#i love this set of renders soooo much :)

[yorkin-it]

sketch of them as children, they were so cute back then 💜

alternate version w/o the dark overlay on them that i slapped on at the last minute bc i decided i wanted the enviorment to feel darker <3

[youredreamingofroo]

Shooting Stars ★

- - // Click for HQ <3 [ before/after under the cut :) ]

[starstruck-critter]

one of the beasts for sure

[snailmail444]

Chapter 19 of dttw has rendered me SPEECHLESS

I wanted to say something insightful about it but all I can say is AHHHHHHHHH it was so good thank you for the delicious food

Ahhhhh I love you so much!!! 💞💞💞 thank YOU your anons make my day I woke up and saw this like :) at five in the morning it really set a nice tone so thank you soooo much I’m so glad you like it 💞💞💞

[carmenized-onions]

as soon as i read the word ‘amish’ i physically recoiled because i just knew you would mess with my mental stability this chapter!

ignore how much of a shambles this is, i start off coherent but end up just making incomprehensible statements so don’t worry if you need help translating! i just wanted to make sure i gave you an idea of HOW FUCKING GOOD THIS WAS

i love the way you wrote this interaction, like i feel like it’s perfectly both average and extraordinary if that makes sense - which perfectly sets up what mikey and chips friendship was omg you are too good

of course he won’t let you have peace that’s literally a member of the berzatto family they haven’t known a moment of peace in their lives

MIKEYS ALWAYS SEEN YOU and fixer friend combo is insane don’t play with me

love me some divorce era richie angst

i’ve never heard the word jamoke before i had to google it is that so british of me

“you’re not gonna remember that” oh sweetie you will remember richie because i will make you remember

they are my fav comedic duo #guarddog vibes

a moment for the pork sandwich, and the yoink

i don’t want to go back to a time where mikey wasn’t there after reading this first section, like it’s too much

wait you giving me carmens pov of his worst friday ever is enough for me to slightly forgive you for mikey tb

random but i want to know what chips handwriting looks like - i know it’s a reader x carmy book but she’s basically an oc in my head now

no way chip is a youngest child wtf

no one gets being the guy like mikey and chip i fear

she keeps kid band aids in her wallet oh yes

YOU FUCKING TELL HIM carmy (im still mad at you btw)

her being mikeys sponsor i can’t i really cant do it

she quit being an emt for him

this is almost as painful as hearing him call her a failure

“im not a fucking patient chip” - oh you berzattos when you feel vulnerable

jazz hands away the awkwardness so real

never assume they are together ever ever

chip will not listen to people calling addicted junkies ever

the whimsy is gone

no.

get him syd go for the jugular

they’re multiplying DONT MAKE ME LAUGH NINE FAKS

eva’s richie she’s a little richie “insane uncle”

no … not the funeral … NOOOOO

she is a patoot!!!! she really is!!!!

performance anxiety… girl that’s your brother

it’s still michael’s office

richie the book nerd era

i took no notes after this as i was too upset!!! i’m sorry all i can say is it’s ur fault for being too good

IT’S THE FINAL ASK BEFORE WE UPLOAD NEXT CHAP BABY LETS FUCKING GO I DID IT I DID IT IN A NIGHT I’M GONNA BUY MYSELF LUNCH IN THE MORNING CAUSE I DIDN’T HAVE TIME TO MAKE ONE TONIGHT LMAO who wants to donate to my ko-fi kidding kidding kidding

I WAS SOOOO HOPING FOR THAT RECOIL. What I love about the “what are you amish” is that I don’t know if everyone remembered— But that story chip told was so specific and so immediately upon seeing amish which has only been used one other time, it IMMEDIATELY TRANSPORTS YOU AND I LOVE THAT. 

Thank you thank you thank you— Any thoughts are good thoughts and you’ve always sent the most wonderful analysis’ so to see you rendered kind of speechless really is a genuine tremendous honour so thank you I do appreciate i DO!

I absolutely wanted that like perfectly average yet extraordinary meeting— It’s like Tina and Mikey meeting to me— Or even honestly like, us as viewers meeting Mikey for the first time in his first scenes he actually speaks in— Those were genuinely so magical to me. It was like getting to meet the fucking wizard. Or the ghost that haunts us. Two things can be true. 

This family doesn’t know the WORD peace, they know the word piece. Like pieces? Is that what you ordered? Torn to pieces u say? FIXER FRIEENNDDDD!! I can’t believe Jamoke hadn’t made it across the pond until now. Happy to educate. Had to look up if Jamoke is used in chicago— A solid 5 articles came up so I think I’m good. 

Genuinely while writing everytime I had to switch I was like MOM DONT MAKE ME GO OVER THERE I HATE IT THERE!!! And then I’d get stuck in and have a lot of fun, and then I’d have to switch back, and the cycle would repeat. 

Ahhh Chip’s handwriting. What would it look like? I feel like it’s gotta be either really neat like wrote the most insane school notes in college with mildliners and everything or it’s literally fucking incoherent. Maybe both. When she’s got time it’s the first, when she doesn’t, it’s the second.

I WILL NOT TAKE YOUNGEST CHILD SLANDER ITS MY TURN ON THE XBOX I GET TO CHOOSE THE SIBLING DYNAMIC REPRESENTATION!!!! No one’s gonna ever get being the Guy like Chip and Mikey (and her child bandaids)

I should clarify also— Did Mikey’s OD act as the final nail in the coffin of quitting? A million times yes. Does Mikey think she abandoned the career for him? A million times yes. But she really WAS considering quitting already— SHE GETS TO MAKE THE CALL OF WHAT SHE BETS ON MIKEY YOU FUCKER !!!!

Berzattos when anyone tries to take care of them in any way: Oh so you think i’m fucking crazy? You think I need to be put in a ward? I’m going to prove you wrong by going ape shit right now.

Chip gets so defensive over Carmen sayin’ junkie ESPECIALLY because Mikey said it about himself!! To hear the brother that Mikey loved so much say that shit OH her blood was boiling. Jazz hands the pain away. Sydney get his ass. 

Faks are multiplying, Richie is multiplying with a little Eva— PEOPLE GET PERFORMANCE ANXIETY OVER A LOT OF THINGS— I GET PERFORMANCE ANXIETY WHEN I MAKE TUMBLR POSTS OKAY

I don’t honestly remember if I intentionally wrote it being ‘he goes back to Michael’s office’. I hope i did that intentionally because it’s fucking gutting. I also did forget they redid the office in S2— Which like. Why. Why are we spending any of the budget on anything not required. I dont. Gettit. Regardless, in CK, it’s absolutely the old shitty S1 office and i have NO intention of changing that. 

Thank you for these thoughts i would spend so much longer thanking you but we have to get thIS FUCKING CHAPTER OUT BECAUSE I WANT TO REREAD IT BEFORE BED THERES NO TIME I LOVE YOU LOVE YOU NEW CHAPTER IN LIKE 10 MINUTES OKAY PROBABLY LESS

[tutuandscoot]

I know everyone loves the moment in the knc when Tessa and Scott win gold in 2018 and it’s gonna be etched in everyone’s minds forever. I feel like people mainly focus on Scott jumping up and then their hug(s) which, yeah fair 🥺 but I feel like we don’t talk enough about Tessa’s high pitched little scream right before Scott pulls her up and we don’t talk enough about Scott’s muffled yell into her shoulder after he sets her down from the hug. Truly the most iconic knc ever.

O•M•G YES!

Why don’t we talk abt this more?? T’s lil scream is.. I don’t want to say my fave part of it bc that’s silly.. but yes let’s talk about that. Them both screaming ‘YES’ but vocally and physically that coming out in very different ways.

The fact that you can HEAR her scream “YES!” Obviously none of us know her personally and we just make assumptions based on footage and things they say publicly and at least here in my space I hope everyone feels they can appreciate and love them for who they are without all the BS takes, so (hopefully) the consensus is she’s such a sweetheart and is reserved and quieter compared to Scott but the fact is even though they are very different they are both very competitive perfectionists and as much as they made their comeback *PROJECT as I’m now referring to it* about writing this incredible chapter in their lives together and improving and exploring and challenging themselves removed from how the judges reward them and had come to learn that medals don’t signify how great you are, they set the goal of winning that gold medal FOR EACH OTHER and they both wanted it more than anything to culminate all this hard work, represent their country, do their country proud, stand on the top of the podium together one last time…. *takes deep breath😮‍💨*

She wanted that. He wanted that. And their reactions are fully, unfiltered, completely in the moment reactions to their goal being achieved by having the performance of their dreams. As is said in the book by their families in regards to their reaction immediately after they finished their program, ‘the scene was so them’. And the same is true of their reaction in the K+C, almost polar opposite physical reactions but inside feeling the exact same thing. I love how they are different but feel so many things the same way 🥹

Her scream is soooo her (again without knowing her). The humble little bby muffins they are do not hold anything back in that moment of celebration and let everyone know just how much they fought for it.

The fact that she’s holding a water bottle then drops it as she screams before he picks her up. Like that’s so T 😄🥹. Even now I think ‘bby angel maybe don’t hold anything I guarantee you the celebration will require your hands to be free’.

Then as I said on a shared post the other day how he kinda turns to her as if telling her to get up immediately but don’t worry he’s already getting her up, like I almost think he’s about to like cradle her up- one hand behind her back and other under her knees, he’s so desperate to hold her and it’s just like there’s no time to wait. She doesn’t get to her feet at all he just throws her up (reminds me of when I was really little and my dad would lift me and throw me in the air- not saying that’s what is like here with TS- not the father/daughter thing just the physical action and the size difference..) and the fact from her reaction she’s kinda rendered paralysed and is folded forward and he’s so full of energy he has enough for both of them to jump to their feet.

Then of course we can’t see from the board in the front but the way she’s hanging there mirrors exactly how they celebrated on the ice when he skates into her and just as matter of physics him going into her makes her go up and her little legs dangle for a moment with the purest freaking smile I have ever seen:

(Honestly have you ever seen a more precious human being???)

And then YES EvErYtHiNg that was going on on his side of that hug. The fist pump, THE HAND COVERING THE FACE AS HE ‘CRIES’. The gently putting her down still pressed into her. The SCREAM INTO HER SHOULDER- exactly the same as their end pose- which btw I can’t believe people actually thought he was biting her there 😑 he was screaming “YES” into her, and not that it was conscious but as he said later on he was trying so hard to contain his excitement, not celebrate before the dance was over- give the end pose a minute to settle there, so he screamed where it would be made least obvious, which was into her with his mouth against her 🥲.

And then let’s KEEP GOING BC I HAVE THINGS TO SAY ABOUT THIS. But as they briefly let go and she says (it seems the most obvious but can’t be 100% sure) “thank you so much” which is just too freaking perfect as a mirror to him saying that exact thing to her at the end of Mahler in 2010 🥲🥲… the SOFNESSSSS in the way he goes back in to hug her. Like all that excitement and euphoria and squeezing so tight then that slight but overwhelming calm for those few moments, so briefly taking her like how all us ladies want to be taken; the kiss and the soft squeeze and the sweet whispering fuckinggg hell scoot ur too perfect 😩 + assumably T re/starting the laugh cry with that shudder (same as here in K+C at worlds 08 🥲🥲🥲- first appearance of the laugh cry)

And the ‘😃 we fucking did it 😃’ third hug’.

Seeing them go through at least 3 different stages of excitement in the k+c alone, then ofc everything on the ice and that beautiful story of their quiet little hug back stage where they just wanted to stay there for as long as possible. (S favourite moment from the games 🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲)

The best we can get from that is him asking her to go backstage with him and then disappearing behind the curtains:

Ahhhhh what a freaking moment. And the best part is re watching it and going through all those emotions with them when you care about them so much and know how hard they worked for it❤️

[joycieillustrations]

I LOVE YOUR ART ITS SOOOO BEAUTIFUL 😭😭😭 and your likeness of nanna is incredible oml

I was wondering was art software you use if you don’t mind me asking? 🫶🏻

Hi there! Thank you so much for your lovely comment ❤️

I draw on my iPad Pro using Procreate and an Apple Pencil. I use a mixture of the standard brushes and custom ones I have purchased, but my most-used brushes for my House of the Dragon work are all from this bundle by Jingsketch. I use the Sharp Render brush and Thin Render Solid brush from the Jing Paint set for painting, as well as Pencil from the Jing Sketch set for my sketches. For any work that looks more like an oil painting, I’ll have used a mixture of brushes from Sargent’s Oils and Classic Paints by Sadie Lew.

Hope that helps ✨

[thecommoncurator]

Top 10 2023

cuz I’m a nerd

10. Skinamarink

Ultralowbudget horror that really stuck w me. Architecture as horror.

Hallways that change size. Doors that disappear. Walls that inch closer. A disembodied voice coaxing you to horrific acts. Excited to see where Kyle Edward Ball goes from here!

9. The Holdovers

Newly minted winter holiday classic.

The core trio of Sessa, Giamatti, and Randolph kill it. Lots of faux 70s cinematic flair (complete w grainy mono audio) and a script that plays the familiar coming of age beats with enough cynical bite to keep it from falling into saccharine cliche, & a warmth for its characters that keeps it from falling into despairing melodrama. Just damn good all around!

8. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

What hasn’t already been said? Gorgeous animation, a fantastic ensemble of characters, and better action than any superhero movie I’ve seen in quite some time (kinetic, emotionally charged, and LEGIBLE!), w a soundtrack to match. this film takes so much care w its characters - Miles talking to his Mom/Dad, Gwen confronting her Father, Miguel bickering w peter, the downtime w everyone is just as compellingly crafted as the action. 💕

7. Anatomy of a Fall

Juicy French courtroom drama that is ostensibly about whether or not a renown novelist (a perfectly calculated Sandra Hüller) killed her husband, Justine Triet turns her camera’s gaze to a number of intriguing themes - the malleability of memory, the gender politics of the French court system, the existential dread of having the minutiae of one’s most private moments picked apart before a ravenous public’s eyes.

best dog performance in a film ever✨

6. Poor Things

Yorgos, my love, back with his gnarled, prickly sense of sadistic humor & a fully-activated Emma Stone (goddamn!) and THE Mark Ruffalo performance - what a fun prick he is here. The physicality of the absolutely bonkers sets and costuming, coupled with its maximalist approach to untangling the Born-Sexy-Yesterday trope by way of Frankenstein (or Frankenhooker, honestly), this film was an absolute riot and KILLED in a theater. A fascinating aesthetic leap for Lanthimos and a real treat.

5. All Of Us Strangers

A film that, like its protagonist (an achingly tender Andrew Scott) devastatingly grasps for the universal by drilling down into the specifics. Adam spends his time writing, channeling the dead, communing with the grief of his past, searching for an escape hatch from the isolating pits of depression and a lifetime of self-doubts, if only for a fleeting moment,which, once found in the form of a hot mess of a neighbor (a superb Paul Mescal), only reinforces that underlying dread w the all too relatable need to capture it in amber, like plucking a star from the sky and feeding its radiance with your tears, hoping that maybe this time…maybe this time it’ll stick.

Like so many great queer films, this will ruin your day 💕

4. Oppenheimer

Nolan finally cracked the code. I’m not sure how he managed to turn a 3 hour epic about the pettiness, vindictiveness, utter disregard for humanity that the movers and shakers of the U.S. imperialist machine have for us all into a blockbuster event…until I hit play again, and Göransson’s score starts up, and Cillian Murphy’s haunting eyes appear…and it all just, makes sense. A rare film that never lets up and doesn’t suffer for it. It doesn’t hurt that every actor under the sun shows up.

Robert Downey Jr. plays catty soooo well lol.

3. The Zone of Interest

There’s a long-running dialogue in film history revolving around the aesthetics of war films, and whether or not there can ever be a truly “Anti-War” film because, by virtue of being a film with purposeful framing/pacing/blocking, it aestheticizes it, rendering the message moot. I don’t know that Zone of Interest is an ‘Answer’ to that conversation, but it is the most compelling entry in the conversation i’ve yet to see. A horrific film with no violence shown. A building nightmare without catharsis. No aesthetic flourish. Just soul-numbing inhumanity.

What death cries are we tuning out as we go about our day?

2. Killers of the Flower Moon

Martin Scorsese, with rewrites and input from the Osage Nation, takes what was supposed to be a bog standard whodunnit about the founding of the FBI and turns it into a spiritual treatise on the rot at the heart of the American mythos. DiCaprio is at his slimiest here, a fantastic, thankless turn, De Niro is at his most diabolical, but Lily Gladstone steals the show with her radiant aura of a screen presence. This is a 3.5hr film w lots of talking, lots of loud moments, guns and bombs and screeching….but its most powerful moments come from stillness, silence. A glance from afar. The sound of rainfall. The pregnant silence of a confession left unspoken: complicity.

One of Scorsese’s best. 💕

1. Asteroid City

Asteroid City is the best film Wes Anderson has made, and feels almost like a confession, an introspective dive into the why’s of his aesthetic distance from his characters. A 50s television dramatization of a production of a fictional play, the levels of artifice that wrap around these characters keep revealing new facets of their souls to us, their grief, their joy, their quests for meaning.

It’s also got UFOs, atom bombs, laser guns, a fantastic Jason Schwartzman in hot-depressed-dad mode, and folksy musical numbers about aliens! It’s a ton of fun, and a damn fine picture, one that is wrapped in layers of cinematic thrills it slowly unravels to reveal a tender, heart-melting center.💕

[kingfakey]

is it ok to ask how u edit ur lookbooks? i love your style sm

hiii!!!! omg thank you 🥹

first thing you need to know is that where my lookbooks are concerned i'm not doing a whole lot of editing. that's my secret, i think. i do as much as i can in blender. which is why this is exceedingly flattering for you to say because i do not consider myself very good at editing (mostly compared to those ppl that do shadows and hair strands, that's not my bag yanno!!!) i also try not to get too repetitive, so this is all just kind of general. if you got specific lookbooks in mind, i can dig into it.

also to preface this, i'm not going to link to any specific tutorials, because i don't know your particular learning style and there are soooo many tutorials out there that i could take hours just finding one. so i'm sorry but i'm going to have to leave the research with you, and point you in the right direction.

i've been using the same PSD, more or less, for well over 10 years now. i tweak it a little every time. learning how to make your own PSD can be a game changer-- you can learn how to manipulate the colors the way you wanna manipulate them, and if you use it long enough (like i have!) you'll create a signature. i'm such a sucker for the selective color adjustment layer, it's how i get my pinks so uniform. 💗

almost as important as a PSD is the action you use. i also made that, just a little sharpening, very tiny topaz effect, and more smart sharpen. in doing this (either taking the time to learn to make your own, or finding one you like) you'll free up a lot of time by quickly filtering your images and moving onto the fun parts.

layers layers layers!!!!

blending options for your layer open up (little mermaid voice) a whole new world! whether it's text you're bringing style to, cool outlines, soft glows, you can have a lot of fun just playing around.

fonts. just collect cool fonts you like. lost-type co-op is one of my favorites. play around with making some typography. there's no right answers!! but if you're working in a bigger canvas, make sure to zoom out so you know it's gonna be readable when tumblr scales it down to fit its format.

if you're going the blender route:

get in the habit of doing transparent background versions of every shot. even if i don't plan on using them, i just have them, and it makes editing a lot easier, a lot less painful. don't even have to crop out the backgrounds, it's just done.

learning how to use the compositor is another game changer. it's how i bring a little bit of a glow to my renders and make them pop without even having to open photoshop.

turn on node wrangler. this isn't relevant to anything in specific just look into how to enable node wrangler and thank me later.

also turn on the ratio aspects in your blender camera settings. this will allow you to see if things are centered, or juuuust the right amount of off-center if, if you're into that.

[radellama]

10, 14, 16, 22, and 25 for the art asks! :)

10. What’s that one thing that inspired you to make drawing your consistant hobby?

It's hard to say cause I've been drawing since I was a baby, but I definitely know that I loved art classes in school and was glad to have encouraging teachers, and I was glad that my parents were supportive of that for a hobby. I think digital art being consistent for me is when I saved up to get my very first drawing tablet, there was barely anything on the market at that point and they were all super expensive but I saved up for aaaaages and dad helped me... Acquire some adobe programs so I could draw in Photoshop (and edit in premiere!!) And I just thought it was soooo interesting trying to figure out how far I could push the program and how to make drawings look epic cause it was all digital. Once I got over the initial frustration of my art looking crappy cause skill and understanding of the program+tablet was tricky, it was game on. Back then I didn't have internet either so I couldn't look up how to use Photoshop, I just had to play around for HOURS figuring out what to do. Once that Wacom broke for good (but it lasted nearly a decade!) I asked my dad if we could split payment and get me an iPad for my bday, he ended up getting the iPad and pencil and I got all the other accessories. I'm not an apple fan at all but I love the portability and that's helped increase my habit too, cause I can draw in bed or on the couch or at my desk, and it's not as clunky as setting up my laptop and wacom

14. How has your art changed over the years?

God, so much. I don't have any of my REALLY old art from when I was a little kid, but I have some from when I first started digital art. Compared to recent years... Yeah it's a lot 🤠👍

16. What’s the most daunting part of your process? Ex, planning, sketching, lineart, rendering etc

Depends on what I'm working on... For bigger pieces getting the right poses and composition and perspective can be huge, for others it's the rendering and especially picking the right colours. Maybe the most daunting thing for me is making sure everything looks consistent within the piece haha, I've got one that I've been working on and off for over a year so I had to redraw the base sketches to match my style changes lmao

22. When is your prime time to work on your art?

Usually in the evening or at night, when it's easiest to just sit and chill with some music or something on the TV while I draw

25. Based on your recent reference searches, what would the FBI assume about you?

That I like ladies holding guns in their knickers (and they're not even holding the guns correctly) or that I'm a huge homo (I am)

Send art asks from here

[chiarrara]

when u get this, list 5 songs u like to listen to, publish. then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (positivity is cool) <333

Heyyy bestie!! Ask games real? I mostly listen to anime music rn don't judge me friends:

「星が泳ぐ」 "Hoshi ga Oyogu" by Macaroni Empitsu

First OP to Summer Time Rendering. This song got me so excited every time I started a new episode. I watched it this summer, usually in the middle of the night and I would just sink so deep into the vibes and get consumed watching an episode. I hated when they switched OPs, but I kept listening to this one every time I smoked on my sister's fire escape for a while.

2. Absolute Zero by natori

Wind Breaker OP!! Every time this played it made me wanna scream. I would blast the volume, and dance along, and sing the 'superhero' bit, and do the shoulder flick thing they do with their jackets, lol. It's soooo hype, and the MV is very cool and stylish. I wanna listen to more of his stuff.

3. 逆夢 "Sakayume" by King Gnu

This is my favorite band, and my favorite song. I have listened to this on repeat so many times in the last year. It's the first credit song from JJK 0, and I think it made me cry the first time I heard it. Reading the translated lyrics probably did it again. And oh my goodness, the set in this music video, my god. I love the lead singer's voice, I love basically everything they do. Great song, give it a listen.

4. KICKBACK by Kenshi Yonezu

CHAINSAW MAN OP CHAINSAW MAN OP!! I really had a hard time deciding between the OP and the artist's MV because the OP is sooooo good, but the full song is great and the music video is really funny. The way this song just sinks into your bones with the BROOOM of the chainsaw and the deep ass base line at the beginning. Ugh, I love this song so much. On repeat.

5. 我がまま "Wagamama" by Whaledontsleep

This song edged out the two below the cut just because the music video is so good. OP for Senpai is an Otokonoko, a show that just finished airing a few weeks ago and is one of my new favorites. This artist did the OP and collaborated on the ED. Both are so sing-along-able and both made me cry by the final episode. Perfect pick for this show, and again the music video is great. I didn't see what it was doing until 1:47 but when I did it made me so happy.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

6. Махаббат бер маган by Dimash Qudaibergen

This man is probably the best vocalist in the entire world. Incredible Kazakh artist, he has a crazy range, sings in 12 languages including Kazakh which is a criminally underrepresented and oppressed language. This song is so beautiful and my favorite by him.

7. POP IN 2 by B-Komachi from Oshi no Ko

I have been absolutely obsessed with this song for the last 3 weeks. I've listened to it played on calculators. I've watched so many people do the dance. I learned half the lyrics. The full song is good, but the MV short is just so artistically exciting. Everytime they zoom into Ruby's black eyes it gives me a chill. It's a bop with a dark undertone, like everything in OnK. I love it.

~~~

Check out my authentic 2011 indie kid playlist with full liner notes if you want to know what music I was listening to in English 15 years ago. XOXO

[pennyroyal-xiv]

something different: a history of my painting

A while ago I received a comment that was something like "I feel like you've improved your painting a lot in a short while". While this is for the most part true, I have been working on my painting skill for years. Over 10 at least. It does tend to improve in leaps and bounds because well, I have ADHD, and sometimes I hyperfocus on my painting skills because it gives me The Serotonin. But when I'm not doing that I'm still observing the world around me and developing my eye as well.

Just wanted to throw a few pictures up that show I did in fact start somewhere:

(buckle up this is a long one so continued under the cut-)

This piece is from about 10 years ago when I got more into painting as I was working on some board game art. It's super basic and you can tell I'm more used to doing lineart&color at this point.

Here's another one from that set that I don't like as much:

This next one is from a few months after when I was helping out some friends with video game concept art (yeah I know I wasn't that good but I wasn't paid for this iirc).

I do like this one, it was enjoyable to work on as I had a set of requirements to include (ooze, mushrooms, crystals). Still pretty uh, lackluster though.

Next up, when I was super into LoL and working on a portfolio for getting into art grad school, which I didn't end up pursuing as I went into the tech industry full-time.

I was soooo proud of this Lux piece. Looking back, yeah, it's definitely above my average for the time (I put a lot of time into it) but there's obviously a lot I'd change now.

Similarly I also loved this piece of Soraka that I did, around the same time, maybe 9 years ago. Super simple background, everything is very smooth, and I'm pretty sure I was working exclusively in Paint Tool SAI.

Hmm I actually don't have a lot in between that... Here's a little piece I did for a friend circa ... 2019?

It's definitely an improvement... my favorite bit is the amber-orange vase.

And THEN I got into ffxiv...

This piece of Erren from around a few years ago? 2022 maybe? was one of my first pieces going straight back into painting after a long dry spell of no real art. I remember being pleasantly surprised that I could paint better than I did previously.

This piece from the FFXIV OC Gala (the first one) was a similar level of skill, and it was the start of me almost exclusively painting going forward

Once I started doing some black/white studies and using environment/pose reference, I feel like my improvements started to pick up a lot. This piece I used in-game reference for, from the Ishgard aetheryte plaza.

This piece challenged me because I was using in-game reference for the background and character angles. I think I overdid it and it ended up looking a little weird, but I'm happy with the rendering at least.

Compare that to something like this where I used a real-life reference photo instead, mostly for the torso up. I think the pose looks a lot better. Although I think the face didn't land 100% the way I wanted.

This piece however, of Gaius, hits the sweet spot I think. The reference used was only for the background - the pose was from my eye only. It did take me a LONG time to finish though.

I hope this post accomplishes a few things:

makes you realize that I've been at this for a long time

shows you that you can really improve when you use references & train your artist's eye, even if you aren't drawing every day

[talaok]

hi there, I just read and loved “long overdue” and I was wondering if you could write another story about Joseph, kinda same plot with y/n being an actor in ST4 and some (a lot of?) smut with Joseph being of the dom kind and being into choking and spanking and stuff like that, and the sexual tension being soooo noticeable on set.

Please please please, your writing is SO good x

Pairing: Joseph Quinn x fem!reader

Summary: You are part of the stranger things cast, and even though you never admitted it, you and Joseph both like each other, and one day, when he invites you to his house to "practice a scene" your true feelings find a way to come out.  

Warnings: SMUT: unprotected sex, choking, spanking, and prob. other things

A/n: This...this is dirty.I feel like I enjoyed writing it much more than I should have. ALSO thanks a lot for saying that my writing is good. It means the world, really.

TIRED OF RESISTING

"good morning my love" Joseph said walking towards you. You snorted and tilted your head to the side, looking at him "My love?". "Absolutely" he whispered as he got closer to you, put his hands on your waist, and kissed your cheek. You felt a shiver go down your spine, just like you always did when he greeted you like that.You had noticed he only did it with you a long time ago, but had never said anything, It's not like you were gonna complain. You loved feeling his hands and lips on you, even if not where you wanted them the most.  "You look really beautiful today" he leaned away, not letting go of your waist. Your mouth opened to speak but the words got stuck in your throat. He smirked at your reaction "Oh, come on, I'm sure people tell you all the time" he said in a low voice and you felt yourself blush. You swallowed nervously and laughed softly, trying to play it off, still not able to produce a coherent sentence. He still had that smug grin on his face, undoubtedly conscious of his effect on you. His eyes darted to your lips before coming back up to your eyes. "This is new" You frowned, confused He leaned into your ear "I usually have to use other methods to render women unable to speak" You widened your eyes as he backed away, smirking at you one last time before walking away. You remained there, frozen as he calmly made his way out of the set. What just happened? "Cut!" the director yelled. You stopped and took a step back, bumping into someone, your behind hitting them first. "Oh shit, sorry" you said turning around and placing your hands on their chest "I'm not sorry at all" Joseph chuckled  You rolled your eyes playfully "Of course it's you" "Like you wanted it to be someone else" he said, moving some hair away from your face. "Maybe I did"  His lips twitched into a sly smile "Sure" he said, putting his hands on your waist  "Sure you did sweetheart" he murmured making you squirm at the pet name. You bit your bottom lip, trying to keep a straight face as your heart was pounding in your chest. "stop" he whispered, bringing one of his hands up to your face and using his thumb to stroke your lip, signaling you to stop biting it "you have a way too beautiful mouth to be treating it like that" he murmured, getting closer to you "and secondly" he looked at you hungrily "it's very distracting" Your breath hitched as you started feeling dizzy. God, this man "Are you two done?" Gaten's voice startled you " we have a scene to shoot" "hey, so I was thinking," Joesph said as he pulled you to the side. You had finished the last scene of the day and everyone was already leaving. "oh-oh" you joked, feigning concern He rolled his eyes at you "We have that scene tomorrow. Y'know, the one just you and me." he looked into your eyes" And I think we should practice it together" he said. "You know, it's a really important one and I wanna do it well" You raised your eyebrows and nodded "Yeah, sure" He smiled and you noticed something creep into his eyes, something you couldn't quite identify. "Great. my house in like" he looked at his watch "two hours?" he asked "All right" you smiled "See you in two hours then" you said as you started towards your trailer. You wanted to get away from him as soon as possible before he could, as per usual, say something that made you weak in the knees, making you change your mind about going to his house. Which, you were just now realizing, meant being alone, just the two of you, with no way out of his penetrating gaze or of his flattering words. Oh god. What had you done?   "What was that about?" Natalia asked as you walked towards her. She was waiting for you to walk to your trailers together since they were next to each other. "What?" She tilted her head to the side and glared at you  "Oh, that?" you asked pretending to just have understood the question. "Nothing" you paused. You knew what her reaction was gonna be and you were trying to come up with a lie. Nothing came to mind. Whatever "I'm going to his house to practice tomorrow's scene" you said, trying really hard to sound casual. She opened her mouth in shock  and you shot her an annoyed look" We're just going to run lines, it's not a big deal" "You know, for being an actor," she chuckled to herself " you're a really bad liar". You took a deep breath before knocking on the door. You had taken a quick shower, changed into a pair of jeans, and put on a  black t-shirt, which you were now noticing, was very tight. You wanted to look good but not too good. You were just going to practice a scene after all. "Hello my darling" he said as he opened the door. You smiled "hello to you too" "Please," he said, gesturing you to enter "Come in" You did as told and looked around while he started walking towards what looked like the living room "It's a very big place you have here" "Big?" he turned towards you "Big" "It's big" he agreed, a slight smirk forming on his face. "You want something to drink?"  "Oh, no thanks. I'm fine "  He turned to you, his eyes traveling up and down your body, stopping for a second too long at your cleavage. "You look pretty" You laughed softly "That's the second time you've told me today"  "I can't help it" he liked his lips "What, you don't like it?" You swallowed nervously "N-no, I do. It's just-" you had no idea how to explain to him that every time he complimented you your brain would turn to mud and your heart would start racing so fast you thought it was gonna explode. "Or do you not like the way it makes you feel?" he asked in a low voice, taking a step towards you. You cleared your throat. Oh god, you had entered the house not even 2 minutes ago and you were already unable to speak. Great.Just great. "W-What are you talking about?" "Oh come on" he chuckled "Do you think I'm blind Y/N?" he asked, taking another step. He was looking straight at you and you swore you could see a  fire burning in his eyes. "You think I don't see the way you look at me?" he took another step. "The way you stare at me when you think I don't notice?" another step. he was now right in front of you, gazing at you hungrily. "You think" he brought his right hand up to move some hair away from your face. lingering for a moment to stroke your cheek." I haven't noticed how your breath hitches every time I touch you?" a shiver went down your spine. He put his other hand on your waist and leaned closer to you"You think I haven't noticed how you blush every time I kiss you?" he whispered to your ear before gently placing a kiss on your cheek. he put both his hands behind your back, forcing you closer to him. You felt like you were about to faint and have a heart attack at the same time. What the fuck was happening? Was this some kind of extremely vivid dream? "J-Joe" you managed to stutter in a thin voice. "I know you want this Y/N" he murmured, leaning even closer to you. You could feel his hot breath on your lips and his scent was intoxicating you. "Tell me you want this" he growled You opened your mouth to say something but immediately closed it again. Was this real?  You lifted your eyes and looked into his. Lust was all you could see. You bit your lip, god you wanted to kiss him. "I told you not to do that"  You frowned. he brought one of his hands to your mouth, calmly placed his thumb on your lower lip, and dragged it downwards, freeing your lip from your teeth' grip. His finger lingered on your mouth for a moment, before he moved his hand, placing his palm on your cheek and his fingers on either side of your ear, holding your face. He wet his lips and looked at you sternly "you still haven't answered me Y/N" To say that your heart was racing was an understatement. You peeked up at him, desire evident in your eyes. "Please" you whispered "please kiss me, Joseph" you begged. You saw his eyes light up and before you could even process what was happening his lips were on yours, and oh god, they felt like heaven. He tightened his grip on your face as he deepened the kiss, forcing his tongue into your mouth. The hand that was on your back started to explore every inch of skin accessible. He started caressing your ass as he moved his other hand to your hair and tugged them, making you gasp softly. You felt a smirk form on his lips and he didn't give you enough time to comment before he pushed you against the wall beside you. Your back hit the wall and you looked at him, your mouth wide open. He slowly looked at you up and down and smugly grinned "Finally" he whispered, more to himself than to you, you suspected, and in one second he was on you again. God, his lips on you felt a thousand times better than you could have ever imagined. They were so gentle and yet so aggressive just like his hands, touching you all over like you had dreamed times and times again. You moaned softly into his mouth as he squeezed your ass hard. you heard him chuckle softly as his other hand grabbed your leg and brought it up to his waist, starting to caress your thigh as he took you by surprise and bit your bottom lip, looking up at you cockily You felt all of your desire and need pool in your lower belly as you gave him a pleading gaze. He let go of your lip and kissed you briefly. "How about we go to my room?" he asked in a deep voice.  "Please" you exhaled. He pushed you onto the bed and placed himself in front of you. You sat up confused. "get up" he ordered. You frowned. He had quite literally just thrown you there. Why did he want you to get up? "Get up Y/N" he urged again, and this time you obeyed. He smirked subtly, clearly pleased "good girl" he gave you a quick kiss and took your place on the bed. You turned towards him, your brows still furrowed, your confusion evident. "Take off your shirt" "W-" You opened your mouth to protest but he cut you off "take off your shirt Y/N" he purred and you swallowed nervously. You slowly took the end of your shirt and pulled it off, looking at him anxiously. His eyes immediately fell to your breasts and he bit his lip, holding back a grin. "See? I knew you would be good sweetheart" he praised you with a deep voice. "Now take off your pants for me, will you?" he asked, and you obeyed hastily this time. quickly taking off your shoes and jeans. You knew it was wrong but you were starting to like this. Putting on this little show just for him, just as he wanted was turning you on even more. You were sure your panties were gonna be drenched by now. His eyes traveled down your whole body and he smirked smugly. "Take off your bra"  You started taking it off. Slowly. excruciatingly slowly "Y/N" he warned you, and you smiled softly, happy to know that he was desperate for you just as much as you were for him. You unclasped your bra and let it fall to your feet. Joseph groaned loudly, his eyes glued to your now free breasts. He got up and stepped towards you. His eyes hungry and full of desire. He grabbed your waist and pulled you so close to him you could feel his hot breath on your lips. "You did good" he whispered before crashing his lips with yours. His tongue immediately found its way into your mouth as his hands started roaming everywhere on your body, with particular attention to your ass. He gave your ass a small spank, before pushing you onto the bed again. You propped yourself up on your elbows as he undressed in front of you, his eyes never leaving your body, as you admired the view. You blushed as you realized he had caught you staring at the obvious erection in his boxers and he just smirked, getting on top of you. His mouth found yours again in a passionate kiss, as one of his hands found your breasts and started desperately squeezing and stroking them. "You tell me a word and I'll stop, ok?" he said, catching you off guard. You nodded  "Use your words sweetheart" he said coyly, looking into your eyes. You swallowed thickly "O-ok" "good girl" he praised you as he tore your panties off of you and pushed two fingers into you. "OH MY GOD" you yelled "Sh,sh,sh" he shushed you, continuing to move his fingers in and out of you. "It's just my fingers" he whispered curling them inside you and hitting the spot perfectly, making you moan"if you make this much noise for just those" he chuckled as he sped up his movements"I don't know how you could react to the real thing" he stopped, making you whimper. he leaned away and took off his boxers. You liked your lips as your mouth involuntarily widened. "You're gonna be good for me, aren't you?" he asked as he positioned himself between your folds. "You're gonna take it all the way right?" you nodded   "your words Y/N, use them" "Yes-I'm sorry.Yes.I'll be good" you promised He groaned softly "that's what I like to hear" He looked at you one last time before slowly starting to push into you. You winced at the stretch and shut your eyes, already feeling tears starting to form in your eyes. He didn't stop and slowly continued filling you until he was completely inside you. He hissed just as he did and you opened your eyes back again. He brought one of his hands to your face to wipe a tear away from it and he kissed you quickly before, without any warning, thrusting into you aggressively. You gasped loudly and he bit his lip., enjoying the view under him. He thrust into you again and this time it didn't hurt as much, and you moaned softly. "good girl" he spoke proudly, as he started pounding into you relentlessly, making your tits bounce with each thrust. One of his hands made its way to them and started to not-so-gently play with them, squeezing and stroking, uncaringly about how you liked it. You were moaning his name like a prayer as his pace quickened and the hand that was on your chest made its way up to your neck, tightly gripping it. Your mouth widened as a loud moan escaped your mouth "That's right baby" he pounded into you even harder "take all of it" the sound of your body slapping together was brutal. "take it like the good girl that you are Y/N" His grip on your neck tightened and your vision started to blur. "So good for me baby" he said, bringing his thumb to your clit and circling it. "Oh god!Joe!" you cried out, shutting your eyes. You were close. you could feel it and joe felt it too. "Oh, no sweetheart" he pushed himself into you and leaned closer to your face, tightening his grip on your neck " Until I say you can" he moved his waist in a circle, making you moan faintly "You're not allowed to come" he whispered lowly, ghosting your lips and leaning away. "b-but Joe" you pleaded, already feeling way too close to your release. "Do as I say Y/N" He thrusted into you again, making you moan loudly. "pl-please" he thrusted into you again and freed your neck from his grip, rendering you able to breathe normally again. He stroked your cheek as he continued with his pace. You felt pressure build up in your lower belly and you knew you were close. "Please Jose-"you tried begging him but stopped as he ceased his movements and pulled out of you. He looked down at you smugly. Your mouth opened to protest but he instantly cut you off. "Turn around" he instructed. You immediately did as told, desperate for your release. You got on all fours and looked behind you to see him. He was biting his lip and staring at your ass, just like you could have probably predicted. "God you're hot" he mumbled as he put his hands on either side of your waist and got to his knees. "Even hotter than I had imagined" he said before licking a stripe through your folds without warning. You groaned at the feeling and pushed your back against him. He chuckled at your reaction and kissed your clit before coming back up. "Don't worry sweetheart" he pushed into you" It's coming" he promised. He picked up his pace quickly, making you cry out his name desperately. Somehow he was getting even deeper from this angle. "Joe!" you screamed. He brought his hand down to your right ass cheek, striking it hard "That's right baby" he spanked you again "Scream my name sweetheart" and again. You did. you cried out his name as he spanked you again, even harder. You were getting closer. You could feel the pressure continuing to build. "Please" you moaned as he caressed your backside after one last spank "P-please Joe. I'm gonna cum"  "I can feel it baby" He groaned "God, you're squeezing me so good Y/N" his voice strained. He was close too. "Come for me sweetheart" he trusted into you hard "Come on my dick baby". You didn't need to be told twice. You let yourself go and with one loud moan, you came all over his cock. He grunted at the feeling  "So good for me" he mumbled"such a good girl" he muttered as he pounded into you one last time before he came too, filling you up completely.

"Was this your plan all along?" you asked him through half-lidded eyes "maybe" he grinned, leaning closer to you "you didn't even wait 5 minutes after I got in the house"you smiled. "I know, I just couldn't resist anymore"

[blouisparadise]

Upon request, here is a rec list of bottom Louis fics where Louis cries during sex. If you enjoy our rec lists, please take the time to like this post and especially to reblog it to help spread the word. Happy reading!

1) I Could Be Your China Doll | Explicit | 2138 words

"This is my punishment for you, my slut." Harry kisses Louis' inner thighs and Louis shivers at his boyfriend's touch. Harry moves out of the bed again but Louis can hear shuffling and he knows that Harry is getting something not so good. The noise stops as the footsteps of the older guy suddenly become too loud for his ears.

2) Lips Are Like The Galaxy’s Edge | Mature | 2360 words

Harry licks over Louis’ hole slowly, deliberately, and his tongue is like velvet and Louis’ skin is burning at every junction where Harry touches him and it’s all so good he thinks he might cry. He licks a few more times, moaning softly like he’s relishing the taste of Louis and that’s just, well, fuck.

3) Louder Louder | Explicit | 2931 words

There's really only one way to get Louis out of a mood this terrible, and Harry is prepared to sacrifice his entire evening if necessary.

4) Heaven In These Sheets | Explicit | 3557 words

Bunny Hybrid Louis has it out for his boyfriend’s phone.

5) As Clean As A Sinner Can Be | Not Rated | 3394 words

If you asked Harry, he would tell you it’s not his fault they were in this predicament. It’s not his fault that his hair is getting too long (it is, he’s too lazy and too stubborn to let Lou cut it). It’s not his fault that because said hair is too long he had to find some way of keeping it out of his eyes (gelling it back wasn’t his style and snapbacks more times than not bugged him). It’s not his fault that Zayn had ripped his shirt sleeve off of his favourite button down shirt and he couldn’t part with it (plus he had far too much time on his hands in between shows) so he fashioned a headband, or as others would call it a head scarf, and found that it really helped keep the hair out of his eyes. Nor is he at fault for the fact that he looked like a sex god every time he wore the damn thing and really it was all his fault at how turned on it made Louis.

6) When I Hear Your Cries, Praying For Life. (I Will Be There) | Explicit | 5623 words

Well, I figured we needed Larry birthday sex, soooo.....

7) Singing Your Praises | Explicit | 6226 words

Prompt 86: Louis rides Harry while wearing his packer’s jersey/sweater and gets his ass ate.

8) Sugar, With Just The Right Amount Of Spice. | Explicit | 6314 words

Harry’s old fashioned when it comes to sex, he loves being face to face with his partner, watching their reactions to everything Harry gives them. He never does anything else then fuck in missionary position. Louis loves his sex life with Harry - but he’s getting a bit bored with doing the same position, all he really wants is for Harry to be rough with him, take control and dominate him for once.

9) Give It Up To Me | Explicit | 8134 words

"You're going to end up making me come with all the boys in our lounge," he finished, his tone softening the longer he spoke.

"And?" Harry murmured, placing his palm over the crevice of Louis' arse, keeping the plug nice and tight inside of him. "What if I wanted you to?"

10) Making A Splash | Explicit | 9557 words

“You want this?” Harry muses, fisting his cock as he drags his hand lazily up his thick length. Louis eyes the motion and nods his head absentmindedly. “You want to show everyone at this beach how much of a slut you are for Daddy’s cock?”

“M‘your slut,” Louis immediately replies, inching closer, inching closer with his eyes glued on Harry’s glistening cock, precome shining under the sun as it dribbles out his slit.

Harry grins widely and stops the movement of his hand to grip himself at the base again, pushing Louis’ head down. “Show everyone how much of a slut you are.”

11) Place Your Head On My Beating Heart | Explicit | 10860 words

The AU where porn sensation Harry Styles takes his newbie to his place and gets him to come untouched twice before even fingering him and they may or may not fall in love at some point between second and third orgasms.

12) Know You Got That Thing (That I Like) | Explicit | 15798 words

In all the ways he thought about their reunion going, watching Louis finger himself open was not on the list.

13) Baby, Let Me Love You Goodbye | Explicit | 20249 words

Louis almost calls Harry daddy. Cue denial, feelings, and way too much dirty talk.

14) Middle Ground | Explicit | 23561 words

Note: This fic is locked and can only be read by AO3 users.

Harry moves to a new town for work where he meets the enigma that is Louis Tomlinson.

15) Give So Much (Not Enough) | Explicit | 24610 words

“For my little lion,” Louis slid the smoothie bowl in front of Oscar, letting him dig in with his little hands. “And for daddy.”

He didn’t process the bowl in front of him, the push across the table causing a raspberry to roll off and fall on his lap, because Louis calling himself mummy may make him feel all sorts of mushy emotions, but Louis addressing Harry as daddy was suddenly having a very different effect on him. Since when did Louis saying daddy out loud render him speechless?

“Daddy’s still sleepy, but we’re up bright and early right Ossie?” Louis’ cooing shook him out of his daze. The man coughed, picking the raspberry off his lap and swallowing it with unintentional, and very unnecessary, eye contact with Louis. “Well, is it better than your protein smoothies and why?”

 Harry chuckled, spooning another heap of the strawberry banana goodness into his mouth, “Way better sweetheart.”

16) Put In Them Hours | Explicit | 25009 words

Note: This fic is locked and can only be read by AO3 users.

AU where Louis makes the poor decision of hiring an unfairly attractive assistant. Inspired by Rachel and Tag from Friends.

17) Honey, Make This Easy | Explicit | 25483 words

Note: This fic is locked and can only be read by AO3 users.

AU; Harry’s sister recently passed away, leaving him with temporary custody of her daughter. Needing help, he hires Louis as a nanny and the boy turns out to be help in more ways than he expected.

18) What's Mine Is Yours To Make Your Own | Explicit | 39919 words | Sequel

Sometimes, the closest Harry ever feels to home is Louis. It's their shared hotel rooms on tour, their shoes toed off in the doorway next to each other, jackets hung on the same post.

19) Worth Dying For | Explicit | 44906 words

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Louis says, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. In the center of the table, a set of three glossy photos stares up at him, mocking him.

“A security detail is non-negotiable, Louis, you know this,” his mum reminds him, tapping the middle photo with two fingers.

Louis doesn’t look back down at the pictures, gesturing towards them wildly, over-dramatically. “This is not a security detail!” he protests. “This is a lanky college student. In what world do you hire someone like this kid to protect me?”

20) No Easy Choice, But You’re Mine | Explicit | 45601 words

Louis is an omega hitman with one last job that goes a little sideways. Harry is the alpha bartender that looks a little too closely and cares a little too much.

21) Sedative Duty. | Explicit | 46588 words

Pop-star of the moment Louis Tomlinson is on his third-world tour. He decides to hire renowned professional dominant Harry Styles to unwind while on the road. In an effort not to raise suspicion by the crew, fans, and press,  Harry pretends to be his bodyguard. He ends up being far more than that.It's everything he doesn't notice until it's been taken away from him.

Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.

[gigglinggoblin]

Puppy Love P.2

Image used with permission from the lovely Princess Maple. Go check out her gorgeous collection on her Twitter and (FREE) Onlyfans!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 (see P.1 for content warning tags)

There we go!” Vaela cooed, continuing to hold and stroke Bluebonnet’s captive hand, continuing to run her long, delicate fingers through the baker’s hair. “Aww, doesn’t that feel nice, sweetie?”

Bluebonnet whimpered and gave a tiny meek nod.

“Good girl!” The praise ran over Bluebonnet as thick and sweet as Vaela’s delectable, addictive perfume. Bluebonnet squirmed helplessly, her eyes fleeing Vaela’s smug, knowing gaze and retreating back to the safest place to stare.

Vaela’s bra was so pretty, she thought hopelessly. The hearts in it matched Vaela’s rose-dusk eyes, and... gosh, Vaela’s breasts looked so soft…

Bluebonnet didn’t know what had happened. One moment, she’d been alone in the shop, having yet another boring, regular, safe day. Lonely, but safe.

The next, this… this breathtaking vision of a woman had walked in, introduced herself as Vaela, and rendered Bluebonnet a squirming, wiggling, red-faced disaster just with a few sly smiles, teasing compliments, and bounces of those pretty breasts of hers.

Bluebonnet let out a tiny squeak as Vaela gave her hand another squeeze. It felt like her mind was being squeezed a little every time Vaela did that, and the sensation felt so nice. It felt so nice, feeling her thoughts getting a little more… pliable… and gooey… and slow… with every squeeze, every headpet...

“That’s right,” Vaela whispered, and Bluebonnet whined. “That feels soooo good, doesn’t it, sweetie?”

Bluebonnet bit her lip. She knew she should say no. She knew she was supposed to say no.

But she found herself giving a tiny, meek nod.

“Aw, I’m sorry,” Vaela said slyly, leaning in a little. “What was that, dear?”

“Y-Yes,” Bluebonnet said, her voice as weak as a kitten’s, “yes, um… it’s, I-I mean…”

“Speak up, sweetie.”

Bluebonnet babbled helplessly.

Vaela giggled. “Aww. So cute.”

She released Bluebonnet’s hand, only to reach up and cup Bluebonnet’s chin, guiding her gently but firmly back to eye level. Bluebonnet’s lips parted thoughtlessly as she gazed into those shimmering rosy-pink eyes and melted into the swirling hearts that seemed to be flowing right into her open mind. Her cheeks were on fire, but somehow, she didn’t feel embarrassed anymore.

She swallowed. She just felt...

... really… really… really horny.

[Thanks for reading! There’s more after the break, but if you enjoyed this story and want to read more like it, there’s tons more content on my Patreon (plus the full Part 1, if you want a bit more scene-setting between Bluebonnet and Vaela). For just a few dollars a month, you gain access to alternate Bad Ends, bonus stories, polls on future content, early updates, erotic text-based roleplay/D&D games, and much, much more! If you can afford to, consider pledging, so I can keep posting Tumblr fics like this one on the regular! Thank you! <3]

“Tell me what you want, sweetie,” Vaela purred, reaching up one finger to gently stroke Bluebonnet’s quivering lower lip. Her other hand continued to lovingly pet Bluebonnet’s hair.

“I…” Bluebonnet whined and squirmed beneath that smug, dominant gaze. “I-I, umm…” Gods, why were thoughts and words suddenly so difficult? “S-So, I, you see, it… it feels…”

And then Vaela’s words descended on Bluebonnet in a sultry, irresistible coo.

“Use your words, puppy~”

“It feels goooood,” Bluebonnet moaned unthinkingly, leaning into the headpets, leaning into Vaela’s capable clutches. “S-So good, Vaela, it feels so, so--”

A finger went to her lips, and she meekly went silent.

Vaela smirked down at her. “Would you like to go back to staring at my tits?” she asked innocently, batting those thick eyelashes. “You can, if you want to.”

Bluebonnet licked her lips, suddenly remembering herself a little, remembering a little shame. “I-I… um...”

“Well, Puppy?”

Bluebonnet’s cheeks burned and she gave a needy nod. Then, when Vaela’s smile just widened, she meekly added, “Yes, please.”

The hand released her chin, and Bluebonnet’s head dropped like a stone, and her mind once again sank into blissful adoriation. Vaela had said she could stare. So she stared. She stared at those gorgeous, soft, beautiful breasts, and felt her mind melting between their comforting warmth once more.

Vaela took her hand again and gave it another squeeze… then gave a little tug. Bluebonnet’s heart fluttered as she found herself being led slowly by the hand. She couldn’t just... just let this woman tug her along, could she?

But she followed along obediently. Because Vaela’s motion meant the breasts were bouncing, and...

... and oh, it felt so nice to just stare brainlessly at those pretty bouncy boobies…

… to breathe Vaela’s sweet, addictive perfume, in and out, in and out, in time with the rise and fall of Vaela’s chest…

… to allow herself to be led like a… like a...

... like a good, obedient Puppy…

She whimpered and rubbed her legs together as Vaela led her out from behind the counter and towards the corner, towards the big, cozy armchair usually used by couples this time of year. Couples Bluebonnet had always been secretly jealous of, wishing she… wishing she had someone to…

She squirmed and whined, realizing what Bluebonnet was doing, dimly realizing why her mind was starting to feel so syrupy, so sluggish and suggestible. But the tits jiggled so enticingly. So addictively. And Vaela smelled so, so sweet.

She kept breathing in and out. In time with Vaela’s breathing. In time with the hand squeezes. In time with the headpats. And she followed along like a good girl.

She was starting to get very, very horny.

Vaela paused a moment by the door, and Bluebonnet had a sudden moment of fear. Was Vaela about to leave her after all?

Then, out of the corner of her eye, Bluebonnet saw the pretty brunette reach up and flip the “OPEN” sign to “CLOSED”.

And Bluebonnet’s heart began to pound in her chest.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

[My Patreon] [My Commission Info]

[Maple’s Twitter] [Maple’s OnlyFans]

[spine-buster]

The President Wears Prada (William Nylander) | Chapter 26

A/N: I don’t usually say stuff like this but y’all can thank me later for the ending.

TW: mentions of covid-19

March 10th, 2020

Aberdeen Bloom was about to show Camden around Scotiabank Arena.

“Don’t touch anything that’s not yours to touch, okay?” she warned him as they were just outside the doors to the arena.  She looked down at him to make sure everything looked okay – that his hair was nicely brushed, that his shirt wasn’t wrinkled, that his pants weren’t drooping, that his shoes were tied – before she bent down.  “I mean it.  We’re taking extra cleaning protocols because of this coronavirus thing and you don’t want to make extra work for the cleaning staff, right?”

“Right,” he nodded his head.  “Don’t worry, Aberdeen.”

“And no touching the sticks.  The guys are super-finicky about their sticks.”

“No touching the sticks.”

“And no touching anything in their stalls, either.  A lot of them are superstitious so if one thing is off, they’ll know.”

“No touching the stalls.”

“And no touching the—”

“No touching!!!” he yelled, clearly getting the point.  “Can we go inside now?”

Aberdeen was nervous.  But Camden was a good kid.  She had confidence that he wouldn’t embarrass her.  “Yes, we can go in now,” she said, about to get back on her feet.  And then she remembered.  “But one last thing—”

“Aberdeeeeeeeeeeeen!”

“The most important thing,” she said over him.  “You cannot tell anyone William Nylander came to our house for Christmas and you cannot talk like you’ve met him before.”

Camden nodded his head.  “I knooooow.  William spending Christmas with us has to be a secret always and forever.  I get it.  Can we please go inside now so I can see everyone before mom and dad get here?”

Aberdeen smiled.  What a kid.  “Let’s go,” she said, standing up and putting her arm around his back as they walked into the arena together.  Aberdeen flashed her fob to open the door and led Camden towards the elevators, taking it up to her office.  Camden was looking around at everything – everything was big and shiny and very sports-y, and he knew that if he was good, Aberdeen would take him to the Raptor’s locker room too.

“Heeeeey,” Brendan smiled as he saw Aberdeen ushering Camden into the office, getting up from his seat.  He’d never seen Aberdeen look so proud as she did as they walked into the room.  “How you doin’, buddy?  Remember me?  The candy man from Christmas?”

Camden nodded his head.  “Hello Mr. Shanahan.  I remember you,” Camden held out his hand.  

Brendan chuckled as he shook his little 11-year-old hand.  “You’re just like your sister.  Very formal.  She wouldn’t call me Brendan for months.”

Camden looked up at her.  “Yeah, mom and dad make sure we always call people mister and misses.  If we didn’t and mom heard about it, she’d have a fit.  Same with dad.”

“My mom was the same way, you know.  I think it’s because they grew up in Belfast,” Brendan winked.

“Probably.”

“So what do you want to see, bud?” Brendan asked.  “I don’t think you want to see the offices, right?  But not a lot of the guys are here yet.”

Camden looked around at Brendan’s office.  He clearly had something on his mind, though he seemed a bit nervous to say it.  “Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

Camden bit his lip slightly.  “My sister told me the guys get to eat here if they want to.  But where do they eat?”

Brendan had the most amused look on his face.  Aberdeen couldn’t help but chuckle from behind Camden too.  “You want to go see catering?”

“I guess so.”

Brendan shook his head.  He loved kids.  “Then we’re going to catering.”

***

Camden, Aberdeen, and Brendan went to catering.  Camden met the head chef and got to stir some onions and garlic frying in a pan as the base for the pasta sauce that night.  He even helped set the menu, deciding to go for grilled chicken for the guys.  He originally suggested fried, but the chef told him the guys needed to eat clean and that if they had friend chicken, John Tavares would get mad at everyone for eating it, because they would eat it.  

They saw Kyle, who brought them out into the empty arena, and brought them all the way down to ice level where Aberdeen was able to take some pictures of him on the empty ice, on the Leafs bench, and even in the penalty box.  Camden got a kick out of it all, and got less shy and more boisterous as the minutes passed and Brendan and Kyle allowed him to do funny things.  He was even able to see the Zamboni.  He was smart enough not to ask if the man tending to it was David Ayres.  

When they were back in the corridors of the arena, Kyle looked down at Camden who was practically skipping through the hallways.  “I heard your sister got you a pretty cool Raptors jersey for Christmas,” Kyle said.

“Yup!” Camden nodded his head.  “A Kyle Lowry one.  He’s the coolest.  I wore it on my first day of school back from Christmas break and all my friends thought it was soooo cool.”

“Do you want to go into their locker room?” Kyle smiled, already knowing the answer.  

Camden’s eyes lit up like the fourth of July.  “Can I?!  For real?!” he asked.

“For real,” Kyle nodded.  “Come on, let’s go.  Maybe we can get a picture of you in Kyle Lowry’s stall.”

Fireworks were practically shooting out of Camden’s eyes as they walked inside of the dressing room.  He looked at every stall and every player’s name written at the top.  The only thing he could keep saying was “This is so cool!” and “Oh my God!”  Aberdeen hung out at the perimeter of the room as she watched him, letting Camden get the full effect.  He kept looking back at her and smiling from ear to ear, clearly not believing anything was real.  Aberdeen would smile back and urge him to keep looking.

Suddenly, she heard a door open from behind her.  She turned around quickly to see who it was and make sure she wasn’t in the way, but realistically, there shouldn’t have been anyone else there besides them, so she was skeptical.  When she saw who it was, her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach.  “Oh, hello Miss Bloom!” Masai greeted her after he’d poked his head through the door.  He had a casual sports jacket on with a plain black polo shirt and a nice pair of pressed slacks.  “How are you?”

“I’m fine Mr. Ujiri.  How are you?”

“All good here.  What’s the occasion?” he asked, nodding his head towards Kyle, Brendan, and Camden.

“That’s my little brother Camden,” she said, only to see Masai’s smile grow.  “I think he feels like he’s won the lottery right now.”

“Camden?” he clarified the name in a low voice.  She nodded her head before watching him close the door and step into the locker room confidently.  “Hello Camden!” he beamed.

Camden whipped his head around.  When he saw that it was Masai Ujiri, his face dropped.  Brendan and Kyle smiled.  “Masai Ujiri?!” Camden yelled.

“That’s me!  Are you having fun?”

Camden didn’t know what to do.  He couldn’t formulate words, and he couldn’t move, and the step forward he took was mute when he froze in place because he didn’t think it was polite to hug Masai Ujiri, so he just sort of stood there in a weird stance with his jaw on the floor until he could formulate one simple word.  “Hi.”

Everybody laughed.  Masai made his way into the room.  “You’re a big Raptors fan?  Who’s your favourite?”

“K—K—Kyle Lowry,” Camden stuttered out.  

“Good choice,” Masai smiled.  “Do you want a picture in his stall?”

Camden could only nod enthusiastically.  He walked towards the stall, and Aberdeen knew it was her cue.  She took out her phone and began snapping pictures of him standing, sitting, pointing at Kyle’s name – everything.  Camden had the biggest smile ever on his face.  Then Masai posed with him too, and an even bigger smile appeared on his face.  It was all so cool.  And then—

“Hey!  Who’s that in my stall?”

A shiver went up Aberdeen’s spine.  From his spot in the stall, Camden’s face dropped again – if it was possible, even more this time than when Masai walked into the room.  She turned around to see the man himself, Kyle Lowry, walk into the room.  “What’s up, buddy?” Kyle asked, smiling from ear to ear.

“K—Ky—Ky—” Camden couldn’t get his name out.  “K—Kyle—”

“That’s me.  You having fun?” he asked.  Camden nodded.  “Have you ever been in here before?”

“N—No Mr. Lowry, I—I’ve just s—seen it on TV,” Camden stuttered out.  

“Who’s Mr. Lowry?  Call me Kyle,” he said as he walked towards him.  “You excited to be in here?” he asked.  Camden could only nod his head.  “You watch us at home?”

“I watch you at home with my dad all the time,” Camden said, which was true.  They’d watched almost all the games last season (until Camden’s bedtime, naturally), and he stayed up past his bedtime for all the playoff games.  This year, he and Mirza were continuing the tradition.  

“Do you have a jersey to wear while you watch them?”

“Aberdeen gave me a jersey for Christmas.”

Everyone laughed at his innocence.  It was only then that Aberdeen noticed a jersey draped over Kyle’s shoulder.  Even she was freaking out, because she knew how much this meant to Camden.  “So I guess you don’t want this one then?” Kyle asked, pulling the jersey off his shoulder.  He opened it up to reveal a vintage-style jersey, one with the original logo.  He took a Sharpie and asked Camden for his name and how to spell it before writing it on the jersey and signing it.  “You want a picture, buddy?” Kyle asked.  Camden could only nod.  He was too shocked.  Aberdeen was glad they were being so patient with him. 

They posed together with Kyle’s stall in the background, and then Masai joined in, and then Aberdeen got in, too.  Camden was rendered speechless.  When they were led out of the locker room, Kyle and Masai said goodbye before they disappeared into the elevator.  Kyle said a few parting words as well since he had to take an important phone call before the game.  Brendan left Aberdeen and Camden alone to go to his office, expecting Orla and Mirza anytime now.  It left Aberdeen and Camden alone, with Aberdeen knowing Camden was still star-struck by what just happened.

“Ab—Aberdeen,” Camden said finally, once the men were gone.  He was clutching onto the jersey so tight, like it would float away.  

“Are you alright, Cam?” she asked, bending down on her knee so she could look him in the eye.  

He shook his head.  “I w—wasn’t ready for that,” he said, his voice shaky.  “I didn’t—I didn’t look like a loser, did I?”

“What?  No way!” she exclaimed.  “Camden, you never look like a loser.”

“He was so cool Aberdeen!  I mean he’s Kyle Lowry!” he said as he began to cry.  

“C’mere,” she cooed, wrapping her arms around him tightly and pulling her brother in for a big hug.  “I know it was overwhelming, but that’s okay!  You just met your hero!  I bet if any of your other friends met their hero, they wouldn’t know what to do either,” she said, trying to get him to calm down.  

As Aberdeen continued to hug her brother, rubbing his back so he’d calm down a bit, she heard people making their way up the stairs, and soon, she saw William and Auston making their way up.  William noticed her first, looking her straight in the eye even though Auston was talking to him.  When Auston noticed him not responding, he looked and saw Aberdeen.  

“Hey,” William greeted them, looking at her skeptically.  “Everything okay?”

Aberdeen nodded her head against Camden’s shoulder.  “Camden just had a big moment,” she said, giving them both a look.  “He just met Masai Ujiri and Kyle Lowry.”

Both William’s and Auston’s eyes bulged out.  “Ooooooh, wow!” they cooed together.  “Dude, that’s so awesome!” Auston said, sounding excited, trying to make Camden as comfortable as possible as Aberdeen let go of the hug so Camden could face Auston and Willy.

“I’d be the same way, bud!  Don’t worry!” William said as he noticed the nervous and embarrassed look on Camden’s face as he wiped away whatever few tears fell.  He noticed the jersey hanging from Camden’s other hand.  “Is that it?”

“Yeah,” he nodded.

“Let’s see it,” Auston said gently.

Camden unfolded it gently, as if the autograph would rub off.  When the guys noticed that it was a vintage jersey, they commented on how cool it looked.  And when they finally saw the personalized autograph, they were all but screaming.  “I don’t even have one of these, bud!” Auston exclaimed.  “You’re sooooo lucky!”

“Yeah, me neither!” William joined in.  “You’ve gotta frame that or something.”

“I gotta show all my friends at school first,” he said.  The more Camden calmed down, the more he came to his senses.  He took a second and third look at the men in front of him – he of course noticed and knew William, but it was Auston who he finally realized was standing in front of him.  “Holy moly, you’re Auston Matthews!”

Auston giggled.  “Yes I am.”

“You…you’re the coolest!”

“Thanks, bud,” he said.  “Has your sister brought you into our locker room yet?”

Camden shook his head.  “Not yet.  There was nobody here yet so we went to catering.”

“Catering?!” William was shocked.  “You brought your brother to catering?!”

“I told him how you guys could eat before the game and he wanted to see!” Aberdeen tried to defend herself.  

William shook his head.  “Come on, Camden.  Let’s see who’s already here.”

With Auston leading the way and Camden in front of him, William looked back at Aberdeen behind him and winked at her.  “By the way Aberdeen, how do I look?” he asked.

She smiled.  “You look like if the song ‘Africa’ by Toto were a person.”

Auston threw his head back and cackled loudly like a seagull.  William shook his head.  Camden looked back at his sister.  “What’s Toto?  Isn’t that the dog from the Wizard of Oz?”

“Don’t worry about it, Cam,” she said.  

Camden was nervous as they approached the doors of the locker room, so he waited for his sister to be near him before he stepped through.  When he did, he was wide-eyed and amazed; he couldn’t believe he’d just been in the Raptor’s locker room and now he was in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ locker room, too.  Most of the guys were actually already in the room, but luckily they were not in various stages of undress yet.  Morgan was the first one to notice them – it was his first game back from injury, so his energy level was off the charts.  “Aberdeen!” he yelled her name, giant smile on his face.  His eyes moved to Camden.  “Who’s this?”

“This is Camden, my little brother,” she said, introducing him.  “Camden, that’s Morgan Rielly.  He’s one of our alternate captains and it’s his first game back tonight.”

“What’s up, Camden?” he asked, smiling gently.  

“Hello Mr. Rielly.”

“Camden just met Masai Ujiri and Kyle Lowry, so he’s a bit shocked at everything right now,” Aberdeen said, making a face at Morgan that Camden couldn’t see.  

Morgan got the hint.  “That’s the jersey then, huh?” he pointed to the jersey still in Camden’s hands.  Camden nodded.  “Isn’t Kyle just so cool?” Morgan asked.

A smile spread on Camden’s face.  “He’s my faaaaavourite,” he said.

“Me too.”

“Do I hear a Bloom brother is here?” Tyson’s voice boomed from the other end of the locker room.  Aberdeen watched him walk through the door with a big smile on his face.  “What’s up?!  You must be Camden!”

“Hello Mr. Barrie.”

“You excited for the game tonight?”

Camden nodded.  “It’s my first ever hockey game.”

“First ever?!  Okay, we gotta make it extra special then,” Tyson smiled.  “Where are you sitting?”

Camden looked up to Aberdeen, because he didn’t have a clue.  “Mom, dad, and Camden are sitting in row 20 at centre ice,” she said.  “If he’s good he’ll be back after the game too.  But only if he’s good.”

“Hey!  I’m always good!” he objected.

“I’m not sure about that.”

***

As Aberdeen sat with Brendan in the box, she noticed him checking his phone a lot more than usual.  It was especially peculiar because this was a game against Tampa Bay – a very good team and many saw this as a must-win for the Leafs, especially since they won their last game against Tampa Bay on her birthday.  And like with the game in Ottawa, when Siena was there, and on her birthday, when he scored that insane between-the-legs goal, William was just showing off.  He was playing great, and had scored a goal in the first period.  Aberdeen knew he was hamming it up for her and her family, knowing they were in attendance.  

When Auston scored in the third period to get the score to 2-1, Brendan was happy but it didn’t last long.  He began furiously typing away on his phone.  She wondered if there was a problem with one of his kids or with Catherine.  He usually wasn’t this distracted during games.

“Is everything okay, Brendan?” she asked once the final buzzer went.  The Leafs had won 2-1 and she thought he’d be much happier.

He pursed his lips together, shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head.  “Trying to keep up on the coronavirus,” he said.  The media had already been put at bay and weren’t allowed close to the players anymore.  She wondered if new restrictions were being implemented and the media wrote a pissy open letter demanding access again.  “It’s not looking good.  I mean, the entire country of Italy is in a fucking lockdown.  They can’t control this thing.”

Aberdeen heard that news yesterday.  It was a shock to her, mainly because she didn’t think it was possible an entire country could go into lockdown.  But the north was getting rattled by it, and it seemed like the only logical thing to do, however draconian it was.  She had a lot of Italian friends from high school whose family were still in Italy and were affected by it.  “What do you think will happen?” she asked.

“Don’t know,” he said.  “I mean…it’s getting serious.  Really serious.  And I’m not convinced it can be contained like we all hope it can be,” he said.  

“What do you think will happen with us?” she followed up.

“If…ah, I honestly don’t know, Aberdeen.  They could postpone games by a few days.  I mean, I think that’s the worst-case scenario right now – everything being delayed by a couple of weeks.”

Aberdeen bit her lip.  “Yeah…I guess that’s totally worst-case scenario.”

“Absolute worst-case scenario,” Brendan repeated.  “Do I think it will get that bad?  I don’t know.  I don’t think so.  But I have no clue about these things.”

“What…I mean, the directive has to come from the league, right?” she asked.

“Of course.  It always comes from the top down.  We’ll see what happens.  We can’t worry about hypotheticals.”

Aberdeen nodded.  He was right.  “So I guess I’ll see you on Wednesday when Nashville is in town?”

“You betcha.  Let me walk you down and say goodbye to your family.”

***

Aberdeen had barely taken her shoes off when she got into her condo before she felt her phone buzz in her hand.  

can i see u?

She couldn’t believe him.  But at the same time, she could.

You’re lucky you can.

i’ll be there in 5

She took the five minute opportunity to change out of her work clothes and take off her makeup.  When the calling buzz rang from her phone, she immediately let him in.  Within minutes, he was knocking at her door, and she was letting him in like she always did.  

“How’s your brother?” he asked as he took off his shoes.  

“He’s fine,” she smiled slightly, liking that William was asking about him.  Camden had returned to the Leafs locker room after the game (if the media found out, she knew they’d have a hissy fit since they weren’t even allowed back there, but Brendan didn’t care) and Auston gave him his game-worn jersey, which all the guys ended up signing.  By the end of the night, all of the excitement of the day and the game had caught up to him, and he was practically falling asleep standing up.  “He was tired by the end but I could tell it was the best day of his life.”

“He’s a cute kid,” William commented.  “You guys are alike, you know.”

“How?” Aberdeen was curious.

“You’re both…like, pure.  You both light up the room when you enter it,” he smiled.  The shy smile on her face was his favourite.  He approached her, not wanting to wait any longer.  “Is Kasha home?” he asked before he put his arm around her.  

“No.  She’s with Evan tonight,” Aberdeen said.

“Sleeping over?”

Aberdeen nodded, a smirk on her face.  “Aren’t you a lucky boy.”

William smiled.  “The luckiest boy in the world,” he mumbled, wrapping his other arm around her and pulling her against his body.  

“You always know the perfect opportunities to show up,” she said.  “If I didn’t know any better I’d say you’re in cahoots with her as to when to come over and get in my pants.”

William chuckled, leaning down. “In cahoots?” he mumbled against her lips.  “The only thing or person I’m in cahoots with these days is you, minskatt.”

“Not Rasmus?” she asked.

He grumbled at her before deciding to get her to be quiet by kissing her.  When his lips planted on hers, she let out a slight gasp before wrapping her own arms around his shoulders, kissing him fully and sticking her tongue down his throat in no time at all.  As they kissed in the middle of her kitchen, William slipped his hands underneath her shirt and up to her bra, feeling her breasts through the cotton fabric.  “Bedroom?” he asked.

Aberdeen nodded.  “Please.”

***

March 11th, 2020

Good afternoon.  In the past two weeks, the number of cases of COVID-19 outside China has increased 13-fold, and the number of affected countries has tripled.  There are now more than 118,000 cases in 114 countries, and 4,291 people have lost their lives.  Thousands more are fighting for their lives in hospitals.  In the days and weeks ahead, we expect to see the number of cases, the number of deaths, and the number of affected countries climb even higher.  WHO has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction.

We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic.

***

Aberdeen’s brows were furrowed as she and Kasha watched TV, the both of them feeling like they were in the twilight zone or something.  The basketball game was supposed to have started, but never did.  People were rushing off the court.  Nobody knew what was going on, and the announcers were just speaking in hypotheticals.  It was all very confusing – that is, until, the headline came:

Rudy Gobert tests positive for coronavirus.

The girls couldn’t keep their eyes off the TV screen.  Now the Utah Jazz and the Oklahoma City Thunder were being quarantined inside the arena and being tested.  Just the other day, Rudy Gobert was making light of the entire situation and touching all of the reporters’ microphones after his interview with them.  Now he had the virus.

“Oh my God,” Kasha muttered as she looked down at her phone.  

“What?  What’s going on?” Aberdeen asked.

“Tom Hanks just announced he has it,” she announced, looking up.  

The girls looked at each other, speechless.

***

“Did you hear the NBA has suspended their season?” Aberdeen asked as she lay in her bed, holding her phone along the pillow as she looked at William through the screen.  He was doing the same thing.  His disheveled hair and sleepy blue eyes would have made her swoon in any other situation, but right now, she wasn’t swooning.  

“Yeah,” he nodded.  He noticed she was wearing the hoodie that he left there by accident last night.  “It’s crazy.  I mean it’ll probably be for the next few days until they have everything under control, you know?”

“Yeah,” Aberdeen said, but she wasn’t so sure.  “What do you think the NHL will do?” she asked.

“No clue.  Maybe they’ll suspend the next few days of games too, just to make sure everything is under control too.  We’ll probably have to get tested.  I heard they stick something all the way up your nose,” William said.  There were a few moments of silence between them.  “Are you scared, minskatt?”

It was the first time somebody actually asked her that question – asked her if she was scared.  Everybody talked about it but nobody ever stopped to ask if she was actually scared.  She felt herself nodding her head.  “A little bit,” she admitted.

“Don’t be scared, minskatt.  I don’t want you to feel scared.  But I’m here if you want to talk about it.  You know that, right?”

She nodded her head.  “Are you scared, Willy?”

He nodded too.  “Yeah.  A little bit.”

***

March 12th, 2020

Aberdeen had an incredibly early morning.  She actually went into the office at 7:30 in the morning because Brendan requested she be there for some additional prep and to scribe the minutes of the meeting taking place with the NHL and the Board of Governors.  With a tired body but overactive mind, thinking about all the possibilities that could happen, her fingers moved a mile a minute across the keyboard as she sat with Brendan and Kyle.  Up until this point, everything in the league was carrying on as normal, despite the NBA postponing their season not even twelve hours prior.  She knew for a fact other teams around the league were still preparing to hold practices because those who were on the call said so and asked about it.  The Nashville Predators were already in for a morning skate, and the Leafs were going to have their practice right after.  

When the decision was made, and all that needed to be done was tell the players before the statement was drafted and released to the media, Brendan took a long, hard, exasperated sigh.  He rubbed at his temples and let his pen drop from his hand.  He leaned back in his chair before he looked at Aberdeen.  “All the guys are present and accounted for in the locker room.  We have to go and tell them.”

The thought of having to tell the team was daunting.  She knew it wasn’t her that was going to be delivering the bad news, but it would still be disheartening just being in the room and seeing their faces drop.  They’d probably have so many questions and Brendan and Kyle wouldn’t have any answers for them.  She looked at Kyle to see if he could offer her any solace but he was rubbing his eyes underneath his glasses.  “What do you think they’ll say?” she asked.

Brendan shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.  “Who knows.  But nobody will be happy.  I know that much.”

As they made their way towards the locker room, Kyle texted Sheldon to make sure all the guys and all the personnel were congregated in the locker room to hear the announcement.  With the Predators also being there, Aberdeen knew there’d be overlap.  So many of them knew each other so she wondered if they had already gone to see each other.

When they got into the locker room, everyone was waiting like kids in class.  Aberdeen locked eyes with William and moved off to the side as Brendan and Kyle stood at the front of the room.  They were told the news.

“For how long?”

“Even practices?  I mean this is just going to be for a few days, right?”

“Are they releasing a statement?”

“Did the league say anything about making up the games?”

“When are we going to start again?”

“Does that mean the season is being extended even further into the summer?  Doesn’t that delay next season?  What about the CBA?”

“What’s the PA have to say about this?”

“Is the PA making a statement too?”

“What do we do with our equipment?  Our stalls?”

We don’t know.

We don’t know.

We don’t know.  

“Listen, the only thing we do know for sure is this: it’s been classified as a pandemic now by the World Health Organization and it’s spreading quickly.  This thing can’t be contained.  With Gobert testing positive last night, it was only a matter of time before this thing affected us, too.  We share so many locker rooms with NBA players.  It might already even be in our league and we don’t know it,” Brendan said.

“Schools have already announced an extended March Break.  Nobody knows a lot right now but what we can tell you is that we’re going to listen to the public health officials and their advice,” Kyle said.  “We’re hockey players – we’re not epidemiologists.  If someone tells me to stop playing a full-contact sports to stop the spread of a highly infectious diseases even the world’s best epidemiologists still know very little about, I’m going to listen to them.”

“So what do we do now?” Morgan asked.

“Go home.  Until you’re given further directives from us, go home and stay home.”

***

"In light of ongoing developments resulting from the coronavirus, and after consulting with medical experts and convening a conference call of the Board of Governors, the National Hockey League is announcing today that it will pause the 2019-20 season beginning with tonight's games.”

"The NHL has been attempting to follow the mandates of health experts and local authorities, while preparing for any possible developments without taking premature or unnecessary measures. However, following last night's news that an NBA player has tested positive for coronavirus -- and given that our leagues share so many facilities and locker rooms and it now seems likely that some member of the NHL community would test positive at some point -- it is no longer appropriate to try to continue to play games at this time.

"We will continue to monitor all the appropriate medical advice, and we will encourage our players and other members of the NHL community to take all reasonable precautions -- including by self-quarantine, where appropriate. Our goal is to resume play as soon as it is appropriate and prudent, so that we will be able to complete the season and award the Stanley Cup. Until then, we thank NHL fans for your patience and hope you stay healthy."

***

When Aberdeen got home, the news had just been announced that Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, Justin’s wife, had it.  The anxiety Aberdeen felt only multiplied.  Kasha wasn’t home when she got home – she was at work, obviously – so it was just her alone with her thoughts, and it wasn’t going well.  Aberdeen prided herself on watching the news and keeping up to date with current events, but the doomscrolling she was doing on her Twitter and the CNN feed she turned on in the background wasn’t helping.

Then she heard the buzzer for her apartment.  That could only mean one thing.  

“Are you feeling okay, minskatt?” William asked the first second he saw her, which meant she was unable to ask him why he showed up at her place.

“I…I don’t know,” she admitted.  “I’m scared, Willy.”  Knowing it was still mid-day and that Kasha was at work, he took the opportunity to move closer to her and engulf her in a hug.  Her arms were pressed between their bodies as he hugged her tightly.  She took a moment to take in his scent and compose herself and try to snap out of all the doomscrolling she’d just done.  “What are you even doing here?”

“I needed to see if you were okay.  Plus I left my hoodie here the other night and—”

He was interrupted by her phone ringing loudly on the kitchen countertop.  They both looked down at it and saw Brendan’s name flash across the screen.  A pit formed in Aberdeen’s stomach.  She let it ring a few more times before reaching out to pick it up and answer it.  “Hello?”

“Did you have contact with anybody from Nashville today?” he asked, not bothering with formalities.  “Including staff.”

“Y—Yes,” she said.  She had seen and spoken with a bunch of the staff about the situation as everyone was packing up and going home.  She was ruminating how it would be more dramatic for them to fly home whereas the Leafs just had to drive.  “Why?”

She heard him take a long breath.  “We’re getting information about precautions and what you can do to minimize the spread and exposure, and…listen, Aberdeen, the government and every public health official is instituting a policy of a fourteen day quarantine period—”

“Quarantine?!  What do you mean quarantine?” she asked.

“—Immediately.”

“Immediately?!”

“It means no leaving your house.  At all.  For anything.  You…you can’t leave, Aberdeen.”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  She didn’t know what to think, how to feel, anything.  She was void of emotion.  “Oh my God.”

“I know.  Believe me.  The entire country is going into lockdown.  This is more serious than I could have ever imagined.  I’ve gotta call the rest of the team to let them know.”

He hung up the phone.  She looked over to William.  She knew he’d heard Brendan through the phone.  And before she could even utter a word, his phone began ringing.  Brendan’s name flashed across his screen this time.  He looked her in the eye as he answered.  “Hello?..........Yeah.  Yeah I caught up with Filip Forsberg for a bit, some of the other Swedish guys too……….okay…okay…what do you mean quarantine?  Like stay at home?  But like, if I’m out—I—okay, go home immediately?  Yeah yeah, I’ll drop everything..........Fourteen days?...Uh, I guess so.  I mean I have no choice right?......Yeah I’ll be fine.  I’ll have groceries delivered like I always do……Yeah…Yeah…Okay.  Bye Brendan.”

They were both speechless.  

***

Aberdeen called Kasha.  Kasha was going to take the opportunity to stay at Evan’s place for fourteen days, and would be by after work to pack, during which Aberdeen would lock herself in her room.  Aberdeen didn’t know how Kasha would be able to hide a fourteen-day stint at Evan’s place from her dad.  But then again, Aberdeen was hiding William from everybody.  They both had secrets.

Once everything was arranged, she could finally look at William sitting on her couch.  She didn’t even know if he had clothes.  Underwear.  Anything.  She looked at him.  “Does this mean we’re living together for fourteen days?”

William couldn’t believe what was happening, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but smirk slightly.  “I think it does.”