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zlebooks · 2 years

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𓂃 ayato + who’s a good boy?

ayato learns that maybe he shouldn’t mess with you the next time you’re taking a stroll… or anytime for that matter.

warning: idk if the last parts of the fic are considered as sexual innuendos 😭

ayato grew up in a gated neighborhood— that probably already says a lot about him and his tax bracket.

his father, a director at one of the top hospitals in the country and his mother, a well known art gallery curator, made sure ayato grew up comfortably. he had the best tutors to help him remain on the top of his class, a world class nanny who knows hand to hand combat if it ever comes to the worst scenarios, and a whole staff of his own that will help him with literally anything.

to say ayato never worked a day in his life would be unjust and offensive. however, he does admit that he is more privileged compared to others.

one of the many privileges he had growing up was he barely had to follow any orders. usually, he would have the option to disregard it or at least postpone doing it for an extended period of time. however, he had learned to never pass it on to anyone else; the moment he tried to pass the responsibility on to his sister, ayato earned himself a flick to the forehead from his father.

(it is a common knowledge in the kamisato residence that ayaka has always been their father's favorite while ayato had always been their mother's most precious little thing.)

that's why ayato notices almost immediately that you had the tendency to order him around.

it wasn't anything degrading, of course. it was more like a simple request that can be put in better words. and the kamisato heir doesn't mind at all— even though he grew up with almost no one bossing him around, he still follows you wholeheartedly.

but there are days where ayato becomes more mischievous than usual— he blames it on the childhood that he never got to fully live as he was part of high society— and he thinks it's a great day to stir some slight trouble.

"ayato? come here." you say, flicking your wrist towards you, inviting your boyfriend to walk with you.

your boyfriend puts on a commendable act. he pretends to think for a moment— with matching lean-on-one-hip and chin-caressing.

"no."

this causes you to raise an eyebrow, your eyes dripping with suspicion. "why? do you want to go somewhere else?"

ayato gives you an affirmative answer and you puff your cheeks out. "you should have told me earlier," you say as you feel guilty for not intentionally dragging him around.

this almost makes your boyfriend cave— almost. but he decides that he isn't done with you yet.

"where do you want to go?" you ask sweetly, your face contorting into someone who's sorry.

he hums for a moment, acting as if he were thinking again.

"i don't know."

the moment he tells you that, every remorse in your bones vanishes within a second.

"you're not being cute right now."

ayato shrugs.

"okay, seriously. what do you want?"

"i want to go somewhere else."

"where?"

"i don't know."

ayato almost snorts when he looks at you about to pull your hair out. for a moment, he feels sorry for trying to pull this prank. but then the red little guy sitting on his left shoulder reminds him that seeing you so out of your element is the best thing that might have happened to him. (aside from you saying yes when he asked you out)

"why are you being like this?" you groan.

"because it's always you who is ordering me around."

you gasp. "is that how i come off?"

"you're always like 'come here', 'go over there', and 'follow me'. it's like you're talking to a dog instead of your boyfriend."

your expression softens, and another pang of guilt hits ayato on the chest. this makes him feel even worse; he even starts to contemplate if he should tell you it's all a joke.

“well, i’m extremely sorry if that’s how i seemed like. i swear that i don't have any intentions to make you feel like you’re any less.” you try your best to apologise sincerely, but when you caught ayato’s lips quirking up a bit, you suddenly realise what was up.

kamisato ayato has a lot of talents— there is no room for any arguments. he had a gift for writing the most poetic stories, he’s able to charm anyone everytime he sings, and whenever he picks up a new sport to play, nine out of ten times he excels at them. but most importantly, the talent he is proudest of was his innate ability to act.

ayato has his arms crossed, shoulders tensed and furrowed eyebrows; everything points out to him being mildly hurt and offended. to everyone, you two look like lovers in between the process of a quarrel, already on the way to resolve the problem.

but then he blinks. twice.

you catch your boyfriend blinking once, and then immediately followed by another. you also notice the sides of his lips lifting a little— these were the tell signs that he’s just messing around. trying to rouse up any type of reaction from you.

you scoff to yourself, two could play this game.

“besides, it’s not my fault that you sometimes behave like a dog.” ayato winces at this, and you think if you went too far.

but you decide to take it up a notch; you take a huge step towards ayato, almost closing the gap between the two of you. if you had moved any closer, your chest would be touching his, and his lips would hover temptingly on yours.

“you turn into this soft, pliant, obedient pup…” you whisper into his ears and you have to hold back your laughter as you feel him shudder against you, “… one might say you’re being submissive.”

as soon as you see ayato gulp, you immediately take a step back before snorting. “you’re just like taroumaru.”

this was enough to feel like a splash of cold water on ayato’s face. he knew that he had been utterly defeated.

just a moment ago, it was obvious that he had the upper hand (which was unfair because you had no idea what was going on), but with your wit and quick thinking, you suddenly flipped the table under his nose.

the kamisato heir shrugs. he supposes there’s another bullet to add on the long list of reasons why he loves you.

you turn your heels away from the man, suddenly picking up your pace before sending him a glance. “will you come along?” you ask expectantly.

ayato is woken up from his trance, jogging to where you are and finally slowing down to match your phase. your boyfriend hums, maybe you were right when you told him that he was an obedient little dog.

please do not repost or translate without my permission . reblogs are greatly appreciated

#genshin #genshin impact #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #genshin imagines #genshin headcanons #genshin fluff #genshin angst #kamisato ayato #ayato x reader #ayato imagines #ayato headcanons #ayato fluff #ayato angst

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disillusioneddanny · 1 year

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Family Week Day 1. Family || Discovery

For all the things my hands have held, the best by far is you If I could fly then I would know What life looks like from up above and down below I'd keep you safe, I'd keep you dry Don't be afraid, Cecilia, I'm the satellite And you're the sky

Damian Wayne sighed as he set his phone down and looked at the painting in front of him. He smield to himself, the likeness between the photo he had taken of Daniel and the painting were uncanny. It had taken him weeks now to get his boyfriend to agree to let him paint a picture of him in his ghost form but now that he had gotten the permission, well all the pleading had been worth it.

The painting of Danny floating up into a tree surrounded by flowers and a bright smile on his face would be a vision that Damian would cherish for the rest of his existence.

He and Danny had been dating for just a little over six months now and every day so far had been perfect if Damian was going to say so himself. The two had managed to balance one another perfectly. Danny was all fun and adventure whereas Damian was more organized and practical. He managed to keep Danny from failing all of his classes at Gotham University and in return, Danny helped him live a little.

They had met in Damian’s art class. Danny was a current English student at Gotham University whereas Damian was an art student, so they would have never really crossed paths. Except Danny had apparently needed some extra money that semester and had taken a job as a model for Damian’s art class. It had been a semester of torture where Danny would shamelessly flirt with him as he stripped down to his birthday suit to pose in front of the class. It was as though he could tell that Damian found the idiot attractive and did everything he could to make the poor vigilante blush like a bumbling virgin.

At the end of each class period, though, Danny would approach Damian and talk and laugh with him. They had found themselves building a friendship together. They would get lunch every Thursday between classes. Damian would walk Danny back to his dorm most nights as his art class ran from seven in the evening until nine and as a good and noble vigilante that Damian was, he used that as an excuse to walk Danny to his dorm each night.

And after the final class of their fall semester, Danny had come up to Damian and shyly asked him to go out with him on a real date. Damian had become absolutely smitten at that point. They had gone to get dinner in Bludhaven so that Damian’s meddling siblings wouldn’t catch them. As much as he loved his family, Danny was not something he was quite yet ready to share with his family. He wanted to hold Danny tight to his chest and keep him away from the insanity that was the Wayne family.

It was after their third date that Danny had started behaving strange and nervous with Damian and it was during their weekly lunch date that had been moved to Mondays for their Spring semester that Danny had admitted that he needed to share a secret with Damian.

That night Damian had been dragged to Danny’s tiny two bedroom apartment in the Bowery at the beginning of their Spring semester and had learned Danny’s secret status as a halfa. He had been half dead for six years at that point and had decided that if he and Damian were going to go any further in their relationship then he had to be honest about it.

Damian had taken that as his chance to share his own secret with Danny. He had done the thing his family had told him to never do and told the civilian that really wasn’t a civilian if Damian thought about it, that he was Robin, the vigilante. Danny had whined relentlessly that it was just his luck that he, a former vigilante would somehow find himself dating a vigilante now that he was an adult.

Damian had just chuckled and kissed Danny’s whines away, feeling light and at ease knowing that at least his beloved would understand what it meant to be a hero. Danny had been amazing about it, too. He had accepted that Damian would have late nights, that there would be days where he was sore and unable to do much. He would just have Damian come to his apartment and dote on him. He would create ice packs to chill Damian’s sore muscles, he would hold him tight on nights where Damian had failed to save someone and gave Damian the love and attention he needed and desired.

He hadn’t realized just how emotionally constipated his family was until he had met Danny. Until he had learned about cuddle times and had gotten to experience the joys of dancing in the hallways to Andrew McMahon, Danny’s favorite singer when his songs would come on the radio that Danny had playing at all hours of the day. It was with Danny that he had finally learned that crying was okay, that he could cry when he was frustrated, that bottling things up could lead to his downfall. Danny had taught him what it was like to be human, something Damian would have never expected from someone who was barely human himself.

It was with Danny that Damian had learned just what love was. That it wasn’t this fragile, delicate thing that you had to constantly protect. At least not with Danny. Danny’s love was fierce and strong. His love was what kept Damian’s nightmares at bay at night. Danny was the one who Damina found himself going to when he needed comfort, when he needed someone to just listen to his problems without trying to solve all of them for him. Danny was everything that Damian needed in a partner and he couldn’t have been more thankful to find him.

He had been what Danny needed too, from what Danny had told him. In the time that they had known one another he had learned quite a bit about Danny. How he had never gotten the stability he needed growing up. How he had never felt like he could rely on anyone in his family, not even his sister. He loved Jazz but even their relationship had grown distant with her sister constantly making Danny feel inferior or like he didn’t know as much as she did. His parents had been so obsessed with their inventions that they hadn’t even noticed their son had died for four years. According to Danny they hadn’t even noticed when he started transitioning to a man. They had to be told he was trans eventually because Jazz was losing her mind over the fact that the two just didn’t notice.

It wasn’t until Danny had packed up to move to Gotham for college that they had even learned about him being Phantom. And their relationship had just gotten even worse from there. He got Christmas cards and birthday cards, and a call every so often but that was the extent of their relationship. Jazz called to check up on him every so often but from what it sounded like they weren’t the best phone calls between the two of them.

But it was okay, Damian was here for him. He provided Danny with the stability and comfort that he needed. He was here to be the rock when Danny needed to crumble and not be strong. He provided Danny with the things he had grown up without, just like Danny did for him.

Their relationship wasn’t perfect, no far from it! They were still just two twenty year olds in their third year of college trying to navigate the world. Danny worked a lot at his job at the Gotham University library where he was a writing tutor plus his second job at the coffee shop. Unlike Damian he didn’t have family to pay for college and had managed to secure enough scholarships to cover what his government aid wouldn’t. But he still had to pay for his apartment, something he had desperately wanted after being unable to shift to his Phantom form at his dorm room for so long. It didn’t help that Danny vehemently refused to allow Damian to pay for anything for him, citing that he had no desire to be a sugar baby.

Between classes, Danny’s two jobs, and Damian’s job as Robin, the two were unable to spend nearly as much time together as Damian wanted and it had caused issues in the past. But that was fine, they were always able to move past that.

They loved one another and love would get them through just about anything.

Damian wiped his hands on his rag as he looked around. He was currently in Danny’s apartment, waiting for the other to get back from his job at the coffee shop so that they could leave for dinner. It had happened about a month ago when Danny gave Damian a key to his apartment, citing that he wanted to give Damian a place to escape from his family when he needed. Which was appreciated.

Damian loved his family and he thoroughly enjoyed living at the manor where he had nothing to worry about but the older he got he needed more space. And Danny’s apartment provided him with that space, and if there were a few drawers that were emptied so that Damian could store his things there? Well no one needed to know about it aside from him and Danny.

The doorbell rang, sounding throughout the room, causing Damian to frown as he set his paint rag down and started out of the bedroom Danny used as his study room/office and made his way to the door, grabbing one of his birdarangs just to be on the safe side. Danny hadn’t said anything to him about expecting guests.

He hadn’t said anything about anyone coming over, no packages, nothing of the sort. Damian looked through the peephole and his frown deepened when he found his mother standing on the otherside with what looked like a baby carrier in her hands.

He swung the door open and frowned. “Mother, what are you doing here?”

She grinned and stepped into the house, pushing past Damian as she did so.

“Oh Habibi! It has been so long since I’ve seen your precious face,” she crooned, setting the carrier down to throw her arms out and hug Damian. The former assassin simply took a step back and gave his mother a look.

“What are you doing here?” He asked, crossing his arms over his chest, giving her a clear view of his weapon.

She sighed and picked up the carrier once more. “I learned you were in a relationship with another man! I have brought you a gift to celebrate!” She said, thrusting the carrier into Damian’s hands. “I know that men cannot have children with other men, so I made you a child! One that is a clone of both you and Mr. Fenton.”

“Mother! You cannot just make us a child,” he hissed just as Danny walked through the door and looked between the two. Talia turned to look at Danny and grinned.

“And you are the young man that my son is so smitten with!” she exclaimed. Damian sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. His mother had been doing everything she could to get back into Damian’s good graces the last few years and her displays of affection were steadily growing more and more over the top but this took the cake. To make him and Danny a baby to care for?

They had only been dating for six months! Had only known one another for a year! They weren’t ready for a child, not yet anyway!

“Babe? What’s going on? Why do you have a baby?” Danny asked slowly, looking between Talia, Damian, and the baby carrier.

“My mother thought that as our six month anniversary we were ready to raise a child together. She assumed that as we were both men, we would be unable to procreate and too matters into her own hands.”

Danny stared at him for a moment, and Damian could tell that his mind was doing mental gymnastics. “But I’m-”

“Yes, I know Daniel. But mother did not and she decided to be meddling,” he said, glaring at his mother.

“What are you talking about?” Talia asked, looking between the two. “You are both men, how else would you be able to get a child with that in the way?”

“Do not worry about that mother, just know that it was not necessary,” Damian hissed before Danny let out a curse.

“This is the second time a fruit loop made a clone of me!” he whined, coming over to take the baby carrier from Damian. He carried the baby out of the room, leaving both Damian and his mother to stare behind him in confusion. Daniel had never told him he had been cloned before? How did he forget to mention such an important piece of information?

…

Danny and Damian soon found themselves staring at a sleeping little girl. She looked to be roughly three months old by Damian’s calculations, he held his intertwined hands at his mouth as he looked over the little girl.

“She has your nose,” Danny said softly, pushing the visor back on the carrier so that they could better look at her.

“She has your mouth,” Damian murmured, unable to look away from the precious little girl in front of him. She had only been in Danny’s apartment for an hour and already Damian was in love with her.

“How are we going to raise a baby?” Danny asked with a sigh, running his fingers through his hair.

“We will coparent, of course,” Damian said with a scoff.

“No offense baby, but you still haven’t even told your family about me. What are they going to do when you come home with a whole ass baby?”

“What if,” Damian started, his heart speeding up just a bit as he prepared to ask the question he had been wanting to ask Danny for the last two months. “What if I just moved in with you and we raised her together here? You have that second bedroom, we can clear it out and turn it into a nursery. I can pay half of the utilities and rent, then you will be able to quit your job at the coffee shop. Our class schedules are already opposite from one anothers with your classes in the morning and mine in the evening,” Damian said.

“Yeah but you do that so you can sleep in after patrol,” Danny pointed out.

Damian shrugged his shoulders. “I have gone years with running on minimal hours of sleep. I will survive while we complete the last year and a half of our studies. We start classes in a few weeks, we have some time to get started on a routine with her and we will go from there.”

“And if there is any overlap in our schedules?”

“Other students bring their children with them to class all the time, we can do the same,” Damian said simply. “We can do this, Danny. If anyone can do this, it’s us.”

Danny nodded and looked at the baby. “I know you said your mother was part of an assassin cult, but I didn’t realize that meant she knew how to make clones. Also, how did she get my DNA?”

“She’s an assassin, I do not know,” Damian said and shrugged his shoulders. “And yes, mother has a tendency to make clones of me, usually they are sent with the mission to kill me. This is the first time she has create a clone of me that is simply meant to be my child.”

“Oh cool! I had a clone made of me by my godfather to kill me! She’s like my cousin now, she’s travelling the Infinite Realms at the moment. I haven’t seen her in years!” Danny said with a grin.

Damian let out a soft chuckle as he leaned over and rested his head on Danny’s shoulder. “I love you, you goofball.”

Danny laughed and kissed the top of Damian’s head. “I love you too,” he said softly. “You’re going to have to tell your family that you’re moving out of the house you know.”

“I know and they are going to have far too many questions that I am not interested in answering,” he huffed out.

His boyfriend simply snickered again and kissed the top of Damian’s head once more before resting his cheek upon it.

“She looks like a Damiana,” he joked. Damian crinkled his nose.

“Absolutely not. Our daughter needs a more sophisticated name. My grandmother’s name was Martha.”

“That’s na old lady’s name, we’re not naming our baby Martha,” Danny said, taking Damian’s hand and winding their fingers together. “What about Hannah?”

“No, doesn’t suit her. What about Dahlia? It is a flower and –”

“Reminds me of the black dahlia and a little too close to your mother’s name. Which, I don’t know if I should be mad at her for cloning me without my consent, or thank her because now I have an adorable baby that I have no clue how to raise. Oh my ancients, Dami, we’re going to have to buy parenting books! Both of us were raised with terrible parents! Talia is an assassin who raised her own baby to be one, Bruce is an emotional consitpated vigilante who allowed all of his children to become vigilantes before the age of fourteen! My parents weren’t that bad but they were neglectful as shit and I ended up being raised by my sister instead! Neither of us know how to be a parent.”

“We can get parenting books, not to worry,” Damian laughed. “What about Cecilia? After that song you like?”

Danny let out a hum. “I like it, Cecilia Grace, maybe?” He asked. “Cecilia Grace Fenton Wayne. What a fuckin’ mouthful.”

Damian chuckled. “I like it, Cecilia Grace,” he whispered before Danny shrugged him off of his shoulder and leaned forward. Damian watched as Danny unclasped the buckles and pulled the sleeping girl out of the seat and cradled her close to his chest. A soft purr escaped from Danny, making Damian smile at the little display of his ghost side.

“Hi Cecilia, I’m your daddy,” Danny whispered, running a hand over the head full of black curls. “And this is your-”

“Your papa,” Damian decided, not wanting his child to grow up with the same rules he did. She would never call either of them father, she needed to call them something more comforting, more familial and less stiff and proper.

Danny glanced over at him, a soft red painted his cheeks. “She’s perfect, Dami,” he whispered, running his hand over her hair once more. “We have so much to figure out.”

“And we will, we will figure all of this out together,” Damian said, wrapping his arm around his boyfriend’s waist and resting his chin on Danny’s shoulder so that he could look down at the little girl, at his daughter. He couldn’t believe this was happening, but here they were with a small baby between them and the very beginning stages of building their own little family.

Now he just needed to figure out hwo he was going to announce to his family that he was abruptly moving out of the manor to move in with his boyfriend and daughter without arising suspicion from his family. This wasn’t how he was planning on doing this.

He thought he would get to tell his family he was in a relationship, bring Danny over for dinner and let them get to meet him that way. Maybe they would date for a few more months before Damian finally got the guts to ask Danny if he could move in, and then the two would look for a new apartment when Danny’s lease was up.

Of course, things did not always happen the way someone expected them to. They rarely did go according to plan in Damian’s life, at least. But at least this instance, it ended with a perfect little gift.

@dpxdc-familyweek

Like what you read? Follow the links to the next parts!

Part 2

Part 3

#dpxdcfamilyweek2023 #dpxdcfamilyweek #dpxdc #dead serious ship #Day 1 parents/disocvery #diswrites #dis writes

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forbidding-souda · 11 months

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Mod monomi~ how about a headcanon with Mahiru where she has a boyfriend that likes it when she gets stern. Like he'll get giggly and blushy when she gets stern with them

Mahiru Koizumi x Giggly!Male!Reader

Mahiru reminds me of this girl I knew in middle school who would tell me I wasn’t playing the saxophone right (I wasn’t) When she had literally never picked up a saxophone or any other brass instrument lmfaoooo. I was so annoyed at this girl but we were in art club together so we kinda became frienemies and I lent her my sword art online manga and she returned it six months later with the spine halfway ripped. But I mean I can’t get too mad at her because she unknowingly rescued me from the SAO fandom.

-Mod Monomi

♡ Mahiru has high expectations for her boyfriend… Or at least she thinks she does.

♡ She’s the type who always crows at you to keep your dorm clean, get your work done, and take good care of yourself.

♡ Regardless of this, she doesn’t mind dropping everything to help you do them (Or do them for you), giving you a “Jeez, you’re so hopeless.” or a “What would you boys do without us girls?” Even if you were fully willing and capable to do it on your own.

♡ Mahiru would never admit it but she loved taking care of you. Usually, she treats you nicer than most, scolding you in a more teasing way, but she could still crack down on you like you like an annoyed mother.

♡ She noticed that you seemed to find it funny when she spoke like this. At first, she found it a bit annoying. After a while though she was genuinely upset about it.

♡ Were you not taking her feelings seriously? Did you not appreciate all she did for you? Did you even care about her? These were all things Mahiru wondered about during this period. She just didn’t know how to communicate that to you.

♡ Until one day she just kind of… Blew up…

♡ “Hey Y/N! How did you do on your test today?”

♡ “Oh um… Honestly not too well… I have to make it up…”

♡ “Ugh, what am I gonna do with you?”

♡ “Heheheh! Sorry, Mahiru!” You chuckled, your bad mood disappearing suddenly. Mahiru scoffed.

♡ “God, you men… You’ll just laugh at anything won’t you!?” You laughed and blushed, pulling her closer to your side. Mahiru grunted again and pushed you away. She shouted at you “Do you even appreciate anything I do at all?! I try so hard for you and you think it’s funny?!” She looked angrier than you had ever seen, unlike all of the other times she ever scolded you.

♡ After that, you finally had the dreaded conversation. You explained that it wasn’t that you didn’t appreciate everything she did, you just thought she was so cute when she got all strict with you. At first, she was stunned and even happy on the inside. And then her reaction was, well, certainly in character.

♡ “You mean… You like it when I talk to you like that…?” Mahiru didn’t know what to say… Just what to think. “Is that like… Some perverted boy thing?” She asked, scrunching her nose.

♡ After this is explained to her, she doesn’t mind you doing it anymore, since deep down, she’d do anything to see your smile! <3

♡ Love you darlings!!

#danganronpa #x reader #danganronpa x reader #mod monomi #mahiru koizumi x kaede akamatsu #mahiru koizumi x reader #mahiru koizumi

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hiveworks · 1 year

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OBELISK - Interview with Ashley McCammon

September 2023

The year is 1908. Evelyn Reuter is dealing with the affairs of her deceased father in her hometown of Manhattan. While she takes solace in the homes of her queer friends, grief presses in around her until one day... the mysterious Margot appears in her life.

Obelisk is a 16+ gothic horror/romance comic about vampires and lesbianism. In celebration of Obelisk's return from hiatus, we asked author Ashley McCammon @draculings for an interview.

What was the spark behind making Obelisk? Why a webcomic versus another style of publishing (print, self pub, etc.)?

My original inspiration for Obelisk was in my frustration with lesbian vampire movies - there are so many of them, and none made for a lesbian audience, let alone involving butch women! I wanted to tell that story, and celebrate that point of view. It’s similar to why I chose to set the comic in 1908 - the early 1900s are something of a transitional period, something not explored often when we aren’t talking WWI or the Titanic. I wanted to tell a story about the radical change happening in just a few, unusual people’s lives, in this transitory period. As for it being a webcomic - as a young artist, I always wanted to make one! It’s such an accessible, experimental way to tell a story, where even the website can be part of the atmosphere. Making a deeply atmospheric, spooky comic, that feels the most fitting.

For new readers, how would you describe your two lead women?

Evelyn is muscling through her day to day when we meet her - she’s putting on a brave face, or one that she hopes exudes confidence - but really feels like she has no idea what she’s doing. (The impostor syndrome is incredibly strong - something I think a lot of people can understand!) She’s been left with this enormous responsibility on top of the grief of losing her dad, and having that job and security is pressed on her as something she should be grateful for. She’s absorbed that idea and really hasn’t taken a moment to breathe - or to consider what she really wants for herself. Margot is quite the opposite - she’s a vampire who lives only for her own desires, a hedonist who’s been floating through existence that way for as long as she can remember. For all of her self indulgence though, she’s never connected much with anyone. She holds herself far above people, only ever showing them this facade of a regular person. It’s very arrogant - but it must also be very lonely! (Not that she has anyone to admit that to… yet ;) )

What can you tell us about what's lurking for Evelyn in the upcoming chapter?

Evelyn makes a very bold choice at the end of chapter two, one that scares her - putting her own desires first, impulsively, in a way that will change everything and surprise even Margot herself. (Patrons read way ahead and will get to see this very soon, and the time she spends with Margot throughout chapter 3 as a result!)

Obelisk is a traditionally inked piece, with some digital final touches. What guided your decision to make this a traditional comic versus a digital one?

It really wasn’t a choice, to be honest - traditional media is where all my passion for making art lives! Obelisk is drawn and inked traditionally, and finished with Copic markers and the occasional paint pen or colored pencil for that killer red highlight ;)

What are some of the challenges in working this way? What do you find rewarding?

It can be tedious to scan, piece together and clean up my pages, but ultimately I have a fairly streamlined process for it and I don’t mind. I love having a physical final product to look at and hold when I’m done with it, it gives me a sense of accomplishment and connection to my work!

Do you have any tips for other comic artists on resuming a series after an extended hiatus?

Put your health first, and spend time reconnecting to your story before diving back in. It’s easy to feel obligated by the hamster wheel of social media and garnering attention, but your own connection to your work in the long-term is what matters most. Obelisk wouldn’t be the same story if I hadn’t had that downtime, and it’s off better for it!

What are some comics that inspire you? Do you have any reading recommendations for fans of Obelisk?

As far as webcomics go, I’m a big fan of Tiger Tiger, Hemlock, Barbarous, and Heirs of the Veil!

What is the best way for fans of Obelisk to support you?

The very best way is through my Patreon! Patrons have immediate access to the next six months of Obelisk pages (that’s my whole buffer!) as well as tons of behind the scenes work as I develop the next chapter and share work-in-progress shots right from my drawing table.

Obelisk updates Wednesdays and can be read for free at obeliskcomic.com 🩸Be sure to white list the site on your ad blocker and follow @draculings for more info and updates!

#obelisk #vampire #lesbian #lgbt #comic #interview #blog

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nuttyrabbit · 2 years

Note

I’d like to hear what you have to say about IDW.

Alright, let's do this then! I'm not gonna make a big mega review, because frankly I don't think I need to, but I'm just gonna run down some things I like and don't like about the comic just to get it out there, and I'm gonna do it in a "Like-Dislike-Like-Dislike" format just to make things interesting.

With that being said, let's rock and roll

LIKE- The Art

For whatever problems IDW may have, one the most consistently good things about the comic has been its art. Whether it be Archie vets like ABT, Yardley, and Skelly or newcomers like Mauro, Thomas, and Foundraine, IDW has looked consistently fantastic! Some of the action scenes in this comic are some of the best action scenes I've ever seen in any Sonic media (especially anything drawn by ABT. Y'all accuse me of having Ian as my husbando, but the closest thing would be ABT because that man physically CANNOT FUCKING MISS)

Many of the covers especially are some of the best Sonic has ever seen, PERIOD

This cover in particular is something I'd love to have framed

IDW is just a consistently gorgeous comic, even moreso than Archie at its peak with a few exceptions. Also helps that IDW has multiple good inkers and colorists to help the lines pop out, which was an issue I had with Archie

DISLIKE- The Setting

The thing is, I don't inherently dislike the setting of IDW. Setting it past Forces was a good move and setting it in something similar to the games was also a really good call. While I greatly prefer the mix and match setting of the reboot, there is a charm to a more simple, gamelike setting

The problem is that the setting, at least to me, is too simple. At any point it feels like there's maybe 4 locations on the planet: Resistance Base, Eggman Base, Sunset City, and Forest. There are a couple other named locations like White Park, Angel Island and Spiral Hill and that one camping site, but for the most part it feels like the comic ping pongs between these fairly generic locations. As a result, the comic world feels shockingly small in terms of scope and wonder, which is something weird to say about Sonic of all things, a game franchise which has done wonders in taking the hedgehog to various weird, wacky, and cool locales.

It also doesn't help that unlike the games or other comics or even stuff like the OVA and Prime, a lot of the locations don't really have a tangible history or interesting visual motifs, so they just kinda fall flat

I'm not expecting the comic to go full Archie reboot and have a MASSIVE world full of named locations established with DEEPEST LORE from day 1, since that was an extraordinary situation that kinda hurt the comic long term, but having a bit more variety would help the comic loads.

As is, most of the comic's settings just kinda blur together for me to the point where something like Eggperial City just seems like another Eggman base to me. Unfortunately, given what Ian's said about developing the setting (I.e he won't for asinine reasons), I doubt this'll change any time soon, which is a crying shame

LIKE- MOST of the New Characters

While I'm known as an Archie diehard, I'll fully admit that I do like quite a bit of the IDW newcomers. Tangle, Whisper, Starline, Surge, and Kit are characters I've all found to be enjoyable or compelling to some degree. Other characters like Clutch, Rough, and Tumble are also quite enjoyable, though severely underutilized.

IDW has done a pretty solid job (FOR THE MOST PART) of introducing and establishing new characters that add something interesting to the comic at large, and I'm glad to see that some of them have begun making the leap to the games

DISLIKE- Belle

Yeah, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, I think Belle sucks hard. The concept is fine, but the problem is that A: you know where this shit is going the moment she shows up and B: it takes fucking FOREVER to get there.

Like by the time Belle has her big confrontation with Eggman in issue 50, I'm just rolling my eyes because we knew this was coming and it's just kind of a lame part in an otherwise really cool issue.

Also she just feels like a lesser version of at least 3-4 different characters, including IDW Mecha Sonic. Scrapnik Island is just Belle's arc but actually interesting

Yeah, I just don't think Belle works and is probably the only major dud of the new roster, but man she is a BAD dud. Like the kind that drags down every arc she's in.

Like- Some of the Canon Portrayals

When it comes to portrayals of the canon cast, IDW is a fairly mixed bag, and I think a fair deal of them are abjectly weaker than both game and Archie portrayals (Team Dark being THE most egregious example of this, but Eggman also kinda falls into this)

With that being said, I still do like some of the canon cast in IDW.

Sonic: For all the flak Sonic gets and despite how annoying some of his long-winded speeches can get, I do for the most part like his portrayal. I think having him wrestle with morality, while a bit tedious at times, is interesting, and he still has quite a few moments that make me go "That's my Sonic!" Still inferior to post-SGW Sonic and ESPECIALLY Adventure-era Sonic (who is my eternal GOAT)

Amy: Despite people accusing Amy of being a Sally clone (an accusation which I always find hilarious because it's thrown at ANY female character in a leadership position), she also gets a few pretty solid moments throughout the comic (mainly before and after the Zombot arc). Not as good as Archie Amy but still aight

Silver and Blaze: It's nice to see Silver and Blaze have consistent characterizations and for the latter to not job horrifically. They have good chemistry with each other and the rest of the cast and are a pretty welcome presence, especially since they show up more than once every 600 issues.

The Chaotix: I also like the Chaotix and think they get a lot of really strong moments. Probably one of the few abjectly great parts of the Zombot arc was how they were done

Zavok: Turns out the moment you take Zavok away from the D6 and put him with real characters he actually becomes mildly interesting

The Others: Characters like Cream, Tails, Vanilla, Orbot/Cubot, etc aren't amazing but they're perfectly fine so I'll put them in the good side.

But yeah, I think a few characters get pretty decent characterization with some really strong moments here and there. Though the issue is that none of these portrayals are really the peak of these characters. The most I can say for some of them is that they're good, but there's rarely a moment from most of these examples where I'd point to them and go "This is the perfect way to write this character

DISLIKE- Other Canon Portrayals

Here's what you were probably here for, so let me do this bulletpoint style

Eggman- Isn't as menacing as Archie nor as goofy as his best showings in the games. He has some pretty great moments here and there, with him mulching Starline being a highlight, but he's kinda disappointing overall, especially compared to what's been done before

Knuckles: It's cool they remembered his duty to the Master Emerald and got rid of that dumbass "military leader shit" (which they still kept in Frontiers for some weird fuckin reason. Dunno why they're pushing that). Shame that means he basically sits in the background for most of the comic because there's no Sonic Universe equivalent (which I'll get to). His characterization is okay but MAN compared to all the cool stuff he got to do in the reboot it's very disappointing

Omega- He's still funny, but god it just ain't the same. This is a case where I think the Archie version was just flat out better. He, Amy, and Shadow are the biggest cases of "Archie just did you better"

Shadow: Do I even need to explain this? It's discount Vegeta/Sasuke/Vergil. He's an arrogant prick without anything that made him interesting. Comparing him to Archie is comical since the latter clears so hard it isn't even funny. But fuck, I'd even take Prime Shadow or hell, Boom Shadow over IDW, because at least the former has a reason to be pissy and the latter is at least funny. IDW Shadow is just miserable every fucking time he shows up and I can't tell if it's because the restrictions are that bad or it's because he's just not fun to write, but it sucks. I love Shadow, he's a great character, but every time he shows up I groan. It seems like Sega's gonna be a bit more lax with him, so hopefully that changes things but yeesh

The Deadly Six: It's a shame that Ian couldn't make the Deadly Six outside of Zavok worth a shit, especially since he decided to show them into two separate fucking arcs. I'm not gonna pin my dislike of their portrayal entirely on the comic because I just don't like them, but I am gonna give it shit for using them twice, once in an arc where they didn't belong

The Babylon Rogues: I'm not a fan of the Babylon Rogues, but even I can tell that outside of Jet's sacrifice in the Zombot arc, they've been done exceedingly dirty. That one annual story with Jet and Whisper may be one of the worst stories in IDW Sonic that shit was BAD

Metal Sonic: He's portrayed okay in these comics but my issue is more the shit around him. Sonic trying to redeem him and getting rebuked the first time was interesting stuff. The 2nd time made sense. Beyond that it's gotten obnoxious

LIKE: The Minis

While I dearly miss Sonic Universe and think the comic could use an equivalent (more on that next section), I think the minis we get each year are pretty damn good!

Tangle and Whisper, Bad Guys, Imposter Syndrome, and Scrapnik Island have ranged from good (T&W) to some of the best stuff IDW has put out ever (Scrapnik Island). They're paced well, drawn well, and have really cool shit happen in them. Scrapnik Island in particular was really, really cool and I found Barnes' pacing and character work to be even better than Ian and Evan in places and think he should get a shot at writing some mainline stories.

Also the specials have been pretty good, with the 30th Anniversary Special being extremely pleasant

DISLIKE: Plotting (Or lackthereof)

Now we're getting into some of the nitty gritty.

The big issues with IDW's plots are threefold, so I'll tackle each one individually

Pacing. Evan and Barnes are generally fine with this, but my god Ian Flynn still doesn't know how to pace a story that's more than a couple issues. The Zombot Arc is the absolute worst fucking caes of this (You could cram that entire story into 6 issues and it'd be significantly more effective), but stuff like Eggperial City and even Surge's storyline are also examples of this. So many of the things he plots just drag on and on and repeat themselves ad nauseam in terms of plot beats and even what the characters talk about.

It's an issue that's more readily apparent when reading on a monthly basis as opposed to on a trade basis (where the pacing is less noticeably bad because it's written FOR trades like many modern comics are, much to their detriment), but it's still really bad nevertheless. The only times it hasn't been with Ian are during the minis where, surprise surprise, having to do your story in 4 issues means you gotta actually tighten things up and cut filler.

Again, Evan and Barnes don't seem to have this issue, so a lot of this is on Ian. I like the dude's writing but holy fuck he is still SO bad about this

2. Repetition. I talked about this in a sense in the pacing section by talking about how repetitive Ian's plotting and dialogue can get because of the poor pacing, but I wanna talk about it in a different sense. A lot of IDW's plots are uh, very repetitive, especially as of late. It boils down to "Eggman is doing a thing, go look into it/stop it" a LOT. I know Eggman's the main villain and all but I swear the schtick of "We gotta go check out the Eggman base and fight badniks" has gotten very, very old. Even the Surge and Kit arc ended in "Go to the Eggman base" Arcs like Chao Races and Camping are welcome breaks because they involve the characters doing other shit.

It also ties into my complaints about the setting being small because it often feels like characters just have nothing better to do than go raid Eggman bases and fight Badniks. I know it's an action comic and all but maybe actually utilize some of your smaller villains? Maybe make some new ones? Or maybe even invent some weird new locations for your characters to check out and switch things up? Just an idea.

I keep bringing up that this comic needs a Sonic Universe equivalent and I really believe this because it'd not only give characters like Knuckles, Shadow, and the Chaotix more time to shine, but it'd also give some fantastic diversity in terms of plots. Like while Sonic is fighting Eggman for the billionth time, maybe the Chaotix are doing actual detective work or Knuckles is exploring some ancient ruins and finds a weird new thing he's gotta deal with or an ancient secret he's gotta unlock.

Post reboot Archie benefitted greatly from this since while the main comic was mostly Sonic and co doing shit with Unleashed, Universe was exploring and expanding the world and giving the side characters way cooler shit to bounce off of, making the setting not only feel larger, but also making it feel more varied.

3. Long Term Plans (Or lackthereof)

This one ties a lot into my complaints about setting, but it's strange seeing a Sonic comic do so little in terms of setting up mysteries or future plot threads (that aren't solved IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE CURRENT ARC ENDS), and it also results in a comic that feels more constrained. It gives so little to really talk or speculate about. Maybe it's more a fandom thing for me but I enjoy it when media drops cool background stuff for the viewer to speculate about and make the world like a puzzle the viewer has to piece together. It adds so much to a story and narrative when a viewer can pick up on little plot threads and watch them come together over time.

LIKE Action

This one's simple. IDW has a lot of really well drawn, really interestingly written action bits. Any time there's an action scene, no matter how mundane or banal, it's always gonna look fantastic

Like DAMN. And that's not even an ABT action scene.

DISLIKE: Too Self-Contained

Okay this is a weird complaint but I really don't like that the comic can't explicitly draw on locations and plot elements from not just the games but other side stuff. I get why, but it's also lame because one of the coolest parts of reboot Archie was seeing what insane stuff the comic would pull from and reinvent.

Also it's absolute bullshit they can't bring back the Hooligans and Battle Bird Armada. Like come the fuck on, those are good villains

RAPIDFIRE TIME

Okay so I've been typing this up for way longer than I anticipated so I'm just gonna rapidfire a bunch of other shit I like and dislike

Like: Neo Metal Sonic being the first villains rules and that arc is really fun

Dislike: The Zombot Arc. It's got cool ideas but it goes on for fucking ever and devolves into misery porn pretty hard. Also I don't care if the Zeti were always planned, them being there sucks **IAN**

Like: The fact that Ian isn't the only person writing. I've been saying since Archie that a revolving team of writers would be cool and lo and behold, we've gotten that. Very cool stuff

Dislike: No Off-panels. It's a crime we don't have those because they're funny

Like: The cool outfits the cast wear in Chao Races. I love alt outfits

Dislike: "No alt outfits outside of very special exceptions". See above

Like: IDW actually puts out trades on time.

Dislike: Wispons are overused as FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK. I get randos having them and Whisper specializing in them but I don't think Lanolin needed to have one. It's creative yeah but just give her sound powers

FINAL THOUGHTS

Okay so clearer I had a lot to say about IDW Sonic, and I was deliberately being as general as possible to try and write this up fairly quickly. It's a comic that I find to be decently enjoyable, but also very noticeable flawed and ultimately kinda lacking in some key aspects. I like the comic well enough but it's never clicked with me in the same way other Sonic media like Archie did. I'm hopin in the future that some of these issues I've listed are remedied and that the comic continues to find success.

But yeah, this was fun, albeit exhausting, to write up. So to close this out, I'm gonna give it a numerical ranking

As of now, March 21, 2023, I give IDW Sonic a 6/10 (For context I'd give the reboot a 7.5 overall and the pre-reboot a 6 as well)

#IDW Sonic #THE IDW SONIC MASTERPOST #asks

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lake-archive · 10 months

Text

Lap Seat

AO3 Link - Fling Posse Selfship / Yumeship Masterlist

Fandom: Hypnosis Mic

Characters: Ann Wolff (OC), Gentaro Yumeno

Pairing: Genann (Gentaro/Ann)

Summary: Sitting on a lapt shouldn't be too difficult… However, how can Ann even focus if they are stuck on Gentaro’s lap of all things?

Tags: One Shot, Short One Shot, Teasing, Yumeno Gentaro-centric, Original Character(s), OC x Canon, Nonbinary Character, Major Original Character(s), Genderqueer Character, Post-The Dirty Dawg Era (Hypnosis Mic), Canon Universe, Canon Era, Lies, Established Relationship, Crushes, Secret Crush, Denial of Feelings, Embarrassment, POV Third Person, POV Third Person Limited, POV Original Character

Words: 1,741

How did this happen? When did this happen? More importantly though… Why did this happen!? There was no turn of events which should have made this possible and yet this was actually happening. Something they had not accounted for during their lifetime and it was… Almost unbearable, to say the least. Wait no, it was not a bad thing but– Wait what were they thinking!? Not a bad thing!? Why had that been crossing their mind all of a sudden!? Not good, not at all! Especially in a public space where people could see, which only made it more embarrassing.

Honestly, it had not started out as bad. Actually, it was a rather normal start, to say the least. Ann was just sitting in a café, typing something and catching a break from all the stress. They wanted to unwind and thus took this as a chance to get their hourly writing done… Well, usually more than that but details. They were just minding their own business and had been occupied right in their own writing, ignoring the entire surroundings for a good while now. It had all gone rather well until suddenly a voice would call out for them from literally nowhere.

“Ah, thou art visiting this place as well?” The pattern of speech was unique in this period of time, in fact this voice was partially speaking as if it had been living hundreds of years ago. Not completely but to some degree, the vocabulary was somewhat old fashioned. And yet the voice itself was something Ann could recognize easily. It was soft, almost alluring, a little tempting even. It got them to stop at a moment’s notice, their fingers freezing before being able to even touch one of the keys yet again. They did not know why they exactly stopped and yet they just did as their face slightly turned, finally coming face–to–face with the one they suspected it to be. Then again, there was only one option at the end of the day…

“Huh? Yumeno–Sensei? What a coincidence.” They only responded, not having expected this, then nodding. “Well, yeah. I come here from time to time.”

“Oh? So thy art not a basement dweller?” He suddenly brought up, making them flinch for a moment and looking at him in embarrassment.

“Wha– When did I ever say–”

“The first time we met. I am not surprised that thee are not remembering. Thy had been cursed shortly after, sealing parts of thy memory.”

“Hah!? When did tha–”

However, he interrupted them again, chuckling before suddenly seating himself across the table, facing Ann. He had not even asked for permission but… To be fair, they would have not shot him down anyway. “That was a lie.”

A quick grumble came out under their breath, their embarrassment perhaps all too visible. Guh… Of course, they should have known… “R… Right…”

They looked into his direction for a moment, only seeing the amused grin on his face which had gotten them in an even worse mood… Confused to the point where they were not sure what to think of him to begin with.

Gentaro Yumeno, a successful and renowned author. Anyone who had even the slightest respect in modern times for the craft of writing has heard of that name and had read at least one novel of his. Ann was no exception, they had come across his novels in the past year or so. Two or three but they had to admit that he was formidable… And he was only two years older than them. And yet he had a wide reach at such a young age. It would be utter denial to say that they were not envious and it pushed them even further to work on their own stuff. And yet, without the connections they could not really make it in the industry, so they had to match him in another way. If not sales perhaps reception, even if that was a difficult battle all the same. After all… Not many were picking up on their works, not even online, making this almost a losing battle. But Ann was stubborn enough to continue. A decade of experience and even studying the literary field… That should put them at an even spot!

Well, that rivalry had not sparked until recently. They had met him at their university, him agreeing to do a reading in literary studies and it was an opportunity they took. Well, it was more of a coincidence that they had gotten closer than expected. A mission they had overheard, him wanting to investigate the universities ‘secret archives’, Chuohku stuff. And Ann had gotten curious, secretly followed along… Until being called out and that was basically that, how the two had met and were more than aware of another’s face.

They were ready to respect Yumeno and certainly his achievements cannot be ignored. They’d be an idiot to do that. And yet it was only during a personal encounter where this rivalry had sparked for them, especially after seeing what type of person he was. Needless to say they were shocked, in utter disbelief, and thought that if he could make it, they could make it as well. And they were determined to show him by any means necessary! But… Well, it would still be a long road until then. He was nothing like they had imagined. Then again, authors are known to be weird, or so people like to claim at the very least.

The conversation within the next few minutes was as mundane as one could imagine. It really was nothing special… Until a sudden pause occurred, silence kicked in before suddenly saying, though rather calmly: “Ah, by the way Ann–San… May I ask thee for a favor?”

This only left them blinking in utter confusion and yet… That was when things had taken a sharp turn…

Because moments later Ann found themself sitting… On the author’s lap, their face blocking his as they were just sitting there, all red when just thinking about it. And it was difficult to not think about it, given that they were placed right on it and had to adjust over and over. Why had they agreed on such a thing? It took a bit convincing but it had a compelling enough reason for them to agree to it a few sentences in. Apparently Yumeno was seeking for a hiding spot to run from a fan who had chased him around across the city despite him being busy and having politely declined for the time being. And yet, that fan persisted, not knowing what the word ‘no’ even meant. And thus he suggested to hide behind them yet it would require them to be seated on his lap. So, as embarrassing as this was, they had to try it. For how long? Who could say.

That didn’t change the fact that they were seated right there, trying to type yet having him right over their shoulder, staring perhaps. Or not but there was the chance. They were trying to ignore him as well as his breath and body warmth yet it was extremely difficult doing so. They could feel it all too clearly and it was driving them more insane than they would probably like to admit. He was so close after all, right behind them and–

Though their thought would be suddenly interrupted by feeling a sudden shuffle, moving them on his lap which made them squeal, their cheeks being on fire soon after. “Ah— Y… Yumeno–Sensei!? C… Could you… Watch it?”

“Oh? You can just ignore me, you know.” He responded, staying as calm as he had been at the start of this conversation. “Please, proceed with whatever thy art doing. Pretend that I am this very uncomfortable chair.”

“I… Is that why you are moving!? The chair being uncomfortable.”

“No, that was a lie.”

A quick grumble escaped Ann’s lips. Why did he— “Guh… If it isn’t then why are you moving? This fan is going to catch on, you know.”

“Oh? Are they now?” He said, then feeling his hip movement yet again. It had them startled yet once more, a sudden gasp escaping. It got worse when feeling his hands moving forward, suddenly grasping onto their hips, as if… Trying to keep them in this position!? What was he doing!?

Feeling his touch on them anywhere, it was… Doing things, more than they would like to admit and even would admit in their mind. Their head was running wild, literal steam coming out from their head, or they may as well. H… How is this guy’s touch so soft!? How was this so comfortable!? And even worse, his breath against their skin… It all made their head spin, even more when he had leaned a little forward, towards one of their ears and his breath hit their ear lobe. How were they even able to concentrate!? This was… Was…

“Oh, by the way Ann–San… I have to confess something to thee.” He suddenly whispered, so close to their ear which made them almost jump off. Yet they couldn’t, because the moment they tried his grip had tightened, forcing them to squeal in his lap while sitting. They were about to let out light breaths as well, so very close. This was too much… Guh, when is this over!? Seriously!

“Uhm… Wh… What is it?” They asked, their voice having become very timid and soft as a result of all of this. Their head has to stop spinning! They could not think clearly at this moment, at all! And yet, he continued to whisper, unbothered. In fact, he had the audacity to lean in closer, his chest touching their back all of a sudden. And his voice was only becoming more and more whispery.

“You see, about that obsessive fan I mentioned earlier…”

“Y… Yes? What about… Them?”

“What I said there…”

“What… About it?” Don’t tell them–

“It was a lie.”

And then silence, at least for a moment, as reality kicked in. And once it all did, his words kicking finally in…

“A lie!? Something like this!? Are you fucking with me!?”

“Now now, thou was the one taking it at face value, was it not~?”

“Something this serious!? Why wouldn’t I!?”

“Haha, I have expected no less from thee. Thank you~”

“Guh… You’re unbearable sometimes Yumeno–Sensei!”

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changterhune · 10 months

Text

ATTACK OF THE NEW NOVEL!!!

I started a new novel about a week ago and no one is more surprised than I.

For starters I’ve not been focused on writing of late. Most of my free time has been devoted to art or music. Some writing but only on existing stuff like the mythical 4th issue of Bunnyhead, a horror novel and writing for Igloo Magazine.

The main reason though has been due to my chronic clinical depression. Yes, I’m an artist suffering from depression. Ain’t that a surprise? But seriously I have it and it’s been better and worse depending on the time of day you ask. Heh. But it’s real and for whatever reason I’ve not been too interested in it frankly.

The pandemic was what kicked off my dry spell. My father’s death in late 2021 flattened me and I’ve spent the better part of the last two years grieving and recovering. Writing seemed to be the hardest thing to do in that period. Story ideas came and went but few made me feel like they needed to be written down. It was low on the list of priorities. I’ve been more focused on music of late so writing wasn’t where the muse went to either gift me or shit on me depending on how you look at it.

About two weeks ago though a funny thing happened. I’d been thinking about a character in the horror novel I’m working on (sporadically I admit). And I had a revelation about them after wondering about that age old question one ponders when they write fiction: what makes this guy tick.

Then all of a sudden it clicked, this thing that I’d been wrestling with suddenly came together. I wrote several thousand words of diary entries for them and they held up under the fierce scrutiny of the morning after. I edited, wrote more, edited again and wrote more. It was a good work and I looked forward to more.

A couple nights later I was watching tv with my wife and out of nowhere this idea hit me. I was surprised because it was later in the night and I was thinking more about sleep than anything else. But the idea stuck in my head. I tossed it over a bit as one does when this happens, wondering if it had legs or not. So I did what I often do and wrote some notes, basic premise and rough outline.

I did go to bed kind of excited because it had been so long since a story. The next morning it seemed good enough to write so I sat down and started typing. First chapter emerged pretty easily considering the writing muscles in the brain hadn’t worked in a while so there was some awakening of those. But the words came and after a bit I’d enough to write out a rough general outline of beginning middle and end then some more for a possible second book.

Well then…

As I said no one is more surprised than I. The detail will remain with me for a while until it’s time. But writing’s continued apace and will until it’s either done or I’m sick of it.

Next I’ll say about it you’ll either hear I’ve got a book deal or I’m self-publishing it.

Until then stay away from the demons unless they’ve got pizza.

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numetaljackdog · 1 year

Note

I see your point and I'm really willing to agree with most of what you're saying. I admit that dubstep was a kind of meme answer. But if you're really willing to talk about this, then I have to say I simply disagree.

First of all I'm not trying to objectively present anything here. Art is a form of communication and as such can only be perceived subjectively. There is no objective to criticize art. Period.

That being said, you can absolutely apply hierarchy to this if you really wanted to. For example NSBM is a genre. Nazi Black Metal. Because of the statements of this genre, the participants and the aesthetic. It is inherently worth less than other forms of music. Especially since it tries to put other art down. The music itself does have a merit for its target audience and it does reach its intended purpose.

I fully understand where you're coming from with statements like this, because I used to think like this as well, but especially your focus on genres as set categories instead of loose relatives of similar roots and styles, is unhealthy, I think.

for sure this all gets hugely into subjective-land - i think that's pretty inevitable when discussing the rhetoric around anything. i've got my opinion about how we should talk about art, you've got yours, everyone's got theirs, such is how it goes. and i'll grant you that i probably do place too much value in genres as rigid categories! i just love to sort things, i'll admit it. but at the same time, these trends in the creation of music are still "real," in whatever sense one wants to accept, because the music itself is real and we can observe the patterns that exist within what we label as genres. if we stop accepting genres as something we can engage with as though they were more than just a name and a vague gesture, then the whole conversation has to switch to a much smaller scale where we talk about individual artists or even individual releases and the context around them, which can be valuable in its own right but is a different ballgame than the one we've been playing here. my argument is that we shouldn't criticize art by generalizing one genre to be inherently worse than another because it's reductive and unfair. that's all. the nuance that exists within discussion of any given genre remains untouched by my statement and equally as valuable as it would be under any other framework of viewing these topics.

as for NSBM...... that's tough. certainly it's a repulsive thing that exists, and i want to really stress that fact because of what i'm about to say next. so. FUCK ALL NAZIS FUCK ALL FASCISTS. to be clear. now, if we imagine my framework here, where all genres are, when observed in a vacuum, value-neutral with equal potential to produce good music and bad music, then that must include NSBM, right? and unfortunately, it does. because, as we agree, the evaluation and critical analysis of art is necessarily subjective, regardless of whether it's done on the level of the individual or by consensus. so despite the fact that ideologically NSBM is reprehensible, it is possible for a band in the genre to produce a record with a lot of technical skill and passion, and for someone to evaluate that record (again, subjectively) as being "good," if that person happened to be a shithead. evaluation of NSBM (and in fact the genre's existence in the first place) is not a damnation of the genre, because again the issue here is scale as well as subjectivity. it's instead a damnation of the broader political climate and like, the existence of vice within mankind, which is perhaps the most necessary thing out of any of this stuff to have discussions about, but is decidedly outside of the range of topics that i feel qualified to have a full intelligent conversation about in public.

#*char noises*#char asks #talking pop

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rosesradio · 2 years

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(something i’ve had in my drafts for a while but never posted--a piece of my heart, from me to you ♥)

the letter--a byler drabble

Dear Mike,

They are laying in the clearing in the woods when Mike admits to it. Their fingers barely brushing, barely testing this new sparking chemistry. They were talking about Hawkins, and Lenora, and the move, all of which didn’t matter now that the war was over.

Johnathan put my sketchbook in the moving van, which sucks, because I was hoping to sketch out some landscapes on the road. He says I can sketch in my notebook, but that’s not the same. This is for writing. But for now, I’ll use it to talk to you on my trip. Because I miss you already.

“Do you remember that latter I sent you?” A grin was just starting to form on Will’s face. “I wrote just about everything. What I saw on the road, what music we listened to...it must have been, like, six pages, right?”

El found my old etch-a-sketch and says I can draw on that, but it’s definitely not the same. She seems to be having a fun time with it, though.

It was eight, Will remembered. And it was beyond embarrassing, but Will was never ashamed, not around Mike. Mike always liked hearing what he had to say...and even in periods where he didn’t listen, he always came around.

Mom is nervous about getting the directions wrong, but she’s still insistent on taking us to all these tourist locations on the way. I’m not sure how to feel about the world’s largest ball of yarn, but I know she just wants to make this fun.

“Oh, yeah, must’ve been,” Mike laughed softly. “It was...great...” But there was an odd sort of tone to his voice. The kind he used with his parents, or teachers, or El. The kind when he was lying.

It would be more fun with you here, though.

Will glanced over at him, frowning. “What? Do you not...remember that? You said you kept my art pieces, so I just thought...”

But not to worry. I’ll find my sketchbook and draw some landscapes for you, maybe paint them, too, and it’ll be like you’re right here with me.

“Yeah,” Mike nodded absentmindedly. “I mean, I do, it’s just...” he shrugged, unable to look Will in the eye...until he did. “Will, I was in a really bad place, when you moved.”

With us. El clearly misses you, too.

“Yeah?” Will’s heart started to speed up in his chest, as if he’d done something wrong. “I know...I missed you, too...a lot...”

She says it’s too soon to write to you. But if you’re not right here for me to pester, I want to pester you now, with every thought that pops into my head.

Mike nodded again. “I mean, I was trying to keep things...normal. Or what I thought was normal. And that letter...there was just so much there, and even though you didn’t say it, it was so obvious how you felt. Especially next to El’s letter...I kept comparing them, and I got frustrated, and...” Mike’s voice cracked, his eyes watering. “Will, I burned your letter. All of it.”

I know you’d rather have a letter from her, but if I describe what she’s doing and saying, that’d be good, too, right? And maybe while we’re trapped in the car, I can try to get her to make a DND character, and̷ ̸t̸he̷n̴ ̶w̷e̴ ̷ca̷n̸ ̷

“Oh,” is the first thing Will says, before he even registered it. And it’s so stupid, but Will thought that for the most part that they wouldn’t have problems anymore. They were sort-of dating now, had told the people they wanted to tell, and it was all fine. Yes, it wasn’t perfect, but Will thought that any other problems would take the back seat until the future. He didn’t think there were anymore problems to unpack.

“I’m sorry,” Mike starts, and he lists off a mirid of excuses, but his voice sounds muffled to Will’s ears. He thinks about everything he said, the entire eight-page description of the move, up in smoke. Literally. He can’t even remember all of the probably foolish things he said; he was just giddy thinking about Mike reading everything, liking everything, he had to say.

But he burned it. He tried to keep things normal, so he burned it. Looking at him now, Mike seemed sorry. Will’s eyes stung, threatening tears. He felt his breath, heavy and constricted in his chest.

He burned it. All of Will’s words, as if it didn’t matter. Even if it mattered too much.

“Yeah,” Will nodded. “Yeah--I get it.”

Even if he didn’t get it--even if he didn’t want to. He tortured himself at the thought--how many times did Mike read it before he burned it? How did he burn it? A careful lighter to the corner, letting flames come in slow and small until they welled up too big to take back?

Or an all-consuming bonfire, the whole stack of words and expressions carefully crafted only to be thrown in, sacrificed in one toss?

Will thought about the embers at the bottom, flickering with warm light. How the edges curled up in a graceful, deadly dance. He thought about his heart down there, mingling with the dirt and ashes where it belonged.

And Mike, who he loved and trusted over all others, the one who was sorry, was the one who put him there.

#;'(#lol #so anyways #byler #will byers #mike wheeler #stranger things #my fic

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leonawriter · 2 years

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Low hanging fruit, but Akira and Akechi?

First impression

Akira: I did my best to go into the game with an open mind (though I'd already read a fic, and been aware of some art and stuff) so I guess my first impression was "quiet with hidden depths." Before I went through the game, I was one of those people who sometimes mistook shuake/akeshu art as soukoku.

Akechi: I already knew about him before going in, so I guess my first impression was "huh, interesting" and then at some point "I will literally fight for him, he's my kind of character" and then "[points at screen] it's HIM" and then "oooh, look at him go!" haha. I did have a (very short) period of being uncertain about him around the interrogation room, but. It was short.

Impression now

Akira: I can honestly say I never expected to like a protagonist as much as I do Akira. I love how I can enjoy most fandom takes on him (even if not all). Gay disaster. Thrillseeker and probably has some kind of Thing For Danger in general. Absolute sweetheart and best big brother figure. Has a Lot of Gender.

Akechi: omg he's just like me for real- no seriously. I see a lot of my own issues in him, just dialled up to eleven. I relate so hard. I love his tenacity and the way he goes "I'm done with letting myself be controlled." Also, he's Gay Disaster #1.

Favorite moment

Akira: It's hard to say? Off the top of my head, probably just "any moment where his actions are independent of the player." Stuff you can't control, because it shows he has a personality all of his own. More specifically... ok yeah I gotta go with "the world is going crazy, his cat is human, and Akira just keeps going "?" "!" "?!" at everything.

Akechi: Part of me wants to say "friends? teammates? to hell with that!" but it's not that. It's gotta actually be his speech/dialogue on 2/2. because the entire thing is saying "I will not allow myself to live a lie, I've done that, I've had it with it, I'm sick of it" and by god he's setting his boundaries. He's got this line in the sand and he's saying he needs his free will more than anything, and it's worth dying for. It just hit hard and is one of the things that's stuck so hard about him.

Idea for a story

HAHAHA. I have written SO MANY for these dumb kids, but I still have more.

Akira: Post-11/20 where he he accidentally keeps admitting he misses Akechi for whatever reasons come up. Which is more about Akira bonding and sharing stuff with his friends and teammates than it is Akechi, who'd mostly not be appearing in the fic.

Akechi: I have written two "Vampire Akechi" fics. I now have vague ideas for Werewolf Akechi. Every so often I also want to write something where he finds Mona when he ran away from home.

Unpopular opinion

Akira: Uh... probably that he'd actually go along with an accomplice route or willingly kill anyone, and that the Yaldy choice bad end isn't something I can easily see him doing. I see a lot of people liking these edgier ideas about him and I'm just... he's one angery boi, sure, and he might have thoughts and wonder about how things could go if he just went with his crush, or continued changing hearts like that, but. I don't think he'd do it.

Akechi: Where do I begin. I don't think either of his Personas are fake or manufactured, whether he got lab tested by Wakaba or not. I also don't think that he's trigger-happy about killing people, either; he sees it as a means to an end, but I don't think he ever wanted to be in this position, and he wound up just... getting used to it. On the flip side I also don't see him going "woe is me for I am a murderer and therefore monster" like... he knew what he was doing and if he was going to be like that in third sem or later then he likely wouldn't have got that far.

Favorite relationship

Akira: Not counting Akechi, I think I like seeing him hang out with Futaba the most? But also Ryuji and Sumire.

Akechi: Not counting Akira, it has to be a tie of Sumire and Futaba. Although I love watching him and Haru in the same room. The sparks flying (and him being intimidated by her) is fun both to read and to write. (I'd like to see more of him and the rest of the PT and also Sae in more than just roleswap/etc AUs too, though.)

Favorite headcanon

Akira: He arrives in Tokyo having internalised the idea from his home town and parents that he's supposed to grow up to get a good job, get married to a girl, have kids. He leaves Tokyo realising "oops I'm gay." (read: my playthrough has me see him as completely unhappy with the girls, only realising too late if he's committed himself. because of the sprites.)

Akechi: In any 'verse other than one that explicitly states he survived through other means (brought back via cognitive reasons like Morgana, or like in one of my recent fics) I like to believe that he survived the engine room through sheer persistence and a Goho-m, but stress and trauma and Call of Chaos (and maybe Maruki) made him forget those details.

Maybe it was low-hanging fruit but I take it anyway, so thanks for the ask~!

#p5 stuff #answered #missingmywing

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from-dre · 5 days

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Many Million Dreams Ago • Ch. 6 of 10

“Your girlfriend doesn’t look too happy today,” other employees would sometimes say to me.

“Oh, that’s just how it is if she isn’t smiling,” I explained. It was true. If she wasn’t beaming with joy from ear to ear, she had a sense of annoyed anger. The smile she wore though—, it made all of that wash away and even sparked something angelic in her.

We’d plan on going out to romantic dinners every once in a while. We’d get to the place, take our seats, and immediately feel like we were more grown-up than ever before in our lives. We spoke at length about this and that while going over the menu and deciding which meal best suited our given mood for the night. Inevitably, the waiter would ask for our drink orders as well and with that—, we’d decide on two very mature choices. Wine or fancy margaritas or something else that seemed to fit with our vibe. I had reached the point in my journey where whoever I was dating and I could enjoy a glass of Chardonnay and not use it as an excuse to completely forget about tomorrow. It was a nice reminder that I too, was finally growing up.

When we weren’t out trying new restaurants or circulating through our favorite ones, we’d make a stop at the local church on Sunday mornings. It was surreal—, being in such an important place with such an important person by my side and all the while, knowing that there was no chance of ruining our good energy as soon as we’d step back out into the shining sunlight. Memories would sometimes come flooding back in; an old flame, a prior church, so many broken pieces of our hearts left out in those empty parking lots. It was just another example of how far I’d truly gotten.

That Christmas felt especially special. We’d both packed as many gifts as possible underneath my white light-wrapped tree I’d kept in the corner of my living-room which gave the entire place a nice, warm glow. I got her a couple of new outfits that I knew matched her style; dark army-greens and Earthy-browns. She’d gift-wrapped a huge rectangular-shaped board and upon opening it I saw a beautiful black and white picture of us kissing blown up to poster-sized dimensions and neatly framed all around.

“This is amazing,” I said to her, surprised at how artful the photograph turned out. It was from the very beginning of our relationship. Now we’d have a keepsake from that time-period forever hanging on my bedroom wall opposite my bed so that it’d be the first thing we’d see when waking up in the morning.

Even though I was beginning to feel a certain sort of joy again, the days were starting to blend into each other—, restaurants, movies, even going to church began seeming mundane. Like we’d already done it a thousand times before. It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy the outings and especially the company, but I was getting the faint feeling that we were becoming stuck. That this was it—, there was nowhere else to really go. No level to rise to, no separate stage to reach. We’d found out almost everything there was to find out about each other and now we just sat in silence, waiting for the night to roll around so we could head back off to sleep. Finally, she snapped me out of my constant daydreaming by asking a very grown-up, very mature question—, something I was far from having the answer to.

“So what’s your five-year goal look like?,” she seriously said. I had no clue as to what that even entailed. I understood the point of having such a plan, but I was the last person who’d ever truly considered it before.

“I’m..., not sure,” I admitted. I knew I’d at least want to move somewhere different again. That I’d need a change of scenery sooner or later—, and that I even wanted her to be there for it, but other than that, I was just a shadow sifting itself from former faults. I was still healing in a way, still dreaming that everything would somehow circle around and I’d be able to become all I’d fallen so short of long ago. It didn’t take much time for her to follow-up the question with something even deeper.

“We should look into getting homeowners’ insurance,” she suggested. I had no idea how little I actually knew about being a responsible adult. No wonder I’d been such an ineligible bachelor before. Still, she saw something special in me and that went a long way in my trying to appease her expectations for future plans.

“Yeah—, we should,” I finally said of the insurance. I just wanted to make her happy—, to make sure she didn’t regret the decision to open up her heart to me.

“My friend wants to have us over for dinner,” she unexpectedly said one day. “She’s getting married next September and wants me in the wedding, so we have to go.” She’d already been preparing her speech—, this was something very important to her and I needed to be on board one-hundred percent.

“Okay,” I reluctantly agreed, knowing I’d have to be on my best behavior around the prospective spouses. It’s not that I didn’t want to go, I liked being involved in her world, with her friends. They’d just lived a different type of life than I had. If they only knew, I’d think to myself, remembering all the wasted nights of being wasted and all the hazy days that’d follow. I was so much more acceptable now—, dressed better, spoke more sensibly, acted a touch above my previous years. Still—, the lit embers inside my soul burned onward, letting me know with each exhale of thick smoke that something still raged within. That young rebel never really did completely disappear—, he’d just fallen into a deep sleep that nobody else could wake him up from. How do I get back there? Do I even want to go back there at all? I didn’t know the answers to the many things which kept my mind racing in the middle of the night. All I knew was that once the sun went back down, I’d be laying next to her again—, and that she liked who I was.

The day arrived that we’d be heading to her friend’s new house. I maintained keeping my butterflies in check, knowing I was representing her and wanted to do as good of a job as possible in making her proud to show me off. We arrived and I readied myself to be the person I’d always known I could be—, sharp, stylish, and somewhat-cultured at the very least. The door opened and beyond it was a cozy atmosphere that just oozed nearly-newlywed love. Above the fireplace stood two wooden capital letters, one for each of their first names. The kitchen was neatly organized and the dinner table was beautifully set up for four people. It was all so—, grown-up. I needed to act mature and make sure that this was all very routine and customary for me—, to have such friends that bought nice homes in nice neighborhoods and lived nice, normal lives.

“Let’s eat,” said the fiancées. We took our seats and spoke at length about new movies, books we’d read, and slightly touched on when my girlfriend and I would tie the knot ourselves. My stomach slightly dropped at the question. Not because it was a completely foreign concept, but because I wasn’t anywhere near ready for that sort of thing at this stage in my life. I’d already looked down that path in the past and almost took the first few steps towards it, but now—, I was farther away from it than ever before.

We made our way back home and so, for the second time in my life, the arguments didn’t take long to follow. We’d been growing weary of one another’s mannerisms for a while and though I still found most of hers somewhat charming, she was probably getting fed up with mine. She could tell that I wasn’t as excited about things as I’d once been—, that the ditch of real life that I’d fallen into was keeping me stuck inside of it like quicksand. She needed to intercede with something—, anything. So she did.

“Just know—, if you’re not at that wedding, this relationship...” she trailed off. I knew what she’d meant. I’d felt it myself for a while. Still—, the thought of actually attending the event itself brought me down into a depression I couldn’t tell her about. Again—, I had nobody to confide in. I wouldn’t have been able to explain myself anyway—, that it was the atmosphere, the designer dresses, everything working together to remind one of what it truly meant to marry their soulmate, once and for all. I didn’t want to go to something like that. I’d been around weddings my entire life and always let myself daydream about my own someday. This was a new chapter of my life though—, and from here on out, I wasn’t allowing myself to lose anymore time doing something like that.

All of my negativities, pessimism, and destructive depression came back like a wrecking ball. She noticed all of it and didn’t know what advice to possibly give me that’d snap me out of my self-loathsome behavior and back into the real world she’d helped me face all this time. We’d begun arguing over the smallest and simplest things and always went on to regret it later.

On another random night, we’d been bickering for some time and had retreated to separate rooms of the apartment when the sound of her sobbing shook me back into the present moment. I walked into the bedroom and saw her curled up underneath the covers facing the wall.

“What’s wrong?,” I asked from the heart.

“I wish we could go back to when we first met—,” she said. “I wish things could start turning around for us.” I knew she’d been getting tired of the constant fighting, but this was a new side of her I hadn’t yet encountered. I felt a strong sense of empathy rush over me—, if only it would’ve lasted a while longer.

The arguments kept piling up—, one on top of another. It was a different type of personal disappointment though. One that seemed more advanced than the many nights I’d spent awake so many years prior. This time, it felt more consequential. Like I wasn’t just living for today or tonight but that my actions would have an affect on future emotions and moments altogether.

The perfect example of that came one morning when we’d both woken up with incredibly negative energies surrounding us. The way she rolled out of bed, got dressed, and was applying her make-up all felt so forced. Like she didn’t want to be there at all. Maybe it was just my imagination or maybe I’d been right all along about her fleeting feelings—, but either way, I couldn’t take much more of it.

“Problem?,” I asked her while she smoked before leaving to go to work.

“Not one—,” she coldly replied, smashing the rest of her lit cigarette into the black ash tray with all the hostility she’d been holding inside her and storming out of the bedroom. I just quietly stared up at the ceiling before noticing an empty cup on the nightstand. I reached for it, snatched it off the table, and hurled it as hard as I could at the hanging portrait of us kissing—, shattering the protective surface into pieces and leaving a giant mark on the photograph itself. Not two seconds went by before she came back into the bedroom, wanting to see what the loud sound was. She noticed the broken Christmas present she’d had specially made and just looked back at me with the most disappointed eyes I’d ever seen her make. Years later, she’d go on to tell me;

“That was the moment I started letting you go.”

Some time passed by but the wound never truly healed. Finally, on a day that seemed on its surface to resemble all the others before it, I was half-asleep on the living-room couch when I felt her presence walking right up to me. She bent down to kiss me on my forehead before standing back up. It’d be the last one we’d ever share together. She walked towards the front door to leave as I slowly began waking up. I could tell something was different about the way she’d let her lips touch my skin for so much longer than usual. There was an added sadness lingering in the air, probably from the night before or our last fight.

“So, tonight then?,” I asked of when we’d see each other again.

“Probably not,” she said with slight attitude.

“Why?” She just shrugged from the bottom of the stairs. That was enough to let me know something was wrong. Like we’d been heading down this road for a while but now we were finally at its end. I couldn’t make too much sense of it. I just knew I wanted to change direction. I wanted to change myself and my relationship and my life overall—, I just didn’t know where to begin. A thousand things were piling up inside my mind and I wanted to say all of them at once, but there was only one phrase that I could come up with. “Have fun at the wedding,” I said, slamming the door shut. I couldn’t see it, I couldn’t make out the tearing sound, but I knew—, on the other side in the stairwell was a heart breaking in two, just like mine had been for a while now. An already-broken bridge began crumbling apart, piece by piece—, falling into the nothingness underneath. There was no more structure linking our two worlds together. We were finally on our own—, again. A familiar feeling to say the least.

Things settled down after that. The apartment grew more silent by the day. The friends coming over got more impatient with my gloomy nature. Wine lost its taste but not its effect. The bed felt empty but not the sleep. Anything to pass another day. Anything to make it through another mundane week. I quickly realized that there was nothing else left for me in either the city or the state itself. The environments I’d made less-than-perfect memories in remembered my mistakes all too well. They’d remind me of them whenever I’d pass through. I needed a change of scenery, a change of lifestyle. It’d been time for me to move away for years, but only recently had I caught on to the notion for myself. There was only one place on the planet which could cure me of my despondency. I was finally headed towards my own personal heaven; L-trains, taxicabs, and crowds galore.

#nonfiction #memoir #love #romance #relationships

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nailsupplyblog · 1 year

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2023 REVIEWS OF THE BEST NAIL COLOR FOR YOUR SKIN TONE

Summer has arrived, and with it come vivid, bright hues. Everyone wants gorgeous nails! What hue is ideal for your skin tone, though? Today, we'll go over all the trendy hues that complement all complexion tones, whether they are olive, light, pale, or dark. The best that the industry has to offer is present in nail polish products today. Nail care is increasingly being done at home. No one needs to pay the high cost of nail salon charges with the goods available to clients today and the information on the internet with how-to videos! The nail polishes of today provide nails that are stronger and healthier. Today's nail paints are designed to strengthen and maintain your nails.

OPI POWDER PERFECTION + OPI FREEDOM OF PEACH NAIL LACQUER

I have skin with an olive undertone, and I discovered that the orange tones only enhance the highlights of my olive skin. I can wear the creamy peach lacquer for up to a week. Applying the lacquer on my nails was simple. Within minutes, this process is dry. The peach tint looks gorgeous next to my olive skin. My lovely nail paint lasts a week with the OPI Freedom of Peach nail lacquer + OPI powder perfection before I need to manicure again. So when I use the OPI Natural base coat and the OPI top coat, I have the most beautiful nails. It can be challenging to select the correct hue for my olive skin tone.

Orange You Glad BIO Seaweed Gel 132

Against my olive skin, this is a striking tangerine orange shade. This gel has a smooth, creamy texture after it dries on my nails. The thing I enjoy best about this gel is that it dries to the touch in two minutes without the need for heat lamps or lights, and there's no need for alcohol or cleaners either. Base or top coat are not necessary for me. BIO Seaweed Gel is a multifunctional product. I do not need to purchase a top coat, base coat, alcohol, cleansers, or heat and light lights because I already have my BIO Seaweed gel 132 Orange You Glad polish! When I consider how much money I am saving, I am ecstatic.

Green with Envy Kiarasky 448

My pale skin tone looks fantastic against this polish. My friends usually compliment my nails when I wear this color and want to know where I got it from! My pals are startled when I admit that I haven't changed the color of my nails in a month! Having two preschoolers at home makes me a picky person, I assure you. I can always rely on my Kiarasky 448 Green with Envy! I haven't worn any color in weeks, yet my flawless nails haven't chipped. This product does not destroy your strong nails because it contains no harsh chemicals. In addition to giving me a gorgeous, long-lasting shine, the cream contains vitamins.

Greenhouse Bio Matching Gel and Lacquer Set

With its polished finish and faint marble traces, this duo polish set creates a distinctive fashion art look. All of my friends assume I just had a pricey fashion art manicure when I wear this polish. They have no idea that I save money by doing my own manicure and polish at home instead of paying a nail parlor. My polish keeps working for weeks! I frequently spend my free time at the beach, which gives me the willies. My polish lasts for weeks even after my nails are in salt water. Because my nails grow out so quickly, I normally polish them again after about a week of use.

All of the polishes, gels, dipping powders, and hues examined today are available from DTK Nail Products. Our how-to video lessons make it simple for you to use some of the new, interesting goods if you are unsure how to do so. There is a ton of helpful information on our blogs. The best polish shades and colors for your skin tone have been reviewed today. Nowadays, longer periods between polish changes are available thanks to nail paints, gels, and dipping powders. To maintain your nails attractive, strong, and healthy, use our new dipping powders, which may go up to six or seven weeks between paint changes and are loaded with calcium and minerals.

#nails #painted nails #naildesign #nail polish #nailstyle #pretty nails #nail #manicure #nail art #nailpolish

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bellmo15-blog · 2 years

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Now we are up to pics I got this year! Almost done catching this Tumbler page up! Just a few more pics now! And I started the year of with the best Spider-Man suit period, don't at me!

Original description: Surprising absolutely no one who knows what I’m into I have a pic of my Self Insert in the Symbiote Suit. You know, that Spider Suit that’s a living alien symbiote that bonds to Peter Parker for a while? The symbiote that gives him a sleek black suit with increased strength? The symbiote that latter bonds to Eddy Broke and becomes Venom? The symbiote suit that probably gave some people there living latex kink if they didn’t have it already? And for those wondering, no, I’m not one of those people. Ironic considering it was Kaa that got me into my hypnosis and snake coils kink, kinda.

I’ll admit, I was a little late to the whole symbiote suit kink. Despite growing up on the Sam Rami films Spider-Man 3 I never actually saw. And no, it wasn’t because people hated the film or anything. I just never saw it. That’s it! I knew there was a black suit but… that was all. That was also the only version of the Black Suit, the one where it’s just the normal Spider Suit but all black. Do you wanna know what the ironic thing is? Growing up I had a Spider-Man game where the classic Symbiote Suit WAS unlockable, but I never got it. Mostly because I never actually finished the game. It was Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro if you’re wondering. So yeah, this particular version of the Black Suit was lost to me for years. Then I grew up and got into my kinks and well it was inevitable I’d come across the classic version of this suit. And I love it! Living Latex (kinda) and just a really cool design in general which actually makes me really sad that the suit in Spider-Man 3 was just the regular one but with the paint bucket tool applied to it. (I still do like that version of the suit though.)

Is this a suit I’d actually wear if I ever did encounter the Symbiote? Absolu… no, I wouldn’t and most of you reading who know about the lore behind Spider-Man and the suit probably know why already. Despite the power it gives it also heightens the wearers aggression. I would not want this. Now if it was just a replica of the suit and not the actual Symbiote then hell yeah I’d wear it! I mean I highly doubt I’d even be able to find a Symbiote anyway but still. Either way, enjoy the pic and this story I wrote.

Oh and if your wondering, no the announcement of Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2 game isn’t what convinced me to commission this. I actually wrote the story for this pic well before that announcement.

Artist is VanesaRubberArt: https://www.deviantart.com/vanesarubberart

Story: https://www.deviantart.com/bellmothegreat/art/Symbiote-Suit-Michael-903350340

#Spider-Man #OC #Sona #Symbiote Suit #Venom

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momolady · 3 years

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Lyneth the Orc

This story takes place in the royal palace of the Polar within the Ruby Empire. Artisans are being brought in to teach the royal children as well as strengthen the Polar's culture. This story includes pottery and romance.

Male Reader x Female Monster

I’ll admit it, working for the Polar royal family is intimidating. Working in the Polar is intimidating, period. Everyone here is so big, so prepared to face the harsh and bitter climate. As a halfling, I really don’t belong here, and I am reminded of that daily. Even the royal children are starting to grow taller than me now, and I have known them since they were newborns.

Czarina Katrina adores my work though, and has appointed me as the artist in residence for the palace. I have sculpted several statues for the gardens and halls, and more for the cathedral where Katrina grew up. I am proud to be able to freely produce my art here, and I enjoy the Polar even if I’m the only halfling in it.

Katrina has done wonders for education and the arts in the Polar. Where before everything was poured into military prowess, she has enacted remarkable educational reform. Her insistence on reinvigorating the dying arts of the Polar has her bringing in local artisans, and she provides them funding to enable them to teach their craft. She wants to strengthen all the advantages the Polar has to offer, cultural as well as martial. “The more Polar culture is introduced to the world, the more others are made aware. We become great through practice, and we seize attention with our skill.” Katrina says this often. It sounded vain at first, but now I can see what she means by this.

I teach sculpting at the cathedral, one of the many classes that are held there. But most of my work is done at the palace. I am often watched, which does not bother me as much as it used to - mostly by Gregori’s grandmother, or guests of the family. Other times it’s other artisans that Katrina calls in.

“Emmon, dearest,” Grandmother said to me one day. “I think you will be falling in love soon.” Grandmother was always spouting wild things. Gregori and Katrina believed she had a gift of foresight, but I just thought she was batty as the day was long.

“What makes you say that, Dowager Mother?” I tried to play along, because she could be scary if you laughed at her.

“I say it because it is true. You will meet the future owner of your heart soon enough, although I would be wary if I were you.”

I set my tools aside and wiped my brow. Looking up at the statue I was working on, I still wasn’t sure what to do. I had the basic form chiseled out, but I still couldn’t see distinct features in my mind yet. “Why should I be wary?”

Grandmother chuckled in that sinister yet jovial way of hers. “You’ll see. I do not always give away the surprise.”

“I’ll be surprised?” I stand up and move towards her. “Why don’t I walk you back to your room? It’s getting close to tea time.”

“Feh,” she scoffed. She took my hand and rose from her chair. For someone so old, she moved quite well. “You young folk don’t know how to listen. Wait until you’re grown.”

“I keep telling you, dowager mother, I am grown. I’m in my fifties, young for my people still, but grown.” I know halfling ages can be confusing for some, but Grandmother seems almost willing to forget.

“Young! You won’t be grown until you’re almost ready to die, like me. I was young a few years ago. You think you’re grown because of a number. Children, you don’t get to be grown until the cogs become greased.” She knocked her ring-encrusted fingers against the side of my head. “That usually doesn’t happen until you get to be like me.”

“Even your grandson?”

“A baby! That wife of his matured fast, though. That’s why I like her.” Grandmother snorted, then spat across the hallway. I’d been told she did this to dispel curses she saw. I really didn’t want to question her action.

I took Grandmother to the parlor, where the royal family had tea together. Already Katrina was there along with a couple of guests. “Oh, perfect,” Katrina extended her hand. “Emmon, come and join us. I want to introduce you to the new artisans I’ve brought in.”

Grandmother cackled cryptically as she went to join her great-grandchildren. I strode forward, bowing to Katrina then turning to the two guests. Both were orcs, one male and one female, with mottled green skin that had touches of pale brown. Their stark white hair was tied back into a single thick braid. “This is Lyneth and Llyr, and they have been studying under pottery masters since childhood,” Katrina said with a smile. “This is Emmon Northtook, a sculptor from the west, although he’s becoming more versed in Polar techniques. He’ll be the one overseeing the upcoming ice-sculpting festival.”

I bowed my head to them. “Nice to meet you both.”

“A halfling?” Lyneth said with some surprise. “Do you create miniatures?”

Katrina gave her a stern glare. “Emmon sculpted the two statues that greeted you at the gates. He may be small in stature, but he executes mighty works.”

“Ignore my sister,” Llyr replied. “It is an honor to be here.”

Katrina offered me a seat, which I took, and Mila poured me a cup of tea, while Nicolai offered me a slice of cake which had icing missing. I was annoyed at Lyneth for the moment, but I was used to people underestimating me. “What sort of pottery is it you specialize in?” I asked. “Earthenware? Stoneware?”

“Porcelain,” Lyneth answered.

I was intrigued. Katrina did have many porcelain pieces around the palace. “I am not surprised. Her majesty is fond of the craft.”

“I am well aware. She was insistent on bringing my brother and I here to the palace.” Lyneth gave me a look that made my skin crawl. “We will be working here at the palace to establish a collection.”

That was surprising. A collection could mean anything from sets of statues like I had done to a gallery of canvases. Collections were a lot of work to undertake.

Katrina sighed. “One for Mila and one for Nicolai. They will be gifted these collections when they get married. I know they are young, but I do love planning ahead.”

This meant the siblings would be here for a long while, possibly even years to complete this collection, especially since there would be two in production. And knowing Katrina, she would want every single piece of the collection to be the best it could be.

Right away a workshop was built for them on the palace grounds. Lyneth and Llyr oversaw the construction of the kiln, which would continue to be used on the premises in the future. I tried to stay in my workshop, but it was almost impossible not to cross paths with them. I enjoyed talking to Llyr, but Lyneth was another matter. “Good afternoon, mighty halfling,” she would say to me in passing, or she would giggle when I was nearby. Sometimes I would catch her staring at me, and it made my skin crawl and the back of my neck itch.

“Hard to believe you made such statues,” she would remark. “You would think they were created by someone twice your size.” This made me want to sculpt something giant just to rub it in her face, but I doubted such a thing would do anyone any good. Who would ever want a giant statue?

One afternoon, as I was at work with Grandmother watching me, Lyneth came into the room. She looked up at me upon the ladder and chuckled. “Where did they find a chisel to suit your hands?” she asked.

“I had it made back home,” I grumbled.

Lyneth walked around my statue, tilting her head as she looked it over. “It has no face yet.”

“I haven’t decided what it’s going to look like,” I replied.

“I bet your hands must make such fine details,” she laughed.

“Yes, I know that I’m small,” I grumbled. “How very astute of you to notice.”

Lyneth smoothed her hand over the stone. “How does one like you find their way to the Polar?”

I grimaced. “Same way most people do, I suppose.”

“Such an arduous trip.” Lyneth almost seemed to be rubbing salt into the wound.

“I know it may seem unbelievable to you, but during the spring the trip is fairly easy. I waltzed in.”

Lyneth snickered. “And I’m sure you looked quite elegant on those toes.”

I wanted to slam my chisel and hammer into the stone to make it rain onto her. “Oh for goodness’ sake,” Grandmother blurted. “If you’re going to flirt like that, give me a chance to leave!”

“I know it’s been a while since you have done such a thing, Dowager Mother, but this is not flirting,” I scoffed.

Grandmother frowned and shook her head. “Not you, her.” She pointed a jeweled finger at Lyneth. “She’s flirting so hard and so badly it’s embarrassing!”

Lyneth’s cheeks had grown quite dark and she looked absolutely terrified. “I was… It’s not bad.”

“Here in the Polar, we are direct! Don’t pussyfoot around the subject.” Grandmother stood and moved towards the door. “Just say what you want. Children!” She shuffled out the door, grumbling as she went.

Lyneth was quiet. She cleared her throat after a beat and pulled her braid over her shoulder to stroke. “Well…” She barely glanced at me before she started walking away.

“Is that what all that was?” I wasn’t going to let her get away. “All this teasing and chiding, that was you trying to flirt with me?”

Lyneth stood frozen in the doorway, then turned back around a slight scowl on her face. She shifted in place, then came back into the room. “I didn’t mean for it to come off as teasing.”

“But it did.” I climbed off my ladder. “I thought you were making fun of me all this time.”

“I wasn’t!” She looked away from me, her face shaded darkly from her blushing. “Not intentionally anyway. I really didn’t mean it.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “You really were flirting?”

Lyneth stroked her braid again. “And if I was?”

I stood for a moment as I thought. What if she was? Does that change anything? She’s been a thorn in my side, but that was just because I thought she was mocking me. It would certainly explain why she was always around. Back home I knew I was a catch, but here my height wasn’t exactly a draw for anyone. The average height was six feet, for goodness’ sake! I considered myself cute, but cute men weren’t in demand here. Women wanted men with scars and muscle, men who looked like they could cut glass by looking at it. I had freckles, soft cheeks and curly hair, so there was nothing about me that suited Polar beauty standards.

“If you are, you need to apologize,” I said.

Lyneth’s brows furrowed, and she dropped her arms to her sides. “What for?”

“I thought you were being mean to me because I’m a halfling. I thought all this time you were poking fun at my size.”

Lyneth looked shocked. “My dad is short. Why would I…” She stopped herself. “I’m sorry,” she huffed. “I thought I was being complimentary.”

“It didn’t come off that way,” I muttered.

Lyneth frowned and looked away. “My dad was made fun of for his size. I would hate to think I was doing it to anyone else.”

I sighed heavily. “Well, I’ll forgive you. I am curious, though - how short could your father have been to be made fun of?”

“My father is about this tall,” She raised her hand midway up her chest. “A bit taller than you, but still quite small compared to the other orcs of his village. My mother loved him greatly, though. And I fear I share her taste.”

This made my cheeks begin to flush. “You like short people?”

“Yes,” Lyneth sighed. “No one who has tried to court me has yet to catch my eye.”

I smiled softly, then turned to look back at my statue. “Well, their loss, I suppose. Having high standards isn’t exactly a bad thing.”

Lyneth shrugged. “I wouldn’t say high standards. Short ones,” she chuckled playfully.

I looked back at her. “That was flirting.”

“Are you still having a hard time seeing it?” Lyneth gave me an awkward smile. “Grandmother really knows how to hit a nerve. Huh?” She tried to laugh as she twisted the end of her braid. “I’ve never seen someone so astute, and so annoyed with her perception at the same time.”

I went back to chiseling, filling in detail around the arm. Lyneth’s arms had inspired me, and her muscle tone was quite beautiful. I felt the need to put it into my work then and there. “You have no idea. The whole royal family thinks she has the gift of prophecy,” I chuckled.

Lyneth looked up at me with a curious gaze. She tilted her head to the side, letting her braid fall off her shoulder. “And you don’t believe her?”

I shrugged, then added some definition to the fingers. “I think she’s perceptive,” I said as I went back to the ladder. “But I don’t know how to believe in magic like that.”

Lyneth looked around the room, then walked over to the table that held all my tools and supplies. She fiddled with a hammer for a moment, then looked back up at me. “So you don’t believe in magic, either?”

“I’ve never seen it myself.” I sat at the top of the ladder again. “Until I see it, I can’t say for certain what I believe.”

“Well,” Lyneth chuckled. “That explains how you couldn’t see me flirting.” She came back over to the statue. “You’ve never seen it before.”

I sneered down at her smug face. “Maybe I didn't see it because you happen to be so awful at it.”

“Maybe that was because you were giving me nothing back in return.” She moved to the other side of the statue. “Maybe now that you know, I’ll be able to do it properly.”

“I don’t think there is anything that can save you,” I laughed.

“Oh, but I would save you, Emmon,” she purred. “I would carry you out of any dangerous situation.”

I swallowed and looked back at my statue. “Well, luckily I’m not the type to get myself into such situations.”

Lyneth’s grin grew. “How would you know?”

My hand slipped on the chisel, and my throat felt tight. “Is there a reason you’re lingering?”

“Actually, yes.” Lyneth looked so proud of herself. “Tomorrow is the first day we will be running the kiln. I’ve invited the prince and princess to come make something with us that we can fire, and I wanted to extend you the same offer.”

“I would like to see it,” I murmured. “But I have never made any sort of pottery - well, aside from carving things.”

Lyneth smirked up at me. “I’m a very good teacher.” Something about that sounded suggestive.

“I could come by and see for myself.”

“I hope so. It’s going to be a pretty good day. Once everything is up and running, Llyr and I will begin the royal collections.”

I was quiet for a moment, focusing on the statue before me. “What do you plan on doing? Has Katrina picked a specific design?”

“Why do you ask?” Lyneth came back to the ladder.

I shrugged, “Curiosity - and as a fellow artist, I do enjoy seeing the process of others.”

“Llyr and I have a specialty we learned from potters in Shimokobe. We make and fire the pieces, and then we break them.” She said this so simply, like it didn’t sound crazy.

“Why break them?”

Lyneth knew she had my attention captured. “Because then we fuse the pieces back together using a mixture of gold and resin, to show they can be forged back together into something beautiful and powerful. Katrina thought it was a suitable lesson for her children.”

“That’s fascinating,” I murmured. “I’ve never heard of such a technique.”

“I’ll be glad to show you the ropes. Perhaps your art could benefit in the process.” She motioned to my statue. “And perhaps the faceless one here could grow a face.”

I sighed. “I am struggling.”

“Then take a break,” Lyneth offered. “I find that when I’m stuck, it’s best to walk away and breathe. Perhaps seeing another artist at work will inspire you.”

I came down off the ladder and stood beside her. “Well, now that I know you aren’t teasing me, it could be an enjoyable experience.”

Lyneth’s thick brows perked up at this. “You’ll find that there’s much you can enjoy with me, Emmon.” This, for certain, was suggestive. “I look forward to seeing you in the studio tomorrow.” She gave me a wink before she turned and went out the door.

/////

I had seen the new pottery studio from a distance, as I wanted to keep from getting in the way before Lyneth and Llyr were ready to show it off. I knew how important a workspace was, and how personal it could be when creating the right one. When I arrived, Nicolai and Mila were already crafting something under Llyr’s tutelage while Lyneth was preparing the kiln. Her back was turned as I came in, and she was busy loading up the wood inside.

“Emmon, welcome,” Llyr said. “Have you come to christen the kiln with us?” He was sitting beside Mila, who was having trouble getting her piece to form. Nicolai, on the other hand, seemed to take to the wheel as well as he did a sword.

Lyneth turned and smiled as I came into the room, wiping sweat from her brow. “Would you like me to show you how to work the wheel?”

I suddenly felt very self-conscious. I had tried to dress nicely to celebrate their accomplishments, but now I felt out of place. Was it because I was now horribly aware of Lyneth’s advances? For sure. But was the underlying current of my own attraction at fault? Also possible. “I think I can figure it out.”

I sat down beside Nicolai, who was beaming. “I’m making a vase for Mama,” Nicolai said proudly.

Mila glared up at him. “He’s showing off.”

“You’re doing just fine, Mila.” Llyr said gently.

Lyneth approached and prepared my wheel with water and the raw porcelain. It wasn’t the color I had expected it to be. “Use the pedals, and you can go as fast or slow as you need. And add water…” She started to pour water over my hands. Lyneth had her arms around me, towering over me, leaning down. She was a lot of woman for a guy like me.

Mila smirked, and she instantly reminded me of her grandmother. “Unsure how to go about things without a hammer and a chisel, Mr. Northtook?”

The Polar royal family scares me for many reasons, but none so much as the ability they have to change their aura on a dime. Mila, I feel, is going to be terrifying once she matures. “Not so much. I’m used to my medium moving like this.”

“I like it when they squirm,” Mila titters.

“All young ladies should,” Lyneth laughed. She leaned back over me. “Now, you can’t be too rough with the clay. Yes, you need to work it, but you always need to remember how delicate it will be when complete.”

“I’m aware.” My cheeks feel hot, especially with her so close.

I managed to craft a small bowl, with high walls that I thought would serve me well for storing small items in my studio. Once the pieces dried a bit, they were painted and glazed for the kiln.

I noticed an open drawing pad, and inside there were notes and sketches that Lyneth had made. There were notes written by Katrina, and sketches to show the progress Lyneth had made to get the right design for the royal collections. “No peeking.” Lyneth closed the drawing pad and set it away. “It all has to be a surprise.”

“I beg your pardon, I didn’t realize.” I glanced back at the kiln. “It’s amazingly well-constructed. You should be proud.”

“I can’t take the credit. Llyr and the masons did all the really hard work, I just designed the interior.” She smiled with pride towards her creation. “Our father built our first kiln all by himself, and he even moved his beloved henhouse in order to make room for it. It’ll always be my favorite, but this one is pretty close.”

“I wish I had such tender memories of my father,” I huffed.

Lyneth looked down at me. “What do you mean?”

I grimaced and shrugged. “He didn’t like me pursuing an art career. That’s the gist of it. You don’t need to know much else.”

“Shame,” she tutted. “Seeing what you have created, I couldn’t imagine not feeling a sense of pride in you.”

My heart jolted. “But, that’s just me.” Lyneth walked away to pull Nicolai away from the kiln, because he was inching far too close.

That evening, Lyneth and llyr presented Katrina and Gregori with their children's creations. Later on, Lyneth came and handed me mine just as I was about to leave the studio. “Good thing I caught you in time.” She offered me the bowl. “Here, I figured you would want it.”

The bowl felt much heavier than I expected, and the glaze was smooth and silky. “Thank you. Not as good as my sculpting, but…”

Lyneth smiled. “Everyone has a first step. It may not be in the right direction or on solid ground, but everyone has it. You’re at least skilled with your hands. I could give you some lessons if you’d like.”

“Thank you, but I’m still struggling with how to go about this newest statue,” I sighed. “I don’t know if I have the creativity to take into another art.”

“Maybe it’ll help. Trying learning another technique. It could open your eyes so you can see what’s in your sculpture again.” She gently shoved my shoulder. “It’ll be fun regardless.”

I managed to keep my balance and not fall over. “But you should be focusing on the royal collections.”

“I can do two things,” Lyneth smirked.

I couldn’t deny I was curious, and I was looking for new ways to enhance my work. I suppose the stress of the upcoming ice sculpting festival was getting to me. I was working so hard on the preparations that they had sapped a lot of my energy. “Maybe one lesson. We’ll see how that goes.”

“Okay, just one. But I can promise you, you’ll be coming for my tutelage more than you expect.” Lyneth’s smile grew as her cheeks flushed a darker shade.

Maybe I was drawn to her, but that could be rooted in the initial flattery of her flirting with me. We agreed that I would come after lunch for my first lesson, which would give us all the time we needed to see to our regular duties.

When I arrived at the studio the following day, I heard a loud crash. I walked in to see Lyneth standing over a broken dish. She gathered up the broken pieces, laying them in a lined box which she handed off to Llyr. “Have you got the gold ready?” she asked. Then she turned, spotting me as I came in. “So you did decide to show!”

“I promised I would,” I answered. “What are you doing?”

“Llyr and I are doing a test plate before we get going, just to be sure our designs work well with the metalworking method we use.” She motioned over to a wheel. “Go ahead, take your seat. I’ll be with you in a moment.”

I took my seat and put on the apron hanging off the back of the chair. Lyneth returned, setting up some water and the clay. “I want you to first get used to what you’re doing. The speed of the pedals, how to use the water, but most specifically how you hold your hands. Just get used to it, and I’ll be back in a second.”

“How should I hold my hands?” I asked.

Lyneth smirked. “Like you’re holding something precious, but in a cup,” she giggled. “Be right back.” She went off to work with Llyr over the broken plate, and I watched for a second before settling in to focus on my work. I shaped and reshaped the kaolinite several times before Lyneth returned. She showed me how to mold it into intricate shapes, and a rolling technique that I found really interesting.

I enjoyed the craft so much that I came back the next day. I returned again and again, and all the while Lyneth and Llyr worked on the royal collections for Nicolai and Mila. I saw Lyneth poring over her work, how intently and lovingly she crafted each item. I thought I had a steady hand, but seeing her paint was like watching the earth move around stone. She had such a dazzling technique that it awed me.

One evening, I was helping her clean the studio. Llyr had gone to deliver a completed piece to Katrina, leaving the two of us alone. “You really seem to be taking to the craft,” Lyneth said.

I looked up at her. Some of her hair had come loose around her face. “I have been enjoying it. It’s helping me see my new statue much clearer.”

“That’s great.” Lyneth tried to push her hair aside, but she smudged dust and dried clay on her face. “Oh, darn. This is when it gets aggravating.”

She stepped aside and took her hair down. I’d never seen it down before, and it flowed in soft waves as she combed it out with her fingers. “It’s pretty,” I said without thinking.

Lyneth looked at me with a shy expression, then turned away and scooped it all to one side. I cleared my throat. “It looks nice down.”

“Maybe so, but it gets in the way.” She ran her fingers through it, then looked back at me. “I’ve never really worn it down around anyone.”

I wasn’t sure what to say. “I got some brandy from back home in my room.” That wasn’t what I expected to say. “Would you like to try it? As a thank-you for all your teaching.”

“Halfling brandy,” she murmured. “Is it strong?”

I smirked. “I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

Lyneth tied her hair, then followed me to my room. I fetched the new bottle that had been sent to me and poured two glasses. “Halflings enjoy their drink more than you’d expect.”

Lyneth took the glass and looked inside. “Smells good.” She took a sip. Her eyes popped open, and she held the glass at arm’s length. “Oh my.”

I had to laugh. “You underestimated it, didn’t you?”

“I did!” She watched me as I took a gulp. “I’m surprised. I thought orcs drank it as stout as it came.” She eased back in her seat. “Do you drink alone?”

“Mostly, although admitting that out loud sounds rather strange.” I swirled the liquor in my glass. “I’ve not really had anyone in my room before. Not since I got here, at least.”

“I’m honored to be your first.” Lyneth took another sip. “Is there someone you think of when you drink?”

I shook my head and sighed. “There used to be. But these days I’ve not thought of anyone in a long time.” I glanced over at her. “And you?”

“I’m too shy to say,” she chuckled.

My heart skipped a beat. “Is it me?”

Lyneth licked her lips, then up one tusk. “Maybe.”

“I know you said you like short people because of your father. But I have to be honest, it still shocks me,” I confessed. “Surely a statuesque woman like you could find just about anyone.”

“Oh, I can find plenty by just throwing a stone. But the heart wants what it wants. I can’t explain it, but I saw you and my heart decided for me. You’re handsome, talented, and…” She stopped and looked away. “See, now you’re trying to embarrass me.”

“I would never. But thank you for the compliment.” I looked back into my drink. “I do think you’re lovely, stunning in fact. I admire anyone who is so in love with their craft. That is an instant attraction for me, no matter who it’s for.”

“Come sit beside me.” Lyneth patted the seat beside her. “So we don’t have to yell across the room.”

It could be a trap, but it was one I was willing to fall for. I sat next to her, feeling her warmth. She put her hand on my leg and I felt heated all over. “You’re blushing a lot.” Her fingers brushed against my cheek. “You’ve not drunk too much have you?”

“Barely anything.” I reached up, touching her hair. It felt silky between my fingers. “It’s the company doing it to me, I think.”

Lyneth leaned down, kissing my forehead and then my cheek. I turned to meet her, grazing a kiss and then planting one firmly. I slipped a hand around her waist, then smoothed it down along her thigh. “I’m not sure what you’re into, but…” Lyneth kissed me again. “We can take this to the bed if you want.”

“Very forward,” I breathed. “You seem to be wanting something specific.”

“Ever since I first laid eyes on you. But now that I’ve caught feelings, it’s much more specific.” She stood up, taking off her tunic. My heart sped up, my pulse pounded in my groin.

“Oh, wow,” I breathed.

Lyneth walked over and stretched out on my bed. I followed, tentatively climbing up beside her. I wasn’t sure how this was going to work. Was I going to be able to satisfy her? I guess I could get creative if needed.

I took off my clothes, nervously waiting until the last second to take my pants off. Lyneth pulled them down for me, cupping my rear in one hand and kneading it. She licked me, her warm tongue darting over my shaft as she moaned. It felt so good that I rocked my hips, rubbing my rear into her palm and my cock against her lips. I was growing harder, feeling the deepening pulse surge through my body. Her dark eyes peered up at me as she sucked on me. I grabbed her hair, pulling it gently before I wrapped it around my fingers, panting as she kept going. My body was dripping with desire with heat. “Wait. I’ll finish if you don’t stop,” I panted.

“Go ahead,” Lyneth purred. She lapped at my balls, then took them into her mouth. “You can come whenever you’d like.”

I shuddered, tightening my grip on her hair. I rocked my hips more, rubbing my cock against her tongue. I could feel myself spiraling fast. Her tongue, her moans, her touch, were all becoming overwhelming. I cried out, spilling on her lips, on her face, her breasts. She seemed to enjoy it, smiling as I pulsed through my long orgasm.

“You had a lot for me,” she cooed.

My legs were shaking. I needed to lie down for a second. Lyneth pushed me down onto the bed, kissing me hungrily. “Sit on me.” The words were a surprise again. “Sit on my face.”

Lyneth’s eyes lit up and her lips pursed. “You sure?”

I smacked my cheek. “I owe you one. I can do it.”

Lyneth licked her lips, watching me with a curious expression. “Just double tap if you need to breathe.” She sat up, moving herself so that her thighs were around my ears. Above me I saw something delicious, something moist and warm, and as her labia came closer I opened my mouth. I licked and suckled, sighing with pleasure as I tasted her. I used my fingers to open her up, my tongue to tease and my lips to stroke. Through her thighs I could hear her moans, but just barely. I figured if anything felt wrong, she’d move.

I found I could fit my whole hand inside her, so I drove it deeper. I felt her tighten around me, and her inner walls quivered as the heat grew between them. I licked and sighed, finding purchase upon her clit. I moved my arm, thrusting inside her while sucking that sweet bud. I heard a cry and felt a rush of heat.

Lyneth’s body trembled all around me, and her thighs relaxed, then tensed. My hand became trapped inside, and I heard another cry. The body above me shifted, pulling away before falling onto the bed. Lyneth was breathing heavily and curled into a ball. “Too much! Too much,” she panted.

I was shocked. I did that to her? I lay beside her, kissing her shoulder and rubbing her back. She began to uncurl, lying flat and smiling at me. “I knew you’d be good with your hands.” She took hold of mine, kissing the knuckles as she smiled.

I blushed, feeling my body heat up all over again. “I just wanted to repay you. That’s all. Was it really okay?”

Lyneth leaned in and kissed me, moving so part of my body was trapped by her breast. “It was great, Emmon.”

I smiled triumphantly. “Well, just be careful. I have pretty good stamina.”

“I can tell.” Lyneth kissed me again. “But I need a second to rest, big boy. Someone stole the breath from me.”

I lay back, letting her rest her head upon my chest. Her soft hair spilled out over my side and the bed as I suppressed a massive grin. “Take your time, Lyneth. I have all night for you.”

Lyneth chuckled and she raised her eyes to me. “I may demand more nights. What would you say to that?”

I grinned. “I must admit, it is a tempting offer. But why on earth would you want to spend them with me?”

Lyneth rose up, planting a firm kiss on my lips. “Because I’ve fallen for you.”

My heart pounded in my throat. “Oh, really?” I brushed her hair back and cupped her face in my hands. “Because I’ve found the face of my new statue, and I need to see it every night to get it right.” I ran my fingers along her cheekbone. “So I’ll need you in my arms.”

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