Pinned
𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎! 「 いらっしゃいませ！」
After venturing along until the depths of the night crept in and dyed the sky black, your respite is sounded by the chimes of a dingy, rusting bell above your head. It's golden coat corroded by graying rust, it clinks along its walls with the power of a baby chick calling it's mother; piercing and solitary. The sound is quickly swallowed by the desolate murk that shrouds the entranceway.
The darkness that surrounds you is thick and as you reach an arm forward, it swallows it up to your elbow like some ravenous beast. The silence is deafening, like drowning in a moat and so potent that even a scream would be quickly shushed within it.
You consider turning around and leaving. You look back at the glass door — where paint is chipped all over to reveal the deteriorated state of the wood — and are met with the sight of darkened, puffy clouds swimming in the sky. It'll rain soon, you deduce.
To turn tail and take your chances with the impeding storm or stay to deal with what your eyes cannot perceive was the question that ailed you — probably for a second too long because soon the darkness rushes at you with a crackling hiss that startles you stiff.
You spin around, eyes darting left then right then left again. There's silence once more. You don't dare to reach out a second time now that you know you're not alone as the will to move or even turn your head leaves your perturbed being.
Whatever lingers in the dark seems to quieten for a mere moment to allow you time to get your racing heart in check again before it rattles it all over again when the sound repeats with the ferocity of a frightened, defensive rattlesnake. This time, it doesn't have the patience to wait for you to calm yourself and the noise zips to a more aggressive volume before suddenly dispersing all together — like a flame suddenly sparking on to then quickly be extinguished.
It's then that you hear it; music. With the catchiness of an old school commercial, the melody dominates the air. And, as if the silence was what kept the darkness around, it flees soon after the woman's voice — velvet and upbeat — joins the chorus, revealing crimson hues, snow white waves, and a smile that stretched a tad too wide to be considered comforting.
"Hehe.. I knew I heard someone come in," Their voice gave little away to their age or gender their dainty androgyny so carefully hid. It also seemed overly cheery and, quite frankly, out of place. Like seeing an infant giggling and skipping by an unfortunate accident.
"Welcome! Good to see a new face around here!" They said, so brazenly throwing out, "The name's Juuzou Suzuya! I've been runnin' this little art shop with a good friend of mine for a while now! It's so nice to see a new face!"
He extends his hand without a second thought and, as if on queue, the remaining bit of the darkness fades, revealing bland walls painted haphazardly in splotches of colorful droplets of paint, large paintings that couldn't have come from anyone other than a small child's imagination with it's overly bold colors and imagery. The feeling that emerged from you at such a bewildering sight sunk down to the bottom of your gut like a rock to a lake. The best way to describe the feeling that's coursing through would be to compare it to the feeling of watching a little girl laugh herself to tears at the sight of her parents' rotting corpses; random, out of place, and unnervingly odd.
Large, white canvas sit on their sides and lean against one another unevenly along the walls. Paint buckets of varying colors, tarps, and the like decorate their sides. It cluttered the small space the room had, but also gave it life with its messiness.
You return your gaze to who'sin front of you and you catch the person staring, perfectly frozen like a still shot jmage as they patiently wait for your hand to slip into theirs. The voided darkness that fills the middle of their crimson irises don't give off the same vibe as the rest of their body, but you don't dare wait to try and decipher the unspoken message swimming in them as you finally reach out to give their hand a firm shake.
A trap — you realize it a second too late when you fail to pull your hand away afterwards. Your eyes shoot back up, your visage noticeably alarmed. Their smile widens impossibly.
"It's been so long since we've had a guest — I should do something special to celebrate the occasion! Hmm...a performance, maybe? My props are around here somewhere.. Oh! Why don't you come with me? I have a feeling you'll be coming back here much more in the future so it's good to become familiar with the place!"
More giggles fill the tense air that only seemed to weigh on you as your excitable host forced you to follow after them, leading you through a door towards the back of the small shop where warm light bleeds into every corner..
"This is Ari's study! Most days, she keeps herself cooped up in here to read and write. She's what you'd call a recluse and since she does all the heavy-lifting from the shadows, it's not often that she's around to say hey to our customers — especially the new faces that roll in here."
"..What does she like to write? Lots of stuff! Wanna see? ..Heh, don't worry. I'll make sure this place looks like we never came in here — now, c'mere! I wanna show you my favorites from her collection! Starting with the manga and shows!"
Demon Slayer | Tokyo Ghoul | The Case Study of Vanitas | Yona of the Dawn | Alien Stage | Miscellaneous
"Aaaaand over there is where she keeps all the written works about the video games she likes to play. If it wasn't obvious, she has a thing for story-driven games rather than action. 'Kinda boring if you ask me."
Genshin Impact | Omori | Danganronpa | Sally Face | Honkai Star Rail | Twisted Wonderland | Miscellaneous
"Over there's where she keeps the other stuff she writes and just on the other side of that bookshelf is a secret passageway that leads you to a secret room. I can't really let you in on that little secret of hers, but if you're really curious, you can always try asking her whenever you run into her to show you where it leads. ...Ah, but I'm getting sidetracked. We should get out of here before Ari gets back."
"Before we continue the tour, I have to make sure you read this copy that talks about our shop's rules and FAQ. It's really important you take our rules to heart so that we won't have to deal with you for accidentally breaking one of them later. ...Hm? What would happened then? Hehe, that's for me to know and you to hopefully never find out! Now, get to reading. The faster you finish, the quicker I can get back to showing you around our humble abode."
Rules
Please refrain from being rude to the other guests! You can be impolite towards me all you want, but I will not tolerate such behavior towards any of my visitors. I mean it — no fighting allowed!
Please do not interact with me if you apply to anything on this Basic DNI Criteria List.
Please do no save, copy, or repost the commissions I post of my ocs.
Please do not attempt to dm me if we aren't mutuals or don't talk a lot. I will delete your message and if you continue to try and talk to me via dms, I will block you.
All blank blogs will be blocked without question! Please at least either have a pfp or a post under your blog so I don't accidentally mistake you as a bot!
FAQ/Frequently Asked Questions
Are your requests open? Do you have any specific rules regarding requests?
Yes, my requests are always open unless stated otherwise! Furthermore, you can find my rules here!
Do you have a taglist?
Yes! You can find it here! The link will also appear at the beginning of all my written works for even easier access!
Any specific tags I may need to know about?
Any important news about this little shop of ours ( ex. hiatuses, events, blog changes, etc. ) will be labeled under the tag 𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓼 𝓷' 𝓬𝓻𝓪𝓯𝓽𝓼!
How do I become a ghost customer ( aka an emoji anon )?
Just let me know via inbox! You can throw it in with your request if you have one too! Simply specify what emoji you want to represent you and continue to interact with me under such alias!
Can we be moots/become mutuals?
You needn't ask. If we hit it off and I feel comfortable enough to consider you a friend, I'll follow you.
Any specific quirks I need to watch out for?
I absolutely love referring to people — whether they're a mutual, follower, or simply someone I like to chat with through inbox/comment exchanges — using nicknames and petnames! I also tend to use emojis/emoticons/memes to express myself and emphasize my words! 🖤
"Done reading already? Alright! Let's move on then!"
"..Huh? That sign looks a bit out of place? Ari made it to outlines our sponsors. She cleans that thing just about everyday so it's no wonder it sticks out like a sore thumb in here."
"Hm...? Who're our sponsors? Real' nice people, lemme tell ya! They always bring tasty snacks and fun times whenever they visit. Our shop wouldn't be as big as it is if it weren't for them so if you ever happen to meet them make sure to be extra polite, alright?"
As of right now, I'm currently affiliated/an official member of the @stellaronhvnters and @d1strict99, two really cool sfw networks where writers & artists come together and write, bond, and have fun over their shared love for hoyoverse games and various other fandoms!
"Do we run any other places like this? Ari does! What were they again..? ..uh..."
Though I'm most active on Tumblr, my old wattpad account is still up and I have an AO3 account as well! On Wattpad, I wrote for stuff like Genshin Impact, Demon Slayer, AssClass, and Omori whilst my AO3 is mainly being used as backup storage of already posted works here. Feel free to check either out if you want.
"You want to know more about us? ..Hehe, well there's not much to say about me, but regarding Ari.."
My last name is inspired by the main character of one of my favorite childhood shows, Yugioh Zexal. His name is Yuma Tsukumo! If you're having trouble reading my username, it's pronounced Ah-ree ( Ari ) Soo-keh-moh ( Tsukemo ).
I once believed I was under the aromantic spectrum but after years of self-discussion, I realized that I'm very much panromantic/pansexual. Also, for anyone wondering, my pronouns are she/her but I don't care if you don't refer to me as such as many have referred to me in They/Them and even He/Him pronouns. Whatever rolls off the tongue best for you is what I'm cool with.
My favorite characters as of right now consist of Juuzou Suzuya, Lilia Vanrouge, Riddle Rosehearts, Epel Felmier, Ortho Shroud, Mitsuri Kanroji, The Tokito Twins, Shinobu Kocho, Ciel Phantomhive, Venti, Durin, Till, and Luka!
My birthday is July 15th, making me a Cancer!
My current favorite artists are Ashnikko, Billie Eilish, Alec Benjamin, Sabrina Carpenter, Chase Atlantic, Doechii, Megan Thee Stallion, and Laufey!
"And that brings us to end of our tour! Now, if you'll excuse me...huh? What about the performance? There was supposed to be a performance? ..Hm.. Anyways, I'm hungry. You'll join me for lunch, won't you? We can get to know each other more — c'mon!"
Dividers were made by me, pictures used are from Pinterest, post formatting is inspired by @xxsabitoxx and @romaritimeharbor
