and the curtain falls.

hey everyone - i’ll be putting this blog on hiatus for a while! i’ve been busy this past month and i’ll likely be even busier during july, since i have a ton of grad school stuff to do. 

     – Sure, but he’d liked the curves before he’d realized that was his spine. He’d end up with a hunchback one of these days if he didn’t fix that, exaggerated or not. But Akira was never one to let his embarrassment – as fleeting and rare as it was – get the better of him. That piece, that pose, was not a proper representation of him. He didn’t have his face in his phone that much. Did he?

     – Stretching, Akira let said phone slip to the side of him on the bed as he leaned backwards, one hand holding himself up. The other arm comically came to drape over his forehead with his fingers splayed out like a child-drawn sun. Though his face remained passive, there was a bit of mirth flashing behind the mask of his glasses.

    “ What are you talking about? ” he asked as he held the pose. “ This is how I always sit. ” His expression did not change, even when his elbow began to bow from the strain. Was that a pop or a crack?

     yusuke’s eyes light up as akira contorts himself into another position. yes, this pose...! its fluidity, its energy...! “akira!” yusuke flips to a new page of his sketchbook. “you must maintain that pose. i didn’t know you were capable of such a thing!”

    the previous piece is already completely out of his mind. yusuke is sketching at a speed that’s almost... comically fast; his determination to capture the pose within the page is completely obvious. “you’re a far better model than i thought you’d be.” he’s so pleased - it’s as if he was not just criticizing akira for moving mere moments ago. 

     his knowledge in regards to art was cursory  ,  at most  ,  related moreso to general art - related crimes than art history  ,  though he liked to believe he knew the difference between a matisse  &  picasso  ,  and where modern art both began and ended  ,  but  …   ❛   it’s a beautiful piece.  the love one’s mother has for her children is not often rendered in such loving detail  …  it’s odd  ,  however.   that madarame would have chosen to desecrate it for the sake of a mona lisa - esque mystery.   the original is stunning.  ❜      /    @mabufu  ♡’d for a starter.

“  ow  ,  inari  !  that  hurts  !  ”   maybe  allowing  the  meticulous  artist  to  braid her  hair  was  a  mistake.  when  was  the  last  time  she  brushed  it  ?  it  had  become  a  forest  -  no  ,  a  jungle  of  matted  knots  ;  frizzy  and  messy  with  lack  of  maintenance  and  time  spent  laying  in  bed.  /  @mabufu

❝ no. ❞ his answer came without hesitation. he wouldn’t deny having been curious before in the past, especially when finally accepting himself. he wondered about those who also had to live out their lives in secrecy; but what reason was there to go? what would there be to offer to him, other than some surface-level reassurance? he still didn’t know anyone intimately—to soren, it seemed lackluster. yusuke was beginning to become an exception; someone who spoke and intervened and wouldn’t leave, no matter how soren responded to him. he’d come to quietly accept it, even if begrudgingly. soren looked at yusuke with little interest before quirking an eyebrow. ❝ do you? you know you can go, even if i won’t, right? ❞ soren wouldn’t care much either way, right? if somehow yusuke found peace or closure in the grann desert, it needn’t involve him.

❝ i’m fine here. ❞

      soren’s response itself does not surprise yusuke. what surprises him is how quickly said response is delivered. “is that so? somehow, it’s comforting to hear that. you see - i don’t wish to go back. not at all.” a soft sigh as his mind drifts back to past times. “i don’t intend to be rude. simply put, my time within the settlement was... strange.” being among others, supposedly so very similiar to him - and yet, so different. “i felt free, yet... caged. as if i went from being in hiding in one place to being in hiding in another.” granted, there were certainly more people with him in the desert... but yusuke has never been very good with people. “i wandered around the desert on my own very often - much to the annoyance of the leaders of that community.” 

take the gun, kitagawa

@mabufu is probably looking for a better critique than this.

     – There’s little that can distract Akira from his phone, and yet he seems to always make time for his teammates. Said time might not be insightful in the least – especially when the topic isn’t something to do with their job – but they can’t say he doesn’t try. However, it does take him a few moments before he realizes Yusuke is addressing him, not talking to himself, and another few heartbeats pass before he recognizes the expectant look and the unmistakable stylistic trademark of one of his sketches.

     – Fuck. He wasn’t paying attention, though; Akira sure hopes he wasn’t asking for something specific.

     “ Looks good, ” he offers as he scans the page. “ I like the curves. ” It’s a figure, he thinks, but he can’t really tell what it’s supposed to be doing. A closer look has him able to make out what’s supposed to be the arch of the spine, a tuft of hair on the head, something in its hand… Maybe it’s just in a hunched-over pose, looking at –

     “ Wait, is that me? ” Akira blinks. He knows it’s not as inspired as his other sketches, maybe just a warm-up, but the accuracy of it makes him self-consciously sit up straighter. Is his posture really that bad?

     admittedly, the attic which akira resides in is a bit cramped for yusuke’s tastes - but it certainly makes for a welcome respite from tokyo’s summer heat. besides, yusuke can focus better in familiar surroundings, and the attic has definitely become very familiar to him. the rest of the phantom thieves would surely agree. 

     and so yusuke draws, holding nothing back. there is but one model here - namely, akira himself - but that’s no concern to yusuke. it’s not as if akira makes for bad inspiration. not at all.

     alas, when yusuke shows akira the piece... “did you not realize it was you, akira?” he turns the sketchbook back towards himself. “it’s true that i went with a slightly more abstract style, but -” his eyes dart away from the page as akira sits up. “ ...no! sit as you normally do. i don’t want this piece to be so rigid.” the current position akira is in now seems so very... forced. he frowns. “you even said that you liked the curves, akira.” this betrayal! yusuke huffs. 

   he’s definitely overusing those puppy dog eyes … ( not that he’s any good at making them work )   —- gaze locked with yusuke’s, and he is confident in the fact that he may be able to get what he wanted. although, it would be a lie to say that ryuji wasn’t feeling a bit frustrated at this point …       ; not that he had good enough reason to, more so the fact that he wanted his way  —- and he wanted it as soon as possible. 

‘ c’mon, man ! ’ he whines,          ‘ let me use a canvas …       i only need one. ’  he had the best idea for one ( ! )  —-   idea being that he’d cover skateboard wheels in paint, and ride along it atop the canvas.       / @mabufu

     it’s rare to see him so desperate — nonetheless, yusuke remains unconvinced. the request is far too random; far too unexpected for him to succumb to whatever scheme is currently brewing within ryuji’s head. in fact, his relentless insistence only makes yusuke all the more suspicious of his true intentions... along with the ridiculous expression upon his face.