Family: A Squad A Playlist

for the group that's more than a squad
[listen] [download]

Squad A x Classical Elements

Inspired by: [x]

Russ' Updates #048: Culmination

Good afternoon, Darlings! <3 

A's week just ended yesterday, and I hope y'all have liked the past four weeks. The last part of this month's celebration is from today until tomorrow - I hope you guys can still hold on until the very end.

In case you're wondering, September 1 marks the return of the Featured Characters! I've already plotted out who will be making an appearance from September until November, and I'm excited to see how you guys will receive them. Take note that December won't be having a Featured Character yet again for reasons. ;D For now, all I can say that I've got something big planned for December and I hope you guys are looking forward to it! 

"I hope you do like what she's planned. It's big."

Thanks, Pete~

Also, expect the RussDates to return to its' usual schedule. By next Monday, they'll be back to 'normal' and you guys will be updated yet again of what to expect for the week. :) 

Since this RussDate includes both the last part of the GSC and the start of September, here's what to expect for this week as a bonus!

Posts to Expect:

[x] Russie Photoshops: A TGSC Graphic

[x] Russie Fanmixes: A TGSC Playlist

[ ] Russie Writes: A FC/UC Short

[x] Russie Photoshops: A FC/UC Graphic

"Thank you so much for being with us throughout the celebration."

Mutual Worry: A TGSC Short

Coffee Shop

Tokyo, Japan

August 2015

“Do you think we’re better friends?”

“I can tolerate you more, if that’s what you’re wondering,” A laughed. She took a long sip from her coffee and exhaled, “What’s with this, Peters? You’ve been weird the entire day,” she said, quirking a brow at him. Across her, the American flashed a grin and stretched. The two of them had chosen to have a small session at the local coffee shop; A had brought her laptop and Peters had his tablet. They would talk and work on their other matters, exchanging ideas back and forth.

On some days, they would talk about work and nothing but work. On other days, one of them would go personal and the other would listen. On the rare few, both of them would end up sharing with each other. It was an odd arrangement, granted that they had started off roughly with each other, but they managed and were able to make their friendship work.

“Don’t assume anything.”

“I’m not. I’m just asking.”

“Well…” Peters cut his cinnamon roll and eventually set down the utensils, “It just came to mind and all. How Squad Alpha was able to come up and all that shit,” he shrugged, “Seeing as it’s been what – three years?”

“…it’s really been a long time.”

Personality Tests: Arianne Maxwell

Inspired by: [x]

Worth: A TGSC Short

Mack's Apartment

Tokyo, Japan

August 2015

9:42 PM

"This is fucking bullshit."

"Aren't you supposed to be used to this?" A joked. Mack scowled and A patted his shoulder, setting a steaming cup of green tea down. "What's wrong this time?" 

"I don't know why we always get shitty data and information," he complained. "I can't fucking work with this. This shit is weak and doesn't have anything I can link to any of your theories. They're all so goddamn plausible but no one can fucking prove it because of this shit!" The Englishman gave the small collection of samples a crazed shake. "Shitty data. Shitty samples. Shitty proof–"

 "And maybe shitty theories, too," A interrupted. She crossed her arms, "Mack. Even my theories and Touta's can be wrong. If data can't support it, then it's okay. We can work with the angle your data supports."

"But that's the thing!" the curly-haired man threw up his hands in frustration, "Data points nowhere! It points to bumfuck nowhere!" A tried not to laugh at his rants, pressing her lips tightly together. "You – why the hell are you laughing, woman? This is a case!"

"You're usually so calm and collected, Mack," she explained after letting a few laughs pass her lips. "You're the only person who I know remains calm after a pot of coffee, instead of turning into a twitchy piece of shit like myself or Peters." Mack made a face.

Morality Alignment: Lawful Good

"A lawful good character will keep her word if she gives it and will never lie." 

inspired by: [x]

Empathy: A TGSC Short

Edogawa

Tokyo, Japan
August 2015

“This is horrible,” A muttered.

“It really is.” Touta and A watched as the rest of their assigned group apprehended and dragged the criminals to the car. To the side was an ambulance about to take off back to the hospital. It had been one of their usual nights out – assigned on a sudden scene, taking part, and then watching as the events died down from there.

One of their co-workers caught Touta’s eye and made a gesture. The Japanese blinked and looked to where the other had pointed, and he immediately grabbed A’s hand in response. She blinked. “Touta?”

“Come with me,” he urged. A could only nod as he brought her to a bench, where a small child sat wrapped in a blanket and hugging her knees. One of the attending nurses was trying to coax her into talk. Touta tapped her shoulder and upon seeing him, launched into talk which A strained to understand.

She could see how the twosome’s facial expressions and body language worked, however. The young nurse looked tired, almost sheepish. Her hands moved jerkily and she kept glancing at the small child, and A caught a few stumbles and stammers in her voice. From the looks and sounds of it, she was fairly new and didn’t quite know what to do.

Touta’s brow was quirked and his voice was low, calm. She could tell that it was his ‘calming’ voice. He tended to use that whenever speaking to someone either stressed or panicked; it usually worked in his favor. He seemed to coax the nurse into telling what was wrong, to which the other did. His face melted into one of concern upon hearing what the young lady had to say.

Happy Third Blogsary!

thank you

for three 

years of 

blogging

and way more to go.

xx, russie

Character Graphics: Arianne Maxwell

"I have to be strong."
i can't break in front of them

Russ' Updates #047: Week of A

Hello, Darlings! Welcome to the last week of the Genesis Celebration! 

"Last already? Really?"

Technically, it's the last character-focused and full week. The last part of the celebration will take place this coming August 30 - 31 (yes - only two days will be used), and will focus on the characters as a whole. This week, we'll be showcasing the lovely Team Lead herself, Agent A. 

If you're wondering how I'm doing, I'm still alive, I'm still hella okay - I'm still getting used to college and having to spend more than an hour on the road just to get to the freaking place and back home. Acads have officially started and I'm managing pretty well! :) This week, we'll be getting to sign up for the different orgs and I hope that I'll be able to get into the ones I like.

As for this week, you guys already know the lineup - expect three shorts and three graphics as usual, as well as a special graphic this coming Tuesday as the blog officially turns three years old. <3

I hope you guys are still in it as we tackle the fourth week of the Genesis Celebration. :D See you all this Tuesday, and may you have a great week ahead.

"Please do enjoy this week."

Stress Relief: A TGSC Short

HQ – Fitness Floor
Tokyo, Japan
August 2015

“Your form is tenser than usual. Locked around the shoulder area,” Peters noted. He approached A and gently adjusted her figure to the right form, “There. What’s been eating you lately?”

“Work. You know how it gets,” she replied. Peters studied her before asking her to form a punch, which she did. He moved her arm to the right angle, “Too high?”

“Too stiff. You need to relax or you’ll end up splitting your arm and not your opponent’s face,” the other man explained. She gave a huff and nodded, attempting to relax her arm the best way she could. “You never had trouble with simple positioning, A.”

“I know. Shit, right?” she relaxed and stretched, Peters flexing his fingers before starting to stretch his arms in preparation for the next exercise. “When work gets too much, I get tense. Really goddamn tense. Particularly around the shoulder, back, and arm area,” she told him. “Getting massages is a pain in the wallet so I try to calm myself down. But that never really happens.”

“Hence the stiffness.”

“Yeah.” A took a swig from her water bottle, “I thought doing sports would somehow able to lessen the stress.”

“It does if you do it right.” She made a face at him and Peters chuckled, moving into position onto the mat. “Come on. Let’s try that again.”

He attempted to guide her into a quick and easy spar, which A ended up following. Throughout the duration of it, he noticed that she really was tenser than usual – her limbs wouldn’t be as flexible, she’d cringe a little more when throwing a punch – it was like her body wasn’t able to get all the heaviness of work completely out.

They stopped roughly twenty minutes later and A was wiping the sweat off her brow, panting. Peters hardly looked exhausted.

“Tell me something. Is this mental or physical?”

“What?”

“Your stress. Is it mental or physical?”

Personality Tests: Samuel Peters

Inspired by: [x]

Aimlessly: A TGSC Short

HQ
Tokyo, Japan
August 2014

“You’re working supremely hard on this investigation.”

“I’m not just jokes and sarcasm,” Peters snorted. “Despite what A and Touta may tell you sometimes. Or despite what it seems to look like on the outside. I’m as dedicated as the rest of them,” he told Mack. The man nodded thoughtfully, watching as Peters quickly typed words and whatnot onto the open .doc file.

“Were you always this motivated?”

“Maybe?” Peters shrugged, “I don’t know, really. All I remember is my dad being a cop and myself wanting to follow in his footsteps. As I told you guys before, I wanted to be an athlete. But the police calling just maintained a harder pull on me.”

“I can imagine the father and son duo just taking down criminals together,” Mack chuckled. Peters flashed an amused half-smirk.

“You know it. If I didn’t move all the way to Tokyo, I would have been stuck there working alongside him. Not that I’d mind,” he added quickly, “But I’d rather have found what I really want to do here instead of there. Bronx was choking me and I wanted out – I wanted new,” he mused. Peters rubbed his chin, “That’s the thing about moving away, I guess.”

Morality Alignment: Chaotic Good

"The chaotic good character has a "beatific" attitude toward existence."
inspired by: [x]

Priorities: A TGSC Short

HQ
Tokyo, Japan
August 2015
Wednesday Afternoon

  

“So you’ve never really dated someone.”

“No,” Touta looked up at Peters and then back at the report he was busy typing, “Or at least not in a while? I’m not really sure. Ever since I got involved with HQ, I sort of stopped dating for a while. I don’t have time for it like I did back in college, to be honest.”

“So when was the last time you had a relationship?”

“I – shit. Probably while I started out HQ work. It’s been a long time, to be honest.” He laughed a little bit and ran a few fingers through his hair, “It lasted for a few months and we were never really serious. So splitting wasn’t exactly hard on the both of us.”

Peters nodded and rubbed his chin. “Interesting.”

“‘Interesting’?” he repeated, “What the hell is that supposed to mean, Peters?”

“Nothing, nothing,” Peters grinned and waved a hand freely; “Don’t you worry about that and just focus on that. A might get worried if we end up submitting shit late even though the deadline for ours is still next week.”

Character Graphics: Samuel Peters

"I am my own person."
thank god the rest of them can see that

Russ' Updates #046: Week of Peters

Good morning, Darlings :) Still managing to pull through? 

Mack's week just ended and we're now moving on to the third part of the Genesis Celebration! This month is moving faster than I expected, really...now speaking of third part, it's my pleasure to once more feature everyone's (not so) favorite American - he had his celebration last year, and this time around he's making another appearance! 

For this week, continue to expect the same round of posts as two weeks ago. Nothing much will change (or at least until we get to the last part whoops). I'm definitely hoping that I'll manage to hold on until the end of the month since ~*college*~. 

Speaking of college, things went great! I'm still worried about getting lost, being too overwhelmed, and a bunch of other personal things that aren't worth your time, but hey - I'll make it. 

Hey Pete, hope this makes up for the time I nearly forgot about your birthday.

"I'm still trying to get over that, Russie."

Enjoy your week, Darlings.

Quiet Company: A TGSC Short

Headquarters
Tokyo, Japan
August 2015

“Are you and A mad at each other or something?”

“What?” Mack looked up at Peters, who was holding two mugs. “What – no, no. We’re not mad. Why? Is she mad?”

“Nah, man.” The American set down the first mug on Mack’s coaster, “Touta and I just noticed after passing by the office yesterday. Or was it the coffee shop?”

“Coffee shop,” Mack replied. He glanced into the microscope and scribbled something on the paper to his left, “A and I were in the coffee shop and we were just hanging out while we could. It was the only time we were free. You and Touta were out rounding someone up, I think.”

“Yeah. And then we got there,” Peters took a drink from his mug of coffee, “Well. We passed there. But we saw you and A doing your own shit. A was busy on her laptop while you were reading your biochemistry books while also reading the shit for the investigation. You were ignoring each other. Touta was about to come in and ask if you two were arguing.”

Mack blinked and thought to the previous day; upon remembering, he merely laughed and shook his head slowly. “Okay. I think I know what you’re talking about. See,” he closed the notebook and set down the pen, “A and I just need…time off sometimes. And we understand each other’s mutual need for peace. So every week or two, we go out and do our shit while not minding the other. It’s something we agreed on doing,” he explained.

At that, Peters looked relieved. “Shit, okay. That makes sense.”

Personality Tests: Macmillan Thomas

Inspired by: [x]

Ordinary: A TGSC Short

The Keiji Bar
Tokyo, Japan

August 2015

  

They were drinking buddies.

As strange as it seemed, Mack and Peters blended well together. Peters was loud, extroverted, and passionate while Mack remained quiet, introverted, and calm. Despite many people saying that Mack was more like A, that wasn’t really the case. Although A was also quite introverted like him, she could get fiery. A had the large potential to be like Peters in some ways – someone just as dedicated, passionate, and wholeheartedly stubborn.

That probably explained why the two tended to clash and butt heads while he and Peters got along more and found each other’s company quite enjoyable.

For Peters, Mack was a breath of fresh air. There was A who sometimes tended to debate with him if she thought something he said was sketchy; and then there was Touta who acted both as a mentor and a parental figure. In the squad, there was a younger sister figure and a father figure. As nice as it was, he never quite rang with someone who was almost at the same familial vibe as he.

That was when Mack stepped in. Peters did his best to analyze the half-awake man who drank from his tea and later shed his mask to turn into the usual Mack – someone snarky and who served as the middle ground. He did his best to match him with any familial archetype. Was he a father, was he a mother, was he an older sibling, or was he a younger sibling?

Peters tried everything, even going towards the ‘vodka aunt’ and ‘sketchy uncle’ options. As much as he tried, he never really saw Mack in any of those. At the same time, it both amused and irritated him, not being able to properly sort the enigmatic forensic scientist into a singular category.

He realized it a little later than usual:

Mack was just like him.

Morality Alignment: True Neutral

"A true neutral character will keep his word if in his best interest."
inspired by: [x]

Appreciation: A TGSC Short

Headquarters
Tokyo, Japan
August 2015

Mack had an eye for the living.

It came with the job, in all honesty. Being a forensic scientist didn’t just mean staring down a microscope and counting all the itty-bitty wrong things then reporting that to the squad who was asking for it. Contrary to that, it actually meant having a keen eye and knowing how things ticked – how living organisms tended to tick. He could position himself inside a coffee shop and pick out an ordinary person, then take them apart in his head bit by bit. It was a fun game he played when bored, but he never quite told others about it because it was bordering on the creepy side of the spectrum.

That certain game of his, however, assisted him when he needed it. Mack was sometimes roped into interrogations, and he’d be there to watch under the guise of an intern taking notes. However, he’d actually be there to analyze the person interrogated. On one paper, he’d take notes of the actual interrogation. On another, he’d note the verbal and bodily cues that would give them away.

This was how he was able to observe that the older man needed a pick up.

It started with A.

“T’s a little off,” she admitted to him. Mack blinked slowly and pocketed his change without counting, taking a sip from the chai latte he had bought much after. “He isn’t as cheerful as he usually is. Do you think something happened?”

“If someone rejected his date offer, he’d be acting differently,” Mack replied. A frowned and sat at one of the booths, the wild-haired man sitting right across her. “He’d be dropping relatable quotes that would hit a thousand retweets on Twitter. But he really isn’t. So it has to be something else.”

“Mm.” the black-haired lady sighed and took a small bite from the pastry she had bought, “I hope it’s nothing too serious. He’s been working himself hard this past week, really. He needs a break.”

Character Graphics: Macmillan Thomas

"There's no room for error."
they deserve better than that

Russ' Updates #045: Week of Mack

Good morning, Darlings! :)

I hope you liked the first week of the Genesis Celebration - now that you've seen how the flow works, I think y'all now get how it's going to be for the next three weeks.

With Touta's week officially completed, I think it's time to move onto the next person, yes?

"It's nice to be featured, R."

It's Mack's week from today until the fourteenth, so expect the same line up of posts but this time, focusing on our snarky forensic scientist. :> I hope you're looking forward to the rest of August because I sure as hell am.

Also - not blogsary related, but - please keep me in your prayers/thoughts! I'll officially be starting a new chapter in my life as I start college tomorrow. Don't worry, though! I'll still be updating and posting daily until the end of the month, and I don't plan on leaving the Genesis Celebration behind.

Have an amazing week, loves! <3 

"I'm excited to be with you for the entirety of the week."