100 Watchers!
My writing community has 100+ watchers now and I just wanted to say a quick thank you! I know that I'm not as good as most writers in this fandom and I know this doesn't really seem like a significant number compared to memberships on other writing communities, but it means a lot to me.
Writing rarely comes easily to me, and I always appreciate the support, feedback and thoughtful comments I receive from readers. They make me happier than you know and I always do my best to honour that contribution by replying as quickly as best I can. I've been in Arashi fandom now for around two years, probably less time than most of my previous fandoms, but I've already written more Arashi fic and drabbles alone than all the rest of those fandoms combined - and nearly doubled. I really enjoy being in this fandom and I hope that I can continue to contribute in a way that can make other people enjoy it too. ♥
Since I have nothing new really prepared to mark the occasion, here's my gift for now - comment here and request any pairing/ot3/what-have-you and a prompt and I will write you a drabble. I can't promise how soon they'll be done, as that's dependent given any other commitments I have and the amount of requests I get, but I will do my best! In the meantime, here's some drabbles reposted from my personal journal:
+
Of course Aiba knew about Jun's crush on Sho - everyone knew. Even Sho knew and he did absolutely nothing to discourage it. He probably liked the attention and he wasn't mean about it. Sho was a nice guy, even if he could be kind of stubborn amd self-centered. What was the best way to deal with someone who had a crush on you? The answers weren't quite so easy when that someone was your fellow member.
Aiba had never expected Jun to actually confess to Sho, though. That was pretty impressive, actually. He wants to tell Jun that, that he's so brave. But it might not be a good idea to say anything at all. Jun is tense and coiled, dark eyes snappish and scared. He curls away from Ohno's touch and Nino's wry comments and his eyes slide away towards the opposite wall whenever Sho enters the room.
Jun had been sharing a hotel room with Sho and Aiba isn't surprised at all to find Jun sitting in front of his door with his duffel bag that evening.
"Can I stay with you tonight?" Jun asks, voice quiet. He's got the strap of his bag twisted around his fingers, the skin of his hands white where the pressure has almost cut off his circulation.
"He didn't ask you to leave, did he?" Aiba asks softly as he fumbles with his card key. He doesn't want to press too hard, to ask too many questions. What Jun needs is a place where he can just feel safe.
"No," Jun says tersely. He stands, shifting his weight from foot to foot until Aiba finally gets the door unlocked. He dumps his stuff on one of the beds inside.
"I was stupid," Jun says later, once the lights are out and the room is dark and silent. Aiba blinks - he had been halfway asleep and thought Jun had been as well. "To think that he might - it was so stupid."
Aiba bites his lip, shifting onto his side so he can see Jun's dark, lumpy form in the opposite bed. "There's nothing stupid about liking someone." He thinks about girls who had brought him Valentine chocolate, who had confessed to him behind stairways, on the roof on the school and on the bike path leading home. One had started crying as he'd rejected her, heart-wrenching sobs. A wash of guilt creeps over Aiba even as he thinks about it. Sho is probably feeling the same way right now - he likes Matsujun, likes him a lot even if he doesn't love him.
"It'll be okay tomorrow," Aiba says, trying to sound confident.
He doesn't get an answer from Jun.
+
For weeks, the prospect of the coming New Year fills Jun's mind like a bright, warm glow. He only gets four days of vacation, but even that seems extravagant after a year of running full-tilt all the way. He finds his mind wandering during rehearsals, meetings and even filming, making plans. He'll visit his family, of course. Go drinking with friends, sleep, eat lots of good food. He could probably take a small vacation, but he's tired, so tired.
Jun picks out his New Year's cards carefully; a very stylistic silver-brushed tiger staring boldly off the crisp white paper. It seems like he sends out more every year. He writes each one carefully, not wanting to get careless or sloppy.
In the end, he has to go buy more cards - and though he searches furiously, there are no more silver tigers lurking on the shelves of the stationary store. He checks three more stores, gets cornered by a middle-aged women who nearly starts crying with happiness and nearly makes himself late for filming, without lunch. He has a roaring headache all afternoon. He knows that it's stupid to get pissed off at little things, but he just can't help it.
Aiba is tucking a steaming plate of take-away curry when Jun finally gets back to their dressing room. He looks up when Jun enters, cheeks bulging with unchewed rice.
"Tired?" Aiba asks after he finally swallows and Jun sits down at the table. "You've got that funny wrinkly line on your forehead."
"Kind of." Jun tries to consciously relax his face. "That smells really good."
"Yeah?" Aiba says, and "Hey, are you hungry, Matsujun? I've got another spoon somewhere here, hang on!" That's the nice thing about Aiba; as much as he is unabashed about stealing other people's unfinished food, he's always delighted to share his own as well.
The curry is delicious; the rice pleasantly sticky and the roux perfectly spicy and rich. He tells Aiba about his card problems between bites. Aiba seems genuinely interested, if somewhat unsympathetic. But then again, he always draws his own cards, and it's pretty hard to find a shortage of blank cards, even at the holidays.
"You could just find some different cards," Aiba suggests. Jun scrapes his spoon against the bottom of the dish; Aiba had stopped eating awhile ago and has his head propped in his hands, elbows resting on the table as he talks to Jun.
"I guess," Jun says. Those cards were perfect, though. His headache is gone now, at least. He's still got to film another scene before they wrap for the day.
It's nearly eleven by the time Jun stumbles in the dressing room. He's tired and he has to be awake early again tomorrow. Jun doesn't notice until he's already got his jacket on, and is about to grab his bag and leave. He stares for a moment at the simple, small red cardboard box perched on top of his bag.
Aiba's careless scrawl on the note on top reads Hope these are okay - I want one!!! and Jun bites his lip against a grin as the inside of the box reveals a pile of colourful cards with playful cartoon tigers. There are five of them, baby tigers, childish and gaudy with bold stripes and big eyes. They're leaping and springing across the page, against a jungle background.
"What an idiot," Jun says to the empty dressing room. The hum of the rickety old heater in the corner seems to agree with him.
Jun knows that he has less than five hours to sleep, that the filming tomorrow will be intense and he should probably get his rest. But he sits down at his kitchen table when he gets home and writes one last card.
Nino, he writes under the tiger pouncing on a sleeping tiger. Leader, for the sleepy-eyed target of tiger Nino's affections. Sho-kun is the tiger swinging on a vine, flying through the air. Jun is the tiger in the corner, smiling as Aiba-chan bounds towards him, clearly poised to leap.
Jun isn't one to get sentimental on cards and he takes comfort in the safe confines of prescribed messages. His script is formal, but warm, the same words he wrote for his manager and his mother and his co-stars.
But somehow, he trusts that Aiba will get the message that this card is special.
+
With any luck, I'll have something new up before the end of the holiday break and if nothing else, I should be posting up my je_holiday fic sometime in early January! ♥
Writing rarely comes easily to me, and I always appreciate the support, feedback and thoughtful comments I receive from readers. They make me happier than you know and I always do my best to honour that contribution by replying as quickly as best I can. I've been in Arashi fandom now for around two years, probably less time than most of my previous fandoms, but I've already written more Arashi fic and drabbles alone than all the rest of those fandoms combined - and nearly doubled. I really enjoy being in this fandom and I hope that I can continue to contribute in a way that can make other people enjoy it too. ♥
Since I have nothing new really prepared to mark the occasion, here's my gift for now - comment here and request any pairing/ot3/what-have-you and a prompt and I will write you a drabble. I can't promise how soon they'll be done, as that's dependent given any other commitments I have and the amount of requests I get, but I will do my best! In the meantime, here's some drabbles reposted from my personal journal:
+
Of course Aiba knew about Jun's crush on Sho - everyone knew. Even Sho knew and he did absolutely nothing to discourage it. He probably liked the attention and he wasn't mean about it. Sho was a nice guy, even if he could be kind of stubborn amd self-centered. What was the best way to deal with someone who had a crush on you? The answers weren't quite so easy when that someone was your fellow member.
Aiba had never expected Jun to actually confess to Sho, though. That was pretty impressive, actually. He wants to tell Jun that, that he's so brave. But it might not be a good idea to say anything at all. Jun is tense and coiled, dark eyes snappish and scared. He curls away from Ohno's touch and Nino's wry comments and his eyes slide away towards the opposite wall whenever Sho enters the room.
Jun had been sharing a hotel room with Sho and Aiba isn't surprised at all to find Jun sitting in front of his door with his duffel bag that evening.
"Can I stay with you tonight?" Jun asks, voice quiet. He's got the strap of his bag twisted around his fingers, the skin of his hands white where the pressure has almost cut off his circulation.
"He didn't ask you to leave, did he?" Aiba asks softly as he fumbles with his card key. He doesn't want to press too hard, to ask too many questions. What Jun needs is a place where he can just feel safe.
"No," Jun says tersely. He stands, shifting his weight from foot to foot until Aiba finally gets the door unlocked. He dumps his stuff on one of the beds inside.
"I was stupid," Jun says later, once the lights are out and the room is dark and silent. Aiba blinks - he had been halfway asleep and thought Jun had been as well. "To think that he might - it was so stupid."
Aiba bites his lip, shifting onto his side so he can see Jun's dark, lumpy form in the opposite bed. "There's nothing stupid about liking someone." He thinks about girls who had brought him Valentine chocolate, who had confessed to him behind stairways, on the roof on the school and on the bike path leading home. One had started crying as he'd rejected her, heart-wrenching sobs. A wash of guilt creeps over Aiba even as he thinks about it. Sho is probably feeling the same way right now - he likes Matsujun, likes him a lot even if he doesn't love him.
"It'll be okay tomorrow," Aiba says, trying to sound confident.
He doesn't get an answer from Jun.
+
For weeks, the prospect of the coming New Year fills Jun's mind like a bright, warm glow. He only gets four days of vacation, but even that seems extravagant after a year of running full-tilt all the way. He finds his mind wandering during rehearsals, meetings and even filming, making plans. He'll visit his family, of course. Go drinking with friends, sleep, eat lots of good food. He could probably take a small vacation, but he's tired, so tired.
Jun picks out his New Year's cards carefully; a very stylistic silver-brushed tiger staring boldly off the crisp white paper. It seems like he sends out more every year. He writes each one carefully, not wanting to get careless or sloppy.
In the end, he has to go buy more cards - and though he searches furiously, there are no more silver tigers lurking on the shelves of the stationary store. He checks three more stores, gets cornered by a middle-aged women who nearly starts crying with happiness and nearly makes himself late for filming, without lunch. He has a roaring headache all afternoon. He knows that it's stupid to get pissed off at little things, but he just can't help it.
Aiba is tucking a steaming plate of take-away curry when Jun finally gets back to their dressing room. He looks up when Jun enters, cheeks bulging with unchewed rice.
"Tired?" Aiba asks after he finally swallows and Jun sits down at the table. "You've got that funny wrinkly line on your forehead."
"Kind of." Jun tries to consciously relax his face. "That smells really good."
"Yeah?" Aiba says, and "Hey, are you hungry, Matsujun? I've got another spoon somewhere here, hang on!" That's the nice thing about Aiba; as much as he is unabashed about stealing other people's unfinished food, he's always delighted to share his own as well.
The curry is delicious; the rice pleasantly sticky and the roux perfectly spicy and rich. He tells Aiba about his card problems between bites. Aiba seems genuinely interested, if somewhat unsympathetic. But then again, he always draws his own cards, and it's pretty hard to find a shortage of blank cards, even at the holidays.
"You could just find some different cards," Aiba suggests. Jun scrapes his spoon against the bottom of the dish; Aiba had stopped eating awhile ago and has his head propped in his hands, elbows resting on the table as he talks to Jun.
"I guess," Jun says. Those cards were perfect, though. His headache is gone now, at least. He's still got to film another scene before they wrap for the day.
It's nearly eleven by the time Jun stumbles in the dressing room. He's tired and he has to be awake early again tomorrow. Jun doesn't notice until he's already got his jacket on, and is about to grab his bag and leave. He stares for a moment at the simple, small red cardboard box perched on top of his bag.
Aiba's careless scrawl on the note on top reads Hope these are okay - I want one!!! and Jun bites his lip against a grin as the inside of the box reveals a pile of colourful cards with playful cartoon tigers. There are five of them, baby tigers, childish and gaudy with bold stripes and big eyes. They're leaping and springing across the page, against a jungle background.
"What an idiot," Jun says to the empty dressing room. The hum of the rickety old heater in the corner seems to agree with him.
Jun knows that he has less than five hours to sleep, that the filming tomorrow will be intense and he should probably get his rest. But he sits down at his kitchen table when he gets home and writes one last card.
Nino, he writes under the tiger pouncing on a sleeping tiger. Leader, for the sleepy-eyed target of tiger Nino's affections. Sho-kun is the tiger swinging on a vine, flying through the air. Jun is the tiger in the corner, smiling as Aiba-chan bounds towards him, clearly poised to leap.
Jun isn't one to get sentimental on cards and he takes comfort in the safe confines of prescribed messages. His script is formal, but warm, the same words he wrote for his manager and his mother and his co-stars.
But somehow, he trusts that Aiba will get the message that this card is special.
+
With any luck, I'll have something new up before the end of the holiday break and if nothing else, I should be posting up my je_holiday fic sometime in early January! ♥