and routines that I can come to when I don't feel well.

Remembering 2-3 years ago I spend almost every weekend depressed and now I am maybe exhausted from all the stress but I have grown more confident in several regards, there is still space to grow more but I am so grateful for the new friends I have found the way and the support my (found) family gives me.

I am glad I am able to go out more even though some events were harsh on me bc I was severly exhausted and didn't last long but I saw I needed the break and I tried, I attempted, that's important.

I even went back on stage and there is so much to come. Aside cons I have finished my main cosplays so far, at least in sewing regards.

I aquired so many new skills and some will greatly help me with a few doll projects I have cooked up and am really eager to start on once the base dolls/materials are here.

Dunno if this blog makes much sense, but I am incredible grateful for a lot of things right now, even with all the hardships that I went through.

There is a bunch of things I haven't figured out yet but I am certain I will find a solution it just needs more time and that's the most precious thing I have.. time.

[diazsdimples]

“Hurry up Dad, all the good trees will be gone!”. It was mid-December and Christopher was tugging on his father’s arm as Eddie stooped over to tie his shoelace. Behind them, Buck was trying to wrestle Aidan into his stroller, the boy’s puffy jacket making it difficult for Buck to get the straps over his little arms. They’d pulled up in front of a local Christmas tree market and Christopher was practically vibrating with excitement as his eyes swept from tree to tree, already making mental notes of which ones looked good.

Eddie straightened up and put a supportive hand on Christopher’s back, leading him towards the entrance of the market. “Now remember, we can’t get anything too big because the ceiling at home isn’t a high as we’re used to and I’m not breaking my back hauling something through the yard this year”.

Christopher merely rolled his eyes at his father’s reminder and took off towards the trees as fast as his legs could carry him, crutches clicking away madly on the loose gravel of the parking lot. Buck, having finally situated Aidan in his pram, walked up next to Eddie.

“Is he usually this excited?” he asked, leaning forward to check that Aidan wasn’t being smothered by his jacket.

Eddie just laughed. “Ever since he was a little kid. I dunno what’s with this kid and Christmas but he’s obsessed”. Eddie knelt down next to the pram and kissed Aidan gently on the nose, taking a moment to appreciate just how adorable the little boy looked, all bundled up in his jacket and hat, a small tuft of ginger hair poking out from under all the layers. “I hope this little guy will be just as hyped as Chris when he grows up”.

“He will be, loving Christmas runs in the Buckley family”. Buck shivered at the uncharacteristically cold air and pulled his jacket tighter around him. “Come on, let’s go find Chris before he picks out the most expensive tree they have”.

With that they made their way into the market, following the sound of Christopher’s crutches. Aidan, who had never seen a Christmas tree before, let alone been so up close and personal with one, was starting wide-eyed from his stroller, tiny arms reaching out every so often to grasp onto a low-hanging branch. After a couple of whines and cries of frustration as Aidan struggled to see everything around him, Eddie took pity on him and unbuckled him from his stroller and hoisted him up, settling him on his hip.

“Is that better, little man?” he asked as he twirled in a slow circle, laughing as Aidan held his hands out, taking small breaths of surprise as the pine needles tickled his palms. Together, Eddie and Aidan pressed forward to find Christopher, Buck trailing behind them with the empty stroller, heart brimming with pride as he watched his son and boyfriend weave their way through the trees.

They found Christopher staring up in wonder at a massive tree, probably double the size of Buck’s living room.

“I want that one, Dad” he breathed, pointing up at the mass of pine needles and branches in front of him. Eddie looked the tree up and down and shook his head.

“That’s massive, Chris, it wouldn’t even fit in a church!”

Christopher pouted, turning to Buck and begging him. “Please, Buck, it could fit in the backyard!”.

Buck was a much weaker man than Eddie and not quite so well practiced at fending off Christopher’s puppy eyes. He turned to Eddie helplessly. “Ed” he pleaded, desperately requiring backup.

“Christopher, please, let’s not do this again” Eddie said firmly, laying a hand on his son’s shoulder. “They’ve got ones that’ll fit way better over here”.

He steered Christopher over to the other side of the market as the kid let out an exaggerated sigh and shuffled forwards, kicking his feet as he put on a show of disappointment. Eddie threw Buck an eyeroll over his shoulder and followed after his son. It didn’t take long for Christopher to perk up as he found another tree, this one much better suited to the size of their lounge. Eddie couldn’t help but wince at the price but Buck brushed it off, offering to pay for it as an early Christmas present.

[nitannichionne]

Ransom's Redemption (Chris Evans Fanfiction), Chapter 24: The Song (Ransom's POV)

I can't get it out of my head. Leave it to Fiona to throw me off.

She sent me a picture of Mimi on Insta with none other than her ex-fiance. The guy cheated on her before the wedding. She was hurt, but she walked away from him though. He was stupid enough to think they could work it out. I held her while she cried, and she only cried about it once. I even called in a favor and had the guy's car towed by the city. He loved that Mustang. But it was years later, and they looked too damn close at the tea shop in the online photo.

She was married to me, carrying my kid, right? So why did this bother me?

It simply. Fucking. Did. I found myself going over shit I did, didn't do.

"These shots are okay," the photographer says. Her name is Raine Phillips and she had a pretty nice portfolio. She was a senior at NYU, and Calida called in a favor to get her on this project. 

I sigh. "They're missing something."

"Yeah, the electricity, the 'X' factor, I dunno," She shook her head. "I can try again-"

"Uh, can you give us a minute?" Calida asks. She gives the young woman's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.  "It's definitely not you. Let me talk to him, okay?" She pulls me aside. "What's wrong?"

"Calida, it's--" I exhale, wanting a woman's advice. "I just saw a pic on Insta of my wife with her ex."

Calida frowns and gasps, "Where?"

"At our tea and coffee shop-It's Tea Time Somewhere?" I tell her. "I guess--"

"He stopped by to say hi?" Calida finishes.

I exhale. "I sound like an idiot, don't I?"

"You sound like a jealous husband," she chuckles. "Let me tell you something," she gives me a small shake. "Your wife has always been in love with you."

I laugh humorlessly. "What, cause we're married?" I swallow hard, and turn away. My mom and dad are married. And a big ew on that little mess.

"I don't know about you, but I know she loves you."

I turn to her. "You--"

"I remember when we were dating in college, and I met her?" Calida looks into my eyes. "Her heart was breaking, Ran. I didn't care back then, I was stupid, but I grew up, and I never forgot it. I never did that to any woman again. And I never dated a man who was too blind to see it without at least pointing it out."

"Calida--" I watched her pull out her phone, and quickly click and drag and everything. "What?"

"Listen to this."

The link popped up on my phone and I clicked:

And then I couldn't get it out of my head. The memories of our conversations, our hugging over the years, and the way we lingered played back in my mind. And, oh, God, our first kiss! Could it be that we always were? That song played in my head over and over as we continued the shoot, and I kept thinking of Mimi every time I looked at Calida. 

"Oh, now this is good!" Raine smiles ear to ear. "Good pep talk!"

"Naah, he just misses his wife," Calida shrugs, making me blush.

"Oh, that is so cute!"

"What the hell is going on?!"

We all turn to see Paul.

"Well, look who's here!" Calida says with forced brightness.

Paul's anger and outrage is plain as day on his face. "Calida?!"

"We knew you couldn't start early, so I got you an assistant."

"Assistant?" Paul repeats, outrage in his features. 

"Yes," Calida smirks. "We are done with shots here, but will you be ready for the next background?"

Paul looks at me, and I only raised my eyebrows to let him know I was not arguing this. I want to go home. "Yeah...yeah."

We skip lunch and power through, but I took time to buy a train ticket home just in case planes were grounded. The shots were actually pretty good. Raine was good, but Paul had experience, and once Paul had a few expressos he was over it, and helping Raine. She admired him and was willing to learn.

"That's it." Paul announces. Raine is happy and excited. 

"Thanks, Paul," I nod, shaking his hand. "You two should work together more often."

Paul rolls his eyes. "It's definitely a thought. I've never had an apprentice-assistant, yes, but this makes me think."

"Merry Christmas, man." 

"Merry Christmas."

I go to Calida and see that she is getting ready to leave. We both had our bags on set. "Thanks for everything."

"No problem, we got people to get home to," She smiles. "So...?"

"What?"

"You listened to the song," she grins. "Your whole behavior changed."

I chuckle. "Yeah."

"And...?" She watches me grin, and giggles. She gives me a kiss on the cheek, turns me around, and pushes me like I'm going on a runway. "Get outta here!"

"Thanks, Calida." I said gratefully. 

"Invitation to the baby shower?" She calls after me.

"You got it!" I call over my shoulder. "Bring that man, I want to meet him!"

"It's a double date!"

I'm going home.  No, really, fuckin' really: I'm going home!

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[a-shrieking-cloud-of-bats]

What kind of audience do you think you'd recommend dwarf fortress to? It definetly looks very different from anything else I played

Hmm. that's a very good question anon and I'm going to break it down.

People that like making their own fun. At the end of the day, dwarf fortress is a game that's only as meaningful as you make it, due to the random generation. If you take everything literally it's just pseudo guided actions performed by randomly generated dwarves. What is a tragic tale of a soldier going on a rampage in the fort after a siege because his cat died in the fighting is very easily reduced to simple numbers, because the underlying systems are not very complex and they do not try very hard to hide themselves. Similarly after you've gotten over the initial hump, if the narrative stuff isn't quite selling you, you have to be willing to challenge yourself. I'm currently attempting to build a boat, in the ocean, and making a nice looking port town with it. None of this holds bearing on the world or how it interacts in any major way (I don't think, anyway, it's been a while), but it's a fun project and if I end up keeping the world it will continue to exist long after I'm finished playing it. I can go there in adventure mode, and dwarves from that fort that live can show up in other forts. That's pretty satisfying, if you ask me. Probably the most important part.

On to the actual game. It's mostly a logistics game, as you're attempting to wrangle a big group of mostly autonomous dwarves into doing things that will make the fort better and bigger and more like what you want it to be. The semi autonomous part is a big part of what seperates it from say, factorio, you are not exactly working with precision tools here. About the only thing you can guarantee is that you can build what and where you want to build, and the military control is pretty direct (but not setting up the military! Oh God No). Dwarves will take personal time, dwarves will sleep, dwarves will eat, dwarves will throw parties, dwarves will make artifacts (randomly generated, so there's that first point again! is that artifact sword with broccoli on it fun or dumb? that sort've random gen thing will be happening a lot.), dwarves will generally dick around a lot without any explicit order to do so. Sometimes for a startling amount of time. But that's kind've part of the fun too, even if it's sort've frustrating sometimes.

Combat and adventure mode. I mean.... it's not nothing? I've found the military more frustrating then anything and winning direct fights is usually pretty hard. But setting up an airtight fort with loads of traps and misdirection is fun too, to the right person, I'm sure. The adventure mode combat system is sort've neat and has an impressive amount of depth but you have to grind forever to get anywhere with it and it's extremely long winded, even as deep as it can get. There's an entire thread on the DF forums (or was, it's ben a while) about dwarf martial arts and how catching incoming attacks can be used to perform various complex actions. Any game where that's possible is pretty neat! It's still very long winded and nothing is easy as a result, though. I can't really speak on this much.

That's about it.

If you want to get started yourself, look for the lazy newb pack (it's a staple, don't feel bad for using it, mostly everyone does) and a video tutorial, I dunno a modern one but people used to be reccomending krugsmash I think it was? Maybe still good? Dunno. Also the wiki, which is an exhaustive source of information, but worry about that after you're done with the GUI. The dwarf fortress GUI is absolutely jam packed with information and learning how to navigate it is task number one. It's also the thing most people get stuck on, though I think it's probably a bit less of a difficulty wall now that easier alternatives are out (rimworld, gnomoria, I guess? it never really took off honestly) and some of the concepts have been used in a different place. Though dwarf fortress is still hard to start even considering that. Thankfully it's also the easiest thing to learn through a series of youtube videos.

You're never really Done learning the nuances of the UI but once you know how to make your dwarves do things, and how dwarves do things, you're through most of the meta difficulty that you don't impose on yourself.

I hope that helped! I kind've went on a bit.

[flutteringfable]

kandi crown jumpscare! tiny drabble where they build a pillow fort in miwa's dorm and cuddle. barely edited so it's probably not my usual writing quality but i just wanted to write em being silly and cute.

thunder crashed outside, loud enough to shake the dorm as miwa tried to ignore it. their fingers worked swiftly as they looped new beads onto the project they were making, but it did little to quell their anxiety about the storm. weather like this was always worrying to them, regardless of the actual severity. it was probably something to do with the loud sounds, if they had to guess. regardless, there was little they could do as the rain poured ceaselessly, punctuated by sudden booms of thunder.

just when they were about to reach over to try and put on some music to drown out the noise, there was a knock at the door. it startled miwa, who quickly recovered and got up to answer it.

"hi miwa!" chirped kokichi. "it's, like, suuuper gross and boring outside with all this stupid rain, so i came to hang out with you!"

miwa sighed, smiling. "alright. come on in, then."

they moved aside, and kokichi sauntered in. he spent enough time in miwa's dorm to feel right at home now, which miwa didn't mind. he eyed the box of beads and the abandoned project on their bed, and looked back at them curiously.

"whatcha makin'?"

"just a cuff," miwa replied, gathering their materials and setting them on their desk. "i was trying to distract myself from all the noise outside."

kokichi nodded. "guess you don't really like thunderstorms, then?"

miwa shook their head, a little embarrassed. kokichi paused for a moment, an almost overplayed look of deep thought on his face, before snapping his fingers and grinning.

"how about we do something, then? like… build a blanket fort-- ooh! and if we wait for a break in the rain, we can run over and bring some snacks, too!"

miwa had to admit, it sounded like fun, and a good way to keep their mind off the storm. plus, any extra time spent with their favorite person was a win in their book.

"sounds like fun," they replied. "i dunno if we have enough stuff here to build a good fort, though. we could connect it to my bed with the desk chair, but there isn't really any other support we could use."

kokichi scoffed, putting his hands on his hips. "that's why we should bring stuff over from my dorm too, duh!"

miwa flicked his forehead and earned an exaggerated pout in response. still, they went through with the plan, and kokichi headed off to retrieve his desk chair and some extra pillows from his dorm. miwa set up what they could in the meantime.

when kokichi returned, he brought two blankets, some pillows, and the chair from his own desk. all the items were stacked on the chair, and he seemed to struggle a little to keep them all in place as he worked his way through the door. miwa went over and took some things from the pile to help him out. with the extra materials, they were able to build a fort big enough for the both of them to snuggle in. kokichi had even dragged over the coffee table from the other side of miwa's room to make a smaller entrance. blankets and pillows were arranged inside, and some of miwa's plushies lined the edges.

once they were settled inside, kokichi curled up with his head tucked underneath miwa's chin. he held them close and sighed contentedly.

"i think we did pretty good," he mumbled. "best fort i think i've ever made."

miwa reached up with one hand to play with kokichi's hair, nodding. the rain was still pouring outside, but it seemed to have calmed down in the time it took for them and kokichi to build the fort. they nuzzled against him and kissed the top of his head.

"thanks for distracting me."

kokichi smiled against miwa's neck.

[rezdragon]

Project Updates (June 16th, 2024)

The Disaster Archives - Everyday I was planning on taking another research trip at the end of May, but due to medical reasons, I was unable to do that. I need to organize the outline some time, I'm past my own personal deadline of when I was going to start writing the script, the first draft anyways. I WANT to have a first draft of the script done by the end of Summer, and we'll see if I can do that. If all else fails, I better have a first draft of that script by the end of the year so I can start production next year.

Horizon It's about 80% done, I just need to get off my ass and finish the last three tracks, as well as do final mixing. I need to re-record two of the message logs as well, which depending on what's going on next week, I might get to that next week. I took a break from this to work on the longest script of my life, and boy do I want to finish this already to get it off my damn plate.

Alone at the Edge of the Sea - Deep Look Unfortunately, I'm shelving this project for the time being, as I found I'm not entirely ready to talk about this in detail yet. AloneSea is a project that means a lot to me, and I'm just not fully ready to explore that yet. Dunno when I will return to it.

State of Agony I haven't forgotten about SoA. Another Lost Therapist gets to return to the album and I feel the album just needs like two more songs and it'll be done. I might just surprise drop this when I think it's ready.

The Monster Script I've been working on for the entire month of May That project is called "How Rez Addison Stole My Name" for now, but I feel like that title needs to change. The script is currently 56 pages long, and I stepped away from it to get ready for another art show deadline. I think I am going to release this in parts; not only to space out the work on it, but also to make it more digestible. A part of me kinda hates myself for spending all of May working on this script instead of... finishing Horizon, but it is what it is, I go where the work takes me and sometimes it takes me to a 56 page script about my life. This was supposed to be a short video that snowballed into an extremely large project and I'm okay with that. I think the first section of the script is complete, but I can't start any production until I rewrite big chunks of the script later, because something new might come up, causing me to have to go and rewrite the beginning again-- this is how this project got out of control. I'm hoping to have the first part out by July.

The House That Raised Me (Short Horror Film) A massive wrench got thrown into this project. I think I can still finish it, but I'll have to get real creative with it. I might come back to this soon.

There's a bunch of shit on my whiteboard of things I want to get to, I just need to get myself in gear to finish up projects that I started last year. I've been down and out for almost two months now, having a hard time walking, which is why I've been writing like mad. This is a gentle reminder that I could use some support on Patreon if you're able to. I'll finish something, I swear.

[lexinympho]

Reader who deflects compliments

Kuroo, Suna, Kunimi, Himekawa & Bokuto x gn!reader

Tags/Warnings: Fluff (this whole thing is very soft ngl), a bit of angst, established relationship in the first 3 parts, kinda insecure reader, halfway proofread lol

A/N: Not me prematurely posting another fic😩This is my first time ever doing a headcanon list with multiple characters, so forgive me for this one being pretty rusty and excessively lengthy. Take a shot everytime you see the words "compliment", "praise", and "comment" lol

Kuroo

Tetsuro took every chance he could to throw compliments your way, not necessarily because you're his s/o, but complimenting you is something he finds joy in (your reactions are something he lives for). And since he loves doing it, it didn't take him very long to notice what kind of compliments you have trouble accepting, particularly ones that praise any effort you've put into something. If he commented on your hair, you'd deflect by saying you didn't do much to warrant a comment. If he said he loved how you decorated the room, you'd respond by saying you could've done more. If he even says you did a good job cleaning the dishes, you'll just say you wish you didn't take so long.

He tried to chalk it up to you simply not being used to compliments pertaining to your hard work, but couldn't keep doing so after a while of you repeatedly doubting yourself.

Things came to a head when he watched you work tirelessly on an art project for 2 weeks. It was a big project, one that he's had to pull you away from on numerous occasions so you'd take a break; he knew how much effort you were putting into it not just for a good grade, but for your personal expectations as well. When he commented positively on the art project as its due date nears, he wasn't the least bit surprised when you turned to him apprehensively.

"Um," your eyes flickered back and forth between him and the artwork as you fiddled with your fingers, "are you sure? Not that I don't believe you, but I'm not finished with it, so-"

"[Y/N], it really looks good. If anything, it looks like you're pretty much finished with it."

"...But I feel like this part-"

"I'm serious." He cut you off with a pinch to your side to rid you of any tension, then said with an easy smile, "You only have so much time to work on it more anyways."

You didn't look entirely convinced, but you went along and said, "Yeah, I guess."

He finally decided to speak up as he sat beside you, "Why do you do that anyways?"

"Hm?" You looked back to see him fixating you with a small frown, then asked somewhat cautiously to avoid upsetting him, "Do what?"

"Deflect."

"...I dunno." You broke eye contact to stare at your creation and conjure an answer he'd be satisfied with, "I guess I just feel like I need to earn it or something..."

"You don't feel like you deserve a positive critique? That pains me y'know, here I am wanting to inflate your ego and yet here you are doubting your own boyfriend-"

You forced yourself to stifle a smile at his dramatic flair, "I'm sorry, but-"

"Do you really believe you have to work for any praise from me?"

"No, I mean, yes, well-"

"Don't hurt yourself."

"Shut up!" You managed to get out with the laugh he pulled from you. "It's just...weird to explain, and hard to understand."

"Try me~"

Internally thankful for him diminishing any unease you had left in you, you clasped your hands together as you began, "It's honestly not that big of a deal, I'm just so used to putting in the work to hear feedback or get a clap on the shoulder. So when I don't do as much as I would or as efficiently as I'd hope, it's unfamiliar territory hearing someone praise me regardless."

"So," he spoke from his reclined position, "you're basically not used to receiving compliments you haven't worked for?"

"I guess?" You awkwardly toyed with your fingers and added with an airy laugh as you looked back to Tetsuro, "That makes it seem like I can't handle being called attractive."

He adjusted his posture so he could lean towards you to pull your chair closer, then proceeding to lean his head on your shoulder. Wearing a contemplative but committed smile, he concluded, "Guess I'll have to flatter you so much that you're used to it."

You playfully pushed at him until he wrapped his mile long arms around your torso. You give up by that point and say "Isn't it bad to flatter? You don't want me to get used to it anyways, I might develop an ego."

He burrowed his permanent bedhead into your neck and countered, "There's nothing wrong with a bit of confidence."

"Mhm, famous last words."

He chuckled before he tightened his hold around you and looked up to meet your eyes, "I'm serious. I'll make sure you can't find it in yourself to doubt...yourself. That came out weird, but you understand, I'd rather you feel like you achieved something instead of getting frustrated with trying to meet expectations. Just do as much as you want without worrying whether or not someone will judge your efforts, your evaluation of your work always comes first and matters the most. And if you really feel like you wanted to do more, then work on it. But do it for yourself."

You wanted to say something in response to his insightful monologue, but he genuinely left you speechless. It's been a long time since someone made you feel like they weren't telling you 'it's okay for you to not do your best', 'you're only human', or 'it's not that serious', only for you to feel like you were underperforming or doing the bare minimum. Perhaps it was Tetsuro's sincerity that made his words stick in your brain much stronger than anyone else's, because you know he'd never sugar coat his words to make you feel better. He's the bona fide embodiment of honesty.

He seemed satisfied irregardless of your lack of response, "And remember that."

"...Tetsu?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you."

"No problem." His face changed in little to no time after saying that. "Actually..." he trailed off mischievously.

"Wha--pfft!" You desperately tried and failed to push his hands away from you.

"You owe me the rest of the night now that you're finished with your project."

"I--hehehe--I'm not done-"

"It looks pretty done to me babe!"

As jubilant giggles bubbled from your chest due to his wandering fingers tickling your sides, you felt yourself believing that you'd eventually drop your bad habit with his help. You wanted to get better at taking his (and everyone else's) compliments, and he wanted you to feel good about receiving them, so there's no reason for your combined endeavors to not pay off.

It unquestionably took some time for you to get into a different mindset concerning your work ethic, but you eventually found yourself doubting your efforts less and less, not giving in to your past habit of comparing them to his compliments. It's gotten to a point where you'd confidently say you're enough to deserve his praise and affection without having to prove yourself in some way.

And Tetsuro can say with certainty he'd never grow tired of reminding you of that singular fact every moment he could.

Suna

Rintarou could only feel an odd sense of nostalgia, amusement, and the slightest bit of irritation after you made a degrading comment about your academic prowess. He invaded your study session and playfully complained about you ignoring him for your studies, which led to you saying something along the lines of, "Well I wouldn't have to study so much if I wasn't so dumb lol." That in turn prompted him to throw you on your bed and call you a polymath, something you had to look up the definition for since he wouldn't tell you.

"I'm not a polymath, that sounds so extra."

"It's a perfect description! 'A person of wide-ranging knowledge and learning' describes you to a T."

"You only picked that word because I'm cramming."

"Not gonna lie, I kinda did. But it's not extra."

"I'm not that smart-"

"Are you calling me a liar?" The question was a serious one, but the tone he used to ask it was anything but.

Your befuddled brain had trouble comprehending that however and sent you into a flurry of words (if they can be called that), "N-No but-"

"Then take the compliment, you're a genius who's cramming like crazy for a test they want to do well on." He said while delivering a heartfelt thump to your forehead with a straight face.

You waved his hand away to rub at your forehead and retort, "Geniuses don't cram. And 'polymath'? Of all words?"

A smile finally broke through, irrespective of your usual difficulty accepting his words as the truth, and he said, "No need to be modest~"

You stubbornly remained silent as you went back to your phone.

Anyone who didn't know you well would easily pass off your reaction to compliments as excessive modesty with how good you are at discreetly rebuffing their words of praise. It's a good thing Rintarou knows you well enough to understand that your 'excessive modesty' is more so you not knowing how to accept praise without seeing the downside to their words. In fact, your self-deprecating nature only truly comes out when you're alone with him, something you'd offhandedly disclosed when you assumed he wasn't listening. Not that it needed to be verbalized, he came to the conclusion on his own after some time, long before dropping the 'best friend' label between you two.

He'd normally grow frustrated from repeatedly dealing with someone else's internal issues or bad habits; having known you for so long though, he could never muster the energy to stay mad at you or blow up in your face. Especially since, as you said, you can't quite help the pavlovian responses after using them for years.

You've thankfully gotten better at not contradicting any approbation that comes your way, only stumbling on occasion when a simple 'thank you' isn't at the forefront of your mind. And though you refrain from making it a constant occurence, you show in your own ways your gratefulness for Rin's help getting you to this point. Some may think his practical nature clashes with the need for reassurance or stability, but you think that down-to-earth approach is needed.

That aforementioned gratefulness is currently being demonstrated, in your opinion, by allowing him to interrupt your study time for a cuddling session (he argued he was doing you a favor).

"What're you thinking about?" Rintarou mumbled from his place on your torso.

You put your phone down to acknowledge him, "How much you have to deal with me when-"

"I don't deal with you, I love you." His head shot up as he said that with a stern look.

"-when I get in my moods."

He laid his head back down, "Well you're doing better now, yeah?"

"Yeah, I am," you said sincerely. A blanket of serene silence settled as you ran your fingers through his hair, only to be lifted when you asked lowly, "You really think I'll do a good job on that test?"

"You're a literal brainiac, you'll be fine."

"That doesn't guarantee anything, math isn't my strong point."

He looked back up, "I think the fact that you've been locked up in your dorm room surrounded by any and all studying material and hardly replied to my texts until I broke in says you're going to pass."

Though said in jest, you feel sentimentality settle in your heart after his elongated response as you say, "Wow, you must really love me, huh?"

"You have no idea."

Some part of you takes that to heart, knowing that he truly does love you more than you could hope to comprehend. Considering how swift he is in tackling your deep-rooted insecurities and uplifting your self-esteem, you'd say his everlasting support is a testament to how fathomless his love is.

Love won't get you a passing grade on your math exam though. One look at the time had you pushing at his shoulders and saying, "Rin, get up, it's been 30 minutes."

He squeezed tighter and burrowed his face in your stomach, "You said an hour-"

"You said an hour, and I didn't agree to that-"

Kunimi

Akira is well aware of what backhanded compliments are, all too often being on the receiving end of them himself, and sometimes dishing similar comments out to others who rub him the wrong way. So when he sees you've changed your hairstyle and pulled on a jacket before the day was remotely halfway over with, he knew it probably had to do with what your classmate said earlier. She attempted to pass her comments off as genuine praise, but you and Akira were never fond of how she liked using insults disguised as compliments to get under everyone's skin. Her saying, "You should wear ponytails more often," seemed innocent enough until she tacked on, "you wear your hair down too much if you ask me." And as for the shirt, "What made you decide to dress up today?"

That one is self-explanatory.

Akira is now left sitting on the couch, mindlessly scrolling through his phone and wondering how to approach you about what happened. Although he makes it a point to not force you into speaking your heart out, you do tend to keep mishaps to yourself (in your own words, "I don't like dumping my issues on you.") Of course he had an in-depth conversation with you about doing that, going so far to say he wouldn't mind even if you talked his ears off, something he knows isn't likely considering how little you actually speak for long periods of time. But during the few moments where you did, you mentioned once, and only once, how you had trouble taking compliments seriously because you'd oftentimes hear backhanded ones from your own family.

That gave him context as to why you used to fixate him with certain looks whenever he said something nice about you, and he never made a huge deal out of your reactions. He understood where you were coming from because you opened up and spoke to him, in spite of your previous fears of him dismissing you due to the mien of indifference he exudes around others.

Right now however, you're doing the opposite, and he's quite frankly confused.

He lazily pulled himself off the couch and travelled to the kitchen to say something (he's not sure what to say to be perfectly honest). He watched you for a bit as you flipped grilled cheese sandwiches in a pan before he stated nonchalantly, "You changed your shirt."

"I just wanted to change into something more comfortable." You answered effortlessly without looking away from the task at hand.

Good excuse. He'd call you out on it, but the fact that you're giving an excuse in the first place tells him he should proceed with caution. He leaned on the counter, listening to the sizzle of butter against the surface of the pan, and contemplates his next move. He feels pretty enervated right now, he probably doesn't have to bring up the university girl, you two could just relax for the rest of the day. Lie in bed with the grilled cheese sandwiches and watch a corny movie to poke fun at, and maybe finally have a talk later on or tomorrow, whenever you seem more open to the possibility-

That's just more trouble, he thought to himself. The statement sounds a bit mean in his head, but he knows he wouldn't be able to completely unwind with you if his mind is stuck on this. More important than that however is you being avoidant of the topic, worrying him more than he'd like to admit.

With a soft inhale, he starts-

"It's something how someone I don't care for, let alone hardly know, can affect me like that," you randomly say as you remove the sandwiches from the pan once they've reached an optimal crispness.

-only to let out a breath when you speak first.

You glanced back when you add, "I figured I might as well say something since I could feel you psyching yourself up."

He pursed his lips and returned with, "I wasn't 'psyching myself up'. Just thinking if I needed to start or if you wanted to." It's not until after hearing what you said when he realizes another thing that bothered you, probably more than the comments themself: the idea of someone who's not close to you managing to hit you where it hurts definitely isn't one that's easy to come to grips with.

"It's nothing any different from the usual, just me paying too much attention to the negatives." You finally turn the stove off and turn to look at him with a tentative expression, "I know what's her face was being kind of sarcastic, but another girl came up to me later and said my ponytail was cute. I could tell she was being legit, so that made me feel a little better I guess."

"It was cute." Akira said honestly.

Your heart fluttered from the comment and spread a sensation of fuzziness throughout you. The fuzziness, however, waged war with the dubiety that was bound to arise after today's events. "You think so?"

He grabbed your hand to pull you closer and say, "I know so."

"Even though I rarely wear it?"

"You know it doesn't bother me how much you wear your hair down. You're the one with the cold ears."

A small laugh rumbled out of you, but you still found yourself asking, "What about the shirt?"

The smirk he suddenly donned warned you of his incoming tease when he answered, "It's nice and all, but you should really start wearing mine more-"

"I'm wearing one of your shirts right now you overgrown sloth."

"I meant out and about, like to uni-"

"Aki!" You protested, but knew you truly had no real difficulty going along with his request, it's mostly a matter of privacy.

"Really though," he pulled you in for a hug, "however you dress should be up to you. Some blonde background character in the back of class definitely doesn't have the authority to judge you, got it?"

"'Blonde background character'..."

"Neither of us remember her name, admit it."

You silently pulled away to grab your plate of grilled cheese sandwiches before saying, "Let's eat these before they get cold."

He light-heartedly rolled his eyes but followed you to the bedroom as he said, "You should wear your ponytail tomorrow just to piss her off."

"Shut up." You laughed him off but didn't feel all that opposed to the idea.

Himekawa

Aoi would be lying if he told himself he didn't develop some kind of interest for you when you took up the managerial position of the team; he is lying by pushing aside the fact that his interest actually started from your time together in class. He invariably observes you any time you're in the same vicinity as him, feeling revitalized from the sound of your voice reverberating around the gym, while managing to turn his head away at the speed of sound when you nearly catch his eyes on you. His fellow teammates are all too aware of the effect you have on the freshly turned 2nd year, especially the former 3rd years who visit on occasion, but it's not as though he's been fervently hiding his growing adoration for you. He oft gets called out whenever he seems to be waiting for you to come back from one of your duties, somehow being the one to walk you home when the rest of the team trickles down throughout the endeavor, and when he's bringing you up in conversation much more than intended.

To make a long story short, his year and a half of knowing you gave him ample time to espy a perplexing mannerism of yours that only makes itself known when you hear any laudation about yourself. It's nothing remarkably alarming, but you tend to boomerang compliments. You're not necessarily unaccepting of the compliment as far as he can see, but you aren't directly accepting it either.

Normally, he wouldn't pry about things unless they needed to be pried about; you don't appear to be outwardly denying any of your positives at least. But the earnestness that lights your eyes up tends to flicker when you receive praise, and he feels that in of itself warranted him confronting you about the topic. Which brings his attention back to right now, where he's currently walking you home without the habitual bustle of the team to accompany the stillness of night. After internally giving himself a pep talk, he decided the best time to strike up a discussion was now. He waited for you to finish your recount of today's practice match to look ahead and speak, "Hey, I've been wondering about something."

"Hm?" You purely responded, none the wiser about what he planned to ask, yet acutely aware of his fidgety state when you glanced at him in acknowledgement.

The curly haired male stumbled his way through his question as he picked at his bag strap, "Um...why do you always...throw compliments back at someone when they give you one?" He quickly added with a frenzied wave of his free hand, "N-Not that you have to tell me, it's just, you kind of look like you aren't comfortable, and you never really acknowledge-"

"It's fine, Aoi," you stopped his rambling with a verbal reassurance and leisurely smile. "I didn't think anyone would figure there was something wrong so long as I responded in kind with my own comment."

He didn't think there was something intrinsically wrong with what you were doing, but you went on to answer his question anyway. "I just don't want to come off as hubristic or arrogant, y'know?"

That makes sense. "But I don't think anyone would see you as such if you simply thank them. You're really modest and generally nice to everyone on the team."

"You'd be surprised," you said lowly, promptly taking on a despondent demeanor and looking away from him.

"Ah." Though your answer was short, it held quite a lot of weight and helped him paint a more comprehensive picture of why you react the way you do to praise.

His brief response gave you a certain impression and elicited you to say, "Sorry I'm being such a downer right now."

He stopped walking and lightly grabbed your arm to evoke you into doing the same, "You're not being a downer."

His small action coupled with the equanimous tone he used pulled your gaze back to his resolute expression. He continued, "I don't know about anyone else, but the team and I never compliment you thinking that it'd inflate your ego, we just genuinely appreciate how much you do for us and we want you to know that."

His words of encouragement lifted your spirits, but one small concern still plagued your mind, "I think the problem is that I don't know what exactly to say in response. I feel like 'thank you' isn't enough, but saying anything more might seem pretentious. And then I kind of get stuck trying to choose one or the other, but I end up saying something back instead. It's easier than saying nothing."

He gave a hum of rumination and started back walking as he said, "I think saying 'thank you' is more effective than you think."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," he said confidently. "If it really bothers you that you can't think of a follow up, I'm sure most people would understand if that's all you can say."

You then asked fretfully as you're not quite convinced, "What if they expect me to say something back?"

"Then formulate a compliment when you're ready to give them one." He's surprising himself with how smoothly he's generating these answers. Perhaps it's the switched roles of him being the one who knows what he wants to say for once, or the subject matter pertaining to a personal matter of yours. Either way, he seemed to help you deduced from your outlook appearing more enthusiastic and satisfied.

"Okay," you said at the sight of your house just a few feet away. "I guess this is it for now."

"Yeah..." He really didn't want to go, but like you said, it's only temporary. Had he taken his line of sight away from the streetlamp on the side, he would've noticed your shared hesitance to end the conversation. Though he supposes he probably felt it in the unanticipated hug you pulled him into, feeling himself go red in the face from your affectionate side that all too often makes itself known around him.

He hovered an arm over your shoulders, not quite sure if he should reciprocate, this hug somehow feels more intimate than the quick ones you give him back at school.

"Thank you." You spoke faintly into his team jacket.

"Oh, uh, no problem! I mean, I really didn't do much-"

"You did, more than you think," you finished with a brief tightening of you arms before letting go.

He lost his chance to hug you back, but the beaming smile you sent his way when you pulled back somehow made him forget about his second long disappointment. Your infectious exuberance made a smile of his own grow on his face as he waved and said, "See you tomorrow!"

"You too!" You yelled as you walked backwards and waved back.

As he turned around to find his way back to his own home, he thought back to the small exchange just now and realized you already got off to a good start with accepting compliments by thanking him so simply.

He also realized he likes hearing your wholehearted "thank you"s more than your rushed and forced returns of praise.

Bokuto

"You don't have to say that, Kou."

The partially grey haired boy tilted his head much like an owl at your statement from his seat across from you, subconsciously slackening his hold on his pencil at you once again shooting his compliment down like a fighter jet. "What do you mean 'I don't have to say it', it's true."

You seemed conflicted but still smiled as you ignored your homework on the table in front of you to elaborate, "I'm saying that you don't have to say all these things to make me feel better or-"

"And like I said, I say these things because they're true!" If his tone wasn't an indicator of his growing exasperation, his puffed out cheeks certainly were. It's no secret he has a huge crush on you, well, it's no secret to everyone except you. It's not as though he's tried to hide his fondness of you however, he takes any opportunity he can to hang around you and and his heart jumps for joy when you give him the time of day. The only bad thing he has to admit to himself is how you can't seem to take him seriously, at least not in the way he wants you to.

"You're just being nice!"

"Gah!" The young man looked as though you'd just ripped his soul out with those four words. He dramatically dropped his head to the table and mumbled in a melancholic tone, "It's just like Akaashi said..."

"W-What did he say?" Nothing bad I hope.

"He said you've probably been ignoring my compliments because you think I'm being nice." Though his face is hidden, you can imagine he bears a strong resemblance to a puppy who just lost their favorite toy. He fervidly tried to ignore his friend's words, no matter how true they seem to ring at the time. Akaashi even went on to explain why he thought that was the case, every single one of his points ranging from you laughing Koutarou off to you occasionally saying he's exaggerating, all of which just served to set off alarms in Koutarou's head. That's actually what led him to run for the hills and find you to have a spontaneous study session in the library (disguised as an interrogation of the sorts).

"Oh. Is that...not the case?" Now you feel quite dumb for making assumptions.

Hearing your tone change, Koutarou lifted his head just enough to see the questioning face you give him, and decided to take the reigns of this conversation by saying, "Depends. Why do you think I'm just being nice to you?"

You cringed at the whole you dug for yourself, knowing he wasn't going to let this slide, and diffidently answered, "Well, y'know...it's you-"

He sat upright in a flash, "Is there something wrong with me!?"

"No, no," you shushed him as a reminder of the location you're currently in, "there's nothing wrong with you at all."

"Oh, okay."

You saw a imaginary glow of pride appear around him after you said that and internally laughed, but you had to pull yourself out of the sweet moment to clarify, "You're a really positive guy, so much so that...I have to wonder how much of what you say is genuine or out of courtesy."

The glow died down, "Oh." Only to return in a different form when he perked up determinedly, "But I wouldn't lie to you about something I compliment you over, really."

"But you compliment me about everything!" You inwardly flinched at your loss of control over your volume, but continued, "Kou, it's fine and all to compliment me, but you even have something nice to say about my flaws. It's one thing if it's debatable whether or not it's really a flaw, but me accidentally wearing mismatched socks to school isn't something you compliment."

"But they were cute-"

"See? You're doing it again," you pointed strongly.

"But I can't help it when-" I like you! He nearly finished his sentence but closed his mouth before he said something he wasn't quite ready to put out there.

"When what?" You're seriously wondering what he's trying to say and why he stopped himself from saying it.

"...When I care for you." He spoke a bit embarrassedly as he pouted to the side, something that noticeably caught you off guard. "I only compliment you so much because you deserve it. Like when you fixed your hair up, or when you submitted that artwork for the club application-"

"Oh God, don't remind me of that atrocity."

"I really liked it!" He passionately added as he shook his fists in front of himself, "And when you helped me with tutoring! Half of this stuff I could hardly understand without your help." He most definitely would've kept going on had you not put a hand up to stop him from doing so.

His words struck a chord in you and made you think for a few seconds about what he just said. Mayhaps the one thing that kept you from totally dismissing his compliments were how specific they tend to be, as he'd just exemplified, proof that he wasn't pulling all of this out of his ass and just being nice. You felt an innocent warmth tickle at your cheeks, but paid no mind to it, "You really think my tutoring helped?"

He finally spoke happily at the first sign of you taking his words in, "I know it did, Akaashi even said so. Even though I kind of got us off track from what's in front of us," he finished with a laugh.

Laughing along with him, "We should have plenty of time to finish this."

"Oh, do you have the macarons you mentioned earlier?" He excitedly peeked to your back beside you.

"After we finish."

He obliged innocently, not even aware of the oncoming compliment, "Okay, you know I can't help myself, they're so good~"

They're not all that. You nearly let that slip out before stopping yourself, not wanting to contradict his reassuring words already, and also knowing he'd never fib about food of all things. Thinking back to his words however makes you dwell on what he was going to say earlier before changing his answer.

An 'I like you' is probably too unrealistic.

A sudden epiphany of everything he's ever said and done had your mind blanking on you when it quite literally shone a light on a plausible yet unbelievable theory. A glance at him revealed he'd been staring at you the whole time you zoned out, the sight making your heart skip a beat as you asked nervously, "Sorry, did you say something?"

He shook his head and looked down to his paper in giddiness, "Nope."

It got hotter under your button-up, your brain struggling to comprehend that you're heavily blushing right now and doing a poor job of hiding it.

You thought to yourself as you turned to your own paper and fanned yourself, I'm fucked.

A/N: Thank you for reading this hot mess. I wish I didn't take so long with this because I've been talking about it for a few days now, but it was good practice writing about multiple characters at one like this (that and practice for writing headcanon lists of this type).

©lexinympho 2022, please do not edit or repost my works anywhere on this platform or another

[shootingstarwritings]

Hans Off the Computer!

The human mind, when boiled down to its most fundamental building blocks, was simply a system of ON and OFF switches. In that sense, it is functionally identical to that of a computer’s mainframe. When putting both of those thoughts together, the idea that the human brain can be completely digitized and transferred through networks isn’t too far-fetched an idea.

At the very least, that was the thought of Hans Hopper, a freelance software engineer. Currently, he was working at a computer repair shop to get some extra money and to kill time between projects—including his own.

“It could be possible,” he voiced his dreams to his boss, Carl, as they took a look at some guy’s gaming PC. The components were state of the art, some not even out in the market yet. Just the graphic card and motherboard made Hans drool at the sight. Streamers get all the luck, he thought. The owner, some small-name star with a big ego, took poor care of his machine, leading to landing on Carl's shop.

“Y’know, Hopper,” Carl began as he cleaned some dust off of the PC’s parts, “I think if you put that head of yours outta the clouds and into reality with the rest o’ us, you’d really take off. Least you wouldn’t be stuck in this freelancing business and get a real job like some o’ your peers.”

“And be like those corporate suck-ups?” Hans snorted. “As if. I’m not gonna be another cog in the machine. Now being in a machine." He grinned, already fantasizing about the things he'd do if he could ditch his flawed, physical form for a future full of infinite potential inside of a network. "That's what I'm after."

“Least those corporate suck-ups can afford their own places,” Carl sighed. “You’re still living with roommates at, what, 30?”

“...27, actually.”

Grinning, Carl said, “And there’s my point. At your age, Hans, I--” he paused as his phone began to ring with an irritatingly catchy tune. “Aw, shit. Lost track of time.” Before Carl ducked to the back of the store and towards the hall that led to his home, he glanced back and said, “Can you wrap up here and close the store, Hans?”

“You got it, boss," Hans said, waving him off. "Take care." Carl left without an answer, and Hans found himself alone with a PC he could only dream of. "Well well," he said, digging into his pocket and pulling out a flash drive. "Looks like it's just you and me from now on. Let's see if what's under the hood's enough to get my program running."

While Carl had a point that Hans' dream was beyond the capacity of current human technology, the world of sci-fi and fantasy lacked such rules. "Just like that ol' title," he muttered to himself as he inserted the flash drive into a USB drive. "A machine can't act like a human mind, but it can calculate runes with no trouble. Sometimes when we can’t use tech to get somewhere, we gotta use shortcuts.”

This PC was his best chance to experiment on his little program to see if it worked. After checking to make sure the drives were all up to date and the whole thing was running smoothly, Hans executed his program. A few keystrokes later, a magic circle formed on the screen. “Let’s gooo—WOAH!”

Although Hans should have figured that the ritual wouldn’t be painless, having his physical form ripped apart and turned into data was nothing short of excruciating. Reforming himself later wouldn’t be any less unpleasant, but he could never turn down the chance to become data and revolutionize the field of… magic? Science? Magitek?

He witnessed his fingers slowly fade as if turning into dust and flow like a stream of water into the screen. As the entirety of his arms completely disappeared, sprites that resembled arms appeared on the screen. "L-Least it works?" Hans nervously said as more and more of his body faded away.

Eventually, Hans' ability to feel, taste, hear, and see waned as his body fully waxed into the computer. The sensation… was nothing. There were no nerves or sensors to feel with, but he could understand the data that his mind had access to. Overwhelming, yet the sensation felt like precious wine on his lips.

The network… Though small, Hans was amazed at how he could travel through the network of the shop—including Carl’s personal PC.

“No, no,” Hans realized he could hear. He saw Carl through the uncovered camera and heard him through a microphone that remained plugged in. For a tech-savvy guy, Carl was real lenient in terms of privacy. "C'mon, Elise, be reasonable here. We got a meeting with the divorce lawyer tomorrow. Can’t you have your little wine party another day?” Carl rolled his eyes as he pocketed his phone. “Fuckin’ bitch. Can’t give me a break.”

And now, as Carl sat down to work on his computer, Hans realized he could attempt the other upside of the ritual. With his mind now data, he could reach out and override the "data" that was another's consciousness.

“What the hell am I supposed to—MMGPHF!”

It wasn’t the most graceful exit, but Hans couldn’t deny the results. Black tendrils—an unnatural amalgamation of data and flesh flew from the screen and landed on Carl’s face, causing him to fly back a few inches. His body twitched and convulsed, back forming a C,  as Hans’ essence flowed into each of Carl’s orifices. Carl’s feet kicked at the ground, fingers gripping his chair’s armrests, as Hans’ essence attacked and invaded his brain.

“A-Ah, ahhh.” Carl helplessly moaned as Hans override any freedom and control over his body. After a few painful seconds with his back arched and his toes curling as the sensation of being overtaken overwhelmed him, Hans awoke in his boss’ body.

“Well, well,” said Hans, feeling his new arms. “Not exactly my first choice for a body, but not a bad test drive.” He stretched in the comfortable office chair, a gift from another customer. “Man, Carl, for an old guy you don’t feel half-bad.” Now realizing that he was alone, a mischievous thought crossed Hans’ mind. “Well, got some time to keep doing some more research on my little program. Maybe I can find a way to hack into other networks." Grinning to himself, he stood up and slowly stripped out of Carl's clothes. First, the shirt came off as the nipples hardened in the cool air, then the shoes were chucked to the side to allow his feet to breathe. The pants came off next, and finally, the underwear flew across the room as Hans embraced his newfound potential—and his borrowed pole.

“Who knew old farts like you still had crazy stamina like this!” Hans cried out, furiously and desperately thrusting into his grip as he jacked off his boss’ body. “F-Fuck! Fuuuuuck!” Hans let out a roar as he came all over his boss’ keyboard. “W-Woah. Gonna have to clean that up later. Dunno where he keeps his tissues, but...” Hans paused and grinned once more. This wasn’t his body, so what the hell? He bent down and began to lick the keys clean, making sure to savor his boss’ taste with each slurp.

The next day, he sat in his boss' room, giving another client's laptop a check-up. It was a Sunday and so the shop was closed, but Hans' mind was far too wired to relax by simply lying around the place. No, tinkering around and keeping his hands busy was how he would wind down.

Although, Hans remained without any clothes. The feeling of the chair against his naked skin was intoxicating. Never in his life had Hans worked in the nude, but he might have to start doing it more often as he tried on new skins. For now, though, might as well enjoy Carl’s life for a few more hours before trying on someone new.

Hans’ roommates were certainly appealing prospects.

[spinningintheshadows]

19 and 53 for the JJ song prompts 💕

I See Us In Black and White

Songs: "Everyone is Gay" - A Great Big World (#19: "You've got so many options, every fish in the sea wants to kiss you") ; "Black and White" - Niall Horan (#53: "You ask "When did I know" I always knew")

Words: 862

OOO get ready for Wedding!JJ. It's all I can think about with this request.

-2020-

Of course you were crying over a stupid boy. A stupid boy you thought you were in love with. Your mom had told you it would end, but she always projected her relationships on you, so you didn’t exactly believe her. Yet, here you were, sitting in the chateau with JJ and Kie, crying over stupid fucking Tommy Kline. As soon as you’d shown up in tears, Pope and John B had dipped because they were uncomfortable but Kie and JJ had stuck around to make sure you were okay.

“Okay, I’m going to the store and I’m getting alcohol and ice cream and any post break up necessities. JJ, don’t make her cry any harder.” Kie stood up grabbing her bag and heading towards the door. The fact she had to warn JJ to not make you cry any harder warranted a watery laugh from you, making him smile.

Over the next couple hours, you’d calmed down a bit and decided to join the gang out by their bonfire, wearing the hoodie that JJ had offered you since you didn’t want to wear the one Tommy had given you. Of course, the guys all gave you a weird look when you sat down next to him in the sand and laid your head on his shoulder. He really was your best friend, and despite the warning to not make you cry, he’d done most of your cheering up.

“Burn the sweatshirt.” he told you. “It’ll make you feel better.” He was right. You tossed the hoodie in the fire, grinning as it went up in flames. To be petty though, you took a snap video of it and sent it to Tommy with it just saying “hope you didn’t want that back.”

A few beers later, you and JJ were the only ones still awake as the fire slowly burned out. He sat with his arm around you and you laying your head on his shoulder again. It was quiet, peaceful even.

“Hey, Y/N” he said. “You know you have every right to be upset right? He was a dick. But I want you to know something. He wasn’t the one. You’ve got so many options, every fish in the sea wants to kiss you.” You half smiled, looking up at him. He was staring down at you, the light of the fire reflecting in his eyes.

“That was cheesy, Maybank.” you said, making him smile down at you. “But, I don’t know about every fish in the sea.”

“Well, there's at least one other fish then.” he said.

“Yeah? Who is this fish then? You know him?” You asked, half rolling your eyes at him.

“Maybe I do. Maybe he just doesn’t want to make it awkward since you just broke up with Dick bag Kline.” he said. You hummed, turning to look down at your feet. You knew he was talking about himself. He’d been super jealous every time he saw you and Tommy together.

“Hmm, well I say he should try it.” you said. “Maybe I feel the same way about this fish.” He didn’t miss a second, and the next thing you know his lips are on yours. You couldn’t stop smiling.

“How was that?” he asked. “That was a brave move for the fish.”

“I dunno, I think the fish needs to kiss me again, but maybe somewhere a little more comfortable than the sand.” you told him. He laughed, dragging you inside, and pulling you onto the couch with him.

-2024-

“I can’t wait to get you out of this dress tonight.” JJ whispered into your ear as he spun you around the dance floor. You couldn’t help but laugh, your husband always had some sort of comment for you.

“Pretty sure you did that on the night you proposed, Maybank” you told him. You looked past his shoulder at the blonde haired toddler swaying in her Uncle Jebbie’s arms. A lot of hard work had gone into making sure your daughter would have a good life. A lot of penny pinching and saving but you were able to buy a small home for the three of you, and you were making good money now.

“I sure did, and look at what came out of that.” he said. “Maybe it’s time for another one.” You laughed again, pressing your lips to his.

“As much of a dream Isla is, in your dreams, JJ” you told him. The song came to an end, and you walked over to your friends hand in hand. Soon, you’d be leaving for a week to a location that he wouldn’t tell you but had been saving for since he knew he was going to marry you, he said. A glass of champagne in your hand, you looked over at your husband, who was now swaying to the next slow song with your little girl. When he returned, you sat beside him.

“Hey JJ.” You said, turning to look at him. “When did you know? That you were going to marry me I mean.” He smiled, taking your hand and bringing it up to his lips.

“I always knew”

[tommybaholland]

Hiii! May I request something with kuroo, akaashi and character of ur choice with a reader who's too kind to people, even those who treated them very badly?? It could be drabbles, hcs or anything up to you! Thank youu <3

s/o who’s too nice

featuring: kuroo, akaashi and sugawara

love this request!! you chose my two mains but i added suga bc i hadn’t written anything for him yet :) enjoy!

kuroo 

“wait...who was there?” 

you were currently trying to explain to your boyfriend why you came home so late from hanging out with friends. so far, he didn’t seem too happy that you ended up going to his favorite place and didn’t think to invite him. but the hesitation only grows deeper when you tell him who else was present. 

“okay, so your ex was there. why is that such a big deal that i couldn’t come, hm? did you talk to him?”

the last thing you wanted to do was lie to him. it wasn’t that incriminating; only a small conversation about mundane things. you didn’t want animosity, despite the main demise of that relationship. 

“so you want to be friends with him? babe, i know you don’t want to be on bad terms but i’m not going to be friends with him.”

that didn’t really seem fair to you.

“no, kitten, look. he hurt you! i’m not going to pretend to be friends with a jerk who was not treating you right.”

he was making sense. why were you even trying with someone who left your life long ago? you look down, ashamed of how you’ve upset the current, and seemingly everlasting, love of your life. 

he senses your shame and frowns before gesturing you over to him. “c’mere, sweetie.”

you find your way over and into his arms, holding you close. you buried your face into his black tshirt as you apologized. you felt the vibration of his chest as he responded.

“it’s okay, babe. i just don’t like seeing you upset, especially over another guy.”

he pulls away a little to look you directly in the eyes. 

“i’m sorry that i can be overprotective but...no one does that to my girl.” 

you nod and give him a small grin, which he returns. 

“okay,” he replies before pulling you back into a hug, stroking your hair and rubbing your back. “thanks for telling me, kitten. i love you so much.”

you smile into his chest as you return the sentiment, feeling him press a kiss to your head.

“now gimme a kiss. c’mon, gimme...give—”

you giggle as you slightly tease him by dodging his lips, before you finally allow him to catch the sides of your head and press his lips against yours. 

“there we go. thank you, sweet stuff.”

the look he gives you after he kisses you is something you could never give up.  

akaashi 

you took what felt like your millionth sip of water, suppressing the feeling of having to pee and hopelessly trying to stay awake. you had your laptop out in bed with the brightness turned down so you wouldn’t wake the sleepy boy next to you. unfortunately, akaashi was always keeping tabs on you, even while half-asleep. 

“baby?” he spoke, voice raspy. “are you still awake?” 

you squint your eyes away from the blue light to look over and down to him as he was moving closer to you. it would probably be a few more minutes. 

he sits up and gets a closer look at your face with frowned features. “aw, baby. look at your bags..aren’t you tired?”

you hesitate but can’t lie. you were trying to work through assignments but one group project was proving to take up more of your time than anything else. you had taken on one or two more responsibilities than your group members but you said you didn’t mind and would get it done diligently. akaashi peeks over to look at your screen, observing what was withholding you from sleep. 

“you’re not still working on that project, are you?” 

it’s obvious it wasn’t done yet.

“baby..you need to sleep. you’re overworking yourself.” 

you rubbed your hands over your strained eyes and sighed. you felt like you had been working on it forever and it still seemed like there was no end in sight. maybe he was right. his arm draped around you, pulling you into his side as his other hand reached up to brushed some loose hairs behind your ear. 

“you’re so, so hard working but..it’s okay to say no. you have other things going on too and there’s no reason why you should have to do all this by yourself.” 

you were too tired to even protest at this point, letting him continue to make his case.

“but i also know that you’ll get it done. you always do,” he spoke within close proximity, his voice vibrating right into your ear. “baby, pleaseeeeeeee.”

you were barely able to keep your head up, eyes drooping lower and lower as his hand rubbed your shoulder. you surrendered, giving him a small nod. 

“good girl,” he praised, pressing a kiss to your temple. “let’s save this and close the laptop.”

he shut the device and moved it off your lap and onto the bedside table for you. he then slid back down under the covers, pulling you into his arms. his thumb brushed against your cheek. 

“you look so stressed, baby. can i..help you take your mind off of it?”

his pretty cobalt eyes still shined through the darkness. he was a bad influence; you couldn’t say no to him. but your eyes rested as his lips breathed life into you, lazily moving with yours. 

“just relax, bebe. i got you.”

sugawara 

“hey, sugar,” your sweet boy welcomed you home from work with a nice hug. “how was your day?” 

it was okay. but you were drained, both physically and mentally. 

“hey, you okay? is something wrong?” he asked, running a hand from the top of your head down through your hair. 

“i dunno. you just seem quiet...and down about something.” he continues to pet your head while keeping you close to his body. you could almost fall asleep in his arms.  

“here, let’s go sit on the couch, sweetheart. come, come.”

he guides you over and pulls you back into his side once you’re settled, encouraging your head to rest on his shoulder. 

“i’m making dinner now but we can talk while it’s cooking,” he explains. “i know you’re tired, sugar. but i’m here now, and you can tell me whenever you’re ready.”

it had been a long day. you woke up late and were a few minutes late to class which subsequently led to you being chastised. even after apologizing profusely, you couldn’t find the courage to defend yourself. that feeling hung over your head almost the rest of the day. then you had to go to work and by that point your head was so empty that those three hours lasted forever. 

“so you’re never late and the one time you are, they yelled at you?”

as if a dam had broke, the tears began to fall.

 “oh sweetie, it’s okay. it’s over now and i’ve got you. shh,” he hushes as he rubs a soothing hand up and down your back. 

“you’re trying your best and i admire you so much for that. but please babe, don’t let them treat you like that again. i don’t wanna see my princess so upset.” 

you knew you had trouble standing up for yourself and couldn’t help to take the blame, even when something wasn’t entirely or at all your fault. it breaks his heart to see your struggle so he tries to be there for you as much as possible, hoping to relieve any invisible pain. it’s hard and you can’t help but have a huge crying fit after holding everything in all day. 

“i know it’s painful, sweetheart,” he wipes some tears from your cheeks. “but you’re going to be okay. and don’t think that you’re bothering me because you’re not. i love you, so much. you’re allowed to hurt. but i want to see you happy and that you’re heard. please don’t blame yourself.”

you hug him tight and tell him you love him. you really lucked out. what would you do without him? 

“so, how about,” he pulls back slightly to look at you, brushing hair out of your face. “we eat and then we can do whatever makes you feel relaxed. i can give you a back rub or we can just cuddle on the couch; whatever you want, sugar. sound good?”

you let your lips curl up into a smile, nodding in response. 

“aw, there’s that beautiful smile.”

he leans down to give you a slow but passionate kiss, letting everything melt away. 

yooooo its haikyuu night! requests are always welcome