#+ (note to self - never accept this kind of anonymous gift again unless you want to waste a week sorting through it all)

[msmc-796-official]

hello Omninet! this is your local vodka aunt cousin Slipshod speaking. I've finally finished sorting through the metric fuckton of booze I got sent anonymously (with no help from my squadmates, since K went to go visit Gray and P is... busy), so it's time to break this shit down by the numbers and let y'all know what's all on the table. gonna start with the raw stats, then start getting into the specifics

first: the numbers, i.e. the boring shit

as you all know, the ask specified that there were "approximately 70 crates" of booze, and that's correct. there are indeed 70 crates of assorted alcohol sitting in my corner of the hangar, as you can see behind me. what was not specified was how many bottles constitutes a "crate", and as such, I had to count every single fucking bottle myself. the things I do for you nerds...

if my count is accurate (which it better damn well be, I counted twice just to make sure), there is a grand total of... seven hundred and thirty-six bottles of booze!

now, clearly, whoever sent these did not take into account the very limited space in which my vodka collection is stashed, so there's no way in hell that I'll be able to keep all of this. more details on that coming later; for now, let's break these numbers down into something more tangible

among this batshit insane pile of booze, there are:

19 bottles of gin (K's favorite) - 19 bottles of whiskey (P's favorite) - 7 bottles of tequila - 35 bottles of vodka (now you're talking!) - 9 bottles of rum - 48 bottles of beer (four full 12-pack cases, each case had a different brand) - 24 bottles of mead (two full cases, also 12-packs) - 26 bottles of hard cider (two 12-pack cases, plus a few extra) - 14 bottles of everclear - 6 bottles of absinthe - 16 bottles of assorted coffee liquors - 2 bottles of Jägermeister (where the hell did they find this? I thought this shit was illegal!) - 21 bottles of assorted schnapps - 26 bottles of assorted wine (5 of which aged into vinegar on the way here) - 43 bottles of homebrew mead (all from the same batch, too, from the looks of it) - 25 bottles of homebrew moonshine (or some other kind of illicit grain alcohol) - 12 bottles of sake (full 12-pack case) - 3 bottles of Midori (melon liquor) - 38 bottles of kvass (fermented rye bread drink - less of a true alcohol and more like kombucha) - 27 bottles of perry (pear cider) - 5 bottles of palm wine (wish I was kidding, but it's legit - wonder where they sourced this from?) - 48 bottles of ginger beer (four full 12-pack cases) - 8 bottles of cachaça - 13 bottles of applejack (apple brandy) - 2 bottles of Chambord (raspberry liquor - aka "holy hand grenade" because of the bottle shape) - 1 bottle of Malört (wormwood liquor) - 14 bottles of scotch - 22 bottles of bourbon - 4 bottles of champagne (how did these not explode in transit?) - 36 bottles of "Armory Reserve Black Powder IPA" - 1 bottle of "SSC LUX-Iconic Ambrosia" - 24 bottles of "Northstar Brewing Co. Starseeker Ale" - 12 unlabeled bottles, embossed with the HORUS logo - 11 bottles labeled "KTB Royal Distilleries" - 12 bottles of mead(?) marked "New Levra" (as in Headlock's home planet?) - 20 bottles of grain alcohol labeled "CMC G.W." (as in CORSAIR?)

and, finally, 83 bottles of assorted spirits which were all too spoiled and/or suspicious to merit being drank, and subsequently got dumped. holy fuck this is so much booze.

which brings me to part 2: the weird shit

obviously, there's a lot here to sort through, from various corners of Union space (and probably beyond). gonna use this next section to highlight some of the truly unique stuff in the haul, plus a few of the bottles I've already opened and my opinion of it. enough yapping - let's get into it!

Northstar Brewing Co. Starseeker Ale: not bad! I'm not a beer drinker, but it's an IPS-N product, so I knew it wasn't gonna be awful. this kind of beer is called a red ale (I think), and it's got something vaguely fruity about it under all those hops. solid 5/10; acceptable, but not outstanding

New Levra mead(?): very curious about this one. haven't opened any of it yet - might try to invite Headlock over and see if he knows what this stuff is. looks like mead, smells like the trench. ???/10

Armory Reserve Black Powder IPA: disgusting. I was already convinced those fucks at the Armory have shit taste in booze, but trying this just confirmed it. horribly bitter, almost to the point of tasting burnt. -100/10, would not recommend. (might give a bottle to K and see if she recognizes it at all)

palm wine: apparently this shit dates back to ancient Cradle - I had no idea there were still places in the galaxy that even made this. VERY potent, one sip just about knocked me over. usually I don't recommend diluting booze, but this one might need it. 3/10, way too sweet for my tastes

"CMC G.W." grain alcohol: didn't know CORSAIR had an illicit moonshine rig hidden on the Requiem, but hey, I ain't judging. tried a sip of this and damn near spit it out; tastes like everclear with an unpleasant motor oil tinge. definitely using this as a mixer in the future, wouldn't dare drink it straight again. 1/10, no offense to anyone at CMC

Nemiroff Honey-Pepper Vodka: this was one of those 35 vodka bottles I mentioned up top. for those not already aware, I am a collector of strange and unusual vodka flavors, so to see such a wide variety (as well as a few bottles of the good stuff) made me very happy. this one caught my eye right away, on account of the tar-like color. my review? smells like a Trunk Security officer's boot, tastes like getting smacked by a charged D/D 288, burns like licking a nuclear reactor mid-meltdown. 6/10, might not be a bad mixer if I can find something to cut the burn & bring out the honey

mystery homebrew mead: I do like a good mead, so seeing this in the mix intrigued me. this one is heavy on the honey taste, but there's something about it I can't quite place. something... spiced? in the same camp as cinnamon or nutmeg. we'll see if this knocks me on my ass later, only had half a bottle (they used beer bottles, not wine bottles; calm down) to be safe. 8/10, good shit!

right... now that I'm sufficiently buzzed, we can get back to what I mentioned earlier - as was stated, this is WAY too much booze for me to keep in the hangar. so - if any of y'all out there on the Omninet want me to hook you up with something from the stash, shoot me an ask and lemme know what you want. (not the vodkas, though - I'm keeping all of those. might put a limit on the whiskey and gin, too, since I know P and K like those)

-- Slipshod

[gascon-en-exil]

Mercilessly Judging the Men of Fòdlan: The Kingdom

It’s been a long time coming, over eight months in fact, but now that it may be assumed that the last of the DLC has been released and the fandom as a whole has settled comfortably into its various camps I think there’s no better time than now to answer that burning question: how raunchily, outrageously gay can the male cast of Three Houses possibly be? For those unfamiliar with this fun little series of mine, I’ve been applying my extensive knowledge and experience of gay male sex and hookup culture to the men of Fire Emblem, originally as a way of reckoning with the refusal of the games themselves to provide me with any worthwhile self-insert M/M content. I stand by that premise for FE16 - you all know how absolutely nothing appeals to me about m!Byleth or his prospects on that score - but in the years since my first outing of merciless judgment with Awakening that idea has expanded into something broader, an imaginative modern AU of sorts where all these guys are into men (if not always exclusively) and willing to put themselves out there in the lewd and semi-anonymous world of hookup apps in search of their preferred carnal delights.

A note on organization before we begin, as this material is too long to cram into one post. Excluding Byleth (as Avatars and their spawn always are for this project) there are twenty-one playable male characters in Three Houses. This makes for an even threeway division to preserve the eponymous conceit of the game, but not a particularly neat one. Aligned with the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus I therefore have below the male Lions, Kingdom knight and Azure Moon-exclusive Gilbert, and Faerghus-based underworld kingpin Yuri. As with all things concerning M/M outside of Byleth and his awkward S rank monologues, the Lions have it the most clear-cut.

The Empire

The Alliance

Dimitri

It’s rare that you can get a feeling for someone’s whole life story entirely from watching their presence in hookup spaces over time, but he’s an exception. Once a sweet, wide-eyed collegiate who looked eager to get dicked down by any reasonably polite and attractive top/vers, hard years have turned him grim and sad and just barely put together enough to be presentable for a clothed face pic, much less anything more revealing...and still eager to get dicked down. He’s been dealing with a lot lately, and even though he’s still game for a quickie from time to time (especially with muscle guys, a shallow weakness of his he’d blush to admit to out loud) a single roll in the sheets isn’t going to make him emotionally available. Apparently he’s already well-covered on that front as it is; with his charisma and open-minded way of looking at the world he’s made many friends and fuck buddies and companions who seem half like boyfriends and half like something indescribably beyond that, and a new trick would be hard-pressed to compete with that and likely wouldn’t want to if it means engaging with his demons. Still an enviable hookup partner though, with a full pert ass and a whole assortment of friends who love to play with him and anyone else who lands an invitation to his bed. His cock has left many a bottom drooling, but unfortunately he’s haunted by the memory of the time when he went too hard and nearly caused a medical emergency. Now he just takes it and doesn’t even let anyone ride him, but there are just as many men who aren’t complaining about that in the slightest. Has a very high chance of winding up in a tender and fulfilling poly marriage that’s still open on all sides - he’s got a lot of hot, sweaty love to give.

Favored erotic tea time subjects: body worship, muscle bears, group sex

Favored gift: a body pillow, on the infrequent occasions where he has to sleep alone with no one to cuddle

Dedue

One of those shy larger men who will never initiate conversation, because he’s been blown off one too many times for shallow reasons and isn’t expecting that to ever change. It doesn’t bother him greatly though, because as his profile states he’s in a relationship and he and his partner only play together so unless you’re only looking for friends - not impossible, as he’s got quite the array of engaging hobbies on display in his pics - you’ll have to accept that this bear has a cub...or something like that anyway. Bad at small talk and even a little embarrassed to talk about his expertise in the kitchen or the garden, it’s a completely different story when the lights are off where he’ll give cocky power bottoms and scoffing total tops exactly what they deserve. Sub bottoms on the other hand bring out his softer, cuddly side, and he’s more likely to be using his considerable weight to lovingly press them into the mattress as he opens them up with his tongue and eventually his dick. Is utterly devoted to his partner but enjoys watching him playing around with third parties, even if he’s almost never allowed to sit on the sidelines for the entire night. To the shock of everyone he’s actually a total vers, even if he leaves most tops stammering excuses and bending over for him anyway. He’s usually polite enough to stick to oral in those cases. He’ll never be the most sociable man, but he’s a real catch regardless in every other aspect and is no doubt looking forward to his inevitable wedding and only sometimes X-rated married life. Still fondly recalls the first time someone introduced him to the idea of sex while cooking, and now he takes it as a challenge (only when he’s cooking just for himself and his sexual partners, of course; he doesn’t want to be unsanitary).

Favored erotic tea time subjects: twunks, voyeurism, cum swapping

Favored gift: a chef’s apron short enough to let his junk hang free

Felix

Has a biting retort for every unsolicited nude and “looking?” ever sent to him, and he gets a lot of both when his pic is just enticing enough and his profile is full of enough acerbic wit to provoke the kinds of guys who actually read those things. Claims he’s vers, gets pissed whenever anyone tells him that’s just code for bottom, gets even more pissed after hookups when his partner points out that that’s totally true in his case. Prefers oral to conversation, both giving and getting, and he’s got a remarkable talent for handjobs that surprisingly doesn’t seem to be born from excessive masturbation. Not so great with fetishes - he punched the first guy to pull his hair while he was giving head, and passes made at him during his workouts leave him more annoyed at the interruption than aroused. Disarmed by anything too soft and cutesy so he’s not great with fems, but it’s unclear if this has anything to do with his lingering daddy issues that he’s not working out in the bedroom because they’re (probably) not like that. Not sentimental at all, but he’s probably got that one longtime slow burn affair he doesn’t bring up with his tricks. If anything ever comes of that he’ll vanish immediately from the app space, but until then he’s up for a 69 followed by a good long pounding - much longer than you’d expect from someone of his frame. Good thing too, because he loves making his partners cut loose and give it to him raw and hard.

Favored erotic tea time subjects: “straight” guys, dildos, pig sluts 

Favored gift: high-quality lube. and lots of it

Ashe

Everyone’s BFF, sweet and affable and able to bounce from friend group to friend group even without always having to take his clothes off. Usually finds himself as the token twink surrounded by men who are very much not that, because they value his friendship and reliability (and also his ass, as expected). Did not have the best home life and has probably had to do a few shady things to get by, but with all that mostly behind him anyone would be happy to date him or even just to take a walk with him, as he’s quite outdoorsy when he’s not taking care of relatives or less responsible friends. A bottom by expectation because there’s not much else one can infer when he shows up to bars and house parties alike in the company of guys twice his size who aren’t shy about being casually handsy with him. Still, has learned to be quite deft when the need arises and knows how to stimulate on multiple fronts, whether for one partner or several. His weakness for muscles is genuine too, and he loves a firm chest as much as taking some guy’s thick meat. Paradoxically doesn’t have a lot of patience for dumb jocks, but since he knows just about everyone worth knowing (and sleeping with) in his area and works the freckled fresh-faced young cutie angle with an artlessness that surprises some of his less gifted peers he’s bound to wind up in a comfortable relationship of some kind or another. Prefers to have sex with the lights on, and if given the option will cuddle for a long time afterward to avoid turning them off. His ass has freckles too, but he rolls his eyes when he gets asked that.

Favored erotic tea time subjects: gym sex, spit roasting, breaking in new bottoms

Favored gift: a sensible jockstrap, for workouts and for dates

Sylvain

Everyone you know has slept with him, but almost never more than once. You might have even met him in person long before you encounter his minimalist profile with its headless abs pic hitting you up with a shot of his erection measured against a beer can followed by an address. Gets a lot of action on that pic alone, but repeats are few and far between when he pulls out his phone right after pulling out of his guy of the hour and starts browsing through what’s on offer again and slow jerking. Not a big fan of FWBs met through hookups since he always feels like they’re being too clingy even if they just happened to get horny for him again a few weeks later. Does not like to talk, especially about his family, and he almost never extends an invitation to spend the night. Still, as callous as he is that cock is impressive and he knows how to put it to work. Good with his mouth too, and true to his cultivated total top persona he’d sooner rim than blow. He’s also successful and likeable enough in his personal life to have buddies who’ll play around with him, and he might even have some kind of nebulous long term thing going with one or two of them that they strictly don’t discuss. Bottoms only as a challenge, but he’s not great at it and doesn’t have the stamina to last very long while riding. Is on PreP and uses condoms religiously so he’s got that going for him, but testing after sex with him is still recommended because there’s really no telling how many other holes he’s filled that week. Likes twinks and twunks, but loudly refuses to ever be a sugar daddy no matter how desperate he might get in his later years assuming he doesn’t die of untreated syphilis or something equally appropriate and ridiculous.

Favored erotic tea time subjects: marathon fucking, double penetration, open relationships

Favored gift: a fleshlight molded into the shape of his favorite fuck buddy’s hole, for sentimentality

Gilbert

His pics are neither very current nor very flattering, and he doesn’t excel at small talk although he’s evidently been around long enough to know how to get an open-minded hookup over to his place from time to time. Encounters are fast and fumbling and drawn out more by his waning libido than anything else, and half the time he’ll settle for watching a guy play with himself in front of him while he makes an effort to get into it. It would be inaccurate to say that he’s not a romantic man; rather, it’s as though all his passion has been left behind in a difficult former life that he only reveals some of in long wistful moments over multiple encounters. Doesn’t get many repeats however on account of the lackluster performances, and also because his stubbornness bordering on self-righteousness about certain topics becomes very grating very quickly. Based on the stories he tells and the few pictures he has to show he was quite a catch in his earlier days, but circumstances and being closeted until much later in life kept him from exploring as much as he wanted. Has the potential to end up in a loving if not particularly sexual relationship with someone provided they’re extremely patient as he works through and/or learns to set aside his numerous hangups. There are worse fates...but never, ever call him daddy. It brings up a lot of bad memories, plus he just thinks it’s weird. Kink is something he left behind decades ago when he resigned himself to the knowledge that he wasn’t going to be getting much vanilla action, much less anything more exotic.

Favored erotic tea time subjects: mutual masturbation, actual straight guys, spooning

Favored gift: the balls to get some closure

Yuri

A consummate professional, albeit one whose marketing strategy carefully conceals that fact and also leaves no room for the kind of casual bigotry that flourishes on hookup apps - having a problem with “no fems” is expected from the build and the guyliner, but he’s all for equal opportunity sex even on top of that. Accustomed to the usual array of lonely and horny men who hit him up for pics and dirty chat and the occasional good time, and skilled enough in a variety of roles to perform whatever’s being asked of him. It’s not entirely clear where his own tastes lie; even the muscled closet cases who show up in his messages on the DL don’t seem to do all that much for him if they’re not paying. A former career in the arts has left him with an entertainer’s flair for pleasuring his clients both in and out of the bedroom along with an eclectic skill set that always finds a way to get put to work during sex. He can grind his hips, swirl his tongue, arch his back, and moan in the just the right ways to drive his partners wild, and all that experience also lends itself to his ability to patiently tutor even the clumsiest of lovers into something resembling competence, enough for them to get off if not himself. Bottoms more often than he tops, but he’s vers enough in skill and in preference to pivot when necessary and will probably have little trouble keeping this gig of his going later in life as well. He may not ever end in a proper relationship, but he’ll still do well for himself in an unorthodox way in keeping with the curiously world-weary optimism he sometimes espouses during pillow talk with guys who actually interest him enough for conversation.

Favored erotic tea time subjects: flip fucking, big top/small bottom, religious kink

Favored gift: creative restraints, for when he’s feeling acrobatic

[nadiineross]

Print: “How do you 'accidentally' achieve immortality?"

note: abt ur prompts.. i ….actually was planning a fic abt immortality but i dont think itll be done for ages so i slammed this one out. i also made a few posts abt superhero aus btw :’). i watched hercules for the first time in like a decade bc of ur other prompt and wow…. hades is still so funny DSJFHSKH ok anyway i prolly wont write a lot in the coming month bc semesters starting next week BUT i can type out some headcanons for prompts u give me, if u guys r interested in that?

i didnt proofread this and i dont want to because i am Lazy anyway thank u sm for continuing to talk to me abt chlodine yrs down the road. pls feel free to send in ur chlodine headcanons or if u jus wanna scream abt them

Nadine’s been alive for a long time, and so nothing really surprises her anymore. But, then again, Chloe is always her exception.

//

They first meet in India, only a passing thing. Being alive for so long, well, it gets boring. Nadine, also, could never really handle being purposeless. She enjoys having goals and working hard to achieve them, and she definitely enjoys the brief period, afterwards, where she relishes in those achievements.

It was easier, before, to find purpose: fighting. There were a lot of wars and Nadine was good at it. She was, and is, by all accounts, remarkable. However, to preserve her anonymity, she allows herself to dissolve into the unknowns of history.

She has had many names, most of which she has since forgotten. But, her first, she will not forget: Nadine. It is that name she gives to Chloe, and it is the one Chloe knows her by.

At that time, in India, she had nothing to do. It seemed the age of fighting as she knew it was coming to a close, and she grew bored.

Of course, this wasn’t a new experience; Nadine can hardly find anything she has not experienced. Usually, she travelled. She’s been to most places, but they were always changing, and this was something she appreciated on a deep level.

India, she has not visited in almost four decades.

On her first night, she eats a feast on her own. The restaurant owners were impressed, to say the least.

It is routine, her travels. During the day, she sees the sights, explores the places that have changed the most and visits those that she loved the last time she was here. When nightfalls, again, she feasts. Sometimes, when she isn’t too tired, she’ll take someone to bed.

This, she does rarely. It is, after all, hard to find a woman interested in other women in this world. Harder, even, to find one who isn’t interested in a long term investment, since Nadine is not very interested in the part where she outlives everyone. It isn’t a pressing issue, though. She has needs, sure, but she is patient, and sex did not fall very high on her list of priorities.

Besides, she understands. The consequences of being a woman like her are grave and not a lot of people would want to risk their lives for a fling.

Chloe is only her second in India.

There is a river, a half day’s walk away from where she’s staying. It is her second to last night in India, and there aren’t a lot of things she is itching to see, so she decides to make the walk.

By the time she gets there, the sun is hanging low in the sky, not yet set, but almost. She’s sweating from the heat and the oppressive humidity characteristic of the Indian climate. So, naturally, she unbuttons the first few buttons of her shirt and leans over the edge to splash water over her face.

It is a relief on her skin, and she looks up to gasp out a breath when she sees her. Chloe, shameless creature that she is, watches her.

Nadine doesn’t know how she didn’t notice the woman lounging in the water before now. Bewildered, Nadine blinks at her and feels very bare, suddenly hyper-aware of the droplets running down her face and into her shirt.

“Hello,” Nadine finally says. She is good with languages—there isn’t a lot to do when you’ve been alive for a few centuries.

“Hey.” She swims over until Nadine can see her smirk with distinct clarity, until her bare shoulders come up, but does not go farther up the shore. “Not from around here?”

Nadine raises an eyebrow. Clearly not. “No,” she says.

“Huh. Chloe, nice to meet you,” says she, extending a wet hand from the water. Nadine has to slosh into the water to take it and give it a firm, short up-down shake.

It’s a strange name, given the context, and this whole thing takes her off guard. She stupidly blurts out: “Nadine.”

Chloe’s grin becomes wider. She doesn’t try to hide the way she eyes Nadine’s open shirt. Nadine isn’t dense, either, so she knows when there is an opportunity she could take, is she wanted.

She’s not sure yet.

“And you? Are you from around here?”

Humming noncommittally, Chloe stands, abruptly, to her full height and walks around Nadine to the shore. She is naked, and Nadine has to swallow a lump in her throat.

Nadine has seen a lot of women, and she can say with certainty that Chloe is one of the most beautiful she has seen. She tries not to stare and succeeds, given that she has excellent self-control. Though she will admit, Chloe certainly tested her in that moment.

“Where are you from?” Chloe asks as she picks up a shirt strewn across a rock and slips into it. Now, Nadine notices the pair of pants and shoes hidden behind the rock.

Nadine smiles, wryly, aware that she is giving more information than she is receiving. “Africa.”

Chloe doesn’t seem to take offence at her brusqueness. Just laughs. “Ah.” Then, because Chloe is so brave and so young, barely thirty by the looks of it, she stoops and holds up her pants, and asks, “Should I bother with these or are we going to address… what should I call it? The tension?”

Oh, how they address it.

After, as Chloe disappears into the trees on the other side of the river, Nadine realizes that she is entirely, profoundly, surprised.

//

Nadine has met many bold women; she can be one herself when she wants to be. Chloe, she never really forgets, but she is filed away into a tiny corner of her mind, fading away until Nadine never really thinks about it unless she is alone at a river and has run out of things to think about.

Besides, World War II has started, and she’s occupied with killing those Nazi bastards. She doesn’t enlist in any army—can’t exactly fly under the radar there—but she has connections and resources, and works perfectly well alone.

In the face of all this, Chloe is not forgotten, but she is not remembered.

And Nadine’s life goes on, and on, and on, as it is wont to do.

//

Nadine doesn’t know why she never dies. It just happened or, more precisely, it just never happened.

Her parents did. She never really knew her father, as her mother raised her, but she does know he died. Her mother, she held as she passed. 

Years later, people began to talk. Nadine turned thirty, and that was it.

She doesn’t know if she can die at all, but she isn’t interested in testing her theories. She has avoided fatal wounds for so long; she won’t stop now.

Sure, she has suffered and has felt like she might die, but she doesn’t think she wants to die. There are so many things she wants to know.

So, she decided, a century into her life, that she would not question it. She isn’t at all old enough to have been there for the Trojan War, but she does know not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

//

It is the 2000s and Nadine begins to feel a little existential. She will not fight in wars now, given the stakes and, especially, given her moral compass. Well, at least not official ones. She has accepted that she is a little bit of a vigilante, and she’s focusing on bettering her own home.

Always levelheaded, she never bites off more than she can chew. She only takes to the streets every few weeks. In the meantime, she decides to get into academia.

If she’s so keen on learning, why wouldn’t she go to school? Human achievement is impressive!

She has one PhD already and is working on her second. She has just started, meeting her advisor for only the third time, when she sees a flash of red in the hall, heading towards the History department.

It’s a woman with jet black hair, ponytail swinging. Before Nadine can think to squint, she’s rounded the corner and is gone.

Blinking, Nadine turns away and heads to the courtyard. She likes to sit on the grass and do her research there. Small pleasures.

It’s been an hour, maybe two, when a shadow casts over. Strangely, she feels her heart start to beat faster before she even looks up.

“Hello,” she says, throwing an arm over her forehead to shade herself from the afternoon sun.

Chloe in the flesh. She puts on the same old smirk and looks down at Nadine with her hands on her hips. “Hey, you.”

Nadine raises an eyebrow as she sits down and makes herself at home on Nadine’s picnic blanket, among her sea of books.

“Well, look at you.” Chloe keeps on grinning, shark-like. “You haven’t aged a day.”

“You’re too kind,” Nadine says, thinly. “And neither have you, by the looks of it.”

Dismissively, Chloe waves a hand and tosses her ponytail over her shoulder. “No need to flatter me, you’ve already gotten into my pants.”

“I haven’t forgotten.” Much, at least, she thinks. Then, wonders if, perhaps, she is dreaming.

“That’s nice.” Chloe leans closer, growing serious but retaining her persistent underlying curiosity. “Oh, Nadine, what are you?”

Nadine snorts. “Always so bold.”

She shrugs. “Places to be, things to know, people to do. I’m a busy girl.”

Like a shark, Nadine thinks again. She keeps her mouth shut for a few moments, just watching Chloe watching her. As Nadine recalls her memories of Chloe, she notes that Chloe mostly hasn’t changed. Finally, she leans back on an arm and says, “Looks to me like you have all the time in the world.”

“Hm.” Chloe lifts a hand, maybe to touch her arm, maybe to push her hair out of her face, maybe to cup her cheek. Nadine will never know. She tenses, instinctively swaying back a little. Chloe’s hand drops down, but she keeps on smiling. “You’re immortal, then. All the time in the world.”

Nadine doesn’t say anything, just waits for Chloe to draw her conclusions.

“How long have you… been like this?”

Nadine pretends to think. “About a century or five now. You?”

“Well, I was thirty-four when I met you,” Chloe wonders aloud, tilting her head as she does the math. At this, Nadine frowns and, upon seeing this, Chloe huffs a laugh. “Yes, actually thirty-four.”

That makes her roughly two centuries old. Nadine doesn’t know how to feel about this, about everything, about Chloe. She had been, to her knowledge, alone in this for three centuries. Never once had she met someone else like this, and she didn’t want to, she doesn’t think. She had always been slow to trust.

She never tried to think about this too hard; she doesn’t know how it works—is she contagious? But none of the other women turned immortal after going to bed with her. Still, she worries at her lip and examines Chloe.

“How?”

“How am I like this?”

She nods.

Chloe raises an eyebrow. “Quid pro quo.”

Nadine rolls her eyes. “I don’t know. I just never died.” She sighs, harshly, and closes the book in her lap with a full clap. “I don’t know.”

“That’s alright,” Chloe says, gently. This time, when she reaches out, to touch her wrist, Nadine lets her. Chloe looks down at the point of contact, seemingly charmed. Then, after a beat, meets Nadine’s eyes again and smiles. “Well, I don’t know how exactly it worked, but this was an accident.”

“…what?” Nadine scoffs. “How do you ‘accidentally’ achieve immortality?”

Chloe looks sheepish now. “I went into an ancient temple and mucked around, and maybe I broke something, and… well, here I am.”

Suddenly, struck by the urge to lie down for a decade or at least go somewhere more private for this discussion, Nadine shoves her books into her bag and stands. Chloe, startled, mirrors her movements and then stills as Nadine rolls up the blanket and easily hefts everything up.

“Uh, what’s going on?”

Nadine picks up her baseball cap and puts it on, and then sweeps an arm towards the paved path. “We’re going to my apartment.”

A little dumbly, Chloe follows along. “Who’s bold now?”

Nadine gives her a look, and Chloe just smiles, looking away with a shrug. They make the journey in silence, Nadine’s is a stubborn one, and Chloe’s obliging. When they reach the apartment, Nadine lets her in first and gestures to the couch. It’s not a very big apartment, but it’s comfortable and in an alright neighbourhood. 

After Nadine puts her bag away, she comes back to see Chloe leaning over the back of the couch to look out her window. She twists back around as Nadine sits.

“You alright?”

Nadine looks up at her, eyes hooded. “Ja.”

Chloe smiles, a kind one. She has such an expressive face. Nadine wants to run her hands over the dips and curves of it. Wants to feel a little more grounded in reality—is she really not dreaming?

The urge to just ask disappears in a moment as Nadine comes back to herself, feeling safer on her own turf.

“So, this is where you’re from.” It’s not a question, but Nadine nods anyway.

“Originally. I don’t remember exactly where but I grew up farther inland and then moved to the coast later before my mother passed.” Nadine rubs a hand at her temple. Tired. “They both died. I’m the only— I was the only one. For the longest time, I was the only one.”

Chloe shifts, an unidentifiable emotion drifting across her face. “Nadine.”

She sighs and says, “I don’t want your pity.”

“You don’t have it,” she says, not ungently. “It’s been a long time.”

For once, Nadine allows herself to give in. She leans over until she falls, turning her face to press her nose into the hard muscle of Chloe’s tensed thigh, just above the knee. She hugs her arms to her chest and counts her breaths. Chloe sighs, too, and puts her hand in Nadine’s hair.

Nadine’s back is to Chloe.

It’s been a long time.

//

So, this is how it happened.

She was abandoned by her mother and raised by a father who wanted a son. He loved her, regardless. He just taught her the ways of his trade.

Her childhood was spent scaling the shelves of libraries as he did his research and sitting uncomfortably still as he spoke to “experts” in their homes. When she was old enough, by his standards, he took her out to ancient ruins, and they explored.

It could be dangerous; she broke a few bones on these adventures. Most never healed properly, and so bumps and scars littered her body.

The worst, the one that almost killed her, occurred in the temple.

Her father passed a few years before, to disease. She carried on his work, suddenly alone. His life’s work: a crumbling ruin.

She had spent days scouting it out, hidden behind a waterfall, like in the legends. She was nervous. Afraid that her father’s work would amount to nothing, that the life she had led without him would’ve turned out to be a waste.

So, she spent days by the falls and walking along the river. It was there that she met Nadine.

She had thought Nadine was a figment of her imagination at first, peeking out from the top of the water. A beautiful, sweaty spirit of the wilds, dressed like an average person.

A blessing she received.

That night, she went in. There were traps, which she expected, and treasures, which she had desperately hoped for. In the centre, buried underneath layers of chambers, was the Tusk.

She got greedy.

Traps triggered—

The Tusk, she held to her chest—

She curled over, protecting it from falling rubble and—

The tip, sharp and shiny, punctured her middle. It was shallow, but still, she cried out and tripped, and the spear she landed on went too far in to be considered shallow.

She doesn’t remember the details; all she knows is that she came back to herself while crawling out the collapsing entrance, sticky with blood.

She hid the Tusk away, for later, and stumbled her way to the nearest town, broken spear sticking out from her ribs.

Half a year later, freshly healed and free from the doctor, she went back. The Tusk was still bloodied, and a gem from the tip of the Tusk had fallen out somewhere. At least, it made up for all her suffering in gold.

In the face of all that, Nadine was not forgotten, but she was not remembered.

//

Feeling awkward and uncomfortable, having been vulnerable for the first time in almost half a millennia, Nadine sits up and grimaces. Chloe opens her bleary eyes and stretches.

“What time’s it?”

Nadine could look at her watch, but she grabs hold of Chloe’s forearm. “Does it matter?”

Chloe looks down and frowns. “I suppose not. What’s happening?”

“Do you want to address the tension?”

Chloe’s muscles relax slowly. She kicks her sneakers off and, in one swift movement, shrugs Nadine’s hand off and settles into her lap. Her mouth descends onto Nadine’s.

This time is almost like the last, fast and sloppy. Except they do it three more times, at least, and afterwards Chloe settles in beside her and stays till morning.

//

Nadine also has many scars, and Chloe maps them all out just as Nadine does to her.

//

“So, am I the older woman or are you the older woman?”

Nadine bites into her skin, licking a soothing stripe along the scar tissue there.

Chloe groans and looks down. “Does that mean I should shut up?”

Nadine gives her an unimpressed look. “Yes.”

“Okay,” she breathes, hand flying to the back of Nadine’s head. “Whatever you say.”

//

South Africa is best experienced in the weeks after Summer has passed, in Chloe’s very vocal opinion, and maybe that’s why the days she spends holed up in Nadine’s apartment feels a little like paradise.

She is not the sentimental type, and Chloe even less so, but there is something to be said for attachments. She had forgotten.

Chloe even admits that she was only here because she saw Nadine’s picture and wanted to use Nadine for information on why she‘s the way she is. Nadine doesn’t take it too personally, because she would’ve done the same, probably.

It ends, of course, as all things do. Not permanently, but Chloe isn’t the type to stay still, and Nadine’s set her sights on finishing this damn degree.

They agree, in five years, they will return to the tree, the patch of grass, and try again.

//

Nadine feels like she has aged the five centuries she had powered through almost numbly in the span of those five years.

They kept in contact because neither of them is the type to make significant, corny gestures like that. Over text, Chloe echoes the sentiment.

For Nadine, it is as if Chloe had barged in, reminded Nadine that she was in control of the remote and that hitting the fast forward button on life wasn’t the only option.

//

“Why do you chase after violence?” came her voice, tinny over the phone. She was in Russia.

“Do I?”

Chloe hums. “All your wars, your crusades. You insist you don’t want to die and yet…”

Nadine raises her eyebrows and finishes typing out her sentence before pushing back on her desk chair. Her first instinct is to be defensive, but Chloe starts to hum tunelessly, and it reminds Nadine that not everything is a fight to be won and— “Ah.”

“Do you wanna talk about something else?” Chloe laughs, then, and jokes, “My abandonment issues? Inability to sit still? Maybe how I’m greedy and selfish?”

Nadine smiles softly. “It’s okay.” She clears her throat. “I think I just got scared of losing people and just, frankly, losing in general, with life and all. I took being independent to the next level. I forgot the value in doing things senselessly, and in a way that’s exactly what I did.”

“How do you mean?”

Nadine shrugs even though Chloe can’t see. “I don’t know why I’m immortal, and I didn’t want to know. What makes me deserving of eternal life and not anyone else? So, I thought only of what I would do with this and doing those things. I’m good at fighting. Why wouldn’t I fight? And I can’t die—there are causes I could give myself to.

“I mean, there were moments, in between, where my thought would wander, of course.” Nadine pauses, feeling nonsensical. “I don’t know. I don’t know how to explain it.”

“That’s alright. I get it.”

“I know. Thank you.”

“Anytime, love.” Another breathy chuckle. “Literally, anytime. From now until the rest of eternity.”

//

“Hello,” Nadine says when she feels a shadow loom over her.

There’s a rustling, and then a kiss to her cheek. “Hey there, sleeping beauty.”

It’s been five years.

Nadine opens an eye and sees Chloe peering down with her stupidly beautiful smile. Her fingers graze at Nadine’s cheek, featherlight, and Nadine’s touches over them. Warm.

“So weird how you haven’t aged a day.”

“Ja, I didn’t get a chance to develop stress wrinkles since you left.”

Head thrown back, wind blowing her hair aside, Chloe laughs. Nadine thinks there hasn’t ever been a surprise as nice as Chloe since the dawn of time.

Stooping over, Chloe kisses her.

[lifeinahole27]

CSJJ Day 31: “Knead Your Loving”

A/N: Here it is, the final day of @csjanuaryjoy! I am so happy to be the endcap on what has been a fantastic month!! Have some lighthearted smut-glitter with inferences of terrible pornos. Thanks to @sambethe for looking this over and finding all my dumb errors and liking the same silly things I like about this one. (FYI: I have been up for 20 hours and worked both jobs today, finished this fic, and had too much caffeine. Please forgive me for such a title.)

Prompt: My friend keeps lecturing me on the importance of self care and I booked a massage to shut them up.. But my masseuse is the anonymous stranger I fucked at Christmas.

Rating: M to be safe?

So far, 2017 has been… less than kind to Emma Swan. That’s the way she’s putting it right now, at least. She won’t claim it’s anywhere as bad as 2016 – she’ll give it a couple more months before she claims that. But January has not been very gentle with her.

The colder-than-average weather means everything hurts just a little more. Running after criminals in bitter chill doesn’t work as well as in the more temperate weather, so she’s bruised and bumped and has spent more nights with her feet in a tub of hot water than she can really count.

There’s a text waiting for her when she gets home from work, Snow’s cheery message of greeting reminding her there’s a reason she got her a gift certificate to the local spa.

“Treat yo’ self,” Emma mutters out loud, her eyes gliding across the letters as they appear in the message. She can’t remember the last time she did something as simple as relax. She’s been perpetually on the move for what feels like her whole life, but at least the pace she keeps now is up to her instead of being shoved from one home to another in the foster process.

She closes out of the messaging app and dials the number on the certificate before she can talk herself out of the decision. There’s still another week before her son comes back from a winter vacation with his adoptive mother, and it might be nice to hit the reset button in celebration of the new year. Get a massage, clean house, refocus herself, and be ready for whatever the next eleven months might throw at her.

They can’t fit her in until the end of the month, but Emma finds out that Snow went all out on her. The certificate entitles her to a full spa day, with a massage and facial and all sorts of services included. She sets up the appointment for the last day in January and writes it on her calendar. It becomes something to work towards, and she bases all her to-do lists around that single day.

It turns out that, since moving to Storybrooke, Emma has been hoarding more than usual. Maybe it’s because she’s looking to put down her roots for once. When Henry barged in on her over a year ago, she was lonely and walled off, living in Boston and unsure what direction her life was going to take from that point on. Henry at least gave her a starting point.

After a couple months of tension, she worked out a deal with Regina, the woman who adopted her son when she gave him up at birth. If Henry wanted Emma in her life, she was sure as hell going to be there, and Regina finally agreed after much tongue clicking and eye rolling. Thankfully, since the worst of the aggression and wariness wore off, they found they actually get along.

Emma has made several other friends in the small town as well, including Snow. She and her husband, David, have begun taking care of her like they’re her parents. She doesn’t fully hate it, and by that she means she loves it, but she’ll never admit it out loud.

The small town is unlike any she’s ever been to. For one, there’s a decent amount of people, so she doesn’t feel like she’s seeing the same faces every single day. She is, but there’s enough variety to not make it feel that way. There’s also a revolving door on the town limits. Despite the fact that so many people claim they live there, she’s not seen people she met during her first week for months at a time. It’s bizarre.

As far as stress relief goes for Emma, though, she doesn’t really do a lot. She uses the local gym to get a lot of her frustrations out, either by kickboxing or taking spinning classes with Snow. That second option takes a lot of cajoling and bribery in the form of grilled cheese sandwiches for her to get Emma to agree, thus rendering the workout almost useless in the face of the carbs.

The way she most enjoys letting off some steam is by having sex, but in a small town there’s only so many choices, even with the irregularity of the residents. The last thing she needs to do is accidentally one-night-stand one of Henry’s teachers, or a friend of Regina’s. On the list of Emma’s nightmares, those scenarios top it.

Since moving to Storybrooke, Emma’s conquests have been few and far between. But that isn’t to say they’ve been non-existent. There was a romp on Christmas Eve that still leaves her tingling if she thinks about it for too long.

It was good, and that’s the reason she’s still thinking about it a month later. It has nothing to do with the easy conversation he drew her into. It isn’t the fact that a lost girl and a lost boy were able to recognize each other almost instantly, that connection being the starter spark to what was an intense fire of passion as they drove each other over the edge time and time again. Nope, those aren’t why she’s thinking of the stranger with the gorgeous blue eyes that hid sadness and loss. And while the looks and the mattress tango were, admittedly, stellar…

She couldn’t allow herself to fall asleep in his arms. Instead, she chose to flee the moment he fell asleep, without the decency to get his number or leave hers on a note beside the bed. Connections like him only lead to trouble, because it would only be a matter of time before he was either leaving her behind or demanding more than she could give.

Nothing good comes from relationships. Except Henry. He’s the one exception to any rule, she supposes.

When the day of her spa treatment finally arrives, Emma is ready for it. She even leaves her cellphone at home, not willing to accept a single call or text while she’s trying to relax.

She’s immediately bundled into a robe and slippers, compliments of the spa. The robe feels more luxurious than the cotton one she has at home, especially with the thick terry material lining it and the sleeves that dip past her fingertips. She cuffs the extra material and smiles at her reflection, already feeling pampered beyond her norm. With her belongings stored in one of the lockers, she heads back to the waiting area for the next step.

A quiet woman directs her to a little sitting room with a metal basin resting on the floor. This she’s familiar with, even if her own foot bath uses hot tap water from her tub and some of the lavender bubble bath Henry gave her for Christmas. Theirs, however, isn’t lavender bubble bath, and the moment her feet sink into the water, she can feel the tension leak out of her body.

 The woman instructs her to fill out some kind of form about her stress levels and where she carries her tension.

 She ends up circling most of the options, noting all the places she has current bruises from work-related injuries. The woman tuts when she collects the clipboard from Emma, telling her to sit back and relax, and that Killian will be right with her.

Killian. Killian? Oh, shit. Killian.

All at once she can taste peppermint schnapps and rough kisses. She can feel the gear shift in her side as he all but drags her across the console to straddle his lap – no easy feat in an old Volkswagen Bug. Cold hands and cold noses and cold cheeks all brushing and seeking the warmth of the other. An accent and a voice like some manifestation of sexual desire in human form. His lips, and tongue, and eyes, and –

She realizes she’s blushing furiously when the man himself rounds the corner, already starting a routine greeting and introduction as if he isn’t going to find the woman he fucked senseless a month ago waiting for him. Emma can pinpoint the moment he stops glancing at the small bottles in his hand and looks at her because there’s a high-pitched whisper of something that sounds a lot like “bloody fucking hell” tripping out of his mouth before he catches himself.

“Swan,” he says, the oils almost forgotten, as is most of the decorum on both their behalves in a situation such as this. She can feel the flush spreading all the way down her chest, her body remembering every glorious place he touched and how at the simple utterance of that one syllable.

She whimpers, but Killian collects himself faster than she does, launching directly into his spiel about the scents he’s going to use. When he kneels down in front of her to have her smell each one, his voice once again drops to a whisper.

“Relax, love. I promise that no one will know a thing unless you don’t change that terrified yet oddly aroused facial expression you’re currently wearing.” He winks, his smile calm and teasing as he does so.

The words have their intended effect. She huffs out a small laugh while her body relaxes again. She can almost forget all the things they did together by the time he’s declared that her scent for the day is vanilla, until he mentions he’s sure she would’ve been happier with something more like hot chocolate and cinnamon. Thankfully, he doesn’t give her enough time to be flustered about his memory, as he gently pulls her feet out of the water, drying them thoroughly and sliding the spa-issued plastic sandals back on her feet like they’re Cinderella’s glass slippers, instead.

The notion of being naked, save for her most sensible pair of cotton underwear, under a sheet on the table shouldn’t be a big deal. Especially when the man who enters the room again when she’s settled has seen her in much, much less. And is very intimately acquainted with what the sheet and undies are hiding. She hears him pause by the door, and a lone, shaky exhale escape from him.

“Comfortable?” he asks, his voice clear.

Her response is high-pitched, but apparently convincing enough that she sees him pop into view above her. He smiles down at her, explaining the process of the facial and eye zone treatments. She has no idea what half of them are, but he reassures her that it’ll make her look amazing.

“As if it’s possible for you to be more beautiful,” he mutters. He’s moved away, over to the counter by the sink that the small room contains. She hears him readying products and such, but again, has no real idea of what to expect since it’s her first time for any of this, but if she was trusting enough to leave her pleasure in his hands once (or several times, as the memory stands) then she can do her best to relax and give over to a different kind of enjoyment.

Once Killian begins, he is the face of professionalism. He doesn’t speak unless he’s explaining something to do with what he’s applying. He’s gentle, but confident in each swipe of his fingers over her face. His fingers are the exact right amount of pressure on her scalp as he massages. His breath fans over her face once or twice and she hazards a peek at one of those junctures.

While he’s bleary in the dimly lighted room, she can see the intense look of concentration on his face and she takes the quick moment to appreciate his dedication to his job. It’s clear that when he entered this room, their history stayed on the other side of the door.

The hour flies by, and Emma has to admit that she is nearing sleep in her ultra-relaxed state of being.

“Normally, I would recommend coming in once or twice more to complete the process, but your skin is already so well managed that there’s really no need for a follow up facial,” Killian explains as he removes the last of the masque he’d applied. “This completes the first step of your spa package. I do believe you’re signed up for the half-day getaway, correct?”

“Yeah,” Emma says, almost incapable of forming any other response as his fingers smooth over her chin, her cheekbones, along her brows. She has no idea what comes next, though, so she feels she should at least find her words and ask what else is in store for her. “So, do I leave you at this point and go somewhere else?”

He chuckles softly, and she can feel it  ruffle the hair right at her temple, so she waits until he’s done before opening her eyes and turning to look at him.

“You’re stuck with me, I’m afraid.” He says it so seriously, however she can see the smile he’s fighting down and the sparkle in his eyes as he does so. “Would you like a refreshment? Or to use the restroom before we begin the massage?”

“Wait, you’re doing a massage, too?”

“Aye, love. As I said, you’re stuck with me. At least for this half of your treatments. It’s not -” Here he pauses, and she can hear the hesitance in his voice for the first time since she got here. “It’s not a problem, is it? Would you be more comfortable if I found you another specialist?”

She doesn’t have a chance to answer before he’s sliding away on the small rolling stool he’s been using, muttering something about being “bloody stupid” and she almost upsets the sheet that’s covering her when she makes a wild grab for the sleeve of his shirt and instead grasps his arm. “Killian, wait.” He stops immediately, turning only enough to make eye contact with her. “I’m okay. This is okay.”

Still he hesitates, and she thinks he’s going to ignore her reassurance and go find another person to handle the massage, but then there’s one small nod and a hint of his smile, and he declares he’s going to get her a glass of fruit-infused water if she’d like to use the restroom while he’s gone.

It’s a challenge to slip her robe on and wiggle her feet into the sandals again, and even more of an obstacle to get across the hallway to the small public restroom where she locked her clothes earlier. She tries to move quickly, but this is possibly the most relaxed Emma has ever felt in her whole life and she cannot convince her limbs to cooperate with any pace other than glacial.

Despite the time it takes her to complete the simple task, she’s still back in the room and under the sheet when Killian returns with her water, and it’s not until she sees the drink that she realizes she’s parched.

“Make sure as you continue your time here, and especially after you’ve returned home, that you hydrate all day. That’s the key mistake most people make when they get massages,” he says as he places the glass on a small table beside her and urges her to sit up and drink. “I’ve got to prepare a couple things here, so my back will be turned to you. Take your time and let me know when you’re comfortable again.”

She takes his advice to take as much time as she wants, sipping the water at his insistence instead of chugging it down.

“So is this where you prepare the giant bowl of baby oil to dump all over my body?”

“I don’t know what porno you think we’re reenacting, Swan, but I assure you there will be no bowls of oil today.”

She laughs, the sound coming out both amused and embarrassed since he was able to so effectively pinpoint where she may have gotten the idea in the first place. Especially since she’s slept with this particular massage specialist and she’s definitely touched herself to the videos in question. She wonders if she just fucked it all up again, but Killian hums along to the quiet, classical music playing in the room and continues on like mentioning porn is just another aspect of his day.

Suddenly, she wonders if it is. She wonders if other women walk into this room and hit on him. She wonders if he’s ever fucked anyone on this table before, or if he would like to, and she has to drink the last of the water a little faster when she very abruptly imagines herself on all fours, Killian behind her naked and glistening and thrusting into her.

She needs to watch less porn.

But it’s that thought that led her into a bar on Christmas Eve, and led her back out of it with Killian in tow as they headed for her car, and then to his place.

“All done?” Killian’s voice effectively pops the little bubble of Emma’s daydream and she nearly slams the glass back on the table before she situates herself.

Her response is almost croaked out, despite the recent hydration, and she prays he doesn’t notice the flush of arousal across her collarbones that’s slowly spreading downward.

“I’ve no idea what you’ve been thinking about in that pretty little head of yours, Emma, but you need to relax again.” He rubs his hands together and holds them a few inches above her face, instructing her to breathe in and out with him as she inhales the calming scent that reminds her of the bowl of peppermints Snow keeps on the table in the entrance of her and David’s home.

Somehow, over the course of the next hour, Emma manages to turn herself over to the rhythmic repetitions of Killian’s attentions as he massages one arm, then the other. His strong fingers gently but firmly apply pressure to hers, all the way to the tips of each individual finger before moving to the other side and doing the same.

He goes from her scalp to her toes before quietly requesting that she turn to her stomach as he holds the sheet for her to move. After he’s propped two towels under her shoulders, he resumes his attentions across her shoulders and along her spine, stopping just short of where he’s rolled the blanket down to her lower back, and she sighs at each knot that dissipates. It takes everything she has not to moan when he drapes a heated towel over the whole of her back.

When Killian rolls the coverings back up to her shoulders, she has to stop herself from being disappointed, especially when she recognizes the weight of her robe being placed across her legs.

“Well, love, you’re all set with me. It’s on to lunch and the second half of your spa day, now. Your robe is here, there’s a brush on the stool over in the corner and an extra hot towel if you want to remove any excess oil before moving on to the salon portion.”

She hears him shuffle around, moving no closer but no farther away from the table as he does so. His hand ends up resting lightly just below her shoulder blade, the pressure of his palm almost non-existent but she can feel it burning through the layers that separate their skin.

“Emma, I gathered you didn’t want any further contact by the way you left things at Christmas, but I wanted you to know how good it was to see you again.” He pauses, his fingers slipping away as he finally moves, and his voice is even softer as he says, “I hope you enjoy the rest of your day here.”

He’s almost to the door when she sits up, flinging off the sheet and temporarily forgetting that she’s in nothing but a pair of underwear as she rushes to get to him before he gets the door open.

“Killian, wait!”

His face is a combination of shock and confusion as he glances down briefly before focusing on her face, but his eyes don’t stay open long as she reaches up to kiss him. It’s when his hands find her bare back that she suddenly realizes what she’s done, and how undressed she is, and a flush of arousal mixes with one of embarrassment. She keeps herself pressed close against him to try and save some shred of dignity.

Don’t get her wrong, if this weren’t his place of employment, she would have no qualms walking about naked as a jaybird, and would probably insist he do the same. But she does like to pretend that she has tact at some points; this moment will just have to go down as an oversight.

“A lost boy can always recognize a lost girl, right?” she says, her arms wrapped tight around him and her hands clutching the back of his shirt.

“That’s right, love.”

“Well, maybe this lost girl can call this lost boy sometime?”

“I’ll leave my card over on the counter. Just as soon as you turn away, so I can be spared an erection as I go to prepare for the widow Lucas.”

Emma snorts at the mental image, and accepts the quick peck to her lips he gives her. She backs away and brings her arms across her chest at the same time, shielding herself from his view and turning her back to him. She glances over her shoulder and smiles at Killian as he keeps his word, sliding one of his cards onto the counter before he gives her one last wink and vanishes from the room.

She flops onto the table, grousing at herself in the muffled freedom of her robe before she straightens again. She’s diligent with herself after that, taking the extra couple minutes to run the hot (more like lukewarm, now) towel across her shoulders and neck. She brushes her hair and twists it up into a bun before she slides the heavy robe back on and slips Killian’s card in her pocket.

The quiet woman from her arrival is waiting outside the door when she exits, and she leads her to another area where they start the process for a pedicure and leg moisturizing treatment and serve her a light lunch. The quiet woman is replaced by a woman named Tink, who enthusiastically asks her life story while working to make her feet resemble feet, instead of rough blocks of sandpaper.

When she asks Emma what color she wants for her polish, Emma smiles wide at the array of colors she presents and chooses a soft pink. She absently notes that it’s a perfect match to the dress she’s never had a chance to wear.

“Nice choice,” Tink says with a grin, grabbing the selection and getting to work. “So, standard small talk question for you. How’s the love life?”

“Complicated,” Emma says, looking up when she hears footsteps going towards the massage rooms and making eye contact with Killian. He presses his lips together in a smile and disappears into the room, and Emma emphasizes when she repeats, “very complicated.”

By the time Tink has moved from feet to hands, Emma almost feels like she has another friend. The conversation is easy, her smiles are relaxed and happy, and she wonders if this is what spa days are meant to do. Besides relaxing her physically, it’s almost as if it’s repaired years of emotional damage as well. It’s like the people in this place are painstakingly putting her pieces back in place, erasing some of the abandonment issues and blurring out bad memories.

She’s shipped off to one last stop when her nails are finished, this time having to discard the robe and sandals and climb back into her own clothing. She’s also shuffled out of the serene spa environment and sent to the salon to have her hair and make-up done.

By the time she’s out of there, it’s almost dinner time and the sun is setting behind the gloom of winter. She resists pulling her beanie back over her hair, instead fluffing the silky curls over her ears to protect them from the cold. She’s headed straight for her car, but she hears a door shut on the side of the building. She leans a little, peering around the corner just in time to see Killian exiting through what must be an employee door.

She considers calling out to him, but instead clambers into her car to text him. It’s only when she reaches for her phone that she remembers it’s at home in preparation of her quiet, stress-free day, and she mentally kicks herself. But it’s not like she knew Killian would be here, or that she would want to call him so soon after seeing him again. She brushes her fingers along the edge of the card she slipped into her coat pocket and weighs her choices. With a smile, she glances in her rearview mirror to see him in his car, rubbing his hands together as he waits for it to warm up.

Snow did give her the spa day so she would treat herself. Maybe this will cross off another item on Snow’s wishlist of “Things She Only Wants for Emma to be Happy” – hope is within reach again for the first time in a long time.

-x-

When the unknown number pops up with a text message less than five minutes after he’s arrived home from work, Killian would use ‘surprised’ as an understatement to his reaction. Sure, she came after him, and sure, she kissed him (with nothing but a delightful pair of knickers with polar bears all over them, his memory rudely supplies), but she also picked him up in a bar and left before he was even fully asleep.

He’d had to run football stats in his head for two hours straight just to stop his body from reacting to Emma, pliant and softly moaning beneath his hands for both the facial and the massage. He’s pretty sure she didn’t even realize she was making the quiet noises of pleasure and encouragement, and thus he worked on deep breathing techniques and tried to remember as much Latin as he could from his high school classes.

The message is a simple one, inquiring if he’s had dinner yet. When he responds that he hasn’t, she replies almost immediately to ask if he’d like to meet her at the Italian place on Main Street in an hour. He sends an affirmative before he really considers it, but even after the message is sent, he knows he’s made the right choice. Emma’s words about lost girls and boys resonate deep and he remembers how talking to her that night felt like talking to a kindred spirit.

While he’s enjoyed Storybrooke’s small and quiet nature since he moved here, he’s also been impressed that it was possible to get lost in the crowd of a small number of people. But that same nature meant that it just took a few well-placed inquiries to find out who his mystery woman had been on Christmas Eve, all without letting on exactly why he was so interested in Emma Swan.

She’s been on his mind ever since, the couple hours of conversation lingering in the back of his mind during every breakfast, every shift at the spa he’s grown to love, every boy’s night with his mates. Her voice has echoed familiar sentiments as she spoke of being alone for the holidays despite a number of friends, and a son who loved her enough to track her down and bring her here.

Sometimes loneliness is more a mental thing than a physical one, as Killian knows all too well.

He dresses for the location, making sure every hair is in place – which is to say that it’s as artfully disheveled as he can make it. In an act of impeccable timing, he arrives just minutes before Emma’s familiar yellow Bug pulls into the parking lot.

There’s this perfect, slow-motion moment when she climbs from the vehicle and he gets a look at long, lean legs. With one last deep breath, he walks over to her car, ready to escort her in for what he hopes is the first of many dates.

-x-

For the record, they always split the massages, so that Killian isn’t doing all the work. By the following Christmas, the loneliness has seeped from both their expressions, leaving behind the comfort and love that’s grown in its place. And no matter how mind-blowing the sex is, bowls of oil are still never invited into their bedroom.

[stampington]

Get Published in the New Year: January Calls and Challenges

Our Stampington publications want your submissions! If you are an artist or writer looking to have your work featured in one of our magazines, here are the January calls and challenges that our editors are looking for. We encourage you to submit your work again even if you have tried before. The following magazines have upcoming deadlines of January 15th (unless otherwise noted), so this is your chance to see your name in print and get published!

Have questions about submitting your artwork? Please leave a comment below and we’d be happy to help!

~Artwork by Martha Ressler

Quilting and mixed-media techniques come together in stunning works of art in Art Quilting Studio. Each issue features a variety of articles, showcasing quilts that exhibit artistic techniques, unexpected materials, and inspiring stories. Art Quilting Studio also includes a number of recurring departments: Artist Portfolio, Series Showcase, Art Quilt Walking, Quilting the Odd and Unusual, and The Last Page (see details below). Whether for a feature article or for a specific department, we welcome quilters of all levels and styles to submit their artwork for consideration. Deadline: January 15th 

Artist Portfolio In this department, we showcase the artwork and story of an artist with an impressive portfolio.

Series Showcase Here, we highlight an extraordinary series of quilts created by one artist.

Art Quilt Walking This department features quilted, wearable arts, including clothing, accessories, jewelry, and more.

Quilting the Odd and Unusual These are not your ordinary quilts — the quilts included in this department encompass a specific and unique theme.

The Last Page On The Last Page — which is literally the last page of every issue — we feature a single quilt that has a special meaning or inspiring story behind it.

Submission Guidelines

  ~Photograph by Carrie Hampton

Bella Grace is a print publication devoted to discovering magic in the ordinary. Our aim is to touch the souls of our readers through beautifully penned stories and striking photographs that capture life’s beautiful adventure.

At Bella Grace, we believe that:

Every cloud has a silver lining.

An ordinary life can be an extraordinary life.

There is beauty and magic to be found everywhere.

It’s OK to embrace imperfection.

Life should be lived with a full heart and open eyes.

Bella Grace is currently seeking submissions from writers and photographer

What We Are Looking For

Narratives We are currently looking for original narratives and poetry that focus on the idea that “life is a beautiful adventure.” Submitted work can be about simple pleasures, life lessons learned, slowing down, embracing your authentic self, and more. Written submissions can include accompanying photography, but we will also pair writers up with photographers if necessary.

Photography Picture submissions should capture the spirit of Bella Grace. They should depict simple moments, bits of romance, feelings of happiness, etc. Photography can be submitted on its own and will be considered for use with narratives or as the background for some of the quotes featured throughout the book.

Lists Who doesn’t love making a great list? Creating lists can be a very effective and inspiring form of writing. They’re also incredibly fun to read! We aren’t looking for your grocery list; we’re looking for your life lists. A few ideas include 10 Ways to Turn a Day Around, 5 Times I Laughed Uncontrollably, and 15 Things I’d Tell My 15-Year-Old Self. Make it funny, make it sweet … the choice is yours.

Instagram Collections Who doesn’t love Instagram? As artists and creatives, it’s such a great way to beautifully share our days with others. It also serves as a diary to help us document our days. In each issue of Bella Grace we feature a few Instagram collections. We’re now opening this up to submissions! All you need to do is send 15 images that you feel capture your Instagram and a statement about what living a Bella Grace life means to you to bellagrace@stampington.com. If selected, you will need to provide high-resolution images that can be printed at 5″ x 5″, 300 dpi.

Ideas To Get You Started

We are happy to receive general submissions, but in case you need a few ideas to get you started, we are also looking for responses (photographic or written or both) to the following prompts:

Stories of Self-Love Most of us have our own bag of tricks we turn to when we need to show ourselves a little love and kindness. For our editor-in-chief, it’s a quiet night spent under her very favorite blanket and the first book in the Harry Potter series. It never fails to brighten her spirits. What is it you turn to? What’s your recipe for self-love? (Lists and narratives accepted.)

Small, Random Acts of Kindness It’s been said that you never know what another person might be going through, so it’s important to be kind with everyone. A small gesture, such as a flower placed on a car windshield or an anonymous note left for someone to find, can make a huge impact. For an upcoming issue of Bella Grace, we are hoping to gather as many ideas for committing random acts of kindness as we possibly can. Furthermore, if you have a story to share about the impact an act of kindness has had on you, we’d love to hear it.

You in a Song Wouldn’t it be great to have a theme song for yourself? One that would be played as though you were in a movie? Here in our office, we’ve been asking each other what a song about them would sound like, and what lyrics it would contain. Now, we want to issue the same question to you. If someone wrote a song about you, what would the lyrics be?

Super Sassy Bios One of the most challenging assignments can be to write a biography for yourself. No matter how short the requirement, the task can be daunting. While perusing blogs, we’ve spied some really clever bios, some so unique that we can’t help but feel we know that blogger. In 30 words or less, what can you say about yourself? Don’t be boring and follow the usual format. Make it fun and attention-grabbing.

Bella Grace is released on a quarterly basis: March, June, September, and December. Submissions are accepted on an ongoing basis, but must be received on or before the following dates to be considered for a specific issue.

Deadline for submissions:

Summer Issue — January 15th • Autumn Issue — April 15th • Winter Issue — July 15th • Spring Issue — December 15th

For consideration, please send any of the above to:

bellagrace@stampington.com

Click here to download our guide for submitting photographs. It will also show you how to convert images to the correct size and resolution for this publication.

  Submission Guidelines

~Artwork by Brooke Bock

If you’d like to share your inspiration and detailed, how-to instructions for creating beautiful jewelry with readers, we want to hear from you. Belle Armoire Jewelry covers a broad range of mediums, such as polymer clay, metal working, lamp work, wire-wrapping, mixed-media, and much more. Whether you create necklaces, bracelets, earrings, pendants, rings, or other jewelry, we welcome you to submit your artwork to be considered for publication. Deadline: January 15th

Submission Guidelines

~Artwork by Jean Rubman

More than ever before, artists are discovering the joy of combining sewing with mixed-media projects, as artists recognize that stitches are not limited just to fabrics. Machine stitching can be added to almost anything including paper, transparencies, fabric, batting, canvas, foil, paper bags, kraft paper, and so much more. For those who choose to work with more durable materials like wood, metal and clay, stitches can also be added, but usually by hand. Whether you sew by hand or machine, we invite you submit your most innovative and imaginative art projects that incorporate sewing, for this special publication. Sew Somerset will feature projects of the highest caliber that Somerset Studio is known for … projects that will surely take your breath away … projects that will look “So Somerset!” In this 144-page publication, you will find beautiful photographs, easy-to-understand techniques, and a bounty of tips, ideas and inspiration. Sew Somerset will help you learn how to add stitches of varied lengths, sizes, colors, and dimension into your next art project.

Deadline: January 15th

Submission Guidelines

~Artwork by Heather Stolar

Different Point of View How many different looks can you achieve with one stamp? We are looking for cards made with the Different Point of View concept. Find you favorite versatile stamp and create several different cards using that image in new ways, and push the boundary of a single stamp. Remember to make your cards in the Take Ten style, and keep them quick and easy. For more inspiration, look at the samples in the magazine. Deadlines: January 1, 2017

General Cards We are looking for quick and easy stamped cards for this best-selling magazine. Send us your “ten minutes or less” artwork in any style, theme or color and we’ll send you a free issue if your artwork is published. Deadlines: January 1, 2017

Simple Article Ideas Have you made a simple project/collection of greeting cards with an intriguing or different technique? We are constantly tearing through card submissions hunting for the next feature article, and maybe it is your cards we are looking for! If you’ve seen an idea that you want to try or you would like to pitch us an idea for a collection of cards or tutorial, please feel free to contact us at taketen@stampington.com. We love bringing the best, easy stamping techniques to our readers! Deadlines: January 1, 2017

Quick & Easy Gifts Here at Take Ten, we are always on the lookout for quick and easy stamping techniques — but that’s not limited to cards! We’d love to see what you can create when you go beyond cards. Pick up your stamps, give yourself 10 minutes, and see what interesting stamped projects you can come up with. From tags and boxes to frames and gift bags, we want to see it all! Send us your best for a chance to be published in an upcoming issue of this quarterly publication. Deadlines: January 1, 2017

Masterboard  In each issue of Take Ten, we aim to include an example of a Masterboard, a self-made mixed-media patterned paper to use and re-use in your stamped projects. Pick up the latest installment of Take Ten to see an example of a Masterboard and how an artist has used her patterned papers to make a few cards featuring rubber stamping. Please send your samples of a Masterboard along with three to 10 samples of cards you have made with it. All cards should take 10 minutes or less to make each, and should include rubber stamping. Deadlines: January 1, 2017

Are You the Next Take Ten Guest Artist?  This department is dedicated to artists (many who began as loyal readers) who capture Take Ten style — original greeting card creations that incorporate rubber stamping into the design. If you are a dedicated stamper, this is your chance to show off what makes your talent unique, whether you have a signature inking technique, an anything-but-ordinary style, or a knack for layout designs. We would like to see new techniques, ones that are contemporary and one-of-a-kind, and vast themes. If you would like to audition to be a guest artist, we ask for the following: A minimum of 5 sets of 3 cards in each set (ideally, we would prefer 8 sets of cards in a similar theme), for a grand total of 15 – 24 cards. The best way to become familiar with what makes our Guest Artists stand out is to take a peek through our publication. For each set, keep in line with a similar color palette or theme. We’re dedicated to showcasing the very best artists, and we would love to feature your talented creations for all our readers to see! Deadlines: January 1, 2017

Click here to download and print our Submissions Form!

Submission Guidelines

The post Get Published in the New Year: January Calls and Challenges appeared first on Somerset Place: The Official Blog of Stampington & Company.

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[stampington]

Want to Get Published? Here’s the July Calls and Challenges List!

Our Stampington publications want your submissions! If you are an artist or writer looking to have your work featured in one of our magazines, here are the July calls and challenges that our editors are looking for. We encourage you to submit your work again even if you have tried before. The following magazines have upcoming deadlines on July 1st (unless otherwise noted), so this is your chance to see your name in print and get published!

~Artwork by Virginia A. Spiegel

Quilting and mixed-media techniques come together in stunning works of art in Art Quilting Studio. Each issue features a variety of articles, showcasing quilts that exhibit artistic techniques, unexpected materials, and inspiring stories. Art Quilting Studio also includes a number of recurring departments: Artist Portfolio, Series Showcase, Art Quilt Walking, Quilting the Odd and Unusual, and The Last Page (see details below). Whether for a feature article or for a specific department, we welcome quilters of all levels and styles to submit their artwork for consideration. Deadline: July 15th

Artist Portfolio In this department, we showcase the artwork and story of an artist with an impressive portfolio.

Series Showcase Here, we highlight an extraordinary series of quilts created by one artist.

Art Quilt Walking This department features quilted, wearable arts, including clothing, accessories, jewelry, and more.

Quilting the Odd and Unusual These are not your ordinary quilts — the quilts included in this department encompass a specific and unique theme.

The Last Page On The Last Page — which is literally the last page of every issue — we feature a single quilt that has a special meaning or inspiring story behind it.

~Photograph by Michela Ravasio

Bella Grace is a print publication devoted to discovering magic in the ordinary. Our aim is to touch the souls of our readers through beautifully penned stories and striking photographs that capture life’s beautiful adventure.

At Bella Grace, we believe that:

Every cloud has a silver lining.

An ordinary life can be an extraordinary life.

There is beauty and magic to be found everywhere.

It’s OK to embrace imperfection.

Life should be lived with a full heart and open eyes.

Bella Grace is currently seeking submissions from writers and photographer

What We Are Looking For

Narratives We are currently looking for original narratives and poetry that focus on the idea that “life is a beautiful adventure.” Submitted work can be about simple pleasures, life lessons learned, slowing down, embracing your authentic self, and more. Written submissions can include accompanying photography, but we will also pair writers up with photographers if necessary.

Photography Picture submissions should capture the spirit of Bella Grace. They should depict simple moments, bits of romance, feelings of happiness, etc. Photography can be submitted on its own and will be considered for use with narratives or as the background for some of the quotes featured throughout the book.

Lists Who doesn’t love making a great list? Creating lists can be a very effective and inspiring form of writing. They’re also incredibly fun to read! We aren’t looking for your grocery list; we’re looking for your life lists. A few ideas include 10 Ways to Turn a Day Around, 5 Times I Laughed Uncontrollably, and 15 Things I’d Tell My 15-Year-Old Self. Make it funny, make it sweet … the choice is yours.

Instagram Collections Who doesn’t love Instagram? As artists and creatives, it’s such a great way to beautifully share our days with others. It also serves as a diary to help us document our days. In each issue of Bella Grace we feature a few Instagram collections. We’re now opening this up to submissions! All you need to do is send 15 images that you feel capture your Instagram and a statement about what living a Bella Grace life means to you to bellagrace@stampington.com. If selected, you will need to provide high-resolution images that can be printed at 5″ x 5″, 300 dpi.

Ideas To Get You Started

We are happy to receive general submissions, but in case you need a few ideas to get you started, we are also looking for responses (photographic or written or both) to the following prompts:

Stories of Self-Love Most of us have our own bag of tricks we turn to when we need to show ourselves a little love and kindness. For our editor-in-chief, it’s a quiet night spent under her very favorite blanket and the first book in the Harry Potter series. It never fails to brighten her spirits. What is it you turn to? What’s your recipe for self-love? (Lists and narratives accepted.)

Small, Random Acts of Kindness It’s been said that you never know what another person might be going through, so it’s important to be kind with everyone. A small gesture, such as a flower placed on a car windshield or an anonymous note left for someone to find, can make a huge impact. For an upcoming issue of Bella Grace, we are hoping to gather as many ideas for committing random acts of kindness as we possibly can. Furthermore, if you have a story to share about the impact an act of kindness has had on you, we’d love to hear it.

You in a Song Wouldn’t it be great to have a theme song for yourself? One that would be played as though you were in a movie? Here in our office, we’ve been asking each other what a song about them would sound like, and what lyrics it would contain. Now, we want to issue the same question to you. If someone wrote a song about you, what would the lyrics be?

Super Sassy Bios One of the most challenging assignments can be to write a biography for yourself. No matter how short the requirement, the task can be daunting. While perusing blogs, we’ve spied some really clever bios, some so unique that we can’t help but feel we know that blogger. In 30 words or less, what can you say about yourself? Don’t be boring and follow the usual format. Make it fun and attention-grabbing.

Bella Grace is released on a quarterly basis: March, June, September, and December. Submissions are accepted on an ongoing basis, but must be received on or before the following dates to be considered for a specific issue.

Deadline for Winter Issue submissions: July 15th

For consideration, please send any of the above to:

bellagrace@stampington.com

Click here to download our guide for submitting photographs. It will also show you how to convert images to the correct size and resolution for this publication.

~Artwork by Lynne Suprock

If you’d like to share your inspiration and detailed, how-to instructions for creating beautiful jewelry with readers, we want to hear from you. Belle Armoire Jewelry covers a broad range of mediums, such as polymer clay, metal working, lamp work, wire-wrapping, mixed-media, and much more. Whether you create necklaces, bracelets, earrings, pendants, rings, or other jewelry, we welcome you to submit your artwork to be considered for publication. Deadline: July 15th

~Artwork by Colleen Attara

More than ever before, artists are discovering the joy of combining sewing with mixed-media projects, as artists recognize that stitches are not limited just to fabrics. Machine stitching can be added to almost anything including paper, transparencies, fabric, batting, canvas, foil, paper bags, kraft paper, and so much more. For those who choose to work with more durable materials like wood, metal and clay, stitches can also be added, but usually by hand. Whether you sew by hand or machine, we invite you submit your most innovative and imaginative art projects that incorporate sewing, for this special publication. Sew Somerset will feature projects of the highest caliber that Somerset Studio is known for … projects that will surely take your breath away … projects that will look “So Somerset!” In this 144-page publication, you will find beautiful photographs, easy-to-understand techniques, and a bounty of tips, ideas and inspiration. Sew Somerset will help you learn how to add stitches of varied lengths, sizes, colors, and dimension into your next art project.

Deadline: July 15th

~Artwork by Sarah Donawerth

Different Point of View How many different looks can you achieve with one stamp? We are looking for cards made with the Different Point of View concept. Find you favorite versatile stamp and create several different cards using that image in new ways, and push the boundary of a single stamp. Remember to make your cards in the Take Ten style, and keep them quick and easy. For more inspiration, look at the samples in the magazine. Deadlines: July 1, 2017

General Cards We are looking for quick and easy stamped cards for this best-selling magazine. Send us your “ten minutes or less” artwork in any style, theme or color and we’ll send you a free issue if your artwork is published. Deadlines: July 1, 2017

Simple Article Ideas Have you made a simple project/collection of greeting cards with an intriguing or different technique? We are constantly tearing through card submissions hunting for the next feature article, and maybe it is your cards we are looking for! If you’ve seen an idea that you want to try or you would like to pitch us an idea for a collection of cards or tutorial, please feel free to contact us at taketen@stampington.com. We love bringing the best, easy stamping techniques to our readers! Deadlines: July 1, 2017

Quick & Easy Gifts Here at Take Ten, we are always on the lookout for quick and easy stamping techniques — but that’s not limited to cards! We’d love to see what you can create when you go beyond cards. Pick up your stamps, give yourself 10 minutes, and see what interesting stamped projects you can come up with. From tags and boxes to frames and gift bags, we want to see it all! Send us your best for a chance to be published in an upcoming issue of this quarterly publication. Deadlines: July 1, 2017

Masterboard  In each issue of Take Ten, we aim to include an example of a Masterboard, a self-made mixed-media patterned paper to use and re-use in your stamped projects. Pick up the latest installment of Take Ten to see an example of a Masterboard and how an artist has used her patterned papers to make a few cards featuring rubber stamping. Please send your samples of a Masterboard along with three to 10 samples of cards you have made with it. All cards should take 10 minutes or less to make each, and should include rubber stamping. Deadlines: July 1, 2017

Are You the Next Take Ten Guest Artist?  This department is dedicated to artists (many who began as loyal readers) who capture Take Ten style — original greeting card creations that incorporate rubber stamping into the design. If you are a dedicated stamper, this is your chance to show off what makes your talent unique, whether you have a signature inking technique, an anything-but-ordinary style, or a knack for layout designs. We would like to see new techniques, ones that are contemporary and one-of-a-kind, and vast themes. If you would like to audition to be a guest artist, we ask for the following: A minimum of 5 sets of 3 cards in each set (ideally, we would prefer 8 sets of cards in a similar theme), for a grand total of 15 – 24 cards. The best way to become familiar with what makes our Guest Artists stand out is to take a peek through our publication. For each set, keep in line with a similar color palette or theme. We’re dedicated to showcasing the very best artists, and we would love to feature your talented creations for all our readers to see! Deadlines: July 1, 201708

Click here to download and print our Submissions Form!

  The post Want to Get Published? Here’s the July Calls and Challenges List! appeared first on Somerset Place: The Official Blog of Stampington & Company.

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