#last one for today but I'll start the sketch for the next one

[rozetheeuwu]

Hello! This is Void/@charous-hall. I hope you're having a good day today~

For your requests, could I please request a drawing of Elena (as in, from Reborn)? She's such a cool character and she has a really neat design, but you never see much of her around, which is a shame ;w;

Hey!! I'm doing fine! Here you go!

Her design is one of my favorites and she was so cool! Wish we could've learned more about her!

[hispg]

Longing for love

Pairings: R2! Leon X Fem! Reader

Summary: It's your birthday, and your childhood friend wants to make it special.

Wc: 2.4k

Warnings: smut, unprotected sex, p in v, loss of virginity (both sides), pet names, soft sex, making out, slight oral( f receiving).

An: I know I promised I'd post this last week, but this week I was feeling down about writing anything. Just as I haven't replied to asks or comments, I'll probably reply to them tonight.

I don't know what happened, I had so much to write and ended up writing almost nothing. Anyway, I'll try to finish what I've already got half-written and try to post it over the next few days!

I really hope this bad mood passes soon, and I thank you all for your love. 🫶🏻

It was a special day, your birthday. You had nothing special planned, nothing other than lying in the comfort of your bed watching some series on your laptop.

Even though you had told your childhood friend, Leon, that you didn't want anything special today, he refused to accept it.

It was your birthday, how could he pass it up? Even though he didn't have the best financial conditions in the world, he spared no expense in giving you a shiny necklace with a heart as a pendant.

If it were up to him, he would give you anything you asked for. Because he thought you deserved all the best the world could offer.

And here he was, spoiling you with sweet, wet kisses, holding you down on the bed while he gave your forehead one last kiss before whispering:

"Are you sure you don't want anything?" You'd lost count of how many times he'd asked you that during the night.

You knew he could get you anything you wanted, all you had to do was ask.

"No, Lee..." You said softly, clutching and snuggling into him.

He nodded, tangling his fingers in your hair and playing with the strands, holding you so close to him that the two of you had your bodies pressed together.

The bed seemed so cozy for both of you, the covers that were wrapped around your bodies as the two of you exchanged these light caresses.

You couldn't have been happier on your birthday, cuddling up to him while the gentle rain fell outside.

Leon felt his heart flutter every time he saw you all dolled up in a light purple dress, looking like a princess. Wearing your prettiest earrings, glossy lips that had left a raspberry taste in his mouth that made him keep licking his lips because of it.

"You know... I saw a dress..." Leon begins, and you already know where this is going to end.

He always says he sees something that reminds him of you, and every time he ends up bringing it as a present for you, with the excuse that you'd look perfect wearing what he's bought.

"Leon, you don't have to..." You whisper, kissing him on the lips.

He closed his eyes with a soft smile, pressing you a little closer against him.

"But I'd love to..." He says with that cocky smile you already know well.

You giggle, kissing his cheeks several times. He always got frustrated and embarrassed when you did this, his cheeks getting hot from the act.

But he'd be lying if he said he didn't love it every time you showered him with kisses. The feel of your lips on his skin was something he would never forget.

Without even realizing it, he gripped your hips a little harder, getting goosebumps when your breasts grazed his chest from how close you were to him.

Once you'd finished what you'd started, the proud smile plastered across your face.

"Why are you blushing?" You asked with mischief and sweetness in your voice, biting your lip as you looked at him.

You watched his lips come together and press, a sketch of a pout there. His eyes locked with yours, his arms wrapped around your waist.

God, how could he resist that? How could he resist you?

He swears he was trying to ignore the situation, trying to ignore the way you were so close to him, your warm body crashing against his.

Maybe he was being daring, but he took the opportunity a step further, placing a light kiss on your neck. Letting his lips linger there for a few moments.

The response that came from you pleased him, he heard your breathing hitch, your chest descend and rise more visibly. He knew you liked it.

"Maybe I want something..." You whispered, looking at him with a certain shyness.

You knew that the two of you had already crossed the line into friendship, not least because you doubted that friends kissed or got that close. But when he looked at you in such a sweet way, something in you melted.

"Say... I can give you anything you want..." He whispers, lightly caressing your cheeks.

You bite your lip, leaning your forehead against his once more, and soon the sweet words are coming from your lips:

"A kiss?" It wasn't the first time you'd kissed, but the way you asked for it this time, so sweetly, the smile was kind of drawn on your face.

Who was Leon to say no?

"Whatever you want, princess." That's all he said before kissing you.

It started in a loving and gentle way, his lips moving against yours in sync, his fingers caressing your waist with affection and delicacy.

Your hands wrapped in his hair as his tongue traced your lower lip, asking for passage into your mouth. And you didn't deny it.

You don't know how it happened, or how a simple make out session turned into languid, sloppy kisses, his hands grabbing every bit of skin he could find, not wasting a single precious second to touch you.

And before you knew it, he was on top of you, his hands slowly coming down to hold your hips. And knowing how far this was going to go, you didn't try to do anything to stop it.

In the blink of an eye he had already taken off your dress, his lips trailing down your neck as he grasped the waistband of your panties, taking no time to remove them at once.

His eyes went wide once you were naked in front of him, his cock aching from the rush of seeing you like this.

"Can I...?" All he wanted was your permission to continue or to stop, it was up to you.

You nodded shyly, letting him do whatever he wanted.

And that was all he needed to continue. He moved his face down to your belly, kissing softly and sweetly across your skin, leaving no part untouched. He was so anxious that he could barely think straight, the only thing he wanted to feel was what it would be like to be inside you.

So he needed to prepare you, right? And once he saw how wet you were already getting with just a few kisses, it wasn't long before he thought of a solution to get you soaking wet.

His hands gripped your thighs, you could tell he was as nervous as you were. The blush on his cheeks, the way he was biting his lower lip to hold back the sounds he might make at the sight of you in this situation.

He'd never seen you naked like this, but he'd be lying if he said he hadn't imagined this situation multiple times.

But now that you were here in front of him, it was a completely different story.

Before you could look at him, you felt his warm lips on your thighs, giving you light, wet kisses.

As if he was afraid and apprehensive of making any moves, he had never done that in his life, he was just following what he thought was right, maybe he could call it instinct or something.

His warm, soft lips gave you goose bumps, made your body shudder under his body, you gasped and arched your body gently.

His every touch was capable of making your thoughts go blank and you forget the world around you, as if nothing else mattered. Just the two of you there.

He also couldn't stop salivating once he saw your wet folds, the state he'd managed to leave you in with just a few kisses and caresses. Your throbbing pussy almost begging for him, a sight that sent an electrifying pulse to his hard cock.

You held back from moaning when you felt his hot breath against your sex.

It wasn't long before you were shuddering at his touch, the way he was so delicate as he planted kisses in your folds, he was so tender that it was simply attractive to watch. His blue eyes staring at you, just to make sure you were comfortable with it all, and that you wanted it as much as he did.

As soon as he saw that you were ready for him, he began to undress. In a hurried and clumsy way he took off his clothes, throwing them into a corner of the room.

You were mesmerized by his body, strong and muscular, so defined that you could salivate just looking at it.

Once again he was lying on top of you, his lips pressed to yours in a hot kiss.

You only heard him fisting himself a little, before he began to guide his tip into your entrance. You knew from the kiss he was giving you that he wanted to make you focus only on him, making you as comfortable as possible.

So he slowly entered you, calmly and patiently, all the while asking you if it was okay and if he could continue. The situation was new and strange for both of you, so reluctance was more than normal.

Once he had sunk into you, he could have sworn to God that he was holding back from cumming, the sensation of your warm, wet walls was more than enough to finish him off.

But he held on, held on and tried his best to stop the thoughts of simply exploding inside you here and now.

And he hovered over you, simply rigid on top of you, just as his hard cock didn't move an inch from where it was.

He felt your discomfort, the way you hissed a little when he put it in, and if you were being honest, it stung considerably.

He stood still, that is until you both got used to the foreign feeling.

But even then, he kept giving you soft kisses on the cheek, whispering sweet nothings to help you relax.

"I love you so much..." He whispered sweetly in your ear, giving the area light kisses and licks.

You moaned softly at his touch, instinctively wrapping your legs around his hips, entwining with him in such an erotic and intimate way.

And in yet another of his gestures, he entwined his fingers with yours, squeezing your hand tightly as he gazed at you with those gentle blue eyes.

It was a gaze so tender, so loving, a gaze that was reserved for you, only you.

"You can move..." You say softly, looking at him shyly.

He gets the message, and slowly starts to move, in a shallow and calm way, he had no intention of rushing things.

Not least because he could see how nervous you were, or how much your pussy clenched around him, even though he had stimulated you, had prepared you to loosen up more.

"So tight..." He moans softly, giving your lips a gentle kiss.

The way he was so tender, so tenuous as he thrust into you, he didn't even move much, just enough to cause a little friction.

Not least because he didn't even know what you liked at those times, it was two inexperienced lovers learning at once.

"Lee..." You call softly, gently biting your lower lip as you look at him.

Surely he noticed the way your hips began to move against his, as if your body knew exactly what to do in this situation.

He took this as a green light, and began to pick up the pace, still making a point of giving you kisses and caresses all over your body.

You felt your mind getting so heavy, his cock reaching places so deep, points so sensitive that you couldn't even imagine.

It was all so good, certainly better than you imagined.

In one swift movement he removed one of his hands from yours, moving down your belly until he reached your crotch, where he stopped respectfully. Not wanting to do anything without your permission.

"Is it okay if I....?" He asked, placing his index finger next to your clit.

He wanted to know what you liked, what felt good, and he was going to start here. With your bundle of nerves.

"Y-yes... Please." You asked in a sly voice, and he could even see the pout that formed on your lips.

He smiled against your neck, giving the area a hickey, leaving a small mark. And then there was his thumb, smoothing over your clit, making small, delicate circles on the sensitive flesh, making you roll your eyes and moan louder with each movement.

He eased off when he felt you loosening up more, and with that he understood that he could increase the speed of his hips, and so he did.

Now the dirty, wet sounds echoed through the room, his heavy balls slapping against you and making that characteristic skin-on-skin noise.

But neither of you cared, so lost in that moment that the least of your problems was the profanity that came out of your mouths in the form of words.

Your heavy breaths came together as one, in the purest of synchronies. He was close, and so were you.

But as far as he was involved, your pleasure came first, so he would hold back as long as he could so that you would come first.

"Leon... I think I'm going to cum." You say in a low moan, feeling a new sensation forming in the pit of your stomach.

Your walls squeezing so tightly around him, and him trying his best to hold back. With a strangled groan you felt your hot fluid pouring out of you, your body arching and crashing against his as you came.

It was enough to send him over the edge too, and he almost didn't take his cock out of you, he was so lost in your expression of ecstasy that he forgot he wasn't wearing a condom.

He even thought about cumming in your belly, but was genuinely apprehensive of making a mistake and making a mess. So he pulled out of you, fisting himself and cumming on the sheets. Moaning and grunting as his cum spurted onto the silk sheets.

You were both tired from the recent orgasm, and he took the opportunity to lie on top of you and hold you close.

"On your belly next time?" He asks softly, a shy, mischievous smile appearing on his lips.

You smile, trying to hide the blush on your cheeks with your hands, hugging him as he relaxes on top of you.

"Yes, next time." You whisper, closing your eyes and storing the moment in your memory.

You couldn't have hoped for anyone better to lose your virginity to, and for sure, Leon couldn't have had anyone better either.

You can believe it was your best birthday.

[entertext]

HGSN 26-1

Chapter (Japanese)

(Please hit the green thumbs up at the end of the chapter to show support)

Rough translation by me

(+ last week's twitter comic also)

P1

Rie: Anyway, for now, you should go on home today...

P2

Hikaru: Thanks...for the raincoat...

Rie: Take care

(sfx: door closes)

Rie: (At 'Hikaru'-kun's home right now..., he has a family that doesn't know anything. They're surely waiting for him to come home for dinner today too.)

P3

Rie: (When I think about Tsujinaka-kun and 'Hikaru'-kun's family...)

Rie: (There's just no way I can...)

(sfx: ding-dong)

Rie: (Is my daughter back?)

Rie: Alley-oop

(sfx: door opens)

Rie: Yes?

Rie: ...!!

Rie: ...You're...

P4

(sfx: cicadas)

P5

(sfx: squeak squeak)

Hikaru: Hey, is it really okay to get that as a "swim ring"? It's not exactly a "ring".

(sfx: squeak)

Yoshiki: Kaoru did say to get "the cutest one"

Hikaru: I'm glad that Kaoru's been going to school a bit more these days and made a friend she can go to the pool with.

Yoshiki: But why do I have to go all the way to Mion to buy a swim ring for her?

Yoshiki: Carrying this around is such a pain

Hikaru: It's 'cause you bought something that was already inflated

Hikaru: You could have just deflated it and folded it up.

P6

Yoshiki: I'd feel kinda bad for it

Yoshiki: The poor giant salamander...

Hikaru: Pftt. You're attached to it

Yoshiki: ...so, after that, I found out some stuff

Yoshiki: The "sin of the Indou family" was actually...

(sfx: cicadas)

Yoshiki: ...'Hikaru'

Yoshiki: do you not have memories from your time as "Nounuki-sama"?

P7

Hikaru: I have them...at least I should

Hikaru: It's like, for some reason, I've forgotten them for a long time and have recently started to recall them...

(sfx: squeak)

Hikaru: Especially the stuff about "granting wishes"...

Hikaru: I'm not sure why, but for some reason I think it's true.

Hikaru: I can grant any wish you ask for...I have that feeling anyway.

(sfx: squeak)

(Hikaru: ...and I'll do whatever you ask me to do...)

Yoshiki: ...you have such a big mouth, haha...

Yoshiki: Any wish, for real?

P8

Hikaru: Yeah

Hikaru: Go ahead

Yoshiki: (This "wish"...if it really did get granted...)

Yoshiki: (I feel like it'd be bad news)

Yoshiki: No. It's fine.

(sfx: squeak squeak)

Hikaru: ....

Yoshiki: *sigh*...Even though we know about Nounuki-sama now, we still don't know anything about the most important part, doing something about the impurities...

P9

Yoshiki: (And what was that sketch, too...)

Yoshiki: (It's just one inexplicable thing showing up after another)

Yoshiki: *mutter mutter*

Hikaru: Heeey

(sfx: cicadas)

Hikaru: Ah!

P10

Hikaru: It's Mincemeat!

Mincemeat: ....

Hikaru: Yoshiki, look at this!

Hikaru: He's dancing

Yoshiki: He's gotten pretty used to you

Yoshiki: Figures, he still hates you

P11

Hikaru: That guy... he was just after a cat treat, huh?

Hikaru: He's surprisingly strong

Yoshiki: Hahaha

Hikaru: Hey

Hikaru: There's no point in thinking about stuff in a place like this

(sfx: cicadas)

Hikaru: It's summer break right?

Hikaru: You wanna go to the beach today?

Hikaru: I'd like to see the ocean at least once

Twitter Extra (link):

==

Next chapter: in 1 week

==

Yoshiki (13yo): Look, Kaoru, here's a souvenir for you. It's a beetle larva plushie.

Yoshiki: You said you wanted something cute right?

Kaoru (9yo): I didn't want that....

Yoshiki: Huh?

==

Things that are a little annoying about Yoshiki

Last week's twitter comic (link):

Maki: He can kinda look down on people.

Also the fact that he's taller than me makes me mad!

Yoshiki: Are you stupid?

Maki: Hah? What?!

Asako: He never tells me about the important part. Too secretive?

Asako: Huh!? You're hurt, what happened?

Yoshiki: Nothing...

(He took a big fall)

Yuuki: That even though what he thinks quickly shows on his face, he won't say anything. I'm the one who ends up having to guess.

Yoshiki: 's really good

The first time I gave him something sweet

Even though he obviously didn't like sweets, he didn't say anything about it. (The next time I gave him something that wasn't sweet, and he enjoyed it)

'Hikaru': He's always nagging, such a busybody. He's quick to start brooding and worry himself sick. And he's kinda needy. Also he's like argumentative? He watches videos about beating other people in debates. Also sometimes he grows beard hair.

Yoshiki: Hey! Wash your hands!

Maki: Well you told me to talk about it!

Asako: Sorry!

'Hikaru': (LMAO)

Yoshiki: Beard hair...

[kydrogendragon]

Forehead Kisses

Requested by @introvertbibliophile!! This was a cute and wholesome one to write, so we'll end our day of Birthday Prompts with this!! Thank you and thank everyone for all the requests! It was fun to have something like this to work on and I can't wait to see how y'all enjoy them!

Relationship: Hob/Dream Words: 2233 Warnings: None Ao3 Link

The room inside was dark. The curtains were pulled over the windows, blocking out the sunlight. The only light within was from the bright screen of Morpheus's laptop. Hob leaned against the door frame, watching his husband kill his back from his gremlin seating posture. His legs are tucked underneath himself, his spine curved in a way he knows the chiropractor would have a hernia over. He glared down at the word document in front of him, his hand swiping across the keyboard in such speed that it hurt Hob's fingers just to look at.

He stood there, listening to the furious clacking of keys for a moment before making his way over to the desk. His sock-clad feet were silent over the hardwood floors as he approached. Morpheus hasn't even so much as twitched by the time Hob was standing just off to his side. 

He wasn't surprised.  Morpheus had a tendency to get invested in his work. When he was truly in the zone, he describe it and everything else fading away.  He couldn't hear or see anything beyond the words on the page and the story unraveling in his head.

Hob turned, looking over at the once clean desk that housed Morpheus's work. He claimed that for planning, having physical papers to move and manipulate were better. It made the area much more cluttered, however. Beside stacks of papers, sticky notes, and sketches, dishes and mugs were scattered within.  Hob shook his head gently and grabbed the dirty dishes, leaving the coffee cup from this morning (he still doesn't understand how his husband can tolerate cold coffee) and the water bottle covered in stickers from their travels.

It was only when Hob stretched his arm across the screen of his laptop to fetch the remaining glass that Morpheus finally looked up from his work. He blinked, eyes adjusting to the dark environment. "Hello, Hob," he says, that gentle smile on his face as he leans his head into Hob's soft belly. 

Hob chuckles and leans down, pressing a kiss to the top of Morpheus's inky black hair. "Hullo, Love. Just grabbing dishes, don't mind me." He shuffles the glasses and dishes in his hold to make room for the extra mug. "Dinner's on. Should be ready in an hour. Sound good?"

Morpheus hums, pressing his nose into the soft cashmere sweater. "Sounds excellent. What are we having?" His voice is rough from disuse. Hob's not sure when he last heard his husband speak save early this morning. He had barely left his room today. The first draft of his next book was due soon and his husband, ever the perfectionist, was determined to get it right.

"Beef stroganoff and carrots. Figured that'd be a safe choice for you." 

"It is. Thank you, husband mine. I will see you in the hour." Hob chuckles as Morpheus leans back into his usual writing position.

"Can't convince you to take a break early and join me in the kitchen in the meantime?" He asks, already knowing the answer.

To Morpheus's credit, his hands twitch and don't immediately start tapping again.

"I-" His husband starts, his eyes flickering between the screen and Hob's face. "Perhaps, once i finish this chapter, I could join you early. But..."

Hob waves away his concern with a smile. "Don't even sweat it, my love. Just focus on your writing. I'll see you for dinner." He presses one final kiss to the top of his head before heading out of his husband's office, closing the door behind him.

It's only after dinner has finished cooking and the tiny colony of dishes and mugs are cleaned (some soaking from the multiple day old coffee) that Hob knocks on the office door once more.

Morpheus hasn't moved in the hour, though the laptop has been tilted to the side and one of his notebooks rests off to the right. Clearly, he'd either been referencing something or he'd been adding to his never ending collection of notes. Hob walks up and rests his palms over each of Morpheus's shoulders and presses in. He kneads into the tense muscle and bony shoulders causing his husband to moan, his hands freezing in place. Hob chuckles to himself as he leans forward to press a kiss to his temple.

"Hey Dove, dinner's ready." He mumbles against the silk soft skin just below his hairline. Morpheus hums, leaning into his touch. His hands fall from the keyboard and into his lap. Hob smiles against his skin and continues his gentle massage, thumbs swiping up and down the back of his neck. His husband groans, pushing back against his touch. He'll have to set this man down for a proper massage soon. Maybe after dinner. He was far too tense after such long sprints of writing this last week.

They stay there, relaxing in the moment, when Hob sighs and gives Morpheus's shoulder a final pat. "Come on, let's get some food in you, yeah?" 

With a resigned, Morpheus leans forward and slides out of his seat. Even from here, Hob can hear the cracking and creaking of his bones. Yup, definitely doing a massage after dinner. Maybe a nice hot bath too, if he can pull Morpheus away from work long enough.

Hob holds out his hand which his husband takes eagerly. With a smile, he leads the pair of them out of the dark office and into the comfortably dimmed dining room. He's learned over the years that when Morpheus goes through spurts like this and he's spend too long being a cave creature in his dungeon, the soft light is acceptable. Morpheus takes a seat and Hob leans down and presses a kiss to his forehead, then nose and cheeks which earns him a nose scrunch that he loves so much, and finally to his lips. Morpheus hums against him. 

"Thank you for dinner, husband mine," Morpheus whispered against.

"Always, love."

Hob takes his seat and gazes lovingly over his water glass at the man he has the privilege of calling his. 

[searchingforakeythatdoesntexist]

DAY 15- «On Thin Ice» Good Omens AU - Triptych Tribute, last part.

To @blairamok. Thanks for everything...!

Please, listen to this?

"Our love is..."

I, I can't get these memories out of my mind And some kind of madness has started to evolve And I, I tried so hard to let you go But some kind of madness is swallowing me whole

I have finally seen the light And I have finally realized What you mean...

And now, I need to know, is this real love Or is it just madness keeping us afloat?

And when I look back at all the crazy fights we had It's like some kind of madness was taking control

And now I have finally seen the light And I have finally realized What you need

But now I have finally seen the end And I'm not expecting you to care, no That I have finally seen the light And I have finally realized

I need to love...!

...I need to love.

Come to me just in a dream Come on and rescue me Yes, I know, I can't be wrong

And baby, you're too headstrong Our love is

...Our Love is Madness, yeah.

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Don't forget to 💕/ reblog ;-)

↓Important message below, please check the behind-the-scenes!↓

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Aaaand... cut!

XD

Hello, dear Good Omens fam ^_^

I hope you enjoyed this last fantasie of mine as much as I did. Thanks so much for reading until here. It means a lot to me. Thanks to @blairamok for blessing us with his wonderful AU! I wish you the best, dear!

I have some family duties for a few days and I'll have to travel, so I don't know if I will be able to draw/publish any Daily Challenges for a while. Maybe this is just the sign that I HAVE to go back to simple things, simple challenges, simple ideas, just like at the beginning.

That was one Hell of a journey until now. Thank you all for following me in this challenge. I am learning so much while having fun. Aaand a little bit of pressure too - because HEY ANXIOUS PERSON, that's what I am - but it's almost always a good kind of pressure.

I have drawn more in two weeks that I have ever had in 10 years. This is such a relief to be able to do it, and such a wonderful thing to share my art with you and have your feed-back. Please, please, never stop telling me what you like and what you want me to draw! l would love to read any Challenge Ideas in the tags/comments section.

As for me, I'll try to never stop drawing, ever again.

Have a wonderful day/evening, my dear GO fam.

Elenthya

Personal challenge: a simple sketch each day

Goal: forcing me to keep things simple - inking, shading, just a few sashes of colour

Improvement pursued: to get the movement, the emotion, finding how to add depth, learning how to leave things barely finished

Max time allowed: 2 hours, as usual for my Daily Challenges. or 3-4 hours because it a Tribute to - 8 hours. EIGHT. HOURS. One-shot. Yeah, I know. Time to think about my own rules. Or, no Tribute works for a while. Plus, I love their figure but Crowley face drove me mad. Ugh.

Today's theme chosen by me:

Well, the song speaks for itself, doesn't it? :-) I previously wanted to use "Glorious" because this one is my favourite above all MUSE songs - the instrumental, the voices, everything in this song transports me. But the more I was trying to use the lyrics for this artwork, the more it feels inaccurate. So... Sorry, dear "Glorious". Another time. ;-)

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Don't forget to 💕/ reblog ;-)

[dduane]

Middle Kingdoms "Tale of the Five" Mark V covers, minimalist (type 1) group, TDIF

This is the only one of these where I'm not going to put the work under a cut, because there are going to be twelve of them before I'm done, and I don't want to bore people with the roughs in progress.

So this was the sketch for this group's Door Into Fire cover the other day...

And here's a rough example of what I was seeing in my head.

Possibly a little on the nose, but (a) I had to start somewhere, and (b) it was 1 AM when I finished work on this one and I was beyond caring. :)

The "since we're talking about doors, let's lean into that" concept is one that's appeared in previous covers on this series—both mine and other people's—but none of mine have looked this polished, because I just wasn't as good at this stuff ten years ago as I am now, and I've now got far better tools.

...Though one hilarious exception to this situation has been applied to the lettering. The extremely nice Eye Candy plugin from Exposure Software once in its much earlier versions ran on both Corel Photo Paint (my preferred design software for pushing three decades now) and Adobe's various versions of Photoshop. But for whatever reason(s), that situation came to an end. Now, I have Eye Candy for Photoshop... but I really hate Photoshop, and avoid using it whenever possible.

So in order to add some pop to the Cinzel Decorative font on this page, I had to go elsewhere... which in my case means to the little Samsung notebook computer that lives (mostly snoozing) in the front window of the living room, and is still running Windows XP. (Because of this it's never allowed to go online any more, as it can't be made secure.) I refuse to get rid of it because we've traveled too far together, and I've written too many books on it, and I love it too much. But its other chief virtue is that it will still run Corel 11 (which my newer Windows machines refuse to do). And the install of Corel PP 11 in the Samsung will still happily run the old version of Eye Candy, which has all the familiar presets that I tinkered together over years of use. I really need to sit down, eventually, and figure out how to train the current version of Eye Candy to accept the presets from the older one.

But today is not that day. Today I just plugged in the .cpt Photo Paint file and edited it to add the golden-colored effect on those letters. That was all this rough needed for me to kick it to one side and get on with thinking about the next one.

Anyway, for those interested in materials: the hand and the doorway were created using Daz Studio. The blue fire is stock art. (I do have a very nice app called Flame Painter, from Escape Motions, but I'm not yet expert enough with it to use it much in cover work.) The basic (parent) font is Cinzel, as I mentioned: both Cinzel Bold and Cinzel Decorative Bold variants are used in this cover.

There are still a number of things that can use some tweaking in this one, but as I said, this is a rough. Over the next week or so I'll get around to the other two in this set, and get a better sense whether this whole idea is workable—as if the style doesn't work well across all three covers in the trilogy, it's useless.

And now I'm going to go make some oatcakes, as @petermorwood someone seems to have eaten all the ones I made last week. :)

(cc: @mutantenfisch: Links to the print copies at Amazon are over here, if you don't feel like waiting for the new covers...)

[glo0b]

~Cooking With Love~

(I do not own the art or character)

Content: Sebek x F!Yuu, other ocs are in this and as well as the other first years.

Tw: Some NSFW mentions, this was meant to be a nice fluff cooking fic but my depraved mind can't stop

word count: 2081

note: This took me FOREVER. I kept stopping and continuing so it might not be the best.

“Oh look, the Culinary Crucible sign ups are out again, maybe I could sign up to be a judge.” The five Ramshackle residents were walking down the halls of NRC, heading off to lunch like usual until Felix pointed out the Culinary Crucible sign ups. “Nya, I nearly died last time from Lilia’s cooking” Grim sat on Yuu’s head, it was his favorite spot since her hair was so fluffy. “How did Silver survive all those years with him? Perhaps it made his stomach stronger, I should test that out later, Mumble Mumble” There Donnie went with his evil scientist thoughts again and pulling out his notebook with info about everyone in the school, honestly how could that boy not be best friends with Rook at this point.

Yuu picked up the small paper that was stapled to the cork board, she noticed two familiar names sketched in pen on the parchment. “Hm looks like Floyd and Sebek would be the ones cooking. You may want to reconsider that thought, Felix.” Yuu couldn’t lie, she was slightly excited to see what Floyd and Sebek could do but also terrified of what the food would turn into. She did know a bit of both of their skill sets too. “That damn Eel? Jeeze I already gotta deal with his ass in the Basketball club! I bet he’d poison the food if he could!” Balik groans at the thought of having to see that wicked eel’s face cook for her. “Oh hush! Hmm, maybe I should sign up to be a judge.” Yuu quickly pushed away her fearful thoughts and signed the paper. “If you get a stomach ache from their food don’t come crying to me, henchmen!”

The thought of Sebek cooking for her was on Yuu’s mind all day. She giggled softly and smiled at the thought which started to freak her friends out a bit. “Yuu has been a little too bubbly than usual.” Epel bit into his BBQ, finally able to enjoy it since Vil or Rook weren’t nearby. “I scanned Yuu earlier and her heart rate seems to be more elevated than normal!” Ortho spoke, not eating since he didn’t need food but he still could eat it in a way since Idia gave him a new update! “I couldn’t smell any potions on her breath or anything so it could be something mental.” Jack was clueless to what could have happened to their sweet friend. “Do you think someone cursed her!? I’ll get revenge for Yuu!” Deuce looked like he was about to punch someone. “Wha- no! Who could possibly want to hurt Yuu? Let’s just ask Yuu what happened when she grabs her food.” Finally Ace was actually using his head to think, which if they weren't worried about Yuu, would have freaked the group out even more. "Alright, I'll calm down." Yuu grabbed her food and made her way to the rest of the first years with the other four behind her. Yuu places her tray down and sits next to Ace. “Hello big sis-” Before poor Ortho could greet Yuu he was interrupted by a very concerned Deuce. “Are you ok!? Did someone curse you?! Did you finally snap!?” Ace face palms. “Real nice on staying calm, Deuce.” Yuu raises her brow in suspicion but keeps her sweet smile. “Oh? What’s this now?” The first year group looks back at each other before Epel speaks up. “We’re just concerned since you’ve been acting a little off today….” The other Ramshackle residents finally joined the first years. “That’s just because she’s excited about being a judge for the upcoming Culinary crucible.” Donnie sits next to Ortho while Balik, Felix, and Grim sit next to or across from Yuu. “Really, you aren't getting it? Here’s another hint, loud knight of Diasomnia.” Small ‘Oooohs’ escape the boys’ lips as Donnie explains the reason behind Yuu's state.

Yuu covers her face in embarrassment. “That’s…not the reason..” Balik stabs her food with her fork repeatedly. “Really? Jeeze I can’t tell which one of you is more dense.” Felix rubs the back of his neck nervously. “Yeah, I gotta agree with Balik here.” Ortho stands up- well floats off the ground in excitement. “Maybe we could get you two together! Big brother was playing a game with the same premise the other day!”. “I don’t think that would work. The only thing that guy seems to think about is Malleus just like the only thing Grim thinks about is fancy tuna.” Ace snickers as he looks over at Grim devouring a can of tuna in Yuu’s lap. “Nya?! Hey!” Yuu glares at Ace and he stops right away. “That’s a really sweet idea, Ortho, but I’m not sure it’s the best idea right now.” Ortho looks slightly disappointed but nods his head in understatement. “Ok big Sis! I’ll still make a plan though!” 

The first years continue to talk but soon lunch comes to an end. “Man, I got P.E next. I better go now so I can get changed.” Felix whines as he grabs his empty tray and leaves. Everyone else starts to get up as well and leave for their classes. Yuu holds Grim in her arms as she walks with Ace, Deuce, and Donnie. “Oooh~ We got Alchemy next” Donnie smirks knowing he’ll get an easy 100%. “Don’t act so smug just because you’ve got slightly better grades than us!” Grim kicks his little feet causing Donnie to laugh his unsettling clown-like laugh. “Slightly? Oh please, you’ve gotten Ds and Cs on every test from Professor Crewel!” Donnie’s smirk grows even bigger as he knows Grim can’t make a well backed up argument. hours pass and classes slowly finish up for the day. “Yawn I really wish P.E didn’t kick my ass.” Felix rubs his sore arms. “Maybe it’s just because you’re weak and have little muscle on your bones.” Felix glares at Balik. “Be quiet, will you! You’re hurting my ears!” Grim interrupts their arguing before it could get any more heated. The two glare at each other before shutting up. “Hey, isn't the Culinary Crucible supposed to start tomorrow?” Donnie quickly changes the subject to make sure Balik and Felix don’t start arguing again. “Huh? Oh, yeah. It’s meant to be taking place before lunch, I think.”. Grim pouts. “Why can’t I get free food too! No fair!” Yuu giggles at Grim’s whines. The five reach their dorm and soon settle in for the night awaiting the brand new day full of opportunities to come. A certain half fae walks past the school cork board covered in flyers for clubs and what not, he looks down at the Culinary Crucible sheet. “So she has signed up to be a judge….I’LL DO MORE THAN MY VERY BEST FOR BOTH THE YOUNG MASTER AND YUU!” Sebek hurries his way back to Diasomnia so he can return to his job of guarding Malleus.

================================================

Morning comes without fail, birds chirp on cue as the sun rises with its natural beauty. Sebek was out doing his morning jogs before he had to head off to the Culinary Crucible. Sebek had originally signed up so he could learn to cook for his liege but when he found out Yuu was going to be one of the judges he felt even more determined to master the practice of the culinary arts. ‘I have to be able to cook for my future partner!’ That’s what the little voice in his head kept telling him plus Lilia said a good boyfriend should be able to cook for his partner when they’re sick or tired. Sebek finishes his morning jogs and heads inside of Diasomnia to wash off all the sweat on his body. As the cold water hits his body he thinks about how the Culinary Crucible could possibly go. He did learn a bit from Yuu when all the first years were at Ramshackle for a studie night which somehow turned into a small party. Sebek couldn’t help but blush when he remembered how Yuu’s soft hands guided him on how to cut an onion or when he burnt most of the vegetables Yuu just simple laughed it off with a reassuring smile. “How could a human like that make me feel like this….”. Oh Yuu’s soft hands, he just can’t stop thinking about them. All he wants is to have them trail along his body and wrap around his hard- “I must stop thinking about such things of Yuu! I need to get ready!” 

Sebek finishes his shower and gets dressed but not before gelling up his hair like he always does. This man went through almost two jars of gel each week, if Sam didn’t somehow magically have everything in stock Sebek would have been stuck with his natural hair. Sebek quickly checks the time. “On time as always.” And with that Sebek leaves to head off to the Culinary Crucible.

================================================

All of Ramshackle’s (living) residents were sitting in the courtyard talking. It was their free time before lunch so Donnie started making bets “Ok, 10$ says Sebek burns it to ash.” Donnie rolls his eyes at Felix’s bet. “Oh please, he’s not Lilia. Althouuuugh, 5$ says he makes it too dry or too bland to eat.” Yuu couldn’t help but laugh “Wow, you really don’t have faith in him? How about 100$ says Sebek makes something that I’ll enjoy.” Both Felix and Donnie’s eyes widen “Henchman, are you feeling ok!?” Even Grim and Balik looked shocked “Yuu is making bets?!” Balik dropped her cool guy act from pure shock. “We don’t even have that kind of money! Crowley doesn’t pay us shit!” Yuu smirks at Donnie’s comment and shrugs her shoulders. “Well~ I just have a lot of faith in Sebek, I guess. Plus I should probably join in on the fun shouldn’t I?” “I guess you do seem to like him a lot.” Balik plainly states. “Seems?? Those two are head over heels for each other!” Donnie throws his arms up in the air in frustration. “We’ll just have to wait and see who the winner of the bet is.” Yuu smiles knowingly. “Nya, I’m going to buy so much tuna with this bet!” Donnie rolls his eyes at Grim’s gluttonous statement before looking down at his watch “Looks like we only have a few minutes till next period.” Everyone lets out a small groan before saying their goodbyes and parting for their next classes. ==============================================

Yuu sat comfortable in the judge’s chair with Idia to her left and Trey to her right. Sebek set a bowl full of chicken pho before her with shaky hands. He looked so nervous, which seemed so unlike him. Once Idia and Trey also reserved a bowl of the chicken pho Yuu took a small spoon full. She looked up at the nervous half fae man in front of her and put the spoon to her lips…..Woah! The chicken had a melt in your mouth texture and the broth was so flavorful! Yuu’s eyes opened in shock as she let out a small moan from the amazing dish. After the other two finished it was time for the results. Yuu was so proud of Sebek, he obviously worked super hard on the dish. Yuu happily held up the sign that had the number ten written on it. “Amazing~! I loved it!”. Trey held up a ten sign as well while Idia held up a nine sign. A big grin spread across Sebek’s face as he saw the high ranking signs, he quickly bowed. “Thank you!”  ================================================

“WHAT!?” Like they planned this Felix, Balik, Donnie, and Grim all yelled in unison. “But how!?” Donnie was still in disbelief, how did Sebek do such a good job!? “My tuuuuuuuna!” Grim whined as his dreams of buying tuna with the bet money went down the drain. “Oh hush, I’ll buy you some tuna.” Grim’s ears pop up at the mention of Yuu buying him tuna. “I guess you get the money then.” Felix lets out a sigh before handing Yuu the money. “Thank you! Now remember next time not to test my intuition~” Yuu chuckled to herself. “Yeah, yeah, whatever and maybe next time we can get to taste this ‘amazing food’.” Balik still doubted Sebek of all people could cook such a good meal. “Yeah maybe…..” Yuu remembered the creamy, rich broth and melt in your mouth chicken, maybe she would have to cook for Sebek some time? Maybe a cooking date? Who knows, there’s so much time in life when you cook with love~!

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

You have made it! Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it, it took me VERY long to make this. Mental health didn't help much lol. Make sure to get plenty of rest and to drink water dear reader!

[drawloverlala]

July/2024 - Commissions and Shop- Status update-

July is here and we are now halfway the year!

About Commissions:

🍩 sketch pages:

from April are almost all finished, I just have one more to finish as of today, I'll probably be announcing when I'll open some slots next week.

In any case I'll be also opening a few other slots on August!

🍩 Illustration commissions:

5 out of 12 finished

one is almost finished so it would be 6 finished soon

there's around 6 more to finish after that one and I already started working on 2, hopefully next week I'm able to start the other 4

🍩 Comic page commissions:

the one with 5 pages is now with 3 out of 5 pages inked and with base colors, needs inking of 1, needs pencils on another

I'm thinking on working on this one for one entire week so I can finally finish it lol

☕Ko-fi Shop:

I haven't had any purchases after I sent last batch of orders yet, but I've been working on some concepts for new items in the meantime! hopefully I have these ready on August!

Here's a peek at what I've been working on at the moment

Here's some sketches for stickers with some Sonic girls, I may also make an illustration with all of them together.

This one I want to make it a magnet

I've also thought on some Sonic Skyline stickers and illustration

and some other sticker ideas plus some bookmark concepts

Besides that, I want to remake a few old drawings so I can make them prints, besides of new illustrations

So yeah, I'll be working on these! I'm really looking forward to have these live on the shop! 😄

That's all for now! have a wonderful month!

[just-my-latest-hyperfixation]

WIP Weekend

Weekly WIP upate:

Currently working on ch 4 of The King's Gift. This is where the plot will slowly start to pick up, and I'm looking forward to getting some action and drama in.

@cuips-not-cute has already gotten started on some first sketches for Updraft, and let me tell you, I am in LOVE! Planning on getting chapter 4 done by the end of this month.

18 out of 29 celebration requests are done, with more coming early next week, once I finish my ficlet for this month's pop-up round of the @steddieholidaydrabbles

Send me an emoji and I'll write and share three sentences from that project.

🏰The King's Gift

⚙️Updraft (my @steddiebang2024 fic with art by @cuips-not-cute)

🥳Celebration ficlets/holiday drabble

Snippet from 🏰

Speaking of Max, she’s already in the yard when he arrives. She's holding two horses by the bridles - a large and imposing-looking black one and a slightly smaller one with a beautiful, light tan coat - and deep in conversation with a scowling Eddie.

“I don’t care about your excuses,” he hears her say as he approaches. Since she has her hands full with the horses, she can’t poke a finger at Eddie’s chest, but Steve has an inkling that she absolutely would if she could. “I want you to return them in top condition. Not a hair out of place, you hear me?” 

“You wound me, Red,” Eddie slaps a hand to his chest, all dramatic affront. “When have I ever handled your precious animals with anything but the utmost care?” 

She measures him with a withering look, jerking her head at the black horse, which moves its ears nervously, almost like it’s sensing they’re talking about it. 

“Yeah? Was or wasn’t he practically caked in mud the last time you brought him back?” 

Eddie scowls, suddenly very interested in the tips of his boots. 

“‘s not my fault he likes rolling in it.” 

“Oh, so it’s mine? Is that what you’re saying?” 

“What? No,” Eddie groans, raking a frustrated hand through his mop of curls - sloppily tied back with a string of leather today. “C’mon, Max, you know that’s not what-” 

She talks over him. 

“You know what, I don’t care. But if you bring him back looking like a pig, you can clean him up yourself. No running off on important king business, no urgent matters suddenly demanding your attention. You take care of your own messes, do you-” 

“Steve,” blurts Eddie, who has finally spotted him standing a few feet off, following the argument with wide eyes. “You made it! Robin found you then!” 

He flounces over, leaving Max to glare daggers into his back, smile wide and overjoyed as every time they see each other. 

“Yeah, obviously,” Steve retorts. He shakes his head exasperatedly, but can’t quite help the fond little smile that tugs on his lips. When Eddie entwintes their fingers to pull him over to where Max is still waiting with the horses, he doesn’t flinch or pull back his hand. He’s slowly starting to get used to Eddie’s very physical ways of showing affection. “What is this about? She said you had some sort of surprise for me?” 

“Couldn’t keep her mouth shut if she tried, that one, huh?” Eddie huffs good-naturedly, and Steve resists the urge to point out that he can’t talk, exactly - not with the way his own mouth tends to go a mile a minute when he gets into a topic he’s really excited about. “As a matter of fact, I do. C’mon, let me introduce you.” 

“Can I go then?” Max asks as they approach. Her face is set into her usual, annoyed frown, but when Steve smiles at her in greeting, she cracks a toothy grin in reply. “I have better things to do than watching you two being all lovey dovey.” 

“Hey, we’re not-” Steve starts to say, but Eddie pushes past him, taking the bridles out of her hands and shooing her off. 

“You go ahead, I’ve got it.” 

Max flashes Steve an obnoxiously smug grin as she skips off into the stable buildings. 

“Have fun,” she says. “Don’t let him roll in the mud.” 

“For fuck’s sake, that was one time,” Eddie groans. 

“I was talking to Steve,” Max calls over her shoulder, and then she’s gone, the stable door slamming behind her.

[ultralightpoe]

Labyrinth - Eddie Munson

Authors Note: LMAO

Word Count: 6,691 (mmhmmhmmm)

Warnings: smut, angst, shitty writing.

Apart of my MIDNIGHTS EVENT. (Next Event is Sour by Olivia Rodrigo. Requests closed. Event following yet to be decided)

SOUR EVENT

MAIN MASTERLIST

Enjoy!

(In my world Benny wasn't killed, merely shot. Get it? Got it? Good.)

It only hurts this much right now

Was what I was thinking the whole time

Breathe in, breathe through

Breathe deep, breathe out

I'll be getting over you my whole life

You know how scared I am of elevators

Never trust it if it rises fast

It can't last

The situation wasn’t great, that much you would admit, anyone who could see you in this moment could attest to that. To make matters worse you had the perfect plan for today and having a panic attack in the janitor supply closet covered in spaghetti sauce had NOT been it. It hadn’t even been close. 

This had all started the day you saw pretty in pink in theaters, sadly by yourself. You had gorged yourself on popcorn and soda as you moped about the lack of friends. But that all changed when you saw Molly Ringwald. More specifically her fashion. 

You had been obsessed, well who wouldn’t be considering Molly Ringwald was THE GIRL. 

So you had gone home and dragged out your sketchbook, drawing sketch after sketch of the perfect outfit and just like she had in the movie you got to work. 

From the pants to the top and even managed to snag one of your dads suit jackets to finish off the look. You had this plan that you would show up, and people would compliment you. You would have your very own montage scene. 

That all came tumbling down when Regina had smashed her tray of spaghetti all over you as the entire cafeteria laughed, and when you tried to run out one of the basketball players had stuck his foot out to trip you up. 

You dashed to the nearest hiding spot, sobbing and covered in tomato sauces that you were positive was just ketchup warmed up. Your knee hurt from the fall and you could not manage to catch your breath. 

Your vision was getting blurry and dark spots were beginning to cloud so you launched a hand out to the shelf behind you to stabilize yourself. 

A wave of light hits the small space and for a moment you are afraid you had been found by a teacher but then the light fades and you think you are back to peace. Whoever had found you had decided to leave you to your drama. 

But you were wrong. 

“Hey, hey hey hey.” A soft voice calls out, two hands landing on your shoulders and rubbing softly. “You gotta breathe, come on. Take a breath with me, will ya?”

“I can’t.. I c-can-”

“Yes, you can. Just look at me.” One of the hands from your shoulder slides up to your jaw, the rings on the hand cool against your flesh as the fingers grip lightly. You're met with brown eyes, the warmest brown eyes you have ever seen. “There she is… now take a deep breath in with me.”

You could do nothing but nod, handing flying up to the arm that is holding you, nails digging into the leather as the figure before you breathes in slowly. You follow, inhaling and holding as they do, releasing when they do. 

This routine follows a couple more times and your vision clears minus the blurriness from the tears, until finally you were able to catch your breath and the stranger before you swiped the tears from under your eyes. Once it all clears up you recognize the figure to be Eddie Munson, the DnD captain of the school. 

And you can’t help but blurt that out. “You’re the DnD captain.”

He smiles, a small chuckle sleeping past his lips from where he was squatted on the ground to calm you down. “There aren’t really captains, it’s not a stupid sport-”

“Imsorry-”

“Hey now. Easy mistake.” He stops you, squeezing your chin softly before moving to stand. “It’s called a dungeon master, not the kinky kind. You should come sometime.”

“Why are you here?” You blurt out, trying to ease the shaking. You didn’t mean for it to come out so harshly but you were kind of embarrassed. 

“I saw what happened in the lunchroom and I wanted to make sure you were okay.” 

“You didn’t have to…”

“Oh bullcrap. What they did to you was messed up.” He snaps out, sitting across from you in the closet, your knees touching. “And I don’t have much but I can pay you back for shirt they ruined-”

“No. I actually made it.”

“You made that?”

“I did.”

“You make shirts?”

“This was my first… “

“You are absolutely kidding me, that looks professionally done.” He reaches a hand out to the fabric, running it between three fingers before nodding. 

“I got it from a movie. Pretty in pink. Molly Ringwald's character wears it in the first scene and I was absolutely in love with it.” 

“Haven’t seen it yet.”

“You should.”

“Yeah? How about tonight?” 

“I don’t know, you probably have stuff to do and I…..well my shirt-”

“If you’re worried about me canceling plans then I can assure you I have no plans tonight, and we have to go see the movie so you can get inspiration for your next outfit anyways. Because this one was far too awesome to let some brat in a small cheer outfit meant for toddlers to ruin it for you.”

“Chances are they ruin the next outfit too.”

“Well that’s why you aren’t going to eat alone. You my dear have been invited to the hellfire table.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I don’t, I want to. Now come on, we have a movie to catch-”

“What about the rest of the school day?”

“What about it? Come on.”

“You won’t…….” A nervous flush crosses your skin as you look up to where he now stands with an outstretched hand. “Tell anyone about my fit?”

“It’s called a panic attack, and no I will not. That’s between you, me and that creepy broom I’m sure the janitor makes out with at night.”

“Oh that’s mean-”

“Her name is linda, and we should leave before she decides to splinter us.” He whispers and you can’t stop the laugh, reaching your hand up to his own outstretched hand, enjoying the warm feeling of it. 

-

Uh oh, I'm falling in love

Oh no, I'm falling in love again

Oh, I'm falling in love

I thought the plane was going down

How'd you turn it right around

`

“Oh come on Dad.” You whine, leaning on the counter in the back kitchens of Benny’s diner as your father pretended to ignore you by flipping burgers at the grill. “Please please please.” 

“I can’t hear you.” He whistles, turning to nod to the fryer. “Add more fries. The Byers boys are about to come in and you know how they get about fries. You should also ask about your birthday, I know you haven’t sent out ny invitations because your mom keeps seeing them on the counter-”

“I don’t want a party, I want to learn how to drive dad.” You snap, moving to start the fries. Truth was no one would show up to your party, even if you invited them. You weren’t one that people went out of their way for.

“I will think about it.” Lie, he just didn’t like when you got upset. “Take those fries to the boys when you are done. Good people help good people.”

“Eddie will be here soon, make him a burger?”

“You got it, sugar.”

You smile from ear to ear, finishing up the fries and basking them up before dashing to the byers table and setting them down. “Dads working on your burgers.”

“Thanks…..”Jonathan blinks at you, obviously forgetting your name. 

“Y/n. We’ve lived three houses away forever now.”

“Right, sorry.”

Before you can truly get offended by Jonathan's lack of knowledge on you the bell to the diner sounds out and you see a mass of curls pass you quickly to head to your regular table. A smile creeps its way across your lips as you head to the table behind him. 

Eddie Munson sits casually, making it look like he had been waiting forever. “You’re late, princess.”

“I was here before you?”

“Excuse me? I was at the table before you which means I was here first-”

“Well I showed up for my shift 2 hours ago which means I was first-”

“Well technically I-” He leans forward to argue, but you had already leant forward so your foreheads bumped together awkwardly, a blush traveling your skin. He watches you for a moment before leaning back and looking around the diner. 

Ever since Eddie found you in the janitors closet you had been close. Weekly movie nights became a necessity, you helped him study (you read to him and he pretended to listen as he rifled through your belongings), and he showed you the world of music. (He turned up his speaker to the highest volume and you talked yourself out of kissing him)

Every Friday night Eddie came to pick you up from your shift at your dads diner, you would both head to his trailer for a movie night and tonight was your night to choose. 

“It’s busy in here tonight, you sure your dad is okay I steal ya?”

“If you are okay waiting for a bit I’ll go help him with the rush.” 

“I’ll be here princess.” He smiles, moving closer so you can kiss his cheek before dashing off to take orders. 

By the time you return to him he is leaving cash on the table and rubbing ketchup off his cheek. “You know dad won’t like that.”

“What? I didn’t short him!”

“I meant you leaving the money. You don’t pay here.” 

“Yeah I do. Have a good night Y/n's Dad!”

Benny leans through the kitchen window to wave him off with a smile as Eddie throws his arms around your shoulder and leads you out. 

“Your dad seemed quite irritated with you tonight.” He notes, pulling you closer to block you from some of the rain. 

“Yeah, they have been on me about inviting friends to my party.” You admit, shuffling beside him as his rings catch your eye. 

“Party? You’re throwing a party?”

“They want to throw a party for my birthday.”

“You should let them!” He gasps, moving to open the door to his van for you. You hop in with one easy jump, his hand on your hip making sure before he slams the door to make sure it shuts correctly. You try to hold in a laugh at him and his broken car. 

Waiting until he is settled next to you to continue the conversation, trying to untie the waitressing apron as he starts the van up. “Who would I invite?”

“Me.”

“Well obviously. But I don’t know what would be worse, making my parents upset by not throwing a party or having them waste hard earned money on decorations and cake just for you and only you to show up.”

“You could invite the hellfire club.”

“They don’t like me,”

“They love you.”

“They have repeatedly said they hate me at the table.”

“Heard that, did you?”

“Gavin said it TO me.”

“Don’t listen to him, he’s on a high because this freshman kid believed his girlfriend in canada story. What do you want for your birthday?”

“No one believes it, the kid was probably being nice. No one believes Gavin has a girlfriend let alone a Canadian supermodel with long hair and a boob job in high school. And I don’t want anythi-”

“You definitely want something, I saw you begging your dad most the night.”

“Do you spend all your time watching me?” You laugh, counting out your tips from the night as he stops at a red light, turning to you with a smile. 

“I mean, can you blame me?” A deep heat travels through your body as you make eye contact, seeing those melty brown eyes that have you leaning in ever so slowly. 

You have been best friends with Eddie Munson for 3 months now, and at least 2 of those months you’ve had the biggest crush on him. You spent most of your nights waiting for him to call and the rest hanging onto his every word. 

You are stuck in a trance before a car honks behind him and Eddie is forced to keep driving. 

“Seriously, what do you want?”

“Eds….”

“Can…. can you teach me to drive?”

-

It only feels this raw right now

Lost in the labyrinth of my mind

Break up, break free, break through, break down

You would break your back to make me break a smile

You know how much I hate that everybody just expects me to bounce back

Just like that

“Jesus christ-”

“Don’t be so dramatic!”

“I just wanted a slurpee! Not to DIE!”

“Eddie I just-”

“Hey hey hey, baby eyes on the road-” Eddie rushes out, reaching an arm past you to even out the car, one hand clenched on your thigh and the other on the wheel. His nickname for you has your heart racing through your chest as you try to even out the car as well. “Just wanted a slurpee.”

You both had made a deal, while you were on summer vacation he would teach you how to drive so long as he got full control over movie nights. It meant a lot of cheesy slasher films for you but more time with Eddie and who could complain about that. 

“You will get one, just stop.” You chide, pulling the car over to the side of the road. “Can you check my bag to see if I have my glasses?” 

“Oh my god you need glasses and you haven’t been wearing them?”

“Just my sunglasses you freak.” He rolls his eyes at you before leaning down to grab your backpack and shuffle around for your glasses. Due to the hot weather Eddie had taken to throwing his hair into a low bun and you absolutely loved it. “Here you go princess.”

“Why thank you.” You smile, snatching them before starting the van once more and zooming into the street. 

By the time you make it to the gas station it’s like a game of routine that you and Eddie know well, he swoops around the car to snatch you, throwing you over his shoulder as he paces to the front door to finally set you down. He rushes to the back to grab your slurpee’s, one blue raspberry and one cherry, while you snatch the candy. 

By the time you both meet back up at the counter you would be set for movie night.

“Eddie, Y/n.” Gareth sighs in greeting, casting you a quick look that says ‘you stole my friend from me’.

“Don’t give me that look.” You roll your eyes, and he tries to fight off a smile. “You were working today anyways.”

Something that had changed since Eddie forced his band to show up to the birthday party your mother had thrown, they seemed to hate you less and often asked you to join their hangouts now. 

“Be nice to my princess.” Eddie warns, slapping your hand away when you move to put your tip money down. 

“You paid for the movies, Eds.” 

“Yeah well- suck it.”

“I’m sure she would.” Gareth laughs, stopping when Eddie shoots him a glare. “Sorry.”

You slap your hand down to pay, snatching the candy as Eddie tries to snatch the money, but Gareth is too quick and you both are shooting each other a mischievous look as you dash from the station with Eddie on your heel. 

“So let me get this straight, I can’t pay for the burgers at the diner-”

“I get an employee meal anyways.”

“And now I can’t pay for our snacks?”

“You paid for the movies!”

“Just…. Damnit princess, just get in the car.”  

You shoot him a smile before hopping in, starting the car up and beginning to drive down the road with Eddie focusing on the music. By the time you get to his place the heat of the day has fully stuck to your skin and you both find yourself sitting on his porch as his uncle sleeps in the living room. 

These were some of your favorite moments with him, when it was too early for movies and too late to go to the lake, so instead you sat hip to hip as you whispered about anything and everything. 

These were the moments you helped him build campaigns and these were the moments he told you about his family before Wayne. 

Today you spent the time talking about what you plan on doing over the next couple weeks, his forehead pressed to your shoulder as he struggles with a brain freeze. 

“You know what I wish?”  He asks, rubbing his temples. 

“What’s that?”

“I wish they had a purple flavor that wasn't grape.” He groans, finally lifting his head from your shoulder and gesturing to the cup. “I freaking love purple.” “Eddie Munson, the great dungeon master, with a purple demon tongue.” You giggle as he rolls his eyes playfully and takes a large sip from his slurpee.  “You know you can make purple.”

“I would never mix blue raspberry with cherry, that would make a disgusting flavor-”

“That’s not the only way.”  Your heart is slamming against your ribcage as you blush, your hands are shaking and you can barely keep a hold of your own slurpee cup.  Before you can debate it you find yourself leaning forward until your lips are on his, smashing together in a clumsy manner. 

He seems to freeze at first, pulling back a little which makes you panic and draw back within yourself. “Oh my god I am so sorry.”

He stares, wide eyed and shocked for a moment before slamming his slurpee to the ground and reaching his hands up to either side of your jaw to pull you in for another kiss. His lips smash against yours in an aggressive manner before it calms down and you both kiss back, it’s still a bit awkward and you try to find the proper placement for yourself before he helps you find the perfect rhythm against his own lips. 

You spend most your time on the porch, lips mashing against his and when you both pull away for air he finds himself kissing around your face. By the time you hear Wayne’s alarm go off you pull back, both your eyes wide and lips swollen. 

“Let me see, princess.” You smile at Eddie’s order, showing your tongue which is now 100% purple. “Fuck. I think I just found my new favorite flavor.”

- 

Uh oh, I'm falling in love

Oh no, I'm falling in love again

Oh, I'm falling in love

I thought the plane was going down

How'd you turn it right around

Eddie’s new favorite flavor didn’t last for long before he decided he had to expand his taste buds a bit, and it wasn’t long after that that he found his all time favorite taste and feeling in the world. You. 

He loved your lips on his, he loved sucking hickies into your neck in the janitor supply closet at school and he absolutely loved tasting your lip balms fresh in the morning when he picked you up for school with a quick kiss. But his favorite out of everything? Was when he was between your legs. 

The loss of your virginity had waited until the end of summer, but you and Eds had found different things to do to each other before then, until the fateful day at the lake when it all went out the window. Now a month into the school year it was safe to say that you were completely open to Eddie sexually speaking, you felt comfortable and beautiful whenever you were with him and he was one of the best teachers for this aspect of your life. 

He also knew everything about your body at this point, made it his job to know like a religious person with a bible. He swore to your body. 

Today was like any other, with you splayed out on his mattress, hands splayed through his hair, gripping and pulling whenever he drew a harsh movement. You were a moaning and sweaty mess as he licked and bit at your clit. His hands clenched at your thighs when you pulled his hair harshly, a moan tearing from him which reverberated through your folds and had you clenching again, over and over in a chain reaction. 

He taps your hip three times, which is his sign that he wants you to look at him so you do, pulling your head off the pillow. He smiles from ear to ear, his chin glistening as he pulls some of the hair from his eyes. “Fuck princess. Why are you always so delicious?”

“Eds…” You sigh, hiding your face within your hands which he tsks at, leaning over you to snatch your hands away and smile while hovering over you. “Why would you ever hide from me?”

“I want you.” You whisper, hips moving up to meet his own, one leg wrapping around his own. 

“And I can give you anything you wan-”

“HEY EDS!” 

“Shit-” He rushes out, snatching the blanket that had fallen from the bed and draping it over you unceremoniously in a panic to get you covered. You know he is only covering you out of a place of love but a part of you wonders if  was actually hiding you as she slips his jeans on and rushes out to meet Gareth and Jeff, shutting the door quickly behind him. 

You move to get dressed, taking one of his band tees and slipping over you before you find your underwear, shuffling to the door and pressing your ear against it. 

“Come on man, we never see you anymore.” Jeff sighs, and you can hear them all shuffling around. 

“I see you at DnD all the time-”

“You are always with her!” Gavin snaps out, and you can practically hear him stomp his foot. “Dude, I get it. She doesn’t have any friends and blah blah blah. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have friends anymore!”

Wait, what?

Had Eddie said something about this before? About you not having friends? 

“We just think that you should spend a little less time with-” Jeff was always so sweet, and even when he was being mean he found a diplomatic way about it. Gavin on the other hand……not so much. “Screw that man! You yourself said she was being clingy since you started dating and I think you’ve become a real bitch-”

“Gavin, come on man-” Gareth sighs.

“Okay. Okay.” Finally, Eddie’s voice rings out and you wait to hear him defend you, to at least defend the clingy statement. But instead you hear “I’ll meet you outside. Okay? Take it easy.”

You hear him shuffle closer to the room, and you lunge for the bed to make it look like you hadn’t been listening, laying back down and smiling at him when he enters. 

Only it wasn’t a true smile, more so one you glued on. 

“Hey, that was the boys. They wanna have a last minute band session.” He smiles, shuffling closer to kiss your lips. “I’ll be back  later, okay?” You can do nothing but nod, watching him get dressed before he sends you one last smile and dashes out. You try not to feel much bitterness on it, but you can’t really stop it when you notice he didn’t even take his guitar. 

With nothing to do you put on pants and shuffle to the living room, sitting on the couch and debating what you should do from here. 

The conversation from earlier circles your mind, the words clingy and the ‘she doesn’t have any friends blah blah blah’.  Eddie must have complained to them about you, that was the only reason they would have said those things. 

How embarrassing, and here you were thinking that they had grown on you. Jesus have they all been laughing behind your back this whole time? 

You sit on the couch for a bit before deciding to walk home. They thought you were clingy? Fine, you would pull back. They thought you had no friends? Easy. You’d make friends. 

- 

“I just don’t like the way you guys spoke earlier.” Eddie argues, hands on his hips as he stares back at his friend group. “I understand the frustration, okay? I forgot our jam session today which was a massive dick move but that was my princess you were talking about.” Eddie has to stop a cringe from the memory earlier. He had promised the boys that he would meet them here, but after school he just wanted to stay with you. But the boys showed up angry because he forgot and they were saying some pretty brutal things, and they were beginning to get loud. 

He hadn’t wanted you to hear them, so he rushed them out. And left you in his bed. 

“Eddie, you don’t get it-”

“I do get it. Okay, I get it. I haven’t had a girlfriend like this before and I haven’t done a good job multitasking. But that is on me, kay? But you guys said some pretty hurtful things about Y/n and-”

“She didn’t even hear me!”

“But she could have Gavin.” Jeff sighs, rubbing his head. “I’m sorry Eddie, the plan was just to confront you about it. We hadn’t planned to attack like that.”

“You can be mad at me, but never talk about Y/n like that. You hear me?”

“Deal.” Gareth nods. 

“Heard.” Jeff smiles. 

“Fine. But you don’t see me ditching this group for my girl-”

“SHE’S NOT REAL!” 

- 

Uh oh, I'm falling in love

Oh no, I'm falling in love again

Oh, I'm falling in love

I thought the plane was going down

How'd you turn it right around

Pulling away from someone was a lot easier said than done. Especially when all you wanted to do was spend time with him.   But you had made a plan, and this you would stand by.  

That night Eddie had called you late, making sure you got home safe and you had told him that your dad was going to start taking you to school. 

“What? Why? Princess I can do it, it’s really no proble-”

“I’m going to start going in a little early for the club I joined. So don’t worry about it, Eds.”

“Club? You joined a club?” His tone was laced with excitement and you realized he was probably so excited to get you away from him, so with tears in your eyes and a tight throat you told him you had to rush to bed and hung up. 

This began a heavy game of avoidance. You walked to school each morning, reading by yourself in the gym before making it look like you were leaving a club when you saw Eddie in the mornings, but you only left enough time to give him a quick kiss before you were dashing off. You avoided him in between periods and began taking the back exit so he didn’t see you leave school.  

You picked up more shifts at the diner, claiming it was the busy season and your dad needed help. No more clingy girlfriend. 

Three weeks of this and you were beginning to wear yourself out, your body hot and barely any energy for the day as you trudged to school a little late. You had overslept past your initial alarm, and by the time you managed to get to school there was only 4 minutes before the first period. 

You were digging through your locker for a pencil, trying your hardest to keep your eyes open as you did so, when you heard a loud sound rapping to your right. 

Looking over to find Eddie with a soft smile, his rings hitting the metal of the lockers beside you.  “Hey princess.”

“Hey Eds,” You mumble back, already trying to think of an escape route. “I should head out, I had class-” “I can walk ya. I actually had something I wanted to ask you.” His smile widens as you finally find a pencil and shut the door to your locker, moving to wrap an arm around you. He pulls you close and you can’t help but press your forehead to his chest, wrapping your own arms around him. He stops for a moment, bringing a hand up to your forehead with a worried expression. “You are burning up.”

“I’m fine.” You smile, getting him to walk again. “What did you want to ask?”

“Oh, right. The band is performing this friday and they wanted to ask you to come. I haven’t really seen you much over the past couple days. And I-” He is cut off by a very large coughing fit on your end, his hands flying around your hips to stabilize you as he watches. “You are burning up, but your clothes are wet. Princess, did you walk here?”

“Oh, yeah. Just this morning though-”

“So you managed to catch a fever within 10 minutes?”

“Eds, I gotta go-” You try to rush out, but he stops you. 

“How about a movie night? Just like old times. I’ll get your favorite movie and-”

“I have a sh-”

“I already ran it by your dad.”

“Oh….. well then okay.”

“I’ll meet you after school? By my van?” He asks, his face reading off nervously. 

“Sounds great.” You smile, and that nervous energy he has seems to lighten up as he leans in for a kiss, kissing once more on your cheek before he drops you off at class. 

-

By the end of the day Eddie is anxiously waiting by his van, sitting in the back with the doors open as his foot taps against the wet pavement below him. He had spent the day after his talk with you thinking of things that you might like. Something that would make you happy tonight. 

It had been weeks of not seeing you and he was desperate to see you. What had happened? Why were you avoiding him?

“Hey eds!” Jeff calls, dashing up to the van with Gareth in tow. “What are you doing tonight?”

“I’m actually waiting on Y/n today guys.” He mumbles out, looking past them just so he could keep an eye out for you. 

“Oh, what did she say about the concert?” Gareth asks, turning to watch the door for you as well. “Seems like I haven’t seen her in a moment.” 

“That makes two of us, and she didn’t really answer about the concert.”

“What’s wrong?” Jeff asks, noting the tone. 

“She’s going to dump me. I just know it.” Eddie blurts, hands flying through his hair. “I just don’t know why.” 

“But Y/n loves you man-”

“What are you guys doing out here? It’s so cold.” Gavin snaps out, emerging in the group with a glare. “Let’s hop in Eddie’s van.”

“Can’t. He’s waiting on Y/n-”

“Ugh. Again?” 

Before Eddie could tell him to fuck off he spots you exit the building, his heart jumping through his chest as he smiles and waves his arm so you can spot him. You do, making a couple steps to him before you see his friends all turn and spot you as well, which makes you stop and look around. 

It hits Eddie then, what is going on. Especially when you turn to walk the other way. Before his friends can say anything Eddie lunges, dashing across the parking lot and reaching you in an instant. 

“Hey princess.”

“Oh, hey Eds.” You cough out, trying a smile out that makes his heart lurch. “Didn’t see you.”

Yes you did. But he doesn’t call you on it. 

“Well my van is over here, so let’s-”

“I don’t think-”

“The boys were just heading off. It will just be us tonight. Swear it.” He smiles, putting up a scouts honor sign and holding out his hand. You take it after a moment and he wastes no time dragging you to the car, helping you in and buckling you up. 

You giggle when he buckles you, an actual giggle that makes his heartbeat speed up and he leans to kiss you before dashing to the driver seat and heading to his trailer. He offers to stop for slurpees only to look over and realize you had actually fallen asleep curled up against the heater. So he skips the slurpees and pulls into the trailer park, heading to the one Wayne made their home. 

Back when Eddie first started hanging out with you he never wanted to admit where he lived, he was embarrassed about this perfect girl seeing the mess he lived in and dashing off. You were the prettiest girl he had ever seen, he was desperate for any of your time. 

And you chose him. 

That was something he could never understand. You met him, the school freak and the trailer trash, and still decided he was worthy of your time. 

But that was beginning to change and he was fucking terrified of it. 

But he didn’t have time to think on that when he pulled in, because the second he turned the van off you seemed to stir from your sleep, blinking slowly up at him as he moved to rub your cheek. “Come on, we are here.”

You hold his hand as he rushes inside, dropping both your bags by the door and helping you kick off your shoes before herding you to his room and helping you undress. He picks up one of the band tees and slips it over your head, kissing you softly. 

“You are absolutely burning up.”

“I don’t feel good, Eds.” You mumble out. 

“Okay, how about we lay down and nap for a bit. We can watch movies later, yeah?”

You merely nod, crawling across his bed as he shuffles into his boxers and follows your movement until you are both under the covers and he can pull you into his chest. “I’m sorry.”

“For what, Princess?”

“Being so…..” You doze off after that, and he finds himself fighting the urge to wake you up and find out. 

Instead he tightens his hold on you, and closes his eyes himself. 

- 

Uh oh, I'm falling in love

Oh no, I'm falling in love again

Oh, I'm falling in love

I thought the plane was going down

How'd you turn it right around

You awake around 1 am by the sight of Eddie’s alarm clock, gasping in pain as you try to catch your breath. You reach out to his side, only to find it empty, tears sliding down your face. 

Your head hurt and your body hurt, you were burning up and your throat was so sore you could sob. 

Eddie must have heard you, coming in slowly with messy hair and sleepy eyes, holding out some medicine and a cup. “Easy now princess. I was just grabbing you medicine.”

“I don’t need it.” You manage to croak out, eyes spilling over with water. 

“Yes, you do.” He places the little medicine cup to your lips and that’s when you realize he had actually poured the medicine in a shot glass. A smile cracks your face as you choke it down, Eddie switching it out with the cup, the bubbles of sprite burning your throat. “That’s my girl.”

“I don’t feel good.” You croak, and he nods. 

“How long have you been walking to school then?” 

“I haven-”

“You have. And you got sick from walking in the rain.” He sighs, making you drink some more of the sprite before setting them both down and moving to make you lay down beside him. “I grabbed some of the extra winter blankets, we’re gonna have to sweat this out. Okay?”

“Are you going to break up with me?” You cry, curling into his chest as he fixes the blankets around you both. 

“What? No. Why on earth would I-”

“Because I am clingy.”

“You’re not clingy, who said you were clingy?” He leans back to glare down at you, accidentally hitting his head on his own nightstand. “Ow, Jesus christ.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing. When did I say you were clingy?”

“That day I was here-”

“A little more specific.” 

“We… you…. The day we were in here and your friends came over.”  His face crumples in recognition, closing his eyes. 

“You heard Gavin.”

“I heard Gavin! And you guys were all probably talking about me–” He leans down to kiss you then, pressing his own lips against yours softly. When he pulls back he rubs his nose against yours, up your face and to your forehead where he leaves a soft kiss. 

“I can promise you that I do not think you clingy. And the only reason I didn’t argue back was because I didn’t want them getting louder so you could hear them. I didn’t want you to hear that. I. Swear. It.”

“Your friends don’t like me.” You whisper. 

“Only one friend doesn’t like you. Gareth and Jeff invited you out to the concert.”

“But Gavin-”

“Can call his girlfriend in Canada to cheer him up. I don’t give a shit.” You laugh at that, pressing your nose to his cheek. 

“Can we watch a movie, Eds?”

“I actually got pretty in pink for you.” He whispers, and you can’t help but kiss him. 

- 

Uh oh, I'm falling in love

Oh no, I'm falling in love again

Oh, I'm falling in love

I thought the plane was going down

How'd you turn it right around

You were too busy running around the diner, taking and delivering orders, to see Eddie and his friends sneak in. But when you turn to see who had taken up the table you are met with his smile, watching him snag a menu from Gareth. 

“What brings you boys in tonight?” You laugh moving to sit by him as Jeff fixes his jacket. 

“We came to hang out with you after the gig, you should have seen it Y/n. It was absolutely wild and Eddie nearly fell off the stage.” 

“Is that so?” 

“There was a drunk guy in the back talking to someone imaginary and we told Gavin it was him and then get this- Gavin freaked out-” Gareth launches into a story on their fight with Gavin, you look over to Eddie who isn’t even bothering to listen as his finger traces your cheek bone. 

“You make this outfit?” 

“I did, thought it matched the diner apron a little better.” You blush, showing him the spot on the sleeve where you had messed up only for him to lean in quickly and kiss you. 

“Y/n!” Your dad calls from the window. “Back to work!”

You roll your eyes, moving to stand up before Jeff calls you and you turn. He opens his leather jacket while Gareth widens his flannel, both to reveal the hellfire shirts you made them. 

“We stay repping our designer.” Jeff brags. “But we need three more.”

“For who?”

“These freshmen that Eddie recruited.”

“OH! Dustin and his two friends right?”

“Dustin, Lucas and little Byers……but……” Eddie smiles. 

“You should make one for yourself.” Gareth finishes. 

“Because you have officially been recruited, Y/n.”

You laugh, watching the three before Jeff slams a sheet on the table and you lean forward to read it. “The lost princess of hellfire?”

“Eddie wrote the campaign for you, and we helped create the character.”

You pick up the paper, flipping through them to reveal the sketches Eddie had drawn, a cartoon version of you in a fantasy version of the pretty in pink prom dress. 

“That’s…..”

“Can’t take it easy on you though, princess. Even if I love ya.”

“I love you too.” You smile, leaning down to kiss him back. 

-

(Also just to lace up any confusion regarding the manner of how I named everyone.

These are Gareth and Jeff - CONFIRMED BY THE DUFFER BROTHERS THEMSELVES----

This is Gavin, I named him because he is technically named 'the freak' and I see him as a gavin. Fight me.

thanks- Ultralight)

[liquid-luck-00]

Marks of Magic

Day 2 Vampire

Maribat Spooktober 2023

Previous *** Next

I didn’t mean for this to become a song fic but that’s where it ended up (Vampire by Olivia Rodrigo)

Language and cursing is used

1790 words

~~~~~~~~~~

She woke up the next morning, and it was so peaceful. She didn’t have to worry about Hawkmoth, she didn’t have to worry what her classmates thought of her. That just gave her so much freedom in fact she smiled, taking a breath of air for the first time in what seemed like years.

She bounced downstairs, earlier than her normal on a Saturday morning.

"some one is in good spirits today." Her Maman smiled as she came into the kitchen.

"Of course I am!" She tackled her mom in a hug.

"Did something happen at school?" Her Maman hugged her back. A second later her face turned somber, knowingly she asked. "Did Lila do something?... Alya?"

"Yes and no. I'll tell you and Papa at dinner."

"Okay Baio Bai." She flicked her on the nose. "For now help me get your father to eat something." She held a tray of berries, yogurt, granola, and coffee up for her to take down.

"Well isn’t this a surprise." Her papa smiled as she walked in to the bakery kitchen.

"Well it’s too nice to be crammed in my room." She offered.

"So what did your mother send?" He clapped his hands as flour clouded in the kitchen.

"A few staples." She started mixing granola into the yogurt, and tossing in a few of her papa’s favorite berries, before handing him the bowl.

"Any plans princess?"

"Don’t know." She shrugged. "Maybe walk around and sketch. I was also thinking about dropping by the Couffaine’s."

"Does he treat you right?"

"Papa!!" She blushed, covering her face with her hands. "He’s a good friend, nothing else."

She finally muttered when she found her voice again.

"He is a good kid Mari. Besides if he doesn’t he has to go through me."

She could only laugh before excusing herself.

She never thought of it before, never let herself truly think she could be in a relationship, but…

Luka knows who she is, was, damn that punched her in the gut. But he knows, and she made sure he was the only one that actually remembered that particular secret of hers. Sass had even been with him until a week ago, but could she actually let herself say it to him.

Without realizing she was coming up on the dock.

"How are ya lassie, come aboard." She heard Mdm. Couffaine call out to her.

"Thank you. How have you been?" She asked easily to the sweet pirate of a woman.

"All is good. He’s down in his cabin."

"Thank you." She walked down and approached the door, strums of a guitar floated through the hall. She lifted a hand up to knock, but the door swung open. She hadn’t noticed it had stopped.

"Marinette."

"Luka…" The words died in her throat, her eyes began to sting.

"It’s okay, my melody."

Yes she was relieved that everything was over but that couldn’t last. She lost her best friend, Tikki had become such a huge piece of her and now she was gone. She guarded the kwamii, learned what made each one special. Barkk's loyalty and obsession with the knight's order. Wayzz's fondness of the other's antics and his calmness. She finally let her emotions rage through her without fearing repercussions.

"Marinette!" Luka’s usual calm melted into panic as she broke down.

"It's..." She choked on her words, everything from the night before crashed against her closed eyes.

Luka started to hum, pulling her into a hug. His steady heartbeat combined with his peaceful humming calmed some small part of her. "He's gone." He leaned back, a silent question in his gaze, 'who'. "Hawkmoth." She whispered before emotion overtook her once again.

They stayed like that for a while. Luka didn't pry, didn't try to stop her from feeling everything. At some point they ended up sitting on the bed, Luka started playing his guitar.

"You know you don't have to tell me." Luka finally spoke, not missing a note. "But if you want to I'll listen."

"I..." She pursed her lips, she was about to say more when the door swung open.

"Oh!" Juleka stood in the door, surprised to see the two of them. Her emotions then schooled themselves, ignoring Marinette, and turned towards Luka. "Everyone's here." The quiet girl turned and left.

"Come on." Luka extended his hand. "You need a distraction."

She took it and let him pull her through the house boat. There on the deck was almost half the class. Kitty Section (which included Rose, Ivan, and Juleka), Mylene, Adrien, Alix, Alya and Nino who were sitting next to Lila. Everyone turned and once they saw her scowled.

"Why are you here?" Alex voiced what everyone must have been thinking,

"Well... I..." she didn't know why, just that it felt right, even as Luka dragged her on the stage.

"Come on, just try." Luka placed the microphone in her hand as he plugged his guitar into the amp.

"But I don't..." She bit her lip unsure. Luka started strumming the song only he could hear. She just had to put lyrics to it. "Okay."

She let every thing pour int her words. Her sadness, joy, anger, everything she attempted and failed to tell Luka. Her eyes steeled as she became more confident with every note. Her first target was Alya.

'Hate to give the satisfaction, asking how you're doing now

How's the castle built off people you pretend to care about?

Just what you wanted

Look at you, cool guy, you got it'

Her eyes turned and caught Adrien's as the words formed in her mind mere moments before they crossed her lips.

'I see the parties and the diamonds sometimes when I close my eyes

Six months of torture you sold as some forbidden paradise

I loved you truly

Gotta laugh at the stupidity'

Without hesitating she stared at Lila.

'Cause I've made some real big mistakes

But you make the worst one look fine

I should've known it was strange

You only come out at night

I used to think I was smart

But you made me look so naive

The way you sold me for parts

As you sunk your teeth into me, oh

Bloodsucker, famefucker

Bleedin' me dry, like a goddamn vampire'

She took a short breath before continuing.. now catching Nino's attention.

'And every girl I ever talked to told me you were bad, bad news

You called them crazy, God, I hate the way I called them crazy too

You're so convincing

How do you lie without flinching?

(How do you lie, how do you lie, how do you lie?)'

Her eyes swept her 'friends' before landing on Alix.

'Ooh, what a mesmerizing, paralyzing, fucked-up little thrill

Can't figure out just how you do it, and God knows I never will

Went for me, and not her

'Cause girls your age know better'

As she began the chorus again she closed her eyes and stepped back, furthering herself from those on the deck.

'I've made some real big mistakes

But you make the worst one look fine

I should've known it was strange

You only come out at night

I used to think I was smart

But you've made me look so naive

The way you sold me for parts

As you sunk your teeth into me, oh

Bloodsucker, famefucker

Bleedin' me dry, like a goddamn vampire'

She picked up the pace and tried to catch everyone's eyes, but they seemed to be avoiding her gaze.

'You said it was true love, but wouldn't that be hard?

You can't love anyone, 'cause that would mean you had a heart

I tried you help you out, now I know that I can't

'Cause how you think's the kind of thing I'll never understand

I've made some real big mistakes

But you make the worst one look fine

I should've known it was strange

You only come out at night

I used to think I was smart

But you made me look so naive

The way you sold me for parts

As you sunk your teeth into me, oh

Bloodsucker, famefucker

Bleedin' me dry, like a goddamn vampire'

She took a gulp of air, now standing next to Luka. His, and everyone's, attention on her as he continued before cutting abruptly. "Better?"

she never thought it would actually be so releiving, but it was. she giggled at thats, a light smile entwined in the laughter. Such a contrast to what had come out of her heart seconds ago. "Yeah. So much fucking better."

He smiled at her, a small grin, but his eyes were bright, knowing. Her heart skipped as she felt her cheeks heat up.

"Gurl! You can't just show up and diss us like nothing!" Alya shouted nearly jumping up at her.

"Good thing I didn't plan it." she grumbled at the bespekled girl.

"Bull!" Alix jumped in. "We all heard that."

"Then consider it my good bye." She replaced the microphone and started down the steps. Luka catching up to her, he took her hand and their fingers intertwined, almost like second nature.

"Don't." Juleka grabbed Luka's shoulder turning him, and her in turn. "Please." She pleaded.

"I'm dissapointed." He took a step back and

squeezed her hand. "In all of you."

He pulled her and they walked off the boat.

"They're gone." she breathed after they walked a mile or two through the city,

"Hawkmoth?" He asked.

"Yes. But..." she finally stopped. "I released them."

"Who?"

"The kwamii." Her gaze was solely on her shoes and the pavement below.

"Oh." He lifted her chin. "Are you okay with that?"

She spilled. Everything that happend the night before. Everything that led up to her outburst yesterday and earlier. All the things she avoided telling him before. Once she finished she watched his reaction, hoping he wouldn't hate her, hoping that he could forgive her. Because she is why he will never see Sass again, never getting to be a hero again.

"Are they happy?"

The question caught her off guard. "I think so."

"Then you did the right thing."

she rose up on her toes and placed a small kiss on his cheek. "Thank you,"

A flash of teal exploded in front of her, but it lasted only a second when it was gone she was about to ask what happened, but the questioned died on her lips. There on Luka's wrist sat the miraculous of the snake.

"I guess they are still watching out for us."

"They said as much." She smiled, before adding. "They also said if I needed their power they'd lend it."

"Let's not test it so soon." He pressed a kiss to her forehead before they started walking again. "So Gotham."

Next

[stergeon]

can someone please write this doropetra fashion designer/journalist modern au for me. i spent too long thinking about the devil wears prada today and now i have all the beats mapped out for this story i Do Not have enough time in the world to write.

please help. please. i'll give you everything. all of it. it's all right here. take it. mention me if you swap the names to sell the movie or streaming rights. i just want it to exist.

pitch: dorothea is a hot-nasty fashion mogul and petra is a journalist-turned-reluctant model who captures dorothea's attention (and her heart).

btw this is a Really long post so look out. also i know nothing about the fashion industry and Will Not Learn so don't tell me anything.

setting: various major cities in the USA. NYC, LA, Enbarr (you know, Enbarr, that major city somewhere between florida and texas. we've all been there).

cast

most everybody is in their mid-to-late 20s at the start.

petra: the last journalist with integrity in a world that's actively trying to eliminate journalism as a field. worked her ass off writing listicles and bullshit SEO articles for years until she caught a break and got in with a "Real Publication." she now works her ass off there. unfortunately there's rumors of her team getting laid off due to AI crap so she's stressed af trying to line up her next gig, just in case.

dorothea: hotshot young fashion mogul with a cult of personality around her. was a complete unknown barely out of college when she designed manuela casagranda's absolutely breathtaking met gala dress and her company blew up overnight. now does high-profile lines that are popular with movie star types and bougie social media influencers. notorious for being very, very friendly with her preferred models.

edelgard: petra's finance major/arts minor friend from college and her former roommate. nepo baby with Lots of connections. got petra her first big job writing PR crap for a division of the hresvelg business empire. caused a scandal by getting romantically involved with her TA (byleth) in grad school but they're still together. complains about her PA (hubert) and her lout of a stepbrother (dimitri), both of whom she's constantly texting or otherwise having to corral.

shamir: petra's boss/editor. admires petra's guts and her writing chops, as well as her ambition. somewhat of a mentor to petra, but is absolutely no-nonsense when it comes to work. she's been in this business a long time. there's no fucking around. leonie is another journo on the team. ignatz and linhardt also work with them doing layouts, formatting, and photo/video editing.

manuela: a famous singer from dorothea's hometown who basically adopted dorothea as a protégé after dorothea sent her sketches of designs she'd made. essentially responsible for dorothea's career. they have a bit of a contentious relationship these days as manuela's a bit jealous of dorothea's rising star and because dorothea's been ungrateful in recent years despite how much manuela's stuck her neck out for her. still, she's always there to give dorothea terrible advice when she needs it. her evolving relationship with dorothea is kind of a b-plot.

bernadetta: a reclusive, but well-connected social justice blogger and internet activist. one of petra's good buddies who regularly sends her scoops.

ingrid, ferdinand, sylvain, catherine, felix: models who commonly work with dorothea.

Jeritza: a nobody fashion photographer who thinks he's somebody. he's absolutely awful.

claude and hilda: paparazzi who work for tmz, buzzfeed, whoever will take em. petra thinks they are the scum of the earth. they are.

act 1

we open with petra on yet another bullshit assignment for her crappy job writing articles about things that don't matter. this one is a profile piece about a local fashion photographer, the mononymous Jeritza, who might be somebody someday and seems to think he already is. leonie was supposed to do the article but she flubbed it by offending Jeritza, who now won't give her the time of day, so shamir asks petra to please step in last-minute. petra's mad, but she gets her hustle on and goes anyway. it's not like she can be too picky with gigs in this economy.

by the time she gets to the shoot, she's late, and Jeritza is throwing a tantrum. the model isn't working out. Jeritza cannot work in these conditions. Jeritza fires the model and is about to freak the fuck out when petra walks in the door. oh, Jeritza says. i can work with you. petra did NOT sign up to be a model, has never wanted to be a model, has no interest in this whatsoever. but let's be real: it is a great angle for the piece. this could get clicks. shares, even. so she does it.

the shoot is a massive success, which is to say Jeritza is delighted with the results, but as it's just for a local streetwear company, the impact on culture is negligible. petra writes her article, which gets some attention due to the very funny portrait it paints of the histrionic artiste that is Jeritza. it's not much buzz, but it's just enough buzz to get shared around in fashion circles—enough for it to wind up in dorothea's inbox, courtesy of manuela. "Thought of you!! XD XD This is so funny!!" manuela writes. dorothea replies "lol" and is about to move on with her day when she decides to give the article a courtesy skim and scrolls down far enough to see the pictures.

oh. who is that model?

a few days later, petra's out at a bar getting drinks with edelgard and bitching about life when she gets a call from an unknown number. she figures it's probably spam, but they leave a voicemail. the transcription mentions it's from a dorothea arnault, whoever that is. edelgard almost shits a brick. DOROTHEA ARNAULT? you need to call her back. right now. petra's like okay jeez, i will. what's the big deal. edelgard facepalms. she forgot that petra doesn't follow fashion even a little bit ("isn't the gucci, like, the area between your butthole and your—?" "no petra it is not"). embarrassing for her, but there's no saving some people.

edelgard briefs her on the arnault situation. dorothea's studio is huge right now. edelgard's family business has been sponsoring some of her recent fashion shows and everybody who's anybody is trying to get an arnault outfit for their next event. while dorothea's very popular on social media, she's very tight-lipped about her private life. a profile on her could be a huge break for petra.

okay, petra thinks, what the fuck, okay. i'll call her back.

dorothea picks up on the fifth ring. uh-oh: she sounds hot.

hel-looo, miss macneary, she says, it's nice of you to pick up the phone. i saw that little article you wrote recently. you're sooooo funny. [her voice is sweet and smooth like butter. she sounds like she's twirling her hair as she talks. she doesn't say how she got petra's number. petra doesn't think to ask.] and those photos of you... my, my. you're quite the looker, aren't you? and you don't even model professionally? that's a terrible shame. you'd do well, you know. i'm in berlin right now but i'll be in enbarr's fashion district on tuesday afternoon. why don't you come by the studio? we're doing a shoot for some designs i'm releasing soon... a secret summer collection. oops, i shouldn't have told you about that, should i? well, i'm sure i can trust you to keep my secret. and maybe i could even trust you to write something nice about me? i think they'd suit you, you know, these new pieces i've got. if you have any interest in trying your hand at modeling again, i'd love to see you in them. 11 o'clock. ciao!

petra gets a handful of words in edgewise. most of them are yes. she keeps her phone held to her ear for too long after dorothea hangs up. she wishes she'd been sober for this conversation. she's not really sure what she just agreed to. she doesn't want to forget the sound of that voice.

she shoots a text to shamir. edelgard buys her a shot the instant she steps back into the bar.

tuesday comes and petra's nervous. she packed and repacked for this. checked twenty-five times that she brought her tape recorder and her good camera. arnault is gonna think that camera's a joke, but it is what it is. she's trying to play it cool, hyping herself up the whole time she's on the train. it's gonna be fine. just keep the tape rolling. write the profile. she doesn't have to model, she can just do what she does best. listen. pay attention. write honestly. move on.

sure.

if petra thought dorothea sounded hot, she's wholly unprepared for how hot she is in person. she's spellbinding. drop-dead gorgeous. positively unreal. and on top of that, she's so charming. she's graceful. smart. funny. flirty. and she keeps touching her—little touches on her hand, her arm. chaste things. friendly things. things that could be accidents.

she's exactly petra's type.

but petra is a journalist with integrity, dammit. she's going to be professional. and to her credit, she is professional. arnault makes it hard, but she manages. she blends in, listens, stays focused, stays out of the way. the model's cute—ingrid something-or-other. she can't remember but she got it on the tape recorder. told petra her instagram handle like six times, too, so she won't have any trouble finding her. the shoot is almost wrapped when dorothea asks if petra would be interested in modeling for her. she's not at all offended when petra politely declines. she poses when petra asks to take her photo for the profile. thanks her for coming out and talking to her. says goodbye with a polite handshake and that dazzling smile. she thinks about that smile and that touch throughout the whole train ride home.

skip ahead to friday. petra is working on the story and transcribing the audio recording when she gets a text from dorothea. so lovely meeting you on tuesday [heart emoji] [kiss emoji] [heart emoji] i know it's last minute, but the final pieces of the summer collection are coming in tomorrow and i think you'll like them for your profile. i'll fly you up tomorrow morning to meet me at my studio in manhattan, unless you're busy, of course~

petra is not busy tomorrow. shamir is considering opening a new style division of their publication.

the flight is the train ride but worse. keep the tape rolling, macneary. listen. pay attention. write honestly. move on.

she's resolute. committed. her resolve doesn't waver even when she gets off the plane, ready to call an uber, and there's a guy in a suit with a sign that says MACNEARY on it. it doesn't waver when the guy stops her and says no, he's not looking for another macneary, he's here for her, courtesy of ms. arnault. it doesn't waver throughout the ride—the chauffeured ride, in a fancy car, just her and the guy—from jfk through the streets of nyc, seeing the skyline she's only ever known from movies and on tv. it doesn't waver when she's escorted into a skyscraper in the garment district and guided up to the floor where ms. arnault is waiting for her.

it wavers when she sees her. when dorothea says her model couldn't make it that day and she could really, really use petra's help, it falls completely.

you can guess how the rest of that trip goes. petra barely remembers it herself. she gets back home to enbarr, trying to recover from the whirlwind week she's had by doing what she does best—working. she can scarcely believe any of it was real. she has to believe it when she gets back to her shithole apartment, sets to the task of transcribing the audio from her tape recorder, and realizes it was rolling the whole time.

the whole time.

and there's absolutely no denying any of it after dorothea sends her the photos for her review.

you look so good in these, she tells petra when she sends her the first photoset. i think you look better out of them, she says when she sends the second.

petra considers her options. considers freaking out. considers not replying. considers moving to australia. she considers and reconsiders and does none of those things.

what she does do is send dorothea the audio recording. dorothea sends her some photos of her own.

they meet up again in LA on the day the profile drops.

act 2

if that first week was a whirlwind, the summer is a hurricane. petra's being lauded for the quality of her profile on dorothea, as well as for being the only member of the press who can get close to ms. arnault. it's borderline scandalous, how she's also modeling the summer line despite not even being a real model. it's a thinly-guised affair—almost completely un-guised when their flirting gets a little too overt during a show in tokyo. who cares. petra's entranced. dorothea takes her everywhere, her personal reporter, lavishing her with gifts, showing her the world. she's keeping her busy between all this travel and all this passion. they go to show after show, shoot after shoot; petra works her ass off, keeping the tape rolling, listening, paying attention. so what if she doesn't have time to answer shamir's texts right away the way she normally would. the website's getting more traffic than it ever has, carried by petra's inside scoop on the world of dorothea arnault. shamir can cut her a break.

and she's surprised by how much she likes dorothea. how much she likes spending time with her. dorothea's all the things petra thought she was: glamorous, bubbly, charismatic. but she's also so brilliant, so hard-working, busting her ass every single day of her life. and she's sweet, too. she lavishes petra with attention, gives her all kinds of little gifts and things—nothing too expensive as to make petra uncomfortable (the jetsetting is bad enough as-is), but small, practical things she actually likes and could use. she asks petra about herself almost as often as petra asks questions about her. it's not petra's job to talk beyond getting the conversation flowing, to put more of herself into the discussion than there needs to be to get dorothea to open up. she's here to listen. to pay attention. write honestly and move on.

but she's finding she doesn't really want to move on.

one night they're hanging out in dorothea's fancy hotel room eating room service and drinking wine when dorothea makes a crack about how little petra knows about fashion. petra admits that she really didn't intend to get into it, that it just kind of happened. that what she really wants to do is investigative work, writing about events, exposing corruption, that sort of thing. no offense to dorothea! it's been fun doing this, don't get her wrong, but she's got goals, other things she wants to do—once dorothea gets tired of her, she jokes. sort of jokes. dorothea laughs. she smiles at her and asks why she wanted to be a journalist.

and petra's honest again. honest like she hasn't been before. she tells her a little about her childhood, her family life. about growing up in brigid (you know, the country on planet earth) and moving to enbarr as a teenager after her father died. seeing her super-smart, brilliant mother and grandfather go from these auspicious jobs in their home country to shitty ones that just barely pay the bills here, all in the name of long-term security. how they taught her to work hard and always act with integrity, no matter what she's doing. she tells her about the struggles of learning a new language, how it made her become a good listener, how she fell in love with writing because it gives her time to think about her words, to express herself the way she wants to. she wanted to be a journalist to speak for those who can't raise their voices loud enough on their own.

dorothea smiles at her the whole time she's talking. petra's not used to being on this side of the table, to being listened to like this. she almost doesn't know how to handle it; she's apologizing, feeling embarrassed for having said so much, but dorothea says don't be sorry. that's beautiful. she's lucky to have such wonderful people in her life who love her and support her. and she likes hearing petra talk.

things are different after that night.

act 3

the start of the Drama Arc. the summer's coming to an end. petra and dorothea are still spending so much time together, jetsetting around the world. petra's working on a piece that's a backstage look at the arnault company's leadup to milan fashion week. the stress is getting Real and the cracks are starting to show. petra's missing deadlines, blowing off shamir, blowing off edelgard, blowing off her family. she's barely in enbarr these days, jetlagged to hell, lost between time zones. her pal bernadetta reaches out and says hey, there's something Big i'm working on that i could use help digging into, can you give me a hand? petra says sure, i'll take a look. she doesn't. she forgets somewhere between london and são paolo.

things are still hot between her and dorothea, but she's starting to see the cracks in her, too. she's getting to see more of her, more of what lies beneath all that glam and bubbly personableness. you don't go from being a nobody to a mogul in your 20s by being nice, and what petra slowly discovers is that dorothea isn't just not nice, she is ruthless. she's nonstop, working her ass off, and anyone who can't keep up with her gets left behind. she hints at her past sometimes: at her shitty childhood, at growing up in poverty, at being orphaned, at having spent years in foster care. but she never opens up. she's 100% focused on the future, and it's all she wants to talk about. dorothea wants to live her dreams, yes, but more importantly, her goal is self-preservation.

petra finds this out when they're at a shoot one day. petra's off to the side, fucking with her piece of shit camera when who storms up to her but ingrid, and she's pissed as shit. she chews petra out. calls her an asshole. says she stole her job. asks what the fuck is wrong with her, doing that while posting her articles, publicly announcing to the world that she never even wanted to be a model. petra's floored. she doesn't even know what she's talking about. she asks ingrid to start over.

that "second date" of theirs in manhattan, way back when? turns out dorothea was telling the truth when she said her model couldn't make it that day. ingrid was supposed to be modeling. she was dorothea's #1 for ages. she'd just come off back-to-back-to-back shoots when she got sick, really sick. stuck-in-shanghai-and-probably-not-going-to-be-able-to-board-a-flight-to-manhattan-tomorrow sick. she told dorothea so, said she'd try her best. dorothea said not to bother and didn't call her again.

it'll happen to you, too, ingrid tells petra, once you aren't useful to her. you're giving her all this press now, but if you ever do anything else, she'll drop you like she drops everyone else.

ingrid storms off, leaving petra standing there, holding her stupid camera. she looks at dorothea, standing across the room, running the show, correcting this and that, getting everything perfect, exactly the way she wants it. petra looks at her and wonders. wonders what would happen if she wrote something dorothea didn't like. if somebody new caught her eye.

they get dinner that night and it's tense. dorothea's stressed. she's carrying on about this and that, talking about the shoot, texting and responding to emails, slamming back glass after glass of wine. petra's quiet, letting her talk. too quiet, apparently, because dorothea eventually takes her head out of her phone and asks her what's up. nothing, petra says, just thinking about everything going on, about the shoot today. dorothea rolls her eyes. i know, she says; on top of everything else, ingrid was there, and she wanted to have a whole conversation with me, like i wasn't busy and like she didn't fuck me over the last time i saw her. she texted me earlier, too. the audacity of this bitch, she gripes, going back into her phone, still mad. a little later into dinner, manuela calls and dorothea answers it; she's bubbly and sweet, all hi how are you omg it's been so long, i miss you, sorry i've just been so busy~ i've gotta go but we'll catch up soon. she hangs up and shoots petra a look. she's so needy, dorothea says, laughing. petra tries to laugh too and can't quite manage.

they're still going everywhere together in the leadup to milan fashion week, and petra's still working on the piece, but she's feeling a little gross and she's quieter than ever. she lets herself believe that maybe it's fine, maybe it's okay, maybe she's not really that cold and ruthless. but then dorothea shows her one day.

everything's been going wrong: there's equipment stuck in customs, marketing materials haven't been delivered from the printers yet, the studio they rented for pre-shoots is double-booked. then a model's late to the shoot and another one is complaining and dorothea is done, so done. she fires them on the spot, gets on the phone and calls two new ones who will get the job done and done without question. petra's quiet. listening. paying attention. keeping the tape rolling as dorothea justifies herself aloud, without prompting. don't judge me, she says. i do what i have to do, and everyone else should, too. i know no one is going to take care of me. i've got no reason to take care of anyone else.

she's a mess all night. angry. stressed. shutting herself off. petra's seen her get like this a few times, but this is the worst it's ever been. she's in her phone all night. practically snaps at petra when she asks if she can help her with anything. shrugs away from petra's touch.

they go to bed and petra barely sleeps. she just lies awake, thinking. thinking about dorothea. thinking about herself. thinking about how she's been blowing off her friends, her family, her boss. thinking about how swept up she's been in all this crazy stuff she doesn't even really care about, putting off her own career. feeling guilty about ingrid. feeling guilty about blowing off shamir and bernadetta. worrying about who she's become around this woman. wondering what happened to her integrity.

fashion week goes great. flawlessly. petra heads back to enbarr afterward. she's almost ready to publish her piece, but she's gotta make up with shamir first. she apologizes. says she's so sorry. sorry for blowing her off. sorry she missed her deadlines. shamir is pretty fucking done with her and has told her as much already, but petra's earnest, and her piece is ready, and she wants to give the girl one more shot. she tells petra alright, i'll forgive you, but i need this piece tonight or we're done. i can't keep waiting on you and your schedule.

okay, petra says, you'll have it tonight.

she's worried. nervous. there's so much on her mind. the piece is ready but it's not going to make dorothea happy. she wants to call her first. she tries and gets her voicemail. tries again. nothing. texts her instead, a few times. hey, she writes, i need to talk to you. call me when you get the chance. it's about the profile. it's important. i'm on a deadline.

nothing. the hours are ticking by. she calls her. texts her. it's really important, dorothea. i need you to talk to me. please.

nothing.

petra's left wondering. wondering what to do. whether she should hit send on this email or hold off. wondering what she wants out of this.

and what is this, anyway? a summer fling? are they dating? girlfriends? they've never put a name on anything. do they have a future? can petra even think about building a future with someone she doesn’t trust to keep her along if she ever should need help? maybe dorothea’s hot and smart and maybe she’s got incredible drive but if she doesn't share petra's values, if she’s not going to be able to live for more than herself, and be true to herself, can petra accept that? does dorothea even know herself well enough to be able to be authentic?

time runs out and petra sends her piece to shamir. dorothea leaves her on read.

the piece is published. it's a huge hit, and not just in fashion circles, because it's a perfect portrait of dorothea arnault, and who doesn't love a biography of a wunderkind. it's honest. it's real. it talks about everything: her light, her darkness, the ups and the downs of being with her. it's raw. personal. revealing. it's all her brilliance and all her evils, captured in the way only someone who really loves her could do.

when it drops, petra expects dorothea to call and rip her a new one. she doesn't expect her not to call at all. but dorothea's radio silent. a few days later, some dickhead paparazzi petra has the misfortune of knowing (hilda and claude) send her a picture of dorothea in LA, running around with some red-headed douche (ferdinand).

sorry, dorothea texts her eventually. i've been soooo busy. i've missed you, but we'll catch up soon.

sure, petra writes, knowing they won't. i'll see you soon, she writes, knowing it's goodbye.

act 4

petra goes back to her career. back to her friends. crashes on edelgard's couch for a while. spends time with her family. starts addressing the connections she fucked up, fixing things with shamir, trying to gain momentum again. despite the profile on dorothea being such a success, it takes a long time for her to get back on her feet. but it's okay, 'cause if she's busy, she doesn't have to think about her.

months go by. every couple of nights, dorothea drafts a text to petra and deletes it.

it's february now, which means new york fashion week is here, and although petra is branching into investigative stuff nowadays, shamir calls in a favor and asks her to help cover it. petra knows she might see dorothea there. knows it’s a risk. decides she’s gonna be so strong and brave, and she can’t really afford to pass it up anyway because it’s a big career opportunity, a chance to revisit fashion after her profile last year. so she goes.

and they see each other. and nothing happens. they don't even say hello.

but that night, when petra’s in her hotel room, spiraling, dorothea calls her. she's in a hotel up the street. she asks petra to come over. for all her sense, her morals, her logic, petra is no more than a lesbian, so she says yes.

they don't talk. they jump right to making out sloppy style and fucking nasty and holy shit, it’s just like it was when they first met: hot and intense and so good, so perfect. except it’s not, it’s not, because this isn’t going to work out no matter how much they want it to, and they both know it. they get into a big fight after dorothea makes a crack about the profile and petra loses it. she puts dorothea on blast for being such a piece of work, saying she can’t ever be with her no matter how much she wants to because dorothea won't ever put someone else first and she’ll never figure out how to be anything other than alone.

then petra drops another bomb. over the past few months, she's made up with bernadetta, and it turns out that the big scoop bernie uncovered is about exploitative business practices a certain scummy fashion company engages in. a certain scummy company that dorothea's company is partnered with. said company's dealings wouldn't get their business partners in legal trouble, but public perception would certainly change. she's been working on an exposé about it. she's going to release it soon. really really soon. like as soon as she gets back to enbarr.

dorothea looks like she's been hit by a truck. she begs petra not to release the story about the company. it’s going to fuck her brand. she'll be ruined. she offers petra whatever she wants. gets nasty, even, defensive. then she fucking breaks. she doesn’t fully open up, but it’s the closest she’s ever come to doing it. she says she's sorry, sorry for hurting her, sorry for shutting her out, sorry she cut and ran like she always does when she might catch feels, when she might be vulnerable for once. she says she's sorry and she asks her please, please, not to release the story.

petra doesn’t give her an answer. she just goes back to her hotel.

once she gets back, she doesn't sleep. she stews for ages, pacing, going back and forth, trying to figure out what to do. act with integrity and drop the story as-is. don’t drop the story and protect the person she cares about, in spite of herself. amend the story so maybe dorothea won’t catch heat...? no, that wouldn’t be acting with integrity either. she can’t win either way.

and dorothea’s having a think, too, which is to say she’s a fucking WRECK. realizing how bad she’s fucked up her life. realizing that petra liked her for her. wanted to get to know her for more than her name and her money and her connections. told her things about herself she didn’t even realize were true. and she hurt her at every single turn. for the first time in her life, she had a chance at something real with a good person who really loved her and she fucking blew it. there’s so much dissonance as she tries to defend her own actions to herself and can’t because petra’s wormed her way into her head, the only person who ever Really questioned her, the only person who ever made her question.

she's always figured things out alone. she's always had to figure things out alone. this time, though, dorothea's not sure she can handle it. so she does the only thing she can think to do: she goes to manuela with her tail between her legs. manuela's a little pissy at first as dorothea's been blowing her off for a while now, but she's also worried, because dorothea has never come to her like this. not once. and she's offered for her to, a lot.

when manuela hugs her, dorothea breaks. she ugly-cries into manuela's arms. tells her how bad she's fucked up. how much she hates herself. how sorry she is for being a dickhead when manuela's only ever wanted to be there for her. manuela comforts her. chastises her for being an asshole, yeah, but shores her up, too. tells her if she's really sorry, she'll figure out how to change. tells her that she's there for her, and she'll keep being there for her, so long as she tries. dorothea's blown away. she thought she'd lost her shot at having love in her life, but she was too blind to see there are other types of love she's been shutting herself away from, too.

dorothea leaves manuela's, still feeling like shit, but with plans to get lunch or at least call each week, and with the promise that she's going to do better, be better.

she makes an effort, too. she cuts ties with the skunks. changes her business practices. starts being more charitable, less ruthless, less aggressive. it’s a slog and it sucks and she’s bad at it but fuck she’s going to try. even if petra never takes her back, even if petra just thinks dorothea’s trying to cover her own ass again and protect herself from the impact of the story, it doesn’t matter. she’s going to be better. she’s going to try to do things right, because someone believed in her, someone thought she could be better. and she’d never thought so highly of herself, never thought she could be more until petra came into her life and saw the potential in her.

petra releases the story a week or so later, unrevised. she texts dorothea before she does. says she’s sorry. dorothea says it’s alright. she understands.

the story drops and it’s a clusterfuck. an absolute PR disaster. the scummy company folds overnight. a bunch of related fashion companies, including dorothea’s, are in huge hot water. dorothea’s on the press circuit, doing damage control. petra’s watching an interview with her, listening to her spouting off her PR beats. fully expecting dorothea is going to deny everything, throw everyone she can under the bus to keep her shit afloat. so she just about has a heart attack when dorothea admits she’s fucked up. admits she made the wrong decisions, did stuff she knew was scummy. takes accountability. is honest for once. honest in a way petra didn’t think was even possible for her.

dorothea outlines her plans for how she’s going to be better, the changes her company’s making, how things are going to be different. says she’s making a commitment. if it all folds, so be it. at least she’ll be able to sleep at night.

because capitalism is the way it is, the company doesn’t go under. they’re in the red for a while and the "Controversies" section of her wikipedia page is now significantly longer, but the news cycle goes on and consumers forget and a few months later, pieces from dorothea’s summer line are all the rage with the kids on tiktok. petra’s more than a little bitter about it, but mostly she doesn’t give it any thought. she did her part. wrote honestly. spoke the truth. kept her integrity. she’s become a big name since that scoop, too, with her career really taking off. she's writing books and shit, appearing on tv, what have you, doing the investigative work she's always dreamed of doing.

she’s in london one night on the final leg of a press tour, sitting in her hotel room, when she gets a call.

it’s dorothea. she’s in london too. would petra like to get brunch tomorrow?

yeah she would. bitch loves a mimosa.

they get brunch and it’s tense. they try small talk but don’t really know what to talk about. dorothea makes it more awkward by cracking a joke about petra writing an article about her after this brunch and petra only kind of laughs.

but then dorothea apologizes. earnest. honest. like she’s never been with petra. tells her she’s sorry. tells her how she changed her life and made her think about herself differently, made her think she could be a better person. made her Want to be a better person. convinced her it’d be worthwhile to try. and she has. she’s made so many steps since they last saw each other. doing better. living kinder. living true. says she doesn’t expect anything from petra at all. just wanted to say sorry, and thank you for seeing the best in me.

petra says you’re welcome.

dorothea pays for brunch and they go their separate ways. dorothea holds it together until she gets to her hotel room and then she loses it, bawling her eyes out like she has never ever done, like she’s never let herself do. but it’s okay. she loves petra, that hot journo with the cute accent and more morals than sense, but dorothea knows she doesn’t deserve her, and she’s going to be okay with that. she’s going to live better anyway, for herself, because she’s worth it.

act 5

a year and a half goes by before dorothea and petra run into each other at a formal Thing. they talk, cordial, business-like, just catching up. dorothea makes a crack about the tmz photos of petra with three or four different high-profile supposed gfs over the past year and a half, calling her a heartbreaker. petra laughs, a real laugh. says dorothea's one to talk. asks if she's been keeping up with her? how often does she google her? dorothea says she does it more often than she'd like to admit. petra blushes, laughs again, flattered.

she asks if dorothea's been breaking more hearts lately herself and dorothea says nah. she's been focusing on her business. she's got this non-profit going now too, and it's been taking off. just landed some pretty big investments that will bring arts programs to schools that don't have funding for them. she looks proud of this. she is. she's actually spending more time doing that these days than her fashion stuff, which makes her a little sad, but it's not so bad because it's given her a bit of a mystique: the designer whose work was once Everywhere, now dropping limited release lines every few seasons instead of keeping up with the fast fashion whirlwind. it's different but it's good. she likes it. she's happy.

petra says she's glad to hear that. that she's happy for her. makes a reference to the new line dorothea's rumored to be dropping this fall. dorothea's eyes almost pop out of her head. you know about that? yeah, petra says, i google you. she's known about the non-profit, about everything dorothea's been telling her about. she's a journalist. she likes knowing things. but she likes knowing about her. knowing that she's doing well. and it's really good now, knowing that she's happy. she tells dorothea she's happy for her. that she's proud of her. that she knew she could do it.

dorothea doesn't cry. just says thank you. she gets called away by somebody else, and petra does too, pulled in the opposite direction. dorothea thinks about hugging her first. almost touches her hand. elects not to. says it was good to see her. then they're both whirled elsewhere and they don't see each other again.

but that night when dorothea's in her hotel, she gets a text. it's from petra. would she like to get coffee tomorrow?

FIN

[emiliasilverova]

A reclist of Tenshi's work (and some memories)

It's late here and my whole being demands sleep, but I promised to myself I'd make a reclist of my favourite things @slimysuckers/@tentacletenshi ever made for Tenshi day, so here goes.

As far as photomanips go, there's really one that immediately comes to mind: the hug in camo. I just love it, I can't tell you much more than that.

For fics, however, there are three of them I'd like to mention:

Welcome Home, You're No Longer Alone—I have a funny story about that one. See, I first stumbled upon it way before I joined the Café, knew Tenshi personally, or even shipped any combination of 00Q00... but the art struck me (I mean, it's uh, very striking indeed 🥵). I had to frantically search the whole Bond category on AO3 to find it again (maybe some people from the slack remember it?)... and yeah, I did find it. And you can be sure I'll never forget about it ever again.

Kisses Across Universes—aaaah, good, old-fashioned bondalec (and yet another amazing piece of fanart). If I dedicated my earlier post from today (A Time for Sweetness) to Tenshi, it's because of this fic. Tenshi really loved bondalec, and actually had commissioned the piece of fanart at the end before creating the fic itself. From our talks together, I can show you something she probably never showed the world before—the sketch she provided the artist to explain what she wanted (see below). It's just so sweet... reminds me she had a very extensive collection of bondalec/00Q00 fanart, btw. A real treasure trove I should download from Discord before it disappears forever (you can never be too careful these days).

And last but not least, Good Names Are Forever. I personally think this is her best (of those I read, that is). The premise, the characterisation, the plot, I love everything about it. In fact, now I remember telling her I wish I had enough skill to make a fanart of it. Considering how my art skills have dramatically improved as of late, I might just do it. I wanna bring to life this image I have in my mind: Q stands next to a sitting Alec, his hand on Alec's shoulder, and Alec gives his most Janus stare/smile and says something like "don't f*ck with my son". You'll surely understand reading the fic.

You were so shy, Tenshi... and yet, look at everything you created. Everything you brought other people to create, even. Looking through Discord messages, I see you were saying you've been in the fandom since LiveJournal days, that you've seen GE in theaters, and that basically you've always been there, even when you weren't creating yet. Even though you didn't start writing until 2020, I have the conviction you've always been there indeed. Perhaps I was seeing your name in comments, although I'll probably never know for sure. I'm so sorry you were bullied, you absolutely didn't deserve it. I'm even sorry for scaring you at first, all because of those firm Opinions I used to have. So I'll conclude with this:

*hugs the tentacle creature*

And thank you, as always.

[nearest-dearest]

Sunny (Wally Darling x fem!reader!)

Just a story about a day dreaming girl always in melancholy. Finding her sun in the most quaint little neighborhood. (If you got the references I used in this story let me know 👀.)

(Y/n) three prizes so far. That means there's a lot more to find. At least that's what she assumes. The world she travels to is quite vast, they say that the world is small, but people really under estimate how much a single world can keep some people from seeing each other again. And it's not uncommon for objects that got lost during an adventure to be never found again. Unless you look a little closer to places where you would last look for it. But (Y/n) found no urgency in collecting all the prizes, she just wants to explore and see what this world has to offer. But that will have to wait, for (Y/n) found herself opening her eyes once more. The world turns into her small little room, with the sun rays peeking though the curtains of the window.

She's awake. . .

And she has a story to write.

The neighborhood is as warm and peaceful as it always is. The residents began to emerge from their sleep. Julie Joyful starts her morning off by giving Frank Frankly a surprise visit to rattle on about a new game she had created. Eddie started sorting out mails and letters to be delivered, Howdy Pillar gets his store ready for the day and the rest start off their morning with a cup of coffee. Such resident includes the neighborhood painter, Wally Darling. As he waits for inspirations to come to mind, he caught a peculiar sight outside his window.

(Y/n), dressed in a lovely (F/c) summer dress and carrying her signature leather journal. She must be off to write another story by the woods. Albeit it's a bit too early, but Wally understood. Artists often create art when the inspiration is fresh before they forget.

Speaking of inspiration. One had just came to Wally, and it requires the help of the presence of a certain author. Finishing his cup of coffee, he began to get ready for the day and gather his art supplies.

No matter how (Y/n) thinks and write away, she couldn't get that image out of her head. The way the blonde girl turned into a strange dark creature, (Y/n) already doodled the strange creature on her journal, and it did nothing to calm her urge to fall asleep and find that house where the blonde girl lived. She needed to see that creature again. So her curiosity can be satisfied. So she could complete her dream journal and eventually, complete her story.

The rustling of the bushes had (Y/n) looking up from her journal. A small dread tugged on her stomach at the prospect of a dangerous woodland creature. Dread into relief quickly took place in (Y/n)'s face when she saw familiar blue hair and a painting easel sticking out of the green background like a sore thumb.

"Howdy Neighbor!" Wally greeted as he got out of the bushes and dusting off any leaves that caught on his lovely hair and clothes.

"Wally! Hello, what brings you here today?" (Y/n) asks as Wally walks over until he's next to you.

"Oh nothing much, just trying to look for inspiration for my paintings. And I thought nature would be the perfect theme."

"Sounds great Wally."

"It does, but I don't know what to paint though."

"What?" (Y/n) looked up from her journal again.

Wally continues "Should I paint flowers? The trees? A rock? Or should I try painting all of them? What do you think neighbor?"

"Hm." (Y/n) pondered for a moment "Maybe you should do all of them in once scenery, it would be nice to see the forest painted."

"Great! Thanks for the suggestion. I'll try painting the scenery before me."

Wally then began, sketching , all while (Y/n) focuses on her writing.

It's always been like this with Wally and (Y/n). With both being artists of different mediums, silence is a given, as focus and patience is needed to complete the project at hand the project at hand. And sometimes basking in a fellow artist's presence is enough. The sound of pen and pencil scribbling tangled with the forest ambience. Wally likens the atmosphere to the first time (Y/n) came to the neighborhood.

A shy demure fellow she was, but after spending time with Julie, (Y/n) slowly but surely, came out of her she'll. Reveling her hobbies and interests, and also began writing stories for the neighborhood. The first time Wally ever got to really know her, was when he got out of his house for the a night time stroll. Why? Because he spotted (Y/n) walking around the neighborhood with nothing but a lantern to guide her way.

Curious as ever, Wally got out and started following (Y/n) was as easy as pie.

"Why so Gloomy neighbor?"

We're the first words he asked when he approached (Y/n). Who's expression is akin to that of a rainy day. Given that though, her carrying an umbrella everyday made some sort of sense, rain or shine, gloomy gray clouds always follow her everywhere she goes. If (Y/n) was a weather, Wally believes that she will be rain. But that was a long time ago, Wally can see that gloominess is still a part of her, but she's now more akin to a cloudy day. Cold, but warmth can still be found.

"Is that a new story you're writing neighbor?"

(Y/n) shook her head "No, it's just a dream journal, I've been getting a lot of strange dreams lately."

"Oh? What kind of dreams?"

(Y/n) shrugs "Just a vast world with a touch of surrealism that is. It's just that there are so much traveling there, and if I were to have those dreams again, at least I where I left off."

Wally laughs a little "Well I hope your endeavors bare fruit. Does it make you happy?"

"Of course! I love traveling new places."

"Then cherish your adventures."

"Don't worry Wally, I will."

At least Wally understood, or rather, at least respect your hobbies. Your old neighbors would've called you silly for it. Wally is just like that, understanding for those around them (Unless it involves apple pie.). Maybe that's why she was completely comfortable with telling him what she said on that night he accompanied her on her walk.

"I'm not really fond of sunny days."

Naturally, Wally wanted to know why. And wanting someone to listen to her problems, (Y/n) says why.

"The sun just irritates my skin, that's all. I was born with sensitive skin, that's why I carry an umbrella at all times."

(Y/n) sighs "I never knew what the warmth of the sun felt like."

And Wally gave you nothing but understanding and support, which was already more than enough for (Y/n).

If only (Y/n) could clarify, if only she can reveal that she finally knows what the warmth of the sun feels like. All thanks to Wally Darling. She started making friends, because of Wally introducing her to the whole neighborhood during a picnic. She started out more despite her condition, thanks to Wally taking her to the forest to gain some inspiration. She started opening up more, thanks to Wally.

They say that the break of dawn can mean a new beginning. Well, (Y/n) finally left the eternal night and into daylight. (Y/n) likens Wally to the sun that shined his bright light, by just being a good friend and neighbor.

Though, you wouldn't caught her saying all of these. Even if you pried her lips open.

All she needed is someone who understands or respect her, and Wally is willing to provide that.

"What's got you smiling (Y/n)?" Wally asks and (Y/n) answers.

"Just thought of a story in my head."

"Is it a funny one?"

"Maybe, maybe not."

"Awe come on, I can keep a secret."

(Y/n) laughs a little at Wally's attempt to get a sneak peek of the story.

"Sorry Wally, but not today."

Wally will know one day, or maybe he won't. Regardless of what happens, (Y/n) is just glad to have him as a friend.

[lazar-codes]

14/02/2024 || Day 12 (dop)

TLDR:

🔸 practised ASL fingerselling

🔸 went to ASL class

🔸 worked on button functionality for Frontend Mentor project

🔸 started planning new illustration

🔸 read current book

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Turns out that when I pick up extra shifts at work, I don't do anything productive when I get home -- including program. I feel like I haven't done any consistent programming since November, tbh. Hopefully I can find it in me to get back on it, but I'm definitely feeling the programming burnout.

Work

ASL class - I just want to say that today we learned about conjunctions after it was introduced to us 2 weeks ago, and dear lord will I need to sit down and practice it a bunch. I'm excited though!

Frontend Mentor - I decided that I want to wrap this project up ASAP, so of course I did only the minimum today. I got the button functionality all working, where they'll appear and disappear at appropriate times. The next thing that I'll do tmr will be to dynamically fill out the information required in the Summary step, which is depending on the user's selections throughout the form.

Art

Much like with programming, I've been putting off sketching, but this time only for the past 2 weeks. I swear, I was at a sketching high in January, where I filled a page almost every day. Especially at the end of January, because I had finished re-playing The Last of Us Part 2 and was a sketching machine filled with inspiration. But then it disappeared once I made a finished digital illustration of one of my fanart ideas. So, to combat the stagnation I feel, I did the unspeakable and picked up a pen and went in directly without pencil lines. Apparently I can't go 2 months without using pen, despite swearing it off since I used it for nearly 4 years straight. And what do you know? I had fun sketching today. I gotta say though, the best thing about drawing in pen is that the sketches really pop out of the page because they're so bold.

Also, I spent last night looking for some graphic novels I might be interested in, but a lot of ones aimed at adults have art styles and don't really vibe with me, so I started looking at kids' graphic novels and found one whose style I fell in love with! I know nothing about the plot, but I'm really hoping that the art itself can inspire me! Plus, it's a nice little Valentine's Day present to myself.

[drawloverlala]

August Status Update

Hiya! so it's past midnight and I'll be going to sleep now but I managed to finish organizing most of the commission orders I got today (I need to include one comic page commission that I made an exception for also 😅 but of that tomorrow, sorry!)

I gave everyone who commissioned me an icon and a number that corresponds to their order, if anyone forgets which one was it just let me know!

and here's where you'll be able to take a look at the progress on each order!

it's a board on Milanote that I made for this, I initially had used one like this but for myself, and has been pretty useful so I figured I could do one like this for my clients!

I didn't put anyone's names because to respect privacy, but I hope the icons are good enough!

the top places are the requests with less characters and in order of when I got these requests in the day, in the illustrations ones the last 2 have backgrounds also.

Other than that, I'm hoping to start sketching various of these starting Monday! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

🍃Pending orders:

pending commissions I will be still working on them! I am currently awaiting for responses and references.

☕Ko-fi Shop Updates:

I am thinking on closing the shop for a while until I finish with the new items I want to sell there, but I'll think about it for a bit longer

So I either do that or I just straight up put what I already finished XD, but I'll see about that lol.

And yeah hope I'm able to work on these as swiftly as possible ^-^ the next commission date is on October 5th, it will be the last time I open them in the year as on December I want to focus on my shop and also take a break from commissions lol

I am considering taking just sketch pages on October lol

but well, until then! hope you have a nice August! and thank you again everyone for commissioning me! I'll do my best! 🌱