#also i think this is the first time i’ve done an actual background

[desperatelyfragile]

“i’m a little wet” ok me too girl tf?

[comicaurora]

Hey, sorry if you’ve been asked this before, but I have ADHD and I’ve been following your comic for years and just now have started to write my own comic (partially because you really inspired me). But I’m really struggling with staying on the project even when it’s boring and getting myself to work on it in the first place. Do you have any tips on how to keep your brain invested or just to make yourself do the work at all?

I have excellent news, I literally just figured out something really important about this.

So when you're an ADHD kiddo or otherwise have difficulty staying on task in a structured environment where Task is the Priority, the main way people try to MAKE you stay on task is by removing your access to anything that is not The Task. No phone, no TV, no doodling, no going outside, etc. In practice, this just makes us miserable because it takes the boredom that's always simmering around a 2 or 3 and cranks it all the way up to 11. In the same way that you would have difficulty staying on task if you were in physical pain, this crushing existential monotony makes it very difficult to work. The work might get done simply because you have no other options, but it will not be done quickly or well, and it will take a while to recover from how much it hurt.

What I realized earlier this week is I caught myself doing this to myself. I had 42 pages of background colors to do, and I thought to myself "this sounds really tedious, but I suppose I have nothing better I can do." And I realized what I'd just thought, and got very alarmed.

Because back when I was an ADHD kiddo imprisoned by school scheduling and a million little factors that keep children immobile and restrained, I couldn't stop thinking about how big and exciting the world was, and how much I wanted to be anywhere but here. When I was feeling really crushed in I'd pick a random spot on the maps on my wall and just imagine being there instead of my bedroom. This was the impetus behind almost all of my creative energy. I've said it before - anything is a prison if you can't leave, and being in a prison makes it easy to imagine how amazing things could be outside of it. Aurora's initial worldbuilding was forged in the crucible of fifth grade misery. My enthusiasm for art and my creative drive are inextricable from my sense of wonder and yearning for excitement in the real world. Not escapism, but appreciation. Wonders unimaginable are out there, and I gain just as much joy seeking them out as I do conjuring them up in my head and sharing them with all of you.

So now that I'm a grown-up with actual freedom in every way I've been able to get, the idea that I was staying on task by making myself believe the world was small and not worth seeing was extremely alarming. It could keep me on task for an afternoon, but at the cost of slowly extinguishing the thing that made me want to make art in the first place - the hunger to experience and draw inspiration from all the myriad complexities in the world.

So what I've been doing is I've been purposefully and intentionally taking excursions whenever I catch myself thinking "I could take a break but it wouldn't be worth it, it's the same outdoors as always, I'll be uncomfy and unproductive and tired." Because that is never true. Every time I've put down the stylus and gone out, I've been renewed in one way or another, and when I come back to comfort fully recharged I get a lot of shit done. Because it is easier to work on anything if you remember why you wanted to make it in the first place, and it is self-defeating misery to just lock yourself in with it and tell yourself you're a bad person if you can't get it done.

I honestly don't know how widely applicable this is. I have worse wanderlust than anyone I know, so for me this has always been modeled as imprisonment vs freedom. I've also been extremely lucky to find myself in a profession that lets me set my own pace on literally everything I do. But I genuinely believe that when it comes to making art with ADHD, you need to give yourself freedom to move laterally, not just in the direction of obvious forward progress. We don't think linearly in any other part of our lives - art is no different.

[elysianightsss]

Pen Pal Price Part Two🫧🍑

nsfw ahead so I’ll cut it off at that point…reader is also described as chubby below because I am so they are too lol.

-

His voice startles you to the point where you visibly flinch, it’s nothing like how you imagined it to be. First of all, you didn’t know he was British. The accent that wraps around his words so sharply is one you recognise but can’t quite put your finger on in this moment.

His voice is deep, rumbles out somewhere from within his chest. It vibrates through the phone and through you. For him your honeyed voice drips into him like the sweetest summer wine.

“Sound so pretty.” You hear him mutter, barely a whisper but definitely something he was trying to hide. Your cheeks burn as you blush hard, your bottom lip caught between your teeth while you think of what to say to the man you’ve been writing to for weeks on end.

So many words exchanged and yet now you’re at a loss. Can’t think properly, it begs the question; how will you react when you meet in person?

“I haven’t got long, I guess now’s the time I tell you what I do for a living.” He chuckles lightly and you wish you could see his face while he does.

“Sounds intriguing.” You frown though your face is still smile stricken.

“Oh you bet it is love. Very dangerous, rough. I don’t think you’d want to hear about it.”

“Excuse me good sir, I live for danger. Did I not tell you how I dangerously painted the spare bedroom the other day? Though I don’t think it went well.” You joked looking over at the room that was half done and had paint streaks pointing in all different directions.

“Are you doubting your mad painting skills?” Your heart soared at the joke, at his laugh, just all of this. Being able to speak to him properly, being able to communicate more easily without waiting a whole week for his response to arrive by post. Shifting through the mail everyday desperate to read his words. You hadn’t felt this happy in years.

“Maybe just a little.” There’s a pause, and you think you hear some background chatter, something about unit leaving and someone definitely says captain, “maybe you could help me?”

“I definitely will.” He doesn’t hesitate with his answer, it’s so sure and so final. It says a lot about him. You’re desperate to know more. “I’m sorry love, I’ve got to go. I’ll call you tomorrow? Same time?”

And he does, you lunge for the phone practically jumping through the air to answer him. You chat about useless things, have silly little conversations about everyday life. There are days when you think it’s his day off work, those days he stays on the phone to you for hours. Those days are your favourite.

He tells you about the new book he got and even reads you a few chapters while you cook dinner, he makes you promise to cook him a meal sometime. You don’t hesitate to agree.

Again he loves the domesticity of it all, how prefect you are in his eyes, though his ocean blues haven’t actually seen you yet. What a perfect little wife you would make. He knows it’s far too soon to think about things like that but he cannot help himself.

The way you fly away with yourself, talking about what you’re doing that day or joking about something you saw on tv or giggling about the cupcakes you were making because the icing went wrong making what you piped look like pigs instead of the unicorns you were going for, for you niece’s birthday party.

He listens with his eyes closed, dreaming of the day he comes back from deployment. The day he comes back to you, to home smelling of freshly baked goods. His pretty lady waiting for him all smiles and giggles. He wishes.

“Um..” you pause unsure, wondering what if he says no.

“What is it love?” He asks so worried. So ready to fix any problem you throw his why. Once again though you hesitate and once more he encourages you, “Come on pretty lady, tell me. What’s up?” You let the nickname you’ve reprimanded him about numerous times slide with what you’re about to ask.

“D-Did you want t-to video call?” He grins at how fucking adorable you are. The way you stutter just asking a simple question like that. He bites back a groan at the way he stiffens in his trousers. Dirty old man.

“I would love to.” He of course then had to explain he had a flip phone. You laughed hard at him and said he would need a smartphone. You had no idea he would go and buy one just to video call you with. Another thing you reprimand him for, spending his hard earned money so easily like that. His little lady nagging him, and all he does is smile at the sound. He loves it.

Your heart hammers in your chest as the phone rings. A lot like the first time he called you. You had talked him through the set up and helped him understand what an app is and how to call on text on a smart phone. And finally, you told him how to video call. Which app to press, you were just explaining how it works when your phone begins to buzz with ‘John💕 is FaceTime you’ popping up on the screen. Your number of course being the first one he added.

You can’t help but feel nervous, checking you look semi okay on the screen before pressing the green answer button. Then your breath is knocked out of you so hard you actually choke, John fussing about getting some water and breathing for him goes in one ear and out the other. You can’t look away from him even as you catch your breath.

He’s nothing like you pictured and yet he’s perfect.

He looks like the kind of man you picture when you read romance novels and the kind of man that sneaks into the dreams that have you waking up hot under the collar and panties sticking to you uncomfortably. The little description of himself you asked for certainly did not do him justice.

“Hi love.”

“Hi John.”

“Fuck you’re gorgeous.” Even though you frown, you can’t stop a smile from splitting your face.

You’ve got chubbier cheeks and thicker thighs than most girls, something you’re insecure about and john can tell. But fuck you look gorgeous to him. Over the next few weeks John catches on to just how badly you feel about your body image, the way you put yourself down in favour of supermodels, the way you wear oversized clothing to cover yourself up. He finds himself grumbling, hating it each second more than the last.

He understands how badly beauty culture has fucked over women who are genuinely beautiful but are made to feel like they’re nothing. He gets it, he does. But he certainly doesn’t agree. Especially not with you. He finds himself dreaming of those squishable cheeks of yours, the way you’re so soft around the edges, he can tell.

You completely did him in last Monday, it’s the middle of winter for goodness sake, how did he know that you’d be wearing shorts when he FaceTimed you. Gym shorts that hugged your plump ass so fucking perfectly, that flashed your thick thighs to him. Christ, he’s been thinking about those pretty thighs all week long. When he’s running drills, your thighs are on his mind. When he’s planning out a mission with his unit, your thighs are on his mind. And when he’s alone at night with his hand wrapped around his swollen cock, your thighs are on his mind.

He can’t stand it anymore, it’s been agonising with how busy he’s been not calling you, not seeing you or hearing your voice. No knowing what you’ve been up to or how your day has gone. He calls and he praises the Lord above for bringing you to him, when you answer. A prayer on his lips, a beg for you to become his wife one day when you’re there smiling in the cutest silk pyjama set he’s ever seen. It hugs you exquisitely, showing off your rounded edges and all John can think about is how he can’t wait to sink his teeth into the soft flesh of your tummy.

You’re clearly fresh out the shower or bath with your damp hair and freshly wash face, but John’s never seen anything more beautiful in his life, in fact he tells you so. You haven’t felt your cheeks burn the way they did then, well maybe one other occasion.

“Love?”

“Yes John?”

“Would you like to meet me for coffee tomorrow? At that cafe you like?” He’s hopeful when he asks, you can not only hear it in his voice but see it in his face. “I’m in the area for work and have a few days where I’m free and I’d love to see you.”

You can’t recall a time in your life where all you did was smile, but since you found John, you don’t remember what not smiling all the time was like. You don’t remember anything other than how happy he makes you. So you take a breath, you muster up the courage and say yes.

“I’d love to see you too John. Just tell me what time and I’ll be there.”

[art]

Creator Spotlight: @mimimar

Hi! I’m Michelle (Mimimar), an illustrator born and raised in Venezuela, currently based in Italy. I enjoy making colorful illustrations that reflect the things I love: fairy tales, fantasy, tenderness and queer (especially sapphic) stories. Occasionally, I also make paper dolls, comics and animatics. I have a lot of interest in book illustration and I’m currently developing my own stories that I hope to share as an author-illustrator someday!

Check out our interview with Michelle below!

Did you originally have a background in art? If not, how did you start?

I always enjoyed drawing when I was a kid, but it only became a hobby that I did almost every day when I was around 11. At first I only used traditional mediums, but I decided to make a serious effort to learn how to draw digitally when I was 15, and once I got the hang of it I never stopped!

I didn’t go to art school so all of my learning was done through studying the tutorials and resources that other artists generously share on the internet and lots of practice / trial and error.

How do you want to evolve as a creator?

I want to do many things but what I want to do the most right now is work on books! I want to make art for other authors’ stories and also my own stories as an author-illustrator. I want to grow as a storyteller and create art and stories that will really resonate with people emotionally. I’m always striving to improve my skills as well.

I also really love dolls, so working on doll box art or as a doll designer is something I would love to do someday. I actually have been designing paper dolls on my Patreon for the past few months, it’s been a fun project that is still ongoing right now!

What is one habit you find yourself doing a lot as an artist?

Probably using a lot of purple! It’s my favorite color so I find myself using it a lot. If I can find a way to sneak a little bit of purple into an illustration or a character design then I will.

Congratulations on finishing your Ivy Comic! Did the outcome turn out like how you expected or were there some unexpected bumps along the way?

Thank you! It’s a project that I worked on very slowly in between other art because I wanted to really take my time with every spread and make each of them a fully detailed illustration. I thumbnailed the full comic before starting but I kept changing the sketch for the final spread until the very end! Overall I’m really proud of the end result. I sprinkled a lot of hidden details in every page that I hope some of the readers will notice. For example: the meanings of the flowers in each page represent what the characters are feeling in that moment, and the colors of their wardrobe become gradually lighter as the story progresses to represent their emotions, as well as the changing of seasons.

We’ve noticed that you have created some amazing cover art for TGCF. Is there another series you would like to do something similar with? 

That was another passion project that took some time to complete. Initially, I didn’t intend for them to be specifically covers, it was just a series of illustrations based on the 5 books/main arcs of TGCF. But since they were well-received and I had people telling me they wish they could use them as covers for their books, I decided to rework them into dust jackets for the english translation of TGCF!

I haven’t thought of any other specific series but I love doing cover art so maybe I’ll do something similar again in the future!

What’s your favorite part of your style? Why?

I’ve heard from other people that there’s a delicate quality to my art, this is something that I like a lot! I like pretty things, fairytales and vibrant colors. I think all of these things probably reflect in the art I make as well.

If there is one thing you want your audience to remember about your work, what would it be?

I hope that they remember how it made them feel. Feelings and colors are the two things I give priority to in my work. Most of the time I like depicting tenderness, softness and emotional intimacy. If that could reach the viewer and stay with them it would make me very happy. 

I make a lot of art with queer (mainly sapphic) themes because they’re the kind of stories I personally like and want to see more of, so whenever people tell me that my art has helped them in their journey to discover and accept themselves, or that they see themselves and their partner in my art, it is always extremely meaningful to me. When art that I made to give myself comfort can provide comfort for others, no matter how small, it reminds me once again that despite any hardships art is genuinely worth pursuing.

Who on Tumblr inspires you and why?

So many artists! To name a few:  I love @sakizo’s amazing eye for fashion and detail,  @paneeps’ gorgeous style and striking colors,  the sweetness of @bevsi’s art,  @vickisigh’s pretty colors and concepts,  @idledee’s warm and heartfelt art,  @littlestpersimmon’s dreamy wonderful art,  and @loish has been an inspiration for as long as I can remember.

Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing, Michelle! Be sure to check out their Tumblr blog over at @mimimar.

[remxedmoon]

(you worked yourself to death.)

yeah i wasn’t kidding when i said these would be coming soon. <- haha funny joke marshall. so!! remember when i said that this post would be coming out last weekend? guess whose tablet broke a few days after saying that! so sorry for the delay!! this is long overdue. here’s a link to the drive, as always! everything in this part of the update should be in the miscellaneous folder (outside of the menu icons, which are in the menu folder. wauaua).

unedited versions below the cut, plus some notes. fair warning 90% of this is just ui stuff lol

so! all of this was already done by the time i posted the enemies. the delay isn’t *entirely* because of the tablet issues, i just managed to get distracted by making: even more redraws! i’d say new update soon but after what happened last time i shouldn’t jinx myself. but! almost All of the art for the initial mod release is done!!!! exciting!!!!!!

please be nice to me (silly) this is my first time doing frame by frame animation in… give or take 5 years? i followed the original animations pretty closely, so they don’t look Awful but i am Aware of the jank. i’m not an animator!!! they’re Good Enough for my purposes.

hey did you know that the original teleport map is slightly off center. did you know that. that’s not the case for the redraw for the record but it did make things a little harder. despite that, i think you can tell i was having fun with the dormont part of the map. i would’ve put more detail into the house, but we never really get a more detailed look at it??? and i didn’t want to make assumptions. so that part’s just traced from the original ���. anyways shoutout to the clocktower being Curved for whatever reason

outside of those, all of the added art is actually just spritework. i didn’t know this at first, but there’s a TON of copies of sprites from the icon set. Basically Everywhere. so those are added now! and should work properly! also added a few sprites that were Missing from my original batch. not going to put them all here, but a few Important ones (which i actually had to make new art for) are the rock paper scissors cheatsheet, the Larger versions of the craft signs (used in the calamité fight and. probably somewhere else idk), and the craft signs for the tutorial kid fight!

aaaand i think that’s it! for stuff from this update. yeah no there’s more coming buddy. my tablet already broke one time this week there’s no way it’s happening twice. i’m not working on portraits Just Yet (though the temptation has been There), but i’ve got the title screens, a few backgrounds, and the ending cgs done! along with a few other assorted cgs sketched out. because im out of my fucking mind. so, uh, see you soon!! enjoy!!

[starsandnoodles]

Getting over my fear of posting this was CRAZY but here we go

MARX RPG

I’ve been working on this for days, made an accidental (The nova itself) and purposeful reference (the background) to Birth of a Wish by itsquakey (you should go check em out their art is SICK /pos)

- More ramblings below -

I wanted to make an RPG type thing with Marx for a while. Originally I was going to make an actually playable one but then realized I don’t have the time or knowledge to actually do that so I turned around and made it a video. Marx actually wasn’t the first idea I have for who the video would be about.

The first character I’d considered was actually Taranza but then… I’d have to draw Taranza and I was not in the mood. So I went with Marx.

The reference to Birth of a Wish (via the Nova specifically) wasn’t intended but someone I’d shown the video to pointed it out and I couldn’t leave it out in mention. The actually intended reference (the background) was specifically placed there because original all the video was going to be was some sample text and audio and then I got carried away and by that point I was over 200 images in on CapCut and unwilling to turn around.)

Where the plot was gonna go from here included the Nova having something to do with the rain in dreamland and being a small part of one of popstar’s larger moon’s or something of the sort meaning Kirby and Marx would have to find all the pieces to this “planet”. At least that’s what I imagined LMAO 😅

Note: Itsquakey if you ask me to take this down because of the references to your work I will without questions!

Last thing! I wanted to mention two posts I’ve seen that have done something similar that I think you should also check out!

Marx’s Fun Shop: while working on this I found that video and thought “wow! We even used the same music! That’s super freaking awesome!” The art here is amazing, the way Marx is written is also cool! You should go check this out!!!

Magolor’s Item Shop: A series of images in an RPG style that feature Magolor specifically! These are really cool and also what kinda struck the idea! They’re definitely worth checking out!

[reverie-starlight]

{the proposal- kuroo}

on today’s episode of “rev accidentally disregards the polls she made”, we have this fic :3 I actually adore this one, it was so fun to write!! hope you enjoy <3 also… thank you sm for 1k followers 😭🫶🏻 that’s huge, I appreciate everyone sm 🥹

gn!reader, no physical descriptions. fluff fluff fluff. alcohol mentions, drunk reader. dialogue heavy at the start.

“You need to propose to me.”

Kuroo, who is enjoying his drink, begins to choke. “I what?”

You roll your eyes with a barely concealed smile.

“Not for real, silly, just a fake one.”

He looks at you like you’ve gone insane. “I’m not following.”

“We’re broke university students, do you really think we can afford to pay for more than two drinks tonight? If you propose, I bet people would make a drunken mistake and offer to buy us a celebration round.” You wiggle your eyebrows at him as he continues to give you that same incredulous look.

“That’s-“ he cuts himself off before he can finish that thought and starts with a new one. “I doubt that would work. I mean, maybe at a restaurant with free dessert, but a bar? Really?”

“I’ve seen it done in stranger places!” You defend yourself. “Besides, you’ve been sipping on your drink for the past 25 minutes. If the ice had poison in it, you’d be dead by now,” you lean back and cross your arms.

Your boyfriend just shakes his head. “Your mind is a very interesting place. Alright, fine. We’ll do it, but if it doesn’t work that’s going to be really embarrassing. Hand me your ring, I’ll do it when more people are around.”

You only have to wait another ten minutes before a group of business men having a meeting a couple of tables over appear to be drunk enough to invest in young love.

Your boyfriend nods once to signal that he’s going to do it and soon enough he’s on one knee, fake tears forming at the corners of his eyes and a dusting of pink on his cheeks that make you want to kiss them.

(Your heart jumps that the thought that he could do this for real one day).

“You’re the love of my life,” he begins, and you make a mental note that he either has a bright future in acting or his drink really is too strong, despite his insistence that he could handle it earlier.

A lady one table over gasps and draws more attention to the performance in front of the customers.

“And I absolutely adore every single thing about you. I had a whole plan for this, but with the way you’re looking tonight, I can’t wait a second longer. We’ve managed to get many years together already, and I’d be honoured to spend the rest of our lives just like this. Will you marry me?”

You’re genuinely touched at his words and the sincerity in his tone almost makes you forget it’s fake.

Not wanting to make your audience wait much longer, you make a big show of nodding your head and jumping into his crouched form with a loud “yes!”

Drunken cheers are only background noise while you press against his chest. His heartbeat eliminates the chance of you focusing on anything but him.

Kuroo tips his head down to whisper, “think we pulled it off?”

You nod against him and start to get up. He looks over to see one of the drunk business men coming over to greet you.

“Congratulations on your engagement! Let us buy the happy couple some drinks!”

The man’s face is flushed and he gestures to his table. “Order whatever you’d like, it’ll be put on our tab.”

You fake surprise. “Oh my goodness, that’s very generous of you, but we could never take advantage of your kindness like that!”

Beside you, your ‘fiancé’ stifles a laugh but the man doesn’t notice. “No, I insist! You should celebrate.”

This time Kuroo takes over. “Ah… well, thank you, sir. Rest assured we won’t go too crazy.”

The man laughs and claps him on the back. “What a polite couple of kids you are! Reminds me of me and my wife,” he winks before heading back to his table, whistling some tune.

You spin around and look up at your boyfriend with a smug grin. “So what are we getting first?”

A couple of hours later, you’re both stumbling into your campus apartment, giggling and trying to shush each other despite not having any other roommates.

You somehow manage to get through your night routines and fall back into your bed soon after. You’re a far more wasted than Kuroo is (he always drinks less than you to be able to take care of you), so he tries to get you to sip on some water.

He watches you with a silly grin as you fiddle with your “engagement” ring. You’ve since slipped it back onto your index finger where it originally was this evening, but you move it back to your ring finger and fiddle with it.

“I think…” your words are slightly slurred and laced with sleep. “I mean, I know… that I don’t want my real engagement ring to be diamond.”

His grin widens so much his cheeks begin to hurt. “No? So what will it be, baby?”

You form your own smile. “I’m sure I’ll love whatever you come up with. You know me best after all.”

He forces you to take another sip of water when your words don’t get any less coherent. While you drink he thinks of the ruby ring tucked away somewhere at Kenma’s house. You’re far too good at sniffing out clues and he’s never been good at keeping secrets from you.

You’re still in university, it’s far too soon to get engaged for real- you’ve both always said you wanted to wait until you’re done with school- but he’s been saving up for that ring since high school. he’s always knows you would be the one for him.

So when the time comes he’ll be ready. With a speech much better than whatever he said tonight.

“Alright, let’s get some sleep. You’re going to have the worst hangover tomorrow, you haven’t had that much to drink in a while.”

You tug at his wrist before he can shut the lamp off. “Wait, don’t you want to celebrate our engagement?”

“Sleep, baby.”

You pout a bit. “Don’t you think we celebrated enough tonight?”

You stare at him and he sighs. “There’s plenty of time for celebrating our fake engagement some more tomorrow,” he shuts the lamp off and wrangles you down with him. “Now it’s time for sleep.”

“‘m not tired,” you mumble, obviously lying. “I could go all night.”

You settle onto your pillow and he strokes your cheek. “I know, sweetheart, you’re a fighter.”

You nod as you begin to doze off.

He notices the ring still on your finger and he smiles softly.

The hangover you’ll be sporting tomorrow will definitely have been worth it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ty for reading!!! i hope you enjoyed <3

tagging: @emmyrosee @luvring @dira333 @tetzoro

[pippin-katz]

So, you know how Edwin screams for Charles as he’s being dragged back to Hell? Because he’s scared?

I was thinking about why, and it’s obvious. No big brain moment here. Someone you care about, who you know cares about you in return, brings even the smallest amount of comfort in situations where you are scared. They make you feel safe, so when you’re in danger you want them near you.

Edwin screams for him while being dragged away to Hell, and calls to him when he’s strapped into Esther’s device before the torture starts.

Yeah, we already know that, but I noticed something yesterday.

When you’re thinking about the show in general, Charles is the one who does the physical rescuing and protecting. Edwin’s best way of doing that is to make sure nothing goes awry so Charles won’t have to rescue someone. He prevents the danger from happening the best he can, while Charles charges at the danger if he has to. Edwin actually calling to Charles for help more makes sense given how their methods of helping each other differ.

But yesterday, I was working on something, and I like to listen to the show in the background sometimes (gotta boost those numbers for my boys ✌🏻). I can typically finish the whole show in a day cause it’s not long, so I started it at the beginning.

While listening to them tussling with the WWI ghost, obviously Charles yells, “Edwin! Hurry the fuck up!”

It’s an instruction and emphasis of the urgency and the need for speed in this situation. Telling someone to hurry up is used in all sorts of contexts, serious and unserious. You might say it with frustration if you were trying meet a deadline with a partner, or angrily while playing some video game that has timers, or with concern if you were waiting for important updates on the conditions of an injured friend.

Charles is a combination of them because the situation has been getting out of hand and he can’t do anything about it. He needs Edwin to cast the spell to break the curse.

But it’s while Edwin is saying the spell that Charles yells just his name. It had always created a feeling in my chest, but I couldn’t pinpoint it.

Listening to it with headphones (multiple times) and while not being distracted by the visuals allowed my brain to focus on just the voices, and how I felt while listening to them. I’ve listened it so many times over the last month, and I finally managed to fully figure it out!

The roughness in his voice from yelling so loud. The desperation that seeps into it. The way he enunciates his name, stress on and the pitch raising on the second syllable, similar to the way you'd ask a question, when the stress is usually on the first syllable, and the pitch usually goes down.

This is maybe the only time in the entire series where Charles sounds scared (excluding flashbacks). I don’t mean the “worried about someone” type of scared; we get to hear that a couple times, mostly when Edwin is taken back to Hell.

But no, here he is scared for himself.

He’s gotten thrown around. He’s gotten choked. He’s gotten knocked onto the ground on his back, being pinned down by a malevolent ghost of a soldier, who also has a knife and is very much trying to stab him right now.

Charles has done everything he can. Now, he just needs to not get hurt until Edwin breaks the curse. But that’s easier said than done when your opponent has basically every advantage. He’s struggling! He has been struggling! And now he's about to be stabbed!

He yells to Edwin because he’s scared, and he knows Edwin will do everything in his power to protect him in a dangerous situation, just as Charles would for him. It’s cry for help instead of an instruction.

But it's also a reassuring gesture for himself. Edwin is there. He trusts Edwin. Edwin is his safety. He has been since he met him in the attic, and became the first person in a very long time, maybe ever, to show so much care, and protectiveness toward him, after everyone in his life had hurt him or had watched him be hurt and did nothing. Edwin won’t let anything happen to him. Edwin is going to save him. And he believes it despite his fear, and Edwin does!

His means of doing so look very different from Charles’, but it’s through breaking the curse that he’ll save Charles rather than trying to fight the ghost off of him. That won’t work. Edwin can’t physically do that, and it wouldn’t stop the ghost from continuing to attack them. So despite him being several feet away casting a spell instead of running to Charles, he is protecting and saving him. And Charles knows that too.

It creates a weird fuzzy feeling in my chest to know that Edwin is the person Charles thinks of when he's scared. It's obvious that Edwin sees Charles as safety, so it feels rarer to see the opposite on display. They are each other's safety, and that is fucking special.

(ko-fi)

[hyuckswoman]

alumnusbf!mark helping you study

pairing: alumnus mark (who’s also your bf) x reader

genre: fluff

summary: you’re stressing over this one subject until your bf appears

“fucking hell” you mutter, your finals were in a week and you were currently studying the subject you have been dreading since the beginning of the study period. Studying for exams was not fun. Especially when you had this gnawing feeling in the pit of your stomach telling you that you were 100% going to fail.

markie

hey babe, you busy?

upon hearing the notification, you cursed at yourself as you swore you put your phone on do not disturb to avoid distractions .Yet here you were grabbing it to check the notification. turns out you did put your phone on do not disturb but since your boyfriend (who had to practically beg you to get removed off there texted you) was the origin of the notification, your phone still notified you.

being too lazy to write back, you just decided to call him

“hey, what’s up? I’m studying for my finals right now” you say after greeting him “oh really? I’m sorry to disturb then, how long have you been studying?” your boyfriend mark asks “hours. i literally had a full on mental breakdown studying the course because i suck at it and it feels like no matter how hard I study I just keep on failing” you say sighing “did you cry?” mark asks, maybe he knows you a little too well. “yea” you sigh yet again, it bothered you to see how big of a toll your academics were taking on you

“that’s a good thing then! wait no I don’t mean you crying is a good thing I meant it’s a good thing I’m on my way with food and stuff to give you a break” your boyfriend says making you laugh “mark, look I really truly appreciate it but I also really need to study” you say. honestly seeing how fucked you were because of this one course you couldn’t allow any distractions, and lord knows mark was a pretty big one

“no I know, we’ll just eat and then I’ll help you study. trust when I’ll leave you’ll be back in your academic weapon antics” mark says. after weighing your options (not that you had much of a choice seeing as though he was already on his way) you figured that maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea. you had the chance of having a boyfriend who already graduated which meant he already passed this course so maybe it’d actually help

“hi babe, i brought food” your boyfriend says, you were glad you had a boyfriend that supported your big backed antics. “i might make you my male wife at this point” you said as he hugged you. you guys then decided to turn on the tv and put a show none of you cared about for the sole purpose of having some background noise.

“okay, we’ve been slacking off for long enough, let’s get to studying now” your boyfriend says. you almost forgot about your finals for a second.

“okay, we’re done making the flash cards, quiz time” mark says quietly laughing upon seeing your face. “every right answer you get, i’ll kiss you” he says finding a way to motivate you as you looked like you were on the verge of dying. “I don’t think it helps, you distract me too much. i’ll probably only remember the kisses and not the actual class material” you reply. As much as it didn’t look like it you were seriously (for once) in the mood to study, you couldn’t let this pretty man distract you no more.

a short while after you were thrown over your desk defeated because what do you mean you only got like half the questions right???

“I don’t understand I’ve spent literal hours trying to memorize this shit I’m sick of it I just want it to be over” you sigh, this is the first time you’ve struggled this much over a school subject. usually being a bit above average doesn’t require you a lot of efforts so you never really tried that hard to pass your classes throughout the years. college beat the shit out of you tho!! you found yourself completely taken aback by the difficulty and you had to learn how to properly study throughout the years. if somebody asked you, you’d say you’ve got studying covered but seeing how this study session was going maybe you didn’t…

“I think you’re getting those wrong because you don’t understand this part” mark says patting your head as you mumble an ‘i know’. being the very considerate boyfriend he is, he then proceeded to explain the entirety of the material, dumbing it down whenever you looked up at him confused or when your eyebrows frowned a little too much. he also was so very patient, explaining the same things to you three different times as you had already forgotten what he said as soon as he moved on to another topic.

the dedication mark put into your academics was just too much for your heart to handle, you loved him so much and the fact he didn’t mind spending his evening studying with you instead of doing literally anything else warmed your heart. that’s why you didn’t have it in you to tell him you were getting gradually sleepier and were fighting your mind to stay awake because how could you when he looked so good concentrated trying to explain to you what you deem as the most incomprehensible subject ever.

“y/n? i feel like I’m losing your attention are you- oh.” mark says finally looking up from your study sheets seeing you asleep on your desk “pft, I didn’t know I was this boring damn” he laughs. since you were already in your pajamas and were in a position where the man could not carry you to bed he decided to gently shake you to wake you up “hm? I’m sorry I fell asleep markie, thank you for studying with me I love you. let me read the cards again to make sure I understand better” you say your voice a bit groggy “what? no go to sleep, nothing you read now will be effective just rest and sleep will take care of the memorizing for you” mark says preparing your bed for you “okay but only if you join me” you say already laying down under your covers “of course dude, let me put the things away and I’ll join you” mark says as he looks over to your half awake self that’s seemingly waiting for him

being in front of your final paper makes you realize even more how lucky you are to have mark in your life because you knew damn well that if the study session never happened you would have been shitting bricks internally crying over how much you don’t understand but now you got out of the final feeling confident you didn’t fail. you ran up to mark who was waiting for you to celebrate final period being over and he couldn’t help but mimic your immense grin as you told him how the final went better than what you had expected and thanked him for his help. He did refute by telling you it was all you and your mind but settled on taking a little bit of credit after you threatened him.

it was kinda crazy how mark made everything easy, every single thing without exception. looking at your boyfriend eating his meal you couldn’t help but smile thinking about how much you loved that man and how lucky you were to have him in your life.

[cherryblossompink303]

Patience: ~The Job of a highschool host~

➼ pairing: Kyoya Ootori x Reader ➼ summary: when the host club sets out to save the relationship between two students arranged to marry, you question whether or not there is hope for your own arrangement. ➼ what to expect: “Do you think that if there is hope for them there is hope for us?” ➼ warnings: none ➼ Part one | Part three

“Oh, yes. I almost forgot to mention to you ladies; next week, the Ouran Host Club is sponsoring a party."

Haruhi leaned over to you as you passed by the table that she was hosting "We're throwing a party?" you shrugged, this also being the first time hearing this, although will be questioning it afterwards.

As the current guests of the host club descend in questions and squeals at the idea of a host-club party Haruhi approaches the tiki bar where you and Kyoya are standing "The girls seem more worked up than usual" she comments, leaning against the bar.

Kyoya shrugs, not fully looking up from his clipboard "Showing some skin proves popular with the ladies" he comments flippantly, as if it were the most obvious thing on earth

Haruhi turns to you "Let me guess, you came up with the tropical paradise idea?" upon learning what your actual role entails within the host club, Haruhi has slowly started to catch on that you don't just sit around and enjoy coffee with Kyoya, despite the fact that it may look like that.

You semi-dramatically place an open palm on your chest in mock horror "Me? Never, I have no decision-making authority as a consultant, Tamaki makes all the decisions around here as president of the host club"

Slowly you drop your hand, smirking slightly "But I may or may not have left a few photo books of Bali and the Caribbean on his desk" In the corner of your eye you could have sworn you saw Kyoya smirk smugly but it must just be the heat of the host club that day.

Haruhi eventually returns to her duties as a host, sitting with the girls and drinking tea while they question why she is still in uniform. "She's doing well, don't you think?"

Kyoya finally glances up from his clipboard "She's a natural, from what I've found she had someone falling for her every month in middle school, so it makes sense that she has a natural charm here" you shouldn't be surprised that Kyoya has done a full background check on her, but you are mildly shocked on how he managed to get that information of all things.

Before you could comment you catch gaze of Kanako approaching Haruhi.

"Excuse me.”

Haruhi shakes herself away from her guests and turns to look up at the new guest, whose hands are politely folded in front of her as she gazes down at Haruhi expectantly.

“I hate to disturb, but I think it’s time for the hosts to switch clients.”

You look over to check the time on Kyoya's watch, it wasn't quite time, Haruhi still had five minutes left and not even another appointment.

“Oh, I’m sorry. You must be my next appointment. Miss… uh-”

“My name’s Kanako. Kanako Kasugazaki.” Kanako slots her finger under Haruhi’s chin and tilts her head upwards, catching everyone by surprise. “You’re even cuter than I expected. I’ve decided. From now on, you’re going to be my new favorite host, Haruhi.”

Oh Tamaki is going to be pissed.

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“I can’t take this anymore. Hey, Boss? Why don’t you eating that commoner’s ramen and come over here to help us with the party plans?” Hikaru suggests bluntly, getting tired of the slurping sounds coming from the corner of the host club as Tamaki sulks over his 'stolen' client.

“Does it really bother you that Princess Kasugaza has taken a liking to Haruhi?” Kaoru interjects.

“He shouldn’t be surprised, she’s had the illness for a while now, hasn’t she?” Kyoya chimes in, busy typing away at his laptop, pulling in the attention of Haruhi.

“What illness?” Haruhi voices her concern. You quickly intervene. “It’s not a real illness, Haruhi. It’s metaphorical.” you assure. She breathes out a sigh of relief.

“She’s got the host hopping disease.” Kaoru slides out from behind him, mirroring him. “A.K.A. the ‘never the same boy twice’ disease.” he clarifies.

Kyoya huffs a little as if it is a great inconvenience to explain“Usually our guests pick a favorite host and then see them regularly. However, Princess Kanako tends to change her favorites on a regular basis.”

“That’s right! Cause before she chose you, she was with Tama-chan!” Honey smiles widely. You nod shortly.

“Oh. So he’s upset because I took her from him?”

“SHUT UP! I COULDN’T CARE LESS!” Tamaki makes a sudden appearance, startling Honey. “Ugh! I’m running out of patience! Haruhi, it’s time you started dressing like a girl!” he pushes a very demanding finger in her face.

You sigh in the corner, pinching the bridge of your nose "Tamaki you can't just do that" You mutter but no one seems to take notice.

"I don’t understand how you could be so popular with the ladies when you yourself are a lady!” Tamaki fusses childishly. You sigh and begin to zone out on Kyoya’s laptop screen. “No one in the entire school knows the truth accept for those of us here!”

“Yeah, she opted out of taking gym classes.” Hikaru pipes in obnoxiously from Tamaki’s side, his left hand raised.“And the attendance numbers are all mixed up together so no one can tell.” Kaoru is stationed on the other side of Tamaki, his right hand raised.

Tamaki disappears and reappears within a second with a large chest. He throws it open and begins digging inside for something. “That’s enough, Haruhi, now you listen to Daddy!” He pulls out a large framed picture of Haruhi in middle school back before she had cut her hair.

“DADDY WANTS YOU TO GO BACK TO THE WAY YOU WERE!”

“DON’T GO BLOWING UP MY PHOTOS WITHOUT ASKING ME FIRST!” Haruhi retaliates angrily as she acknowledges the photo. "Where is everyone getting these photos from?" You muttered in what was meant to be a throwaway line but instead it earns a chuckle from Kyoya, he didn't say anything but it made the answer to your question glaringly obvious. You should have known.

Tamaki places the photo on the wall, sobbing before it like its an altar to be worshipped. The rest of the host club, you included, gather around the photo and stare at it in awe. “Wow, that doesn’t look like her at all. Haruhi, I like your long hair.” You lean forward to inspect it further.

“The more I look at this picture, the more amazed I am.” Kaoru comments, knowing it will get on Haruhi's nerves.

“How could this…” Kaoru continues, turning to Haruhi from her photo, “possibly become that?” He points to her in what you hoped was faux disgust.

“The day before school started, one of the kids in my neighborhood got some gum in my hair. It’s a real pain to get gum out of long hair, so I decided to cut it all off. I didn’t care if I looked like a dude, you know?” Haruhi shrugs it off.

“A girl should never refer to herself as a dude! MAMA! Haruhi’s using those dirty boy words again!” Tamaki wails pathetically. You let out a puff of air, exasperated.

“I’m sorry, but who is mama?” Kaoru turns to Kyoya with a bored expression. Kyoya sighs. “Well, based on gender I’m assuming it’s Y/N…” He groans. You choke on air at the assumption.

“Me? No Kyoya I think he's talking about you, if he's referring to himself as daddy" You watch as the colour drains from his face in realisation. “Look, I don’t see what you’re crying about. Working as a host, I can pay back more of my debt. It’ll never happen if I’m just an errand boy.”

"do you have formal dancing experience? You’ll need it at the party.” Hikaru attempts to distract from tamaki's sobs. Haruhi’s face goes blank at the question.

“Hah… no, but the part doesn’t have anything to do with my quota, right? I’m not interested in going to events so if I could be excused-” Haruhi’s nervous rambling is cut short by Tamaki, materializing out of thin air with an idea forming quickly.

“Definitely not. A refined gentleman must know how to dance. If you want to live the life of a host that badly, you’re going to have to show us how far you’re willing to go, Haruhi.”

Tamaki straightens and positions himself as if he were dancing with a partner. “I order you to master dancing the waltz in one week; And you will demonstrate it for us at the party~” Tamaki spins elegantly, and finishes with an accusing finger in Haruhi’s direction.

“Or I’ll tell the entire school that you’re a girl and knock you back down to errand boy!”

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You had zoned out on watching Kanako teach Haruhi to dance a while ago, fingers mindlessly tapping against the side of your tea cup. "What is it about this party anyway? Why did none of you tell me?" Kyoya shrugged, returning to scribbling whatever observations he was taking in that day "Must have slipped our minds, we don't need you there as a consultant but Tamaki wants you there as a guest"

"A guest? I'm not a client" Kyoya laughs a little under his breath "No, you are not, but he feels like it may be handy to have you there just in case anything happens" You supposed it made some sense, there always seemed to be something going on with the host club, although you weren't too sure whether or not it was Kyoya's wording but that logic seemed to be strangely unfit to come from Tamaki.

After a while Haruhi finally sat to have tea with Kanako“Thank you so much for allowing me to practice with you, I really appreciate it.” Haruhi beams gratefully.

“Oh, no problem. I heard that you’re not seeing any customers today so that you can practice dancing. I’m glad I got to spend this time alone with you.” Kanako places her chin delicately on her folded hands to stare at her.

“Oh, my. This is a new tea set, isn’t it? It’s Ginori…” Kanako lifts a tea cup to inspect it carefully as Kyoya is positioned near her.

“You have a keen eye, mademoiselle. In fact, we just received them yesterday.” Kyoya confirms.

“Y/N decided that it was about time for the club to upgrade it’s tea sets.” Kyoya adds further. You wave it off "You'll be surprised how big of an effect it has"

“I see. What a pretty color… lovely…” Kanako’s voice seems to fade as she speaks about the tea set. Her excitement is much less than it was a few seconds ago, though she still seems to be wearing a sad smile.

You did not get the chance to stop Haruhi from commenting“You must really be into tableware, huh?”

Kanako anxiously places the tea cup back down“Ah! Not really, I mean no of course I’m not! Whatever would give you that idea?”

You glance at Kyoya with concern, and he affirms your suspicions with the subtlest of nods.“Hello? I’m here with the new teacups your ordered!”

Kanako’s nervous fidgeting comes to a halt at the sound. She doesn’t dare turn to face the newcomer.

As you turn to see who it was you smile and approach him “Thank you very much.” You gently accept the box into your grasp and hoist it up so that you’re carrying it comfortably.

“Every item that you’ve chosen for us has been extremely popular with the ladies. I’m quite impressed.” Kyoya appears at your side.

“Well, that’s good to hear.” the boy smiles.

Haruhi abandons her place next to Kanako, who tries to pretend that she doesn't exist. “So, do you sell tea sets?”

“No, I’m just a regular student. Can’t you tell by the uniform?”

An anxious chuckle sounds from where Kanako is seated.

“Oh, Haruhi. You’re so funny.” Kanako’s laughing draws the attention of all of you.

She seems out of character, a certain haughtiness to her voice that confuses you. “I can’t blame you for not knowing, after all, he doesn’t really look like an heir to a first class company.”

The comment seemed to catch him off guard despite the fact that it was fairly common knowledge. “First class company?” Haruhi breaks the silence.

Kyoya begins his explanation. “His family business, the Suzushima Trading Company, deals with primarily in the importing of tableware. They currently have the top market share in the country.”

"He has a great eye for fine china, don’t you, Suzushima?” Kyoya finishes.

“You think? I’ve still got a lot to learn. But, thank you.” Shuzoshima blushes at the compliment.

“Aren’t you leaving next month to study abroad in England?” Kyoya bluntly inquires.“Kyoya.” You hiss in a hushed whisper. He pays you no mind.

You look over your shoulder to observe Kanako, her head hanging dismally as she listens to the discussion.

“Yes, I am. Well… I better go now.”

Kanako is seated oddly silent in her chair, unmoving as her hair moves to cover her face, still gripping the teacup with both hands.

“I get the feeling you and that guy are kinda close.” Haruhi arrives behind Kanako. You straighten and grip her arm tightly, a warning.

“Ah! Don’t be ridiculous! We hardly know each other! What makes you say that, Haruhi!?” kanakao frantically waves away the idea as if it were absurd.

She desperately stood from her seat in search of escape. “Now, if you’ll please excuse me… take care.” she scurries out the door without another word.

“Haru-chan!” Honey appears from thin air, jumping onto Haruhi's back“Guess what? They do know each other! Suzushima is Kasuga-chan’s fiancé!”

“Kyoya. How long have you known about this?” Tamaki asks as if its not known that Kyoya knows everything about everyone at this point.

“About the two of them being engaged? Well, as you know, I conduct general searches on all of our customers. The two of them were childhood friends, it seems that their engagement was arranged by their parents. I didn’t think the information would benefit us so I disregarded it.”

“I see.” Tamaki glares.

Kyoya broke out his notes of Suzushima which you attempt not to question why he just so happens to have them on him “Toru Suzushima. Outstanding grades, fair social status. He’s ordinary looking, but he’s reliable. If I had to fault him for anything-”

The twins appear over his shoulder “He doesn’t have much presence.” Hikaru interjects. “And he’s faint hearted.” Kaoru adds.

“In other words, he’s painfully boring.” Kyoya claps the book closed.

Honey sits with his legs wrapped around Mori’s neck atop his shoulders. “Suzushima’s a good boy, right?” he asks, Mori responding with a blank 'yes'

“Alright, everyone. We’ll have to work on our strategy.” Tamaki announces.

“Which one?” The entire host club choruses.

“Men, it is our responsibility, as members of the elite Ouran Host Club, to make every girl happy!”

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You quickly found yourself as a wallflower at the party, not wanting to take any attention away from the actual clients. You hadn't worn this dress in a while, you weren't even sure it fit you right.

Kyoya slowly wandered over to you "Tamaki has a plan." You already know what he actually meant: Tamaki has a plan and it requires you to do something that you're not going to like. You look up to him in question, silently prompting him to go on."It's better if you just come with me"

You nodded, knowing by now that you probably weren't going to get an answer anyway. However what you didn't know was that the Hitachiin twins was in the room next-door with an entire makeover kit.

You can't even get a word in before the twins pounce on you, attempting to make you unrecognisable "Agh! Why are we doing this!?"

"In order to push the two of them together we need something drastic to happen, Suzushima needs to realise that he doesn't want to be with anyone if it's not Kanako" Hikaru explains matter of factly while Kaoru fits you with a wig "Surely this isn't going to work, I've met the guy so many times, he'll know it's me!"

"We are hoping that he'll have too much on his mind to notice"

The next thing you knew you were in an admittedly better-fitting dress and a wig that is making you consider the possibility of dying your hair. "Well you certainly look different" Kyoya spoke up, looking upon you with a look you can't exactly place but it was almost one of unsettle.

"I must admit, if nothing else the twins have an eye for fashion, I prefer this dress much more" you shrugs, Kyoya's brow lifts slightly "Really? I preferred the other one, purple suits you" It was not often that Kyoya paid anyone compliments, let alone one of aesthetics, not unless it puts money in his pocket. "...thank you?"

Kyoya didn't let the moment carry on for much longer, informing you that Suzushima is in the classroom opposite them.

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"You're the one who wrote this letter? You're totally different than what I imagined" on one hand a sense of relief washed over you upon finding that he did not recognise you, it was quicky replaced by the fear of what on earth the boys think a love letter from a teenage girl sounds like.

As Suzushima passes over the letter your fears are realised and you become extremely glad that they had disguised you for this.

"Excuse me. Have we met somewhere before?" Shoot he's catching on "No! No of course not, I think this is the first time we've ever spoke" you frantically waved your arms in dismissal.

"I'm sorry, I'm flattered by your letter but I'm afraid I don't feel the same way. You see, another girl already has my heart"

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know you had a girlfriend" Suzushima stares out the window "Unfortunately she's not my girlfriend, in fact I think she's completely over me. In full honesty, she'd be happier with someone more self-confident than me"

"That's why I decided I need to change. I want to see the world, and hopefully, become a better man. I know it's selfish, but I wonder if she'll wait for me"

You didn't know what to say, you couldn't help but feel a degree of envy, you knew that the difference between your engagement and theirs was that they were in love. But the effort and lengths the two of them were going to for the hope of making their engagement work was enviable.

But if there was something you knew well, it was that arranged marriages take time, and patience.

"I don't know, but she might wait, but you need to give her some hope that there is something that she is waiting for. You'll never know if you don't tell her how you feel."

Before you knew it Kanako was stood in the open doorway, Suzushima chasing after her.

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As the couple waltzed as the final dance of the night you leant against the wall of the patio overlooking the school gardens. You barely noticed Kyoya approach you, his footsteps near silent. "Their situation is not dissimilar to ours you know"

He joined you in leaning against the wall next to you, also watching he dance. "Well, they met a lot younger than we did" you noted, knowing that apparently the two of them had known each other since childhood. He hums in agreement "that's true"

"Unless this is the moment you're choosing to confess your love to me Kyoya" you shot him a sly smirk, knowing that Kyoya was not that type of romantic. He hummed out a laugh "You know what I mean"

"I do" you pause for a moment, watching the final moments of the dance "...Kyoya?" he adverted his gaze from the gardens below to you "Do you think if there is hope for them there is hope for us?"

His eyebrows raised in shock, not expecting you to be so forward. "Are you confessing your love for me now?" you laugh, shaking your head "No, but I mean... I think that neither of us would take offence to saying that we are not close, we don't know how to talk to each other unless its about business. So far that's been fine, but after we graduate we won't have the host club in common anymore"

Kyoya didn't know how to react, the concept of an arranged marriage leading to friendship or even love was somewhat foreign to him, he didn't even know that you had felt that way. But maybe that could change.

"I think there could be hope"

Next time on patience 'Beware the physical exam!'

Tag list (reply to be added): @skottch @cgmajor

[sakanayasan414]

Interesting facts/possible mistranslation in Japanese translation of Sherlock Holmes

I thought people might be thinking I started my Sherlock Holmes journey by bbc or s&co and while there’s nothing wrong with that, I wanted to clarify that I’ve been Sherlokian since my mom bought me the adventure of Sherlock Holmes in 1st grade and I love the canon the most. Though I don’t really read it in Japanese anymore, I wanted to show my love for the translators and just everyone who made it possible for me to enjoy SH without having to learn English as a child.

Names Changes - The name Sherlock Holmes and John Watson once got translated/adapted to 小室泰六 (Komuro Tairoku) and 和田進一 (Wada Shinichi) because people in Japan at that time weren’t familiar with European names. I find this really fun and actually impressive because the names do fit their criteria; Komuro has that royal feel Holmes has and Shinichi is just one of the most common name in Japan like John.

First person pronouns - In Japanese there are many first person pronouns (I, my, me) to the point linguists don’t even know how many there are but main one being 俺 (ore) and 僕 (boku) for men and 私 (watashi) for women and men in formal occasions. So, deciding which first person pronouns characters use is one of the first yet important part of translation. Holmes in most translations use boku which is typical but has that upper class atmosphere when used by an adult which I think fits his personality and background. But one of the translations I read used watashi when he’s talking about his deduction and I feel like it shows how serious he takes his cases as it is almost solely used by men in professional settings. And also it sort of distances the speaker from the rest, meaning he is in his own world when deducing but he’s willing to interact with others when not in case.

Surname? First name? - in most translations, Holmes and Watson call each other by their surnames like in ACD writing but in one of the translations I’ve read put 君 (kun) after their surnames. It is used to show politeness but also affection in old times. I personally love this addition because calling each other by their surnames in Japanese don’t feel the same as it does in English. It feels too distant, not in Victorian men in way but just plain strangers feel. But then First names are too intimate so putting kun just feels right.

The speckled band - ACD played with a word band in this story but in Japanese it is straight up impossible to do so because we don’t have a word like that so what do they do? As shown below, they put extra words on top of words. (Characters on top (バンド) literally reads bando meaning band and characters below (紐 and 群) mean a string and a group so they both mean band) It is commonly done in literature to either suggest double meaning or just an indication of how to read certain Chinese characters because the characters on top are phonogram unlike Chinese characters. Having three alphabets in one language enables us to have that double meaning in other languages.

Possible misinterpretation of the situation - In “A Case of Identity”, Holmes expresses a deep angst towards Windibank by saying “But between ourselves, Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a petty way as ever came before me.” Up until this point, Holmes called him Mr Windibank but he drops the Mr. However, for some reason some translations keep the Japanese equivalent of Mr (さん) , but then he takes out his whip after this conversation. I just don’t think it was a civil conversation that Japanese translators wanted to write as. I think Japanese translators just wanted to write Holmes as an always-calm-man but he is a passionate man when he needs to be.

Possible Mistranslation - From “A Scandal in Bohemia”, Watson talks about what the woman is to Holmes by writing “In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex.” In rather recently published translation, it gets translated to something like “From Holmes’ perspective, she surpasses all other women and makes their presence fade into the background.” Which i don’t think accurately expresses his view on her and women in general. But this might differ from other people’s opinions.

As time passes and many variations get published, translation gets more natural but sometimes they lose the atmosphere of the canon. So I love going back to reading all the versions I can read.

Hope you enjoyed this post! I have A LOT like this in my draft because I’m a language nerd in STEM that can’t find anyone to talk about this with. Also please let me know if you know any fun facts from your language’s translation:)

[carlottawllms]

Author’s note: After my mini-series "Memory Loss", this is my first real and detailed series and I really hope you like it as much as I do! Huge thank you to @mountttmase for being my biggest supporter and motivating me to keep going when I was too disheartened. Without you, this series would never have been published. Thank you!

Also for this series pls keep the following in mind: Mason is his current age, but contrary to reality, he’s been playing for United for years.

As always, feedback is very much appreciated. And now, enjoy! 🩷

-

When you’d gotten ready for work and made your way to Carrington, you’d hoped for a calm start into the new week. But you probably should’ve known that the chances of that happening were practically non-existent. There were no calm days at Manchester United; there was never a day without bad news coming your way and as one of the club’s PR managers, you could count the number of calm days in a year on one hand and then again, they usually only ever happened during your summer holidays.

But that today’s news would cause more than the typical chaos and would instead throw your whole life into disarray certainly hadn’t been on your bingo card for the week…

You’d just got out of the car and were on your way to the main entrance when you were met with the last person you’d expected to see here: Mae.

A former good friend of yours and Mason's ex. He and you had been best friends pretty much since he started at United and you’d introduced them to each other - not quite intentionally, but it had happened.

Mason and Mae had hit it off pretty well right away. So well, in fact, that they'd been together for about three years until he’d called it quits about a year ago. Albeit unplanned, they also had an adorable 2-year-old daughter together, the one you recognised in the background, holding on tightly to your best friend’s hand.

What was going on?

“Morning.”, you smiled. “You’re alright?”

“Yeah, perfect actually.”, she nodded, a disturbing bright smile on her face. “Mase might need your help from now on though. Have a good one, y/n.”

“What- Mae, I-“ You didn’t even have the time to question anything as she simply brushed past you and jogged to her car, not sparing anyone another glance.

“Well, that was weird.”, you mumbled under your breath, making your way over to the entrance where Mase, Ellie and Luke were still rooted to the spot.

Mae and your best friend shared custody of Ellie. As Mason was often travelling due to training camps and away games, he didn't have set days when he saw Ellie, but always gave Mae his days off a few weeks in advance so she could adjust. And it had actually worked pretty well so far...

Until your strange conversation with her just now, you’d thought that maybe she had an emergency or had to work spontaneously but judging by her good mood and Mason's completely horrified expression, neither was the case.

“I didn’t think I’d get to see you this early. Good morning munchkin.” You squatted down to Ellie’s height with a bright smile on your face. Whatever was happening, she didn’t need to know just how worried you were and when you opened your arms, she fell straight into them.

“Look, auntie y/n.”, she said excitedly, nearly smashing the fluffy elephant she was holding into your face.

“If that isn’t the cutest little elephant I’ve ever seen. Does it have a name?”

Ellie nodded rapidly at that. “Noodle.” Her wide grin told you everything about proud she was of that name and although it was a rather odd one and made you want to laugh, you simply poked her little button nose.

“What a special name you’ve chosen there, princess. Well done.” With a kiss to her head, you stood back up, searching for Mason’s eyes immediately, but he still looked as shocked as before.

“What’s going on Mase?”, you asked, voice low to prevent the little one from listening in. “Why’s she here and why was Mae so weird?”

When Mason didn’t answer, Luke thankfully stepped in. “I haven’t caught everything, but she basically came here, dropped Ellie and the bag off and then told Mase in brief that she’d signed over full custody to him because she no longer wants to restrict herself. She talked something about leaving England and going to Dubai, but she didn't finish, so I’m not entirely sure. Mase tried to talk to her, but she just said there was nothing to discuss and that he could take responsibility now after the two years she’s had her. Said he’d made enough money in his career to be able to retire early and take care of his kid. Well and then she was gone. I tried running after her but…”

Your heart had dropped further into your stomach the more he’d said and once he was done, you were ready to throw up. It wasn't so much the fact that she left Mason alone with everything that was hurting you, but that she had the heart to leave her sweet little daughter behind like that; to break her heart and abandon her as if she didn’t mean anything.

Ellie was only your goddaughter, but you’d do literally everything for her. What kind of mother was cruel enough to leave her own child behind?

“Oh my god.”, you whispered, your gaze dropping down to that innocent little girl who probably had no idea what had just happened. The thought that in the years to come, when she’d have a better understanding of everything, she might come to the conclusion that it was her fault that her mother left her; that she wasn't enough, broke your heart. “Mase, I’m so sorry.”

You wrapped him into a hug, holding him as tightly as possible and when he eventually wrapped his free arm around you and hid his face in the crook of your neck, your heart broke all over again. He probably hadn’t really registered the extent of it all yet, but you could already tell how fragile and scared he was. His heart was beating way too quickly in his chest, his breathing irregular and once he’d calmed down and pulled away, the mist of tears and panic were easily recognisable in his big brown eyes.

“It’ll be okay.”, you whispered. “I’m here, I’ve got you both.”

After kissing his temple, you turned to Luke. “Take care of him at training, okay? Make sure he’s alright and not spiralling. I’ll take care of the rest.”

You kneeled back down in front of Ellie. The little girl had clutched her plush toy to her chest, hand still having a tight grip on her father’s fingers. “How about you and Noodle spend the day with auntie y/n, hm?”, you asked, tickling her sides a little. “I’ll show you my office and then we’ll go and gave a girl’s day. How does that sound, hm?”

The smile, that resembled her father’s so much, appeared on her lips. “Wif ice cweam?”

“Well, of course.”, you laughed. “It’s not a girl’s day without ice cream, munchkin.” You hoisted her up in your arms and as she was comfortable enough around you, she immediately sank into your body, arms wrapping around your neck, with the elephant still in her small hands.

“You finish at three?”

“Yeah, but I can-“

“No, no you can’t.”, you interrupted him, knowing that he wanted to propose calling it a day earlier. “You have an important game on Saturday, and I know what happened is major, but Mase, this little one here wouldn’t want you skipping training sessions or games, alright? Ellie and I will have a perfect day, you’ll get your pretty little bum out on the pitch and I’ll be back at 3.”

Your comment about his bum had actually brought up a tiny smile on his face and eventually he sighed and nodded. “Fine, but you can call me if som-“

“You do realise I’ve done this a lot, don’t you?”, you laughed. “Luke, just take him inside please. See you at three, Mase. Say bye to daddy, Ellie.”

“Bye daddy.” The little girl reached out and wrapped her arms around Mason’s neck in a mini hug and when he squeezed her tightly and made her giggle, your heart leaped in your chest.

In the beginning, right after he’d told you they were expecting, you’d had your problems with imagining Mason as a dad. Not because you’d questioned his abilities or whether he was meant to be a dad because the way he was with his niece just showcased how perfect of a dad he’d be, but back then he’d still been so young and a kid himself sometimes and you’d worried that they both had underestimated the responsibilities a child brought.

But against your worries, he’d been the perfect dad from the very first second on and whenever you saw him with Ellie, you couldn’t help but swoon over him and his interactions with his daughter.

After speaking to your boss and explaining the situation without giving too much detail as it wasn’t on you to decide how much Mason wanted to share about this topic, you took the day off and quickly drove towards one of your favourite breakfast spots as Ellie had negated having had breakfast already.

The little girl insisted on sitting in your lap whilst eating her yogurt and as she usually was quite the independent young lady and very much into doing things herself, it made you wonder if she’d understood more of what had happened than you’d thought.

Throughout the whole day, she seemed a little clingy; always either holding onto your hand tightly or wanting to be carried and everything about it pulled at every single one of your heartstrings. She was only a 2-year-old little girl; she should be carefree, laughing and enjoying life because it was still easy, but instead she was holding onto what she had left.

“Oh!”, Ellie suddenly exclaimed, pulling you from your deep thoughts. “Bwaseles.”

For a second you were confused what she was talking about, but when she eventually pointed at the little shop not too far from you, you realised the was talking about the woven bracelets they had.

“Do you want one?”, you asked, walking over to the shop with her on your hip. “Which colour do you like?”

Ellie took a moment to look at all the colours before she made grabby hands at the pink one. “This one, yeah? Should auntie y/n get one too?”

“Pink!”, she nodded and as smiled at you like that, you couldn’t help but stare at her little face for a moment. She was a carbon copy of Mason, had always been and would always be. There was not a trace of Mae and whilst at first, you’d felt a bit sorry for her as she’d carried her for 9 months only for her to look exactly like Mason, now you were glad she did.

She had the same features, big chocolate brown eyes, dimples when she smiled, and her tiny cheeks were littered with freckles. Her hair the same colour as his and she also scrunched up her nose adorably when she didn’t like something.

She was a mini-Mason; visually as well as in character.

“Oh, so we’re matching? I love that.”, you grinned excitedly before kissing her chubby cheek, making her giggle. “We could get daddy one too, you know? You can give it to him when we pick him up.”

After paying for three pink bracelets – the shop owner was kind enough to tie them around Ellie’s and your wrists – you made your way back to Carrington. It was shortly before three when you parked the car and lifted Ellie out of the child’s car seat you’d got fitted for her just recently.

She clung to your neck as you tried to set her down, so you kept her up and walked over to the main entrance with the little girl on your hip.

Mason was in deep conversation with Erik as you entered the building, probably filling him in on what had happened this morning as the expression on the manager’s face seemed concerned, but it wasn’t long until he spotted you and his player’s daughter. He waved you over with a smile and once you reached them, Erik gently tickled Ellie’s side.

“Hello you.” His smile turned into a laugh rather quickly as Ellie reached for his head, evidently surprised that there was no hair. The confused look on her face was way too adorable for her own good.

“Hi baby. Did you have a nice day with auntie y/n?”, Mason kissed her cheek as he took her from you and the little girl was quick in nodding. “Bwaseles.”

Your best friend furrowed his brows. “Brasles?”, he repeated and to you it sounded pretty much the same, but Ellie frowned and shook her head no.

“Bwaseles!”, she said again, this time a bit more determined, but as you could still see the confusion in Mason’s face, you decided to put him out of his misery.

“We’ve got matching bracelets.”, you explained, holding out your hand for him to see and Ellie, wanting to do the same, nearly smacked her dad in the eye. “And we got one for you too.”

“Yes daddy!” Ellie fidgeted in Mason’s hold as you pulled the bracelet out of your pocket. You could see in his eyes that he’d been hoping for a different colour, but as it came from his daughter he wouldn’t dare to complain.

Shifting Ellie a little so he could hold her with only one arm, he held the free one out and watched your slim fingers tightening it around his wrist and when Ellie beamed at him, he couldn’t help but smile brightly himself.

That little human in his arms was the most important person in his life, closely followed by the rest of his family – which included you.

Once Mason had grabbed his things, you walked to the carpark together. “I have a couple of things I need to do, but I’ll come over after, okay?”

“y/n, you don’t have to. I don’t want to be a burden an-“

“You could never be a burden, Mase.”, you smiled. “Either of you. It’s okay if you don’t want me to, then I’ll just go home, but I assume you’ve got some things you want to talk about, hm?”

Mason searched your eyes for a moment, unsure if he wanted to take up on your offer. What had happened to him meant a lot of baggage and he didn’t want you to suffer from it too, but he knew he couldn’t do this alone.

“Yeah, I think that would be nice.”, he sighed. “We can order something for dinner then.”

You said your goodbyes not too long after that and whilst Mason went home with Ellie, you got started on your little plan.

Obviously, Mason had the most important things at home. The nursery was equipped with everything a 2-year-old would need, but you knew that everything else, such as food, snacks and drinks, he hadn’t stocked up enough for even the week as normally she didn’t stay over on such short notice and especially not for such a long time.

And as you didn’t want him to have to go through the faff of getting all the stuff after exhausting training sessions, you’d decided to use the rest of your day off for helping him out. You’d spent enough time with him and Ellie to know what she liked so it was an easy thing to get done.

After a quick stop at your flat for a shower and a change of clothes, you arrived at Mason’s at around 5.

“Come on in.”, he smiled once he’d opened the door. “What’s all that you’ve got there?”

“Well, everything about today was very short notice and I assumed you weren’t properly prepared, so I went to the stores and got you the most important things.”, you explained, your cheeks blushing as you only now noticed how slightly invasive that sounded. Maybe he’d wanted to do it himself? You quickly brought the two bags inside so he could close the front door. “You should get through the week without having to get new stuff. I just thought it would make things easier for you, you know?”

Mason simply stared at you, lips slightly parted and eyes wide. He was overwhelmed, positively so, and when the tears welled up in his eyes, he pulled you into his chest. Arms wrapping tightly around your waist as he pressed his face into the crook of your neck, trying to will the tears to stay inside, but it was to no avail.

“Oh Mase.”, you sighed, your heart feeling heavy in your chest. “I’m so sorry. I’m here whatever you need.”

You kissed the side of his head whilst holding him as tightly as he was holding you. It was obvious how much he’d needed this hug and when you felt his hot tears on your skin, you started running your hand up and down his spine, whilst the other gently scratched the back of his head.  

It was the sound of Ellie’s voice that had you pulling away eventually. You gently wiped the tears off his reddened cheeks, thumbs brushing right beneath his eyes.

“Daddy?”

“Coming, princess.”, he called, gratefully taking the new colouring-in book you held out for him. “I’ll get her to play in her room for a bit. Be right back.”

Whilst he was sorting his daughter, you put the groceries and kid’s supplies you’d bought away and put the kettle on and before you knew it, Mason was back downstairs.

“C’mon, sit down.”, you nodded towards the kitchen table and once you sat opposite him, you locked your eyes on his. “How do you feel, Mase?”

“Lost.”, he admitted quietly. “I don’t know…before today everything seemed to be okay. She’s never said anything before and especially not that she doesn’t want Ellie around anymore. Whenever she came to pick her up she seemed happy to have her back and then today, she bulldozed in, dropped the bag to the ground, handed me Ellie who looked frightened as fuck and just told me that she doesn’t want her anymore. She had the decency to talk quietly so Ellie didn’t have to hear everything, but y/n, the way she talked it sounded as if our daughter was some sort of toy you could just give away once you were done playing with it. She literally said she’s had her for long enough and that now it’s my turn to take care of her. I just…this is all just so fucked up.”

When his eyes filled with tears again you weren’t sure if it was tears of sadness or pure frustration. Maybe it was both, but either way, it hurt you to see him like this. Carefully observing his reaction, you reached for his hand and squeezed it in sympathy and when Mason didn’t pull away, but instead wrapped his fingers around yours, you sent him a soft smile.

“I’m so sorry, Mase. I don’t understand her either and I know it’s difficult right now, but what’s your plan?”

“I don’t have one, y/n.”, he sighed helplessly. “I don’t know what to do. I’m away a lot, you know that. I have training til three, games and away games. Erik said I can take off a week to figure everything out and he’d still play me that weekend, but obviously when I stay away for longer, he’d have to bench me. I feel like I’ve been put in a position where no matter which decision I make, it’s the wrong one. But then again, I don’t really have a choice. Until I’ve found a nanny or something, I’ll have to stay home, I just…I don’t have a plan.”

You hated seeing him so down and distraught. He was this happy person who’d climbed every mountain, no matter how high, with a smile on his face so far but right now he looked as if he’d reached one that was too high to conquer.

“I do though, Mase. I have a plan, but I don’t want to overstep, okay?”, you started, squeezing his hand and when he nodded, you continued.

It was an idea that had spontaneously popped into your head in the car earlier. It was completely crazy and when you’d briefly called your best friend Kay during your mini-stop at home and asked her for her opinion, she’d openly doubted your sanity for a second.

But you didn’t care.

“What Ellie needs now is stability and a structured day. I still have about three weeks of annual leave, and I could take at least two weeks any time now, meaning you’d get one week with her so she can start to feel comfortable and at home and when you get back, I’ll be here. I would talk to Elizabeth if it’s possible for me to work part-time and from home and since it’s only for about a year until Ellie can join nursery school, it wouldn’t be forever. This way you wouldn’t have to go through the faff of finding a nanny you trust and put Ellie through getting to know a new person.”

Mason was quiet for a moment before he shook his head. “No, I can’t ask that of you, y/n.”

“You’re not asking, Mase. I’m offering.”, you smiled, giving his hand another gentle squeeze. You knew it sounded absolutely crazy, but you meant it.

“But…she’s not your daughter, you shouldn’t have to…and I just…I can ask my mum and-“

“Mase, hey, I just want her to be okay. If you rather your mum do it, then I’m okay with that, told you, you can totally say no. I was just thinking that she’d have to permanently move here and her life is down in Portsmouth. No matter the decision, Mase, you know they’ll come up here often anyway.”

You could see the cogs turning in his head, trying to figure out what was best, and you gave him the time he needed. It was a big decision and one that he had to feel comfortable with.

“We could make a trial run, if you like.”, you added softly. “You know, see what it’s like those two weeks with me and if you want your mum to take over, you can still get her up here.” 

“You would do that?”, he asked quietly, not believing you’d give up a huge chunk of your life for a child that wasn’t yours. “You would actually do that? Take two weeks and then work from home? Part-time? y/n, that’s a huge thing and I don’t want you to abandon your own life for a girl that’s not even yours.”

“I love her, Mase. She’s not my actual daughter, I know that, but I’m her godmother and I love her and want her to be okay. I would do everything for her and for you, too, so unless you don’t want me to, I would love to step up and do this for you both.”

[joeybrr9]

Part 2 - Puppy Love

Summary: Aurora is busy with interviews when everything goes south

Warnings: None <3

a/n: How are we feeling about this story guys? Thank you for all the love!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Here’s the thing Aurora, we need to get these music videos filmed for your new album and you aren’t answering our calls. This is the first time I’ve seen you in three weeks because you always tell me you’re busy ‘house shopping’ or some bullshit excuse. It’s time to get shit done.” Mark Fuego, one of music's biggests managers, who also happens to be Aurora’s manager, hadn’t stopped barking orders at her since he showed up at her place 10 minutes ago. 

“Next week we are planning to film the music video for “Espresso,” no more fucking house shopping to avoid me, be there. Then you have four interviews lined up: one with Vogue, then a Q and A with GQ, then a puppy interview, and then a google Aurora Prince interview. All of them will take place in L.A. so also, no avoiding me. Then the week after that Vogue would like to know if you would do a fitting for them.” Mark hadn’t mentioned anything about a fitting for Vogue, Aurora was used to the regular interviews, but a fitting was unusual. 

“Soooo, what’s this fitting you’ve been holding out on me?” Aurora’s smirk deepend as she doom scrolled on Instagram, avoiding eye contact with Mark. She heard Mark stand from his normal stressed position. Crouched on her letcher chair, occasionally sitting up straight to give his back a break from the stressful position. 

“I’m not promising you anything right now, but Vogue has a huge show coming up in France. They reached out to me a little while ago asking if you would want to be fitted for some outfits.” Mark knew this was a huge dream for Aurora. Walking in a Vogue fashion show, let alone in France. She wouldn’t pass this opportunity up for anything. “You winning Album of the Year last year really made them want you apparently. They haven’t seen how annoying you are.”

“Pretty sure I’m the one that pays the bills for that million dollar house you just bought Mark.” Aurora considered Mark to be one of her closest friends but also the one person who could keep her grounded. He was actually the person that was encouraging her to move out of L.A. the most. “You know, the house shopping that you despise so much is going great. Just so you know.”

“Let me hear it, where are you thinking?” Mark had moved from his leather chair to the same couch Aurora was sitting on. Chicago P.D. was playing quietly in the background. “Better not be too far from here. You know how I feel about flying.”

“Don’t freak out, but I’m really loving Chicago right now. I looked at a place a couple weeks ago and I can’t get the city out of my mind. It’s beautiful and absolutely nothing like here. I also flew to Cincinnati while I was there. Its night life is amazing. I can’t ignore that. Oh my gosh, Boston. I loved it there too. I would say those are my top three right now. They just, I-I-I don’t know. It feels like a fresh start.” Aurora couldn't help but feel giddy when she thought about leaving her Los Angeles life behind and starting new.

“You have to do what you think is right, and if the midwest or east coast lifestyle is treating you right, then fuck it. Move there. I’ll sell this house and be right behind you.” Aurora leaned over to engulf Mark in a hug. “I know I give you a lot of shit, but I’d do anything for you. I hope you realize that. Even if it means giving up my million dollar home.”

“I love you Marky” The blonde girl couldn’t help but laugh.

~~~

“Okay, I think we have everything we need, Aurora. Thank you so much for spending time with GQ!” The direction smiled brightly at her as she started to take down the stage lights. Aurora hopped off her chair only to be met with Mark.

“Alright, we need to head over to your puppy interview now. Your stylist has something for you to wear. Not sure what you wear to get peed on by a bunch of puppies but she said she had a whole outfit planned.” Aurora ended up wearing a pair of black jeans with birkenstock clogs and a deep red top. About two hours later she arrived at the Buzzfeed interview headquarters to meet all the puppies.

“Hi, I’m Angie. The interview will only last around fifteen minutes. We will ask you questions from behind the camera and while you answer just play with the puppies. All of them need to be adopted so it’s a good cause.” Angie didn’t stick around long enough to ask anymore questions. Aurora took a seat on the floor, awaiting her 10 little visitors. 

“Oh my gosh, you guys are so cute.” Aurora instantly picked up a little black lab named Snickers.

“Alright, do you have any pre-performance rituals?”

“Uhhhh, I wouldn’t say I do. Snickers, bud, you gotta chill out. Actually, now that I think of it, we did have one on the Midnights tour. Before every show we would take a shot before I went out. Not a good habit.” Snickers had become extremely squirmy in Aurora’s arms so she switched him out for a corgi named Basset. 

“What is your favorite food to eat on the road?”

“Hands down, McDonalds. Sorry, I know that’s such a bad answer. Those chicken nuggets are my weakness. With a diet coke. Oh my gosh. I definitely could eat that everyday.”

“What is your favorite song to perform?”

“Uhhhhhhh, this is actually such a hard question to answer.” Aurora actually hated this question. She never knew what to say. “Karma is so fun. Like, let's be honest. Everyone is dancing in the crowd. I also really love performing Feather. The choreography is just so much fun and all my dancers get involved. Honestly, I want to perform every song.” This back and forth questioning went on for a while until Angie warned Aurora this was the last two questions.

“Alright, what is your go to show right now?”

“This is so easy. Chicago PD. I don’t even have to think about it. I’ve been watching that show since season 1, no matter what I’m doing I will have time for Chicago PD on Thursday nights.” Aurora let out a deep laugh because she knew everything she was saying was true. She would leave parties early to go home and watch her comfort shows and eat junk food.

“This is the question everyone has been dying to know about Aurora.”

“Oh gosh, I’m nervous now.” 

“Who is your celebrity crush?”

“I-I uhhhhh, oh, ummm. I don’t know.” Aurora wasn’t big on sharing her ‘crushes’ online because everyone always had an opinion. Even if it was just for an interview. “I don’t know if you would say he’s a celebrity, but he’s in the NFL. I do love seeing Joe Burrow on my TV.” Everyone behind the cameras started laughing, making Aurora break into a cheesy grin.

“He definitely is easy on the eyes. Thank you Aurora Prince for joining Buzzfeed today. Go shoot your shot with Joe Burrow.” Angie started to coral the puppies and bring them to a back room.

“You know that’s gonna go viral on social media. Everyone is gonna love that you ‘adore’ Burrow.” Mark grabbed Aurora by the arm guiding her through the building, probably to her next interview. 

“They set me up. I mean I wasn’t lying. Ask anyone, he’s a good looking guy. You think I cheer for the Bengals because I like orange?” Aurora had been to a couple Bengal games but never gotten the chance to meet Joe. Ja’Marr and Tee had reached out and wanted to meet her but she figured Joe was a busy man.

“Okay, you have three hours before the Google Aurora interview. We are gonna grab something to eat and then get you changed. What do you want?”

“McDonalds. Obviously!”

~~~

Aurora was midway through her last interview of the day with WIRED. She was revealing all sorts of basic questions. Who is Aurora Prince, What does Aurora Prince do, blah blah blah. Honestly, she was getting bored. This wasn’t something she liked to do, sit around and talk about herself all day. 

“Okay Aurora, we have one more board for you to do and then we will let you go.” Some guy named Tony was running this interview.

“Alright, what does Aurora Prince weigh? Oh my gosh. Okay. People really want to know everything about me now. Honestly guys, I don’t know. What I care about is if I can get through a two hour set list without being tired.” What a rude fucking question to ask. “Okayyyyy, who is Aurora Prince’s brother? I actually don’t have any siblings. Only child right here. I had the best childhood growing up. I never had to share anything with anyone. What is Aurora Prince’s favorite color? Pink, pink, pink, and pink. I love everything about the color pink. It’s such a beautiful color. Real guys wear pink.” Everyone behind the camera broke out laughing along with Aurora.

“Alright guys, last question for you. Are Aurora Prince and Joe Burrow dating? What, no. No way this was one of the most Googled things about me.” Aurora looked around the room catching Mike's eyes. He just shrugged his shoulders, there was nothing they could do about the question now. “You guys move quickly. No, me and Joe are not dating. Matter of fact he’s too busy for me. I’ve been to a couple of Bengals games and I haven’t gotten the chance to meet him. So no, me and Joey B are not dating. He’s still up for grabs ladies, I’m not stealing your man.”

“We did notice you follow him on Instagram. Does he follow you back?” This Tony guy was really pushing Aurora's buttons. This interview was gonna create a false narrative.

“Uhhh, I don’t know. I can check.” She pulled out her phone, even though Aurora knew the answer. Joe didn’t follow her. “Nope, I’m just a fan guys.” 

“Thank you Aurora for your time today.” Aurora grimaced as soon as the cameras turned off. She prayed Joe would never see this interview.

“Mike, he can never see that. Please” Aurora couldn’t let her ego take a hit like that. It wasn’t like she was pining over Joe Burrow but a man that looks like a Greek God can’t see something that embarrassing. 

“Sorry sister, it’s out of my hands.”

Aurora_Prince  kiss me thru the phone.

Liked by joeyb_9, taylorswift, andreiiosivas, and 2.8M

taylorswift - that's that me  ☕️

roraLova27 - you're actually my queen

lahjay10_ - When you pulling up to a game

RoraPrince - @lahjay10 pulling up rn

sydney_sweeney - loml bb

PrincsessRory - Most beautiful girl. Plz more music

BurrowBengal - Aurora and Joe?

joeyb_9 started following you

[puckpocketed]

who is #43?

Hello !! First off thank u for visiting. If you clicked read more by accident rip sorry it’s a lot of text. ENJOY!!! <3

1. This was the photo reference I used. I really did mean it when i said he photographs well!! I really like how scrungly he looks at times lol. v paintable

2. here’s a timelapse for your viewing pleasure in video + gif form <3

3. Process breakdown below. I am not formally trained, so don’t take any of this as professional advice!! The way i paint has been compared to channeling some evil contract with a demon also. So um . Im saying that i dont remotely think that this is efficient or correct, its just whats comfortable for me <3

3a) the dreaded lining phase. I have 2 modes of operation when it comes to painting - either i go full-dick with fancy inking/sketching + cel shading (rare, unrefined, haven’t figured out a nice workflow yet) OR i do a very very basic chicken scratch set of lines like so:

It’s less about being realistic here and more about laying down some guide lines for the chaos ahead. If i thought i could get away with it, I would start every rendered painting i do with laying down colours — but unfortchh ive tried that before and it usually ends in really weird proportions. Even with the lines i still need to make adjustments. This is something no people except me would notice but look at the above sketch; the eyes are too big and slightly too far apart, the forehead is too small and thus the hair is also not quite big enough… I have a bad habit of drawing eyes too big on faces, they’re my favourite facial feature to draw.. i barely resisted giving him big cow eyelashes (I love big cow eyelashes… all of my OC’s and most of my more stylised fan art of characters get big cow eyelashes… god…. Big cow eyelashes SAVE ME……….)

Anyway. Structure of the face + hand somewhat established. <3

3b) Underpainting!! Okay stay with me here . Ever since i figured out i dont have to paint in 03925893853 different layers, I’ve joyfully painted on 1 layer as much as possible. I dont have the brain power all the time to be managing layers so I simply dont work with that many layers. For this painting, the skin in its entirety was painted on one layer, the hair on another layer, and the effects on the last layer. There was a placeholder background off-white/grey colour for a while there, and I duplicated the line layer — one for figuring out where to lay colours, and one hidden for later so i could check back to see how accurate to the sketch/proportions were to the actual painting. 6 layers, 2 of which i painted the bulk of the piece on, 1 more at the end.

3c) here’s where I started carving out features. I think about objects in terms of volumes and light rather than lines. i love painting and sculpting because of this!! Here you see where I’ve begun to define his features — his eyelids, his bags, his nostrils. Just refining what was there before. The suggestion of facial hair before i gave it up and left it for later (his face is so naked the WHOLE time)

3d) nose bridge highlight, suggesting his eyebrows, a cheek highlight. A touch more coral red and muted yellow pull away from the grey/blue underpainting. Strategically leaving some of it peeking through.

3e) i truly start messing with the fidelity of his features here. Red lipstick <3 and some violet/blue for shadows on the right side of his face.

3f) the part where it starts looking like q.hughes to me (though, my friend said i got his vibe pretty early on which is such a compliment.. waaaaa…..) I love this part of every painting i do. I know it’s definitely not the Correct order since other parts of the entire painting are simply Not Rendered or Done, but whos gonna stop me?? :3

I love love loveeee painting faces. Adding the little shinies to his eyes + lips + upper lip + nose … you don’t know how much of a difference it makes until you do it. Also i snatched his eyebrows

3g) i really pushed the red/coral/ochre/orange here. Note the yellow highlights on his cheekbones, the forehead, and the thin thin line of pink right between where his bottom lip ends and his chin shadow starts <- very important . To ME!!!!!!! Also highlighting his waterline and adding his lashes was so so fun <3

3h) FACIAL HAIR!!! And I started rendering his hand. Some micro adjustments made to his face for proportion check.

3i) i start painting his hair in earnest and realise his forehead is too small so i make the adjustment. I really love how it falls into his eyes in this photo. <3

3j) i make some final adjustments to his eyes — a bit smaller, closer together. And i refine the outline of his jaw, push the stylisation of it just a little.

3k) Finishing details; his flyaway hairs, his moles, a bit of texture on his face, shadows cast by his hair, his little forehead cut <3

3l) i adjusted his hand here, added more texture to his skin, refined his hair a tiny bit more, and made the decision not to fuck around painting his jersey because i wanted the focus to be his face <3

3m) Canucks blue and green. Captain at 23. His form bleeds into the background. He is the franchise.

theee most fun ive had painting anything. and i finally feel... warmed up? if that makes sense. art for me is like. if i dont do it in a while it feels like nothing goes right when i come back to it. i hate that feeling, and the most difficult hurdle to clear is letting myself feel that until i get back into my Zone. after all this time i feel like im BACK !!!!!!!

i loved painting this fella. hes SO Shaped. <3

Apologies i simply do Not have the energy to write the alt text for all of these so i hope the little blurbs are okay aslkjasdklj. i gotta post and go to bed . if u made it this far, thank you for reading!!

[cokoweee]

OKAY.

Took me WAY too long to finally analyze this bad boy but I’m HERE NOW-

Let’s begin. ~

First off- THIS BACKGROUND.

Look at it. Just- LOOK AT IT. This seriously looks like a storyboard from a Disney movie, you wickedly talented person, you. The lights, shading, and perspective are all GORGEOUS.

Next.

We know that Donnie has a huge struggle with drinking ever since his family passed. Drunkenness is what helped him through that horrible time, thrusting himself into the inebriating arms of the liquid that helps him forget and live without feeling all the pain.

And yet- there’s this newest update. Here at an extravagant party, an event where you’re ENCOURAGED to overindulge on the drinks, Donnie has had about a sip. That’s all.

And here he’s actually thinking that he won’t finish it. A drink. In his hand. His old friend that has helped him through every night of his miserable life- he’s refusing completely on his own.

Donnie’s seriously grown so much. 🥹 Getting to know Kendra, having the device in his head removed, and truly FEELING emotions again have been helpful steps in his mental and emotional recovery.

And even how much he and Kendra have grown together- how he protects her and how she fights for him.

And here’s a nice little comparison- DONNIE is helping Kendra when SHE’s drunk. We’ve seen this before, but in reverse! Tello has always been the one in the inebriated pov, but here he’s helping and protecting Kendra.

And that’s just lovely to see. 💜

Even here, Donnie’s having a “spidey sense” moment looking out for Kendra. As well as AGAIN refusing a drink.

Character 👏 growth 👏 YESSSS

And now we get to this panel. And to an important question we’ve ALL been worrying about:

What happened to Kendra while Donnie and her were separated at Big Mamas?

I don’t know about you guys, but I was not convinced that everything was a-okay on Kendra’s end. After she emerged from the bathroom, she was acting strange. Like- not Kendra strange. Almost like she was drunk enough to be calm- but we didn’t see any alcohol- so hmmmmm???????

And then her and Donnie go on a flippin musical date-night montage trying on outfits for Big Mamas party. And AGAIN. Kendra is NOT acting like herself.

And Donnie catches this too, the panel before this one asking if Big Mama did something to Kendra.

And THIS is her reply-

Sooooo OKAY. 😦👌 Now we know that Kendra has most likely seen Big Mamas spider lady form. Fantastic. But what Kendra says AFTER is what’s really throwing me for a loop-

“She could literally peel me like a shrimp before I get the chance to scream.”

That… sounds like a threat from Big Mama. Just add a few “biddlidoos and bobsquinkles”…

So. WHAT. The FRICK HAPPENED.

Also… “watched her eat a bus-boy”

Eh SCUSEEEE ME?!?!?…..

*brain attempting to process information noises*

To add on to the mystery of what’s going on with Kendra- she says THIS.

Donnie’s ACTUAL name. Not “Othello” not “dummy” not “nerd”… she called him by his true name.

THAT AINT NORMAL.

And then- the biggest thing in this update that exploded my perception of time and space~

*brain fizzling and popping noises*

THIS IS ALL WRONG- THEY WEREN’T SUPPOSED TO- NOT NOW- AND KENDRAS MORE INEBRIATED THAN JACK SPARROW-

She doesn’t even know what that kiss just did to Donnie’s brain. (Nevermind his HEART). She probably won’t even remember it after that night-

AAAAA COKO HOW CAN THIS BE SO AMAZING and DEVASTATING at the same TIMEEEE??

(But seriously your story is amazing and I’m on the edge of my seat waiting for what happens next!!)

Okay I’m done. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk

Drink water and when you can see what the sun looks like. ;)

~ Melissa

Thank FUCK the background was okay cause I struggle with that shit so much. Love seeing asks like these makes me all giggly kickin my feet n shit like a goof

Donnie’s finally in his “slightly better kinda” arc lol. Bout time innit? He’s been blended enough. Speaking of blenders I’ve been having Kendra in hers 🤓 and she ain’t done yet

Glad you liked the update tho! Actually a lot of yall did hot DAMN. I was planning to have atleast three this week but my backs killin me and I’m bein too slow.

[quibbs126]

So I’ve been making this

So basically last night, I was listening to some music, specifically Not Gonna Die by Skillet, more specifically a version on YouTube with the intro (because I’m not the biggest fan of Good to be Alive where the intro actually is). Anyways, when it’s night, my imagination tends to be more active and I tend to have more energy. While listening to the song, I eventually got this mental image in my mind of this scene with Dark Choco, and the more it crystallized the more I wanted to draw it. I was going to go to sleep and maybe do it in the morning, but I realized that I probably would forget the vibe and not have as much energy, so instead I decided to power through and draw the idea

It was a bit difficult since I had limited references for the pose I wanted, and I suppose I can admit the sword looks a bit off anatomically, but it looks good enough I think, and lets me keep the eyes revealed

I did eventually have to stop drawing, because my iPad had been worked all the way down to 4% (and it was at 30% when I started, the poor thing), not to mention it was around 11:30 already which is pretty late for me, and my earbuds had been running nonstop for over 2 hours (yes I was listening to the same song, it’s how I keep the vibe). I was at least able to get the pose, base colors and lineart done, and I’m still pretty proud of where I left things last night

Today was mostly just doing the background and lighting, which admittedly I may have fumbled. I’m not very good at backgrounds and I didn’t know how to draw lightning. I tried my best, but honestly I don’t think I got the image in my head. Didn’t help that my brain was playing the wrong Skillet song this morning

Oh yeah and by the way, the background is supposed to be from this. That’s what I used as reference

The lightning both feels like too much and too little. Like, it’s crowding the picture, and I can’t have more because it’d be way too crowded with it, but also at the same time, it doesn’t feel like enough, like there isn’t as much power as I wanted

Actually wait, maybe I can add some small particle effects to like, enhance the lightning feel. That was in the original sketch but I omitted it in the final. If you see one with that, you know I did that

Edit: I did indeed do that

To be fair though, I don’t think I have the art skill to properly convey the image in my head. Basically the scene is that Dark Choco is using absolutely every amount of his power for this final swing down, so much that it’s too powerful and the Strawberry Jam Sword completely shatters. But also it’s too powerful that Dark Choco’s body simply can’t handle it, and he basically ends up exploding. The scene depicted would be the wind up to that final swing that destroys the both of them

This isn’t necessarily the first time I’ve come up with this scenario, and the setup would basically be that he turned on the Cookies of Darkness slightly earlier, because he didn’t want to destroy his homeland again, and he tried to get rid of them while in the kingdom but not yet at the Citadel, but he ended up failing, so with nothing to lose, he chases after them and decides to put everything into destroying them, even if it likely ends in his death. After this he probably killed Pomegranate and crippled Licorice in some way (I don’t think he’d attack Poison Mushroom), so his final act did have some effect, but he’s still dead by the end of it. And he and his father never got the chance to properly reconcile because Dark Choco thought that could never be a possibility anymore and he had resigned himself to his fate

But yeah, I just don’t know how to convey that sheer overwhelming power and emotion that this scenario suggests. I tried my best though

I also want to submit this to the Dark Cacao Forever contest, but I’m not sure if it’s good enough for it. What do you think?