#so like her eyebrows and eyes cover her hair but the outlines still overlap which in any other drawing of mine would be something id fix

[gibbearish]

i try so hard not to be That Artist™ but. to this day ive never understood how that one rose drawing of mine has never gotten much attention. every time i see it im like. goddamn youre telling me /i/ made this??? well dang if no one else wants to eat it im happy to do it myself

[maximumjinx]

Ladybug’s Finale Chapter 4

1, 2 3

“What are you doing for lunch?”

Marinette only stared at her blonde desk mate. She must have heard him wrong.

“Eating?” Was the only response she could think of. Fantastic.

Adrien giggled, which was off-putting since Marinette was pretty sure she’s never seen either Adrien or Chat giggle. Adrien usually politely smiles. Chat chuckles. This was new.

“I meant-” He smiled so easily, “can we eat together?”

Marinette wanted to say yes, but she had already promised Fu she would go in for another training session.

However, she was pretty far ahead if her suit and weapons had anything to say about it.

“If you’re free, don’t you want to eat with Nino?”

“Oh, I’m absolutely not free.” Adrien grinned even wider. Marinette was afraid Fu may have broke him. “And he’s not my biggest fan right now.”

“Wait-” she raised an eyebrow, “you’re not free?”

“I have a piano lesson. But I’m tired and feel like breaking my diet with sugar.”

Marinette stifled a laugh.

“Sure, I can help with that.”

“Perfect.”

When lunch rolled around, Marinette was sure they weren’t going to slip past the rest of the class unnoticed.

“Sunshine, I love you boy but you definitely owe me an apology.” Alya stood tall with Lila and Nino behind her, blocking the door. Adrien only groaned. Marinette stood on edge.

“Alya I will, but not until my friend gets an apology first.” Adrien narrowed his eyes and slung an arm around Marinette’s shoulders. She was stiff as a board.

Nino only looked confused, “Are we not all friends?”

Adrien gave him a sad smile and turned to Marinette. Oh, she was supposed to answer this one.

“We are,” she said gently, “but if I’m honest you guys haven’t been very good ones lately.”

Marinette could feel venomous words begins to pile in her mouth. Everything she wanted to say and scream to her classmates and Alya. She clenched her fist and felt her chest grow cold.

“What are you talking about?” Alya defended. “You’re my b-best friend.” She said ‘best’ weakly, glancing at Lila who remained silent. Marinette knew she wasn’t Alya’s best friend, they haven’t been that for a while.

“Marinette, why are trying to tell Adrien that we’re bad friends?” Lila’s lower lip trembled, a perfected move that sent the class into a jumble of overlapping whispers.

“Dude, you turned my bro against me?” Nino looked like he was a puppy that had just been kicked.

“That’s not cool!”

“Aren’t you always preaching unity?”

“Marinette, you’re supposed to accept everyone!”

Marinette barked out a sharp laugh. The class fell into silence. She glanced around the room at people she hadn’t spoken to in months. Turned against an everyday Ladybug in moments with just one line from Rossi.

“I do accept everyone. Except those that have hurt me and my friends.” She looked directly at Lila, who still wore glistening tears. “And right now the only person to have stood up for me, defended me, hell- even spoken to me- is Adrien.”

Alya looked like she wanted to refute that, but months of radio silence between the two girls reminded her that Marinette had a point.

Adrien took his arm off Marinette’s shoulder and instead offered her his elbow.

“Not to end this incredibly uncomfortable conversation short,” he glanced at the class, “but I’m starving.”

She tentatively put her arm around his and the two walked out. Alya moved aside, lips tightly pressed together. Lila sent Marinette a seething glare.

Marinette however, felt a bit better. She felt a small amount of weight relieved from the pit of her stomach. She still has more to say, but Marinette was beginning to feel less numb.

It was still a lot. It felt as if her heart were buzzing awake with pins and needles, after keeping her emotions in check all this time. She glanced at Adrien as they walked to her house.

She wasn’t beginning to get feelings again, right?

—

No, Marinette decided she was not.

Well, at least a little less after watching the boy hungarily and messily scarf down 12 (yes, 12) filled croissants.

“You’re gonna regret that later.”

Adrien only shrugged.

“I’ll die with dignity.” He said, chocolate and jam covering half his face.

Marinette passed him a few napkins, chuckling as he flushed pink and quickly scrubbed his face.

“In my defense, salad isn’t quite as messy.”

“What about dressing?”

Adrien sat straight, placing his ring and middle finger on the bridge of his nose. Marinette could almost see the outline of glasses.

“Too much sugar and oil,” he spoke in a perfect impression of Nathalie, “you’re father expects clear skin for shoots.”

Marinette snorted, “So you had rabbit food? That explains a lot.”

“Like what?”

“Like why you looked miserable 99% of the time.”

“Touché.”

The two sat in her living room, not quite going into her bedroom not for fear of finding embarrassing, but it would be hard to explain why she had a detailed chart of akumas and Gabriel Agreste in her room.

“So-“ she knew why, but she wanted to ask, “Why grow a spine today?”

“Ouch,” Adrien smirked, “that was harsh.”

“Yeah, well.”

Adrien nodded. It was fair. Why today? After his talk with Ladybug, giving up Plagg, and training with Master Fu he decided why stop there. If he was going to change into someone worthy of a miraculous he had to start with the person that got Fu’s attention.

He could hardly tell Marinette though.

“I can’t think of an answer that would satisfy you.” He warned.

“Then how about the truth?” She turned her body on the couch and waited.

Adrien sighed, leaning back to let the food inside him settle. He turned his head to face her, his hair beginning to curl around his cheeks and a top his head.

Marinette blinked. He looked exactly like Chat like this.

“Guilt, for being a bad friend when I knew what Lila was doing bothered you.” He dropped his eyes from Marinette’s gaze. “Not bothering- it hurt you. I’m also trying to change myself. I learned something recently that really put my world on its head. It changed my perspective on who I was and who I want to be. I want to be better than ‘Adrien Agreste’.”

“But that’s you, that’s who you are.”

He shook his head.

“I dislike half the things I do. I don’t eat, don’t dress comfortably or how I like, and I don’t speak out. I didn’t against my father and I guess against what was happening to you. I can never say sorry enough.”

“Well, I didn’t reach out either.” Marinette gave a weak laugh. Adrien watched Marinette fiddle with her food, and sat up.

“You can talk to me. Tell me about these last few months. If you want to, that is.”

Marinette shrugged.

“I got a lot done, like how I used to before Alya and you came to our school.”

“I already knew you can be productive.” He nudged her gently.

“I guess it was a little lonely.” She didn’t want pity. So she didn’t look at him. “I missed class events. They didn’t invite me because my invite got lost or was sent to the wrong number. Then they didn’t invite me because they forgot. Then, they just...didn’t.”

She steeled herself, and kept going.

“They didn’t talk to me. They didn’t come to things they promised beforehand, or help me on projects, or include me in anything! Every single thing I’ve done for them, because I wanted to, because they were my friends it all disappeared like none of it mattered.” She had to calm down. She felt her body begin to warm up, and dissolve the numb she had put around herself. “I...didn’t matter.”

She didn’t know if Adrien responded, she was too focused on stopping the negative thoughts. She had to be numb, Hawkmoth can’t akumatize numb.

Adrien opened his mouth, but before anything came out the two heard a large crash followed by screams on the street.

They whipped around to face one another, eyes wide.

“Akuma.” They both breathed out.

“I have to go!” Adrien jumped up, immediately wincing. He was beginning to regret his sugar spree.

He felt a lacking on his finger. He had to get to Fu as soon as possible.

“Yup, go ahead, be safe!” Marinette rushed, all while almost pushing him out the door. Once the lock clicked she let out a breath and a small smile. “See you soon Kitty.”

--

“I know I totally made this decision, but I’m so damn tired and running without a suit on through impending doom after busting my ass this morning is a terrible consequence.” Adrien wheezed, finally arriving at Master Fu. Plagg phased through the door with the ring immediately, before Adrien could raise an arm to knock. 

“Took you long enough kid.” 

Adrien couldn’t take a breath to glare at his kwami, only muttered a Claws Out. 

Chat Noir raced to where the screams sounded the loudest, spotting his partner’s dark red hood in the midst of the chaos. 

“You look winded.” She smirked when he landed.

“No way,” he gasped, “I just like taking deep breaths of air. All at once.”

She snorted, then pointed to where a dark purple figure was in the center. The Akuma was levitating in the air, black streaks coming from their eyes and down their face and neck. The Akuma’s power wasn’t completely known yet, it seemed to be hitting people with a beam, but there was no physical reaction from the victims. 

“You think it’s Rossi again?” Chat asked, unable to make out who the Akuma was, however it did look like it had a feminine shape.

“Then the city would be on fire.” Ladybug looked at those running away. It seemed that everyone hit was collapsing, some hunched over and others openly sobbing. “What is she doing to them?”

“Let’s dodge her beams and kick her butt?” 

“Sounds like any other fight.” Ladybug pursed her lips. This akuma didn’t feel right. 

“Ladybug and Chat Noir!” The akuma screamed, desperately into the air. “To make this pain stop, I need your miraculous!” 

Chat wanted to run in, claws blazing, but Ladybug looked hesitant. She wrapped her arm around his waist and swung them to a rooftop on the side, out of reach but within ear shot. 

“What are you doing to these people?” Ladybug shouted, the victims beginning to wail.

The akuma only cried, without the petty malice of other Akumas. “They’re experiencing their worst guilt ten times over. All their regrets, their mistakes are flooding them once again.” 

Chat’s eyes widened. “Oh geez.” 

“Okay we really have to avoid that.” Ladybug muttered. She lunged, searching for something to break. The Akumas form was skintight. She scoffed, Hawkmoth needed to upgrade his designs. 

“Oh god, he’s a freaking designer. What the hell, Agreste.”

“Meowch Bug, what did I do?” Chat called, whipping his baton towards the akuma. Fu taught him earlier, the cat miraculous is supposed to handle the brunt of the work. Distractions were fine, but his job was to hold them down. The baton hit the akuma in the gut, wrenching her out of the sky and slamming her into the pavement. 

Ladybug could now see her closely. Her suit looked like melted plastic, blues and purples bleeding into one another and held together with what looked like black string tied around her waist over and over. 

“Where’s the akuma?”Chat placed a glove on the string, and suddenly screamed in agony. 

“Chat?” Ladybug suddenly panicked, seeing her partner put a bloody hand away. The material of the Akuma’s suit immediately spiked into sharp, glass-like shards upon contact. It has been the first thing to have pierced through the magic fabric of their suits.

“What the fuck?” Chat immediately jumped back, the akuma breaking out into a broken laugh. 

“You can’t stop me. I’m Remorse incarnate.” She hiccuped, flying into the air once again. “My emotions are my weapon. My guilt is your downfall.”

Ladybug pulled Chat out, ducking behind a building as he tended to his hand. 

“How’s your hand?” She could see it begin to heal, the leather of his suit building over the torn skin. 

“It’s fine, I’m worried about Plagg though.” He furrowed his brows.

“What is it?”

“I got a good look at her.” He turned to Ladybug, clearly upset. “It’s Alya Cesaire.” 

--TAGLIST--

@shannaro-sakura @uninspired-writer @magic-miraculous @mividaexo @juhavs @salsyy301 @liamnl @reblog-trasher@autumnhunter1 @grimmhallow31 @f0xylegs @amelyhot @marichat00@peachedpocky @sturchling @elmokingkong @corabeth11 @akana-sama@ephemeral-firefly @dani-ari @whatsupwithjinx @bobothyross @introverted-book-enthusiast @saltystickofbutter @kristycocopop @s-tabcra-b @yes-friends-it-is-i @razzledazzle247 @rosesareskyblue @themamaravenclaw @sili-a @mysweetchaton @silvergold-swirl @internet-or-sleep @zoeytheweeb @friedchickening @crayon-lord-kyksei @subtlyundead @gwennex

[let-me-write-shit]

Somebody To You: 2

A/N: Another long one!! 

Warning: tiny itty bit of smut (mostly implied)

Word Count: 6,051

Click Here For Previous Chapter & Other Completed Stories

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

CHAPTER TWO

The first week in LA was a weird adjustment for Zoey. She wasn’t expecting to be missing home so quickly and she often found herself feeling guilty for being here without her best friend - not that she didn’t want to be with Nancy and Aurora. Honestly, she hit the jackpot when it came to her roommates. Nancy was the funniest person she had ever met which came in handy whenever Zoey found herself feeling down. All she had to do was be in the presence of Nancy and a weight was lifted by the distraction Nancy gave.

Aurora, on the other hand, was the yin to Nancy’s yang. She was the calm to the chaos. Still, Aurora found herself fairly busy with photoshoots and meetings. But she’d always make time at the end of the day to have a little girl’s chat before Zoey left for work.

Zoey found she didn’t really have many conversations with her roommates about her home life. It just never came up. And it never felt like the right time to bring up Jess. She didn’t want to scare them away by crying or unloading all this burden on them. Their friendship was still so new. However, she did find out the situation between Harry and Aurora after some prying.

“It’s just flirting,” Rory blushed.

To which Nancy scoffed, “You text practically every day and eye fuck each other whenever you’re in the same room.”

The girls laughed and Aurora shifted in her seat, eyes sparkling, “He’s so hot.”

“Why aren’t you dating, then?” Zoey asked.

Aurora took a sip from her wine glass, “I don’t know. We haven’t really talked about it. I don’t know if he even wants it, and to be honest, I don’t know when we’d even find the time. I mean it’s Harry Styles. He’s gorgeous. You’d be stupid not to want to date him. But...we’ve been talking for weeks and I feel like there hasn’t been any progress.”

“So just tell him you want to fuck and get it over with,” Nancy shrugged, mouth full of mac and cheese, causing Aurora to throw a pillow at her.

Zoey’s new job at the bar has been going really well. She had been training with a guy named Andy. Andy was Zoey’s saving grace. He had a beautiful espresso complexion, short dark hair, and stood a lean six feet tall. You couldn’t deny his attractiveness or his likeability. And he was so easy to open up to. Andy was the one thing she needed to help her come out of her shell. And he wasn’t afraid to call her on it, either. He is the only person in LA, so far, that knows about Jess and the only person to see her get emotional. Zoey had confided in him one night on break about how the two had gotten into an accident in which her best friend had died and how she was trying to use this fresh start to try adapting Jess’ positive outlook and adventure in her life. Thankfully Andy didn’t make her feel uncomfortable by bringing Jess up again. Instead, as a gentle reminder, whenever he noticed Zoey starting to shy away from something, he’d always shout over at her ‘Girl, you better give me that J-energy!’, which instantly put her back in the zone.

She had also met Brett at work, a tanned and muscular Australian man who wore baseball caps over his short, tweed brown hair. He was the definition of tall, dark, and handsome. Brett was definitely a flirt, but respectful of individual boundaries and was overall a pretty nice guy who took a liking to Zoey.

“Girl, we both know he’s hot,” Andy whispered to her one night, eyeing Brett at the other end of the bar who was helping out a couple of attractive girls with their drink orders. They batted their eyelashes at him as he laid on the charm, “If he was gay I’d snatch him right up. You should see what he has to offer. We’re going to your little welcoming party tonight. Invite him to come after his shift….and then invite him to cum,” he wiggled his eyebrows.

Zoey gasped, smacking him with a towel before helping the two guys who just sat down at the bar. She poured their beers and placed it on napkins while having a bit of small talk before looking back and forth between Andy and Brett.

Andy grinned, crossing his arms, “I see that J-energy sparking in your eyes. Go on, girl.”

He was right. Zoey hasn’t been with anyone since Michael. She came out here to live and let go. That’s what Jess would want for her: to have fun. Zoey tightened her ponytail and headed over towards Brett who had just finished wiping down a section. He smirked when he saw Zoey.

“I was wondering when you were going to give me the time of day today,” he joked in his thick Australian accent. That accent alone was the reason women gave him such big tips.

Zoey wrinkled her nose, forcing herself not to back down, “When does your shift end tonight?”

“Midnight,” his eyebrows furrowed in amusement, a tilted grin forming on his perfectly tanned face, “Why?”

We should still be going strong by then, she thought, and said, “Some friends are throwing me a welcoming party at Secrets tonight if you wanted to stop by. They rented out a private room for karaoke. Andy will be there.” The two looked over at Andy who wiggled his fingers in a wave and blew them a kiss.

Andy chuckled and nodded, “Well, if Andy will be there, so will I,” he joked, turning back to face Zoey with a smirk, “Are you going to save me a dance?”

“Buy me a drink and we’ll see,” she winked, walking back over to Andy who’s jaw dropped, impressed.

“Fuck it up, sis,” he snapped, giving her a proud hug.

Normally Andy and Zoey would work late shifts, overlapping with the second half of Brett’s shift, but because it was her first week there, they wanted her training from noon to 9 PM. When their shift ended, Zoey drove Andy to his house for a quick change of clothes before heading to her place to get ready. Nancy and Aurora were still there, waiting for her. They were introduced to Andy and pretty quickly got along with him as Andy took charge helping them figure out what to wear.

Aurora needed the least amount of help -go figure- wearing a black corset-like lacy bodysuit with flared black ankle length pants and black strappy heels, her brown hair pin straight. Nancy dressed in an oversized fashion nova ‘tired of the bullshit’ t-shirt and thigh-high black heels. Andy advised her to pair it with a leather jacket and to keep her tight curls down. As for Zoey, she got rid of most of her clothes before she moved, not wanting to pack too much clothes in her car and take up room. And she didn’t have time to go shopping yet.

“Girl, what the hell do you expect me to do with this?” Andy scoffed, dangling an old ratty t-shirt he found hanging in her closet. It used to be her ex-boyfriend’s until she took it over because it was comfortable to sleep in. He tossed it to the side and disappeared back into the closet.

“Oh, okay. Okay. I can work with this,” she heard him mumbling to himself before reappearing in front of her, laying articles of clothing on her bed. “There. Get dressed,” he urged, leaving the room.

Zoey slipped into the clothes Andy had picked out for her and stared at herself in the mirror. Although she had never put these particular items together, it reminded her of something she would have worn on nights out with Jess. A white, drawstring ruched crop top with a pair of black elastic waist and ankle cargo pants that had a silver zipper on the thigh paired with black strappy heels. She had been so busy over the past year from shutting people out and working three jobs. The last time she went to a bar for fun and not work was the night of the accident. It felt unnatural to be doing this again.

“Hurry up, Zoey! We’re gonna pre-game!” Nancy called.

Zoey quickly powdered her face to get the shine away and re-slicked back her ponytail before joining the girls and Andy in the kitchen, earning whistles from the three. Aurora slid her a shot glass and a chaser and they all clinked their glasses together, cheering and downing them. The alcohol burned, running down her throat and the bitter taste brought her back to the night of the accident.

“Brett is gonna drool when he sees you,” Andy smirked, eyeing Zoey up and down, earning inquisitive looks from the girls.

“Brett?” Nancy’s eyebrow raised, “Who’s Brett?”

Zoey bit her lip, slightly embarrassed, “A guy we work with. He’s coming tonight.”

The four of them carried on the conversation in the uber on the way to Secrets. There was a line out front, but after a word with the doorman, they were let through and made their way to the back towards the private room that was separated by walls of thick darkly tinted windows, the outline of at least a dozen people already there, including Harry who immediately made his way over, greeting everyone while a few people sang karaoke loudly.

“Thanks so much for doing this!” Zoey said, shyly, after introducing him to Andy.

“No problem,” Harry grinned, “Hope you have fun tonight.”

“Oh, she will,” Andy smirked, pulling Zoey into a side squeeze.

Harry watched as Nancy whisked Zoey and Andy away to introduce them to everyone, leaving him with Aurora.

“Drink?” he offered, still slightly nervous around her.

“Yes, I’d love one,” Aurora replied sweetly in French making Harry’s chest flutter.

More people showed up as the night continued on and with each passing drink became increasingly sloppy. Harry had gotten used to people-watching over the years and quite liked to imagine what was going on in other’s lives. He noticed a few things as he sang along to the couple singing karaoke while he was also in a conversation with a friend. Most people were dancing along with the music. Nancy seemed to be flirting with Cade, a guy covered in tattoos that she had some kind of ‘friends with benefits’ thing with. Aurora had finished a drink and excused herself from a group of girls before slipping out of the room, most likely to wait in line for the bathroom. He turned his attention to Zoey and Andy who now had the mics for karaoke and were singing ‘I Love Rock and Roll’ by Joan Jett and The Blackhearts.

He grinned in amusement as the two of them sang with drunk passion, dancing and grinding with each other. It was nice to see the difference in Zoey in the matter of two hours. She seemed to have loosened up and he assumed Andy was the reasoning for it. They seemed like great friends. 

People drunkenly sang along with them and he even noticed a group of three guys staring at Zoey and Andy, smiling, clearly amused by them. Harry would bet money that at least one of them would try and talk to her when the song was over. But to Harry’s surprise, they weren’t even given the chance. He saw her facial expression change to something more serious as she handed the microphone to the person next up and whispered in Andy’s ear before walking out of the private room. At first he thought she’d probably be joining Aurora in the long line to the bathroom, but as he looked through the wall of windows he noticed her veer right at the alley way exit and disappear through the doors. Harry hesitated, looking around to see if anyone else had noticed her leave. He turned to Andy to see if his body language would give a clue as to what that was about, but Andy was now in a conversation with another guy, smiling and seemingly flirting.

At first he decided to let it go. Maybe she smokes, though she doesn’t seem the type. Maybe she just needed to get some air. But after fifteen minutes passed and Aurora returned before her, he started to worry.

“Hey. I saw Zoey step outside a while ago and she’s not back yet, so I just wanted to check on her real quick, okay?” he said in Rory’s ear while Nancy loudly sang ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ with a group of friends.

Aurora’s eyebrows crinkled in concern over the news of her roommate, nodding understandingly, “Let me know if you need me.”

Harry agreed and stood up, heading out of the private room and deciding at the last minute to  grab a couple of waters just in case before slipping through the crowd and out of the alley door,

It was significantly darker in the alleyway as opposed to out front. And at first the only people Harry saw were a couple making out by the dumpster and a few guys smoking by the door. His heart raced, starting to feel worried when he finally noticed the back of Zoey’s ponytail as she leaned up against the brick wall, a bit past the guys smoking.

“Zoey?” he quietly spoke as he neared her, causing her to jump.

When she turned to face him Harry noticed a fresh tear trail down her cheek that she quickly wiped away, her eyes glassy and bloodshot, and the tip of her nose red, “Jesus! You scared me!” she breathed, clutching onto her chest.

“Sorry,” he sputtered, “Are you okay?”

Zoey sniffled, taking a deep breath to compose herself, “Yeah, I’m fine,” she shoved her phone in her pocket.

“I brought you some water,” he held up one of the glasses for her, looking at her suspiciously.

“Oh, thanks,” she said, surprised, taking the glass and having two big gups.

Harry watched her, contemplating his next words. Her demeanor was so clearly forced and he didn’t feel right just leaving it be and ignoring his intuition that something was wrong. He bit his lip before cautiously speaking, “I don’t mean to be forward or intrusive, but are you sure everything is okay? Because I noticed last week you seemed a bit upset. And then here…” he trailed off before saying, “You can talk to me. I’m a good listener.”

Her bloodshot eyes searched his face making his expression soften even more. She took a deep breath, feeling caught and embarrassed, “I’m sorry. I’m not normally an emotional person. It’s just been a really hard year,” she admitted, taking another sip of water. 

“How so?” he inquired, relaxing into the brick wall beside her.

Zoey paused for a moment before speaking, “Last June my best friend and I went to celebrate on her birthday,” she took another breath and continued, “And on the way home a drunk driver hit us. She didn’t make it.” Her gaze stayed down, afraid to look at him, and Harry felt a pang in her chest as she continued, “Moving to LA was always a dream of ours. Her moreso. She wanted to be an actress. And she could have made it, too. She was beautiful and so talented.”

Harry could hear the sincerity in her voice, and although his heart broke for her, he admired the way she spoke of her friend. “I’m so sorry, Zoey. What was her name?”

“Jess,” she looked up at him, feeling a sense of comfort in Harry’s eyes.

“Jess,” Harry repeated, “Well I’m sure you were lucky to have each other. I can understand how you must be feeling right now. When my stepdad died we were a wreck. Emotions circled through angry to sad to okay and back to angry again.”

Zoey nodded, relating to his words, “She should have been here doing karaoke with me. ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ was our go-to,” Zoey let out an upset laugh in remembrance, “We always took karaoke too far. She was the fun one between us.”

Her giggle made Harry soften a bit more and he said, “I’m sure she’d be proud of all that you’ve done. You seem like you’ve really got it together. And I don’t know, you seem pretty fun to me. I saw you in there. You were having a blast.”

Zoey smiled, “Yeah, I was.”

Her smile was infectious and he stood up straight, nudging her a little, “Well, if you’re up to it, maybe we can sing that song together. I can’t promise I’ll sing as well as Jess, but…”

She laughed, “It’s alright. I’ll try not to outshine you,” she joked, “Thanks for the talk.”

“Of course,” he nodded, feeling a sense of protectiveness building up in him. “I feel like I should hug you. Can I?”

She laughed, straightening up and holding out her arms to which he scooped her into a warm, friendly hug, rubbing her back. He felt her ease into the hug and knew in that moment that he had helped her and his chest felt warm, proud.

They pulled apart and began making their way back towards the door when she stopped in her tracks, turning to face him, “One more thing,” she said, seeming concerned, “Do you mind not mentioning this to anyone? I haven’t told Nancy or Rory about Jess yet and I don’t really want to start this conversation over again. I know it sounds stupid, but I’m just struggling internally about having girl friends again because I don’t want it to seem like I’m trying to replace Jess.”

Harry agreed, “Of course. Promise. I understand. Take your time opening up. I don’t know who you have in your life that you talk to about it, but maybe we can exchange numbers in case you want to talk about her again? Or need some reassurance from someone who’s been there?”

“I don’t really have anyone I talk to about it. That’d be nice.”

They exchanged phone numbers and chugged the rest of their waters before making their way back inside, Zoey following him. He didn’t know what to expect from their conversation, but it wasn’t that. He thought back to all of the people he lost over the years, realizing that he always had a support system that he could turn to that was within driving distance if he needed. Zoey doesn’t have that. She moved across the country by herself and for whatever reason doesn’t feel comfortable talking to Nancy or Aurora about it. He understood. They lived together in a confined space and they were comfortable. She just didn’t want to disturb that discomfort. And as crazy and hectic as his life was with his tour at the moment, he didn’t mind sparing some time to lend an ear if and when she needed it.

He caught eyes with Aurora, who was in the middle of a conversation with Nancy and a few friends, and nodded, trying to subliminally tell her everything was fine. He reached the karaoke machine and politely asked the people who were next in line if they wouldn’t mind if he and Zoey went next, which they allowed.

After choosing their song, Harry jumped up on the small platform and offered Zoey a hand, pulling her up with him and handing her a mic. She grinned at him causing him to smile back. Lucky for her, she didn’t wear too much makeup to cause mascara streaks down her cheek. You could hardly tell she cried if it weren’t for the slightly red eyes. But that could easily be chalked up to tiredness.

The music to ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ started up and the two started bobbing to the beat, Zoey not looking away from him. He didn’t break eye contact, wanting to make sure she was comfortable. But with each lyric they sang he noticed her relax and let loose even more. By the middle of the first chorus she seemed totally in her own world, spinning and jumping to the song as everyone in the room sang and danced along. Harry mirrored her, smiling widely as they got more into it, singing the lyrics to each other dramatically. He spun her around and he laughed as she did the same to him. Seeing her excitement radiate throughout the room made him feel even more comfortable. He was having a blast. This party was an excellent idea on his part. She clearly needed it, and so did he. He could tell that Zoey and him would get along quite well.

Just as they began approaching the last chorus, Zoey’s attention seemed to divert past him and she smiled, recognition stretching across her face. She let go of his hand and waved someone over. Harry turned to see a toned, tan man wearing a fitted plain white tee with the sleeved cuffed, blue jeans, and a black baseball cap hop up onto the platform. Zoey reached her hand out to the man and he took hold as she smiled even wider, still singing along to the song as the man sang and danced with her. 

The way they danced and interacted made it obvious that they knew each other and that there might be something going on between the two. Luckily, before Harry felt like a third wheel, Aurora jumped up on the platform with them, a bit tipsy still, but laughing along to the lyrics as Harry danced with her, Aurora’s long brown hair swaying behind her. The girls went between dancing with the boys to dancing with each other until the song ended.

Before he even noticed, Zoey had set the mic down and was whisked away by the Theo James look alike . Aurora tugged at his arm, snapping his attention back to her, and he smiled, setting the mic down and following her off to the side while the next couple began singing ‘Sweet Caroline’. The room went crazy singing along, but Harry got distracted stealing glances at the mystery guy with Zoey. His protectiveness grew. It was odd because they still barely knew each other. It’s not like he had feelings for her in the same way that he liked Aurora. She wasn’t exactly his type. Not that he gathered, anyway. Still, he felt the need to keep an occasional eye on her and make sure she was okay while simultaneously giving his attention to Aurora. They hadn’t spent too much time together tonight which was the whole point of him wanting to throw the party to begin with.

A few more rinks in him and he was feeling the buzz, singing along to whatever was playing and dancing with Rory who seemed to be sobering up. The two of them were more touchy feely this evening than they had ever been and he had a sneaking suspicion of where the night was headed as his drunken thoughts fantasized about what she looked like under those clothes.

By this point, the room had thinned out by almost half. Andy had left with a guy he met earlier, Zoey was still dancing, or borderline grinding, with the mystery guy, and Nancy was making out with Cade, who seemed to be more interested in her than she was of him. Poor guy. A half dozen others gathered around the karaoke machine.

Nancy would occasionally come up for air and take glances towards Zoey and the guy, commenting to Harry and Rory on his attractiveness and wanting to meet him. Nancy wondered aloud if he was the “coworker Andy and Zoey mentioned to them earlier”, though they couldn’t remember his name. They even began to inquire amongst each other if they were flirting or if their body language read ‘just friends’, which was quickly shot down when they shared a kiss. Harry had to admit, the man was annoyingly attractive-almost to the point of intimidation.

It’s almost like she knew they were talking about them, because an instant later Zoey turned her head and caught eyes with Harry. Quickly, he forced his gaze towards Aurora, but she had already caught him staring and the humility set in.

“Hey guys!” He heard Zoey’s soft voice sounded behind him.

Nancy managed to pry herself from Cade and they all turned to see Zoey standing awkwardly beside the guy. Harry didn’t have to look to know that Nancy was smirking at them through her eyelashes.

“Oh, hello,” Nancy sang, eyeing the guy, “Who do we have here?”

Zoey let out an amused laugh and introduced, “This is Brett. We work together at the bar.”

“Nice to meet you,” Brett’s deep voice rang, thick with an Australian accent that Harry had not expected and he saw both Aurora fight and fail to avoid swooning.

“I’m Nancy,” she stood to shake his outstretched hand, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Rory,” Aurora smiled when he turned to face her and shook his hand as he smiled politely at her, his perfect teeth shining before he turned to Harry.

“Hey, mate. I’m Harry. Nice to meet you,” he grabbed Brett’s hand firmly, but was met with a tighter grip from Brett, the tips of Harry’s fingers going white before he broke free. Harry tensed his face, trying not to roll his eyes. Why did men always find the need to assert their dominance by giving hulk-strength handshakes? What did it really accomplish?

Nancy rounded on him with a million questions like ‘Where exactly are you from?’ and ‘What made you move here?’ You’d think he was in an interrogation or on a job interview if it weren’t for all of the giggles from Nancy and Aurora. Zoey must have been used to his charm by now as she just watched the interaction in amusement. They were really laying it on thick and Brett was eating it up. It’s like they completely forgot they were standing right next to a celebrity. Of course that wasn’t true, it was just the alcohol talking, and Harry felt guilty for even feeling an ounce of jealousy about the attention Brett got. He’s just fresh meat; a new face.

Zoey shuffled where she stood and looked like she was having an internal argument when she finally spoke up, looking at both Nancy and Aurora, “Hey, uhm, Brett and I were thinking about heading...back to our place...if that’s alright?”

The girls stared at her, processing the words before their mouths formed an ‘o’. Harry’s eyes widened, unsure if he should have been listening to this conversation. The spark of protectiveness he felt earlier began to crackle up his spine again and he found himself staring intently at Zoey’s face to make sure there wasn’t any hint of intoxication that would put her in a position to be taken advantage of. He must not have hid his expression well because Zoey noticed his glare and she blushed, avoiding his eyes. Understandably, too, because she seemed entirely sober.

“Girl, please. You don’t need our permission to get laid,” Nancy joked, making Zoey and Brett laugh.

“Were you coming back, too?” Zoey asked the group.

“Was that...an invite?” Nancy coughed.

“It could be,” Brett winked.

He was joking, but it also sounded like he could have been serious. Zoey slapped his chest with a little chuckle and said, “No, just wondering if we should all uber back together.”

“Yeah, I could go,” Nancy said, before turning back to Cade who had been silently waiting for her to make out with him again, “You coming over, too?”

His eyes lit up and he shook his head yes. They all began walking towards the front. He felt Aurora’s expectant eyes on him, waiting for him to say something. Her buzz had worn off by now, but unfortunately his was still lingering, causing delayed reaction time. The thought of going to her place, knowing there were two other couples having sex only feet away, wasn’t the kind of situation he wanted to be in the first time he potentially got intimate with Aurora. Thank god he had his own place in LA.

“Do you want to come back to mine?” he whispered in her ear as they stepped outside, the warm summer night air hitting their faces.

She smiled, almost relieved, “Yeah.”

The group chatted on the sidewalk while they waited for their ubers. Nancy had a way of making banter seem normal and comfortable, even if she had just met you. And that’s exactly what was happening between her and Brett. They took friendly shots at each other like they had been friends forever, while Brett had an arm slung over Zoey’s shoulders, holding her tightly into his side, along with Cade who had an arm around Nancy’s waist. Harry glanced down at Aurora who held onto her purse strap tightly, feeling bad that he couldn’t embrace her like their friends were. He just couldn’t risk being photographed like that. Not this early into their ‘relationship’, at least. I mean, he didn’t even entirely know where they were headed yet.

Funnily enough, both ubers arrived at the same time. Nancy, Cade, Brett, and Zoey began climbing into their iber and Harry had opened the door to his for Aurora. He was rounding to the other side when he heard heels clicking rapidly on the pavement behind him.

“Harry!”

He turned to see Zoey jogging up to him, a calm urgency in her eyes. He stared at her, unsure of what to say and she hesitated, a flicker of embarrassment flashed across her face before she shook her head and stood up taller, “Thank you. For tonight.” She bit her bottom lip in uncertainty, waiting for some kind of response and he couldn’t help but smile. That was all the response she needed for her to give him a quick, tight squeeze, her ponytail swaying as she ran back to her uber before he could say anything. He watched as the door closed behind her and the car drove off before he finally got in beside Aurora.

“What was that about?” she asked.

If there was any jealousy or suspicion on her part, she hid it quite well. Though he was pretty sure she didn’t have those kinds of thoughts, especially about him and Zoey. And rightfully so. “Nothing. She was just thanking me for singing with her earlier because she was afraid to do it alone,” he lied, remembering the promise he made Zoey not to speak to anyone about their conversation.

Aurora nodded and nuzzled a little closer to him, causing his heart to flutter nervously. This was the first time they’d been alone together, in person, since meeting. Initial intimacy never got any easier for him, no matter who it was with or what situation he was in. He always got nervous and jittery.

Nancy and Cade decided to go on a late night stroll around their block instead of heading right upstairs with Zoey and Brett. She made it seem casual, but Zoey knew that it was her way of giving them space to avoid any awkwardness when they split ways to go have sex. And Zoey had to admit, she appreciated the gesture.

The elevator ride hummed in an uncomfortable silence as Zoey wrestled with her thoughts, though Brett didn’t seem to notice. He was too busy watching the floor levels light up during their ascent and mindlessly played with Zoey’s fingertips. She could feel her nerves physically weighing her feet down and was sure that if she attempted to move she would topple over. This would be the first time she will have sex since her and Michael broke up nearly four months ago. And she didn’t exactly have a long list of sexual partners. There was nothing wrong with that, but Zoey had secretly always wished that she could have had more experience like Jess had. ‘It’s fun not having strings attached. If the sex isn’t good, you don’t have to see them again’ her best friend always said. But the problem here is that Zoey does have to see Brett again. They work together.

She wasn’t trying to make excuses. It’s not like she didn’t want to have sex with Brett. Who wouldn’t? He’s by far the hottest guy that’s shown any kind of interest in her..and that accent?! She just worried that she would be a little rusty.

Brett must have noticed her hestiance, because as Zoey punched in the code to unlock their condo door and slowly pushed it open, Brett lightly grabbed her forearm, causing her to spin and face him.

“Zoey, we don’t have to do this, you know,” he accent made Zoey’s heart race and his sincerity even more, “I can head out if you’d like.”

She stared into his face, darting from one eye to the other in brief contemplation. She could hear Jess now. ‘Have fun, but be safe’. She made up her mind and grabbed Jake’s shirt, pulling him inside and allowing the darkness of their condo to swallow them as the door closed behind them. The city lights through the wall of windows barely illuminated their figures from where they stood at the entrance.

This move excited Brett and he backed her up against the hallway wall, smashing his lips onto hers. It was forceful and messy as they struggled to find each other’s rhythm, but exciting nonetheless. She felt Brett’s hands wander from her sides and down to her hips before he bent down and picked her up effortlessly so that her legs were on either of his heps, pressing her back up against the wall for a little more support. Zoey let out a gasp of surprise and squeezed onto his rock hard biceps. No one had ever done that to her before. And she had never been more aroused.

“Bedroom?” His voice was deep and full of hunger as he attacked her neck.

“Last door on the left through the living room,” she managed before he continued on through the apartment, carrying her.

Everything about what he was doing excited her more and she could feel herself pulsating, eager for more. She nibbled on his ear and suckled the base of his jaw as he carried her through the doors of her bedroom. Thank god she had tidied up a bit before leaving because as soon as he reached the end of her bed, he tossed her onto it like a ragdoll and swiftly pulled his shirt up and over his head to reveal every acth and bend of his tanned abs before climbing in and hovering over her smashing his lips onto hers again.

Their tongues danced and they wrestled with each other as they continued trying to find their movement, hands roaming all over each other. Brett pulled Zoey into an upright position, only breaking their terribly chaotic kiss to slip her shirt off, exposing her bare chest before she fell back down, her breasts bouncing from the force as he roughly yanked at her pants, struggling to pull them off to reveal her cheeky baby blue underwear.

“Condom?” she panted before he could reach for them next. “Do you have a condom?”

Brett froze before frantically searching his jean pockets. Relief washed over his face as he pulled out a square metallic pouch and shook it in the air for her to see. She nodded and while he struggled to pull his own jeans off and slip the condom on, Zoey’s mind wandered, wondering how her other friend’s nights were going. Would the guy Andy met be a new fling or just a one night stand? Had Nancy gotten back with Cade yet? Was Aurora finally having her first time with Harry? Surely they were, why else would he invite her over this late? Was it just as awkward for them as it was for Zoey? Were they enjoying it? Did it come naturally to them? Or were they still getting in the swing of things like her and Brett? She’ll have to talk to the girls about it tomorrow.

Zoey grinned, grateful to have friends again.

KEEP READING

[isleofancients]

The green of their eyes pinches in a way that suggests furrowed brows, as they mumble something about never playing Mario Cart again. They may have understood, they may have not, but one thing specifically stands out to them-

"You shouldn't need to ask Green. Getting her 'signature' is why Q and I went to triple hell tale," they point out, still never looking away from his work, "to compare it against his. I'd be very surprised if he didn't keep a copy. Once he's awake again though, we can probably ask... though, I'd also be surprised if he doesn't start trying to poke at his screens to find out himself, the second he wakes up."

"Its a different sort of signature that I see, one more literal than any code Q could." He says, moving the molding images down until they slot into the sketch. It matches the shape and form perfectly, and as Rasse gestures and shifts it fades from full black to color, only the body that had already been outlined appearing.

The man on the table is dark, so much deeper and warmer than Q with his thick hair clustered in a poof of clumps, shaded muted blue and ashy, reset-bleached geno white. His ears are long and pointed, he's an elf-adjacent humanoid like Rasse, part of his right ear obscured by the glitches covering one eye, flowing down and fading like a waterfall to mist, additional glitches floating off like metal shavings, their downward drift overlapping.

His nose is a bit thinner than Q's, lips a bit thicker, eye softer yet faintly pinched, with eyebrows both blunter and sharper, hooked over the outer corner of his eye like a hawks beak.

... and down under that eye, barely visible, leaks a single, stubby, vibrant blue string.

"He is a geno, mid-transformation to Error." Rasse says, looking the shard of man over, checking the bend of his single existent arm and testing his responses as he gently pokes his face.

There are none.

"Which will necessitate extra care once he wakes, the stimuli received during this transition period will deeply affect who he is once its finished." Rasse says, wiping shades of black on his pants. He looks to you.

"Q awoke not long ago." He says with a bit of apology in his voice. "I've been waiting for a chance to tell you. He is fully healthy and alert but still quite exhausted from what he's endured. Your parents and I were able to speak to him only a little before he fell back asleep."

[waywardnerd67]

Writing Your Story: Chap. 11 - Another Book, Really?

Summary: Raelyn sends her finished manuscript to her publisher to start getting ready for the release of it. She begins writing her next book that is a little more personal to her than the Supernatural series. The only person she tells that she is writing a new book is Sam.

Characters: Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, Castiel and Raelyn Nichols (OFC) Pairing: Dean X Raelyn (OFC) Warnings: Fluffiness, Big Brother!Sam Word Count: 2360 A/N: This is one of the shorter chapters, but I felt it was important to highlight Sam and Raelyn’s friendship. I love the idea of Sam getting to be an older brother because I think he would be great at it. I did have a hard time writing Sam so I hope I do not disappoint any Sam girls. As always this is unbeta so all mistakes are mine. Likes, comments and reblogs are splendid and I will love you doubly for them! Enjoy!

Raelyn walked through the bunker door carrying several grocery bags. “Need some help?” Sam asked from his spot in the library. Raelyn glared down at him, “Nope, I’m good. I minored in Pack Mule while get my English degree. Yes, come help me!” Sam chuckled at her sarcasm. “I think Dean’s snarky attitude is rubbing off on you.” He stated as he met her halfway up the stairs to grab a few bags, “Raelyn, did you buy everything in the grocery store?” He asked as they made their way to the kitchen. “Yes, yes I did.” She rolled her eyes, “I had to take the opportunity of Dean not being here to get healthy food instead of hearing him whine about it.” Sam laughed nodding. Raelyn and Sam put away the groceries and then went back to the library. “Did Dean check in yet?” Sam shook his head as he resumed his original position sitting with his legs kicked up on the table. “No, last I heard he and Cas were still following up with Donatello.” Raelyn sighed as she checked her email on her phone. Dean and Castiel had left a few days earlier to get the prophet, Donatello, so he could read the Demon Tablet. They were hoping there was something about how to open a riff into the Alternate Universe.

Raelyn clicked on an email from her agent and gasped excitedly. “What’s up?” Sam asked as Raelyn bounced in her chair. “My agent just sent me the approval for my newest novel!” Sam threw his head back sighing loudly. Raelyn pursed her lips together, “What?” Sam looked over to her, “Another book, really? Aren’t you tired of writing about our lives?” Raelyn set her phone down and reached over closing Sam’s laptop. “What’s going on with you lately? Your sour mood makes lemons jealous, now split it.” Sam looked down at his hands in his lap. “I don’t want to talk about it.” Normally, Raelyn would not push the issue but Sam had been like this since they went missing and she could not take it anymore. “Not good enough. I have given you space and have tried to keep Dean from pestering you about it. You need to talk about it because if you keep bottling it up then you will explode.” Sam sighed as his shoulders slumped over. “You’re right which is annoying.” Raelyn chuckled, “You love me and you know it. Come on, I know just the spot to go to. Perfect for sharing a bottle of whiskey and talking.” Raelyn jumped up and grabbed Sam’s hand leading him towards the garage.

Raelyn drove them to the open field Dean had taken her to on their redo date. Since then they had gone there quite a few times and it had become her favorite spot. She grabbed the blanket she kept in her trunk for emergencies and Sam grabbed the bag with the bottle of whiskey. They sat down and drank a couple glasses each of whiskey before Sam was ready to start talking. “Last year when we lost mom and Cas, we had Jack. I knew Jack had special powers to help is get mom back. I had a plan that I could focus on while I pushed back my grief. Now, Jack is stuck in the same world as our mom and we have no idea how to get either of them back. I feel lost and defeated.” Raelyn poured another glass for him. “Yet, you know of a spell that can open a riff and you know of the person who can read said spell from the Demon Table.” Sam scoffed, “All true, but something will happen where it doesn’t work and we are back at square one again. I’m just tired of always being the one who is hopeful. I just don’t have the energy for it anymore.” His words tore into her heart. The one thing she loved most about Sam was that he always had faith. He always saw the glass half full. There was always a light at the end of whatever dark tunnel they had to fight their way through.

“Sam, if anyone can relate to how you feel it’s me. You can’t give up hope though. You have to focus one thing that gives you the slightest feeling of hope and then build upon that. You can’t focus on the big picture or the end goal. Take it one step at a time.” Sam’s hazel eyes were misty and she reached out squeezing his hand. “What is one thing that you can focus on that can be the foundation?” Sam stretched his long legs out and leaned back on her elbows. “I have Dean and Cas and you in my corner always looking for answers. Always having my back.” Raelyn smiled sitting cross legged on the blanket. “Then focus on that for now and then add little moments of hope on to it. We’ve always got your back.” Sam gave her a small smile as they sat there for a little while longer.

Raelyn over the next few days, while the brothers were focusing on finding the ingredients to the spell, began writing her newest manuscript. She had sent her latest Supernatural manuscript back to her publisher for a final work up and artwork for the cover. Her newest manuscript was not a part of the Supernatural series, but a standalone title that was going to be based off her own life experiences. She pitched the idea to Eric when she was in Chicago and he got approval for her to go ahead and start writing it. As Raelyn was writing up character information and outline her story she felt a pair of strong hands start to rub her shoulders. She closed her eyes and let her head fall forward with a small groan.

“Whatcha working on, doll?” Dean’s husky voice only slightly registered in her mind as his hands working the knots out of her shoulders and back was overwhelming every sense she had. She grunted as he chuckled, “Raelyn?” his hands stopped and she glanced behind her. “Hey, I was enjoying that.” Dean swung her chair around to face him. “I could see that, but sometimes I like it when you actually answer me and not just grunt at me.” Raelyn raised her eyebrows at him. “When did we do role reversal here where you’re the chick and I’m the dude?” Dean sat down holding his stomach while laughing. She loved when he would laugh like that. He just let himself go and laughed with his whole body. It was something so innocent and rarely happened so when it did Raelyn always sat back and admired him. “I am working on character and plot outline for my new manuscript.”

Dean wiped a few tears from his eyes from laughing. He gave her a curiously look as he calmed himself down, “You actually plan out what you’re going to write before you write it?” Raelyn nodded, “Yeah, why do you seem so confused by that?” Dean shrugged. “I always just thought you wrote whatever came to mind and then BAM!” he clapped his hands together loudly, “you have a book.” Raelyn shook her head as she put it in her hands. “Sorry to disappoint, but that’s not how it works. I plan it all out first and then I slowly build a whole world around the basic outline.” Raelyn showed him an example from one of the Supernatural novels. She pulled up his character in the book showing him the basic outline she had for him. Then she pulled up his character’s plot throughout the book then how that plot would overlap with Sam’s plot and the overall plot of the book. She looked up at Dean who was looking at her in awe. 

“What?” she asked. “You make it seem so simple and effortless to build a whole world around two people. I just find that amazing.” Raelyn shrugged, “I have always had a vivid imagination and it helped that my two characters are actually live people who I can talk too.” Dean was reading over her shoulder the notes she made about him. “Yeah, but you wrote all of this before knowing us. Yet, you perfectly describe Sam and mine’s personalities. That is a talent to be able to read people who you have only heard about.” She smirked at him as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

“It’s not a talent, not really. I can relate to both you and Sam in a variety of ways. What makes this series so popular is the fact that the two main characters are relatable to people. They go through real life struggles everyone else goes through just with a pinch of monsters. For people reading these books, they are inspired by the trials of the Winchester Brothers and rejoice when they overcome said trials. You and Sam think that you guys are nothing special but a couple of roughneck hunters, but you’re not. You, unknowingly, inspire millions of people around the world through these books. More importantly, you inspire those who are around you all the time including other hunters and sometimes monsters. So, really, I’m not reading your personality. I write how I perceive you and Sam. These novels are Sam and Dean through my eyes with a little help from Chuck with a few details.” Raelyn turned her chair again to face Dean and was surprise by him kissing her. His mouth hungrily moved against hers as his hands went up into her hair. When he pulled away resting his forehead against hers she slowly opened her eyes, “Wow, what was that for?” she asked taking a deep breath. “For being you.” She laughed softly as he stood up in front of her.

“So, show me the outlines for your new manuscript.” Raelyn shook her head, “Sorry pretty boy, I can’t do that. I would have to kill you if I did and I kind of like having you around.” Dean looked down at her sticking his bottom out in a full pout and his green eyes went into puppy mode. She shook her head vigorously, “Put your puppy eyes away and that damn pouty lip before I bite it.” Dean’s jaw dropped as she started laughing at his reaction. He leaned down his lips just above hers, “What was that?” he asked as he stuck his lip out again. She brought her hand up the side of his face running her fingers through his hair to the back of his neck. She barely opened her mouth and brought his bottom lip between her teeth gently nibbling on it before she brought both hands to his chest and pushed him back onto her bed. “I said I would bite it. Now leave me be so I can get some work done.” She looked at Dean’s flustered bright red face and chuckled. He stood back up and let out a loud sigh mumbling as he walked out, “Damn woman will be the death of me.” Raelyn felt bad for not sharing her manuscript idea with Dean, but she wanted him to read it once it was finished. She wanted him to see it as a whole and not in pieces. Other than herself only a few people at her publishing company, Eric and Sam knew anything about it. She remembered telling Sam about it when they had drove out to her favorite spot.

“Now, that I have spilled my guts to you I think turnabout is fair game.” Sam said sitting up on the blanket. “What do you mean?” she asked genuinely not knowing what he was talking about. “You’re writing a new book?” he asked and she sighed looking away. “It’s not a part of the Supernatural series. It will not have you and Dean in it… directly.” Sam gave her a questioning look. Groaning she explained, “I’m going to be writing a fictional book, with all fictional characters, based off my own life experiences. The main character will be female based off me and the other two characters with be males based off of you and Dean. I’m leaving out the monsters, Chuck and the evil twin brother parts.” Sam laughed, “Good idea. What will it be about then?” Raelyn closed her eyes leaning back on the blanket letting the sun warm her skin. She peeked over to Sam from one of her eyes and then closed it again, “It will be about life. Building a life that a person could be proud of, making new friends, falling in love and all the twists along the way.” She looked over to Sam to see a sad smile on his face. “A normal life.” He whispered as she nodded. “Yeah, a normal life.”

One thing Sam and Dean talked about more than anything and especially after a bottle of whiskey was having a normal life. Many times, they expressed how they would never have a normal life with wives, kids, white picket fences. How their lives would end bloody one way or another. She could not help the sadness she felt when she heard them talking about how they viewed their lives. One day, as Sam and Dean were out getting some supplies she decided to print off comments from fan sites about how the characters “Sam and Dean” had inspired them. She taped them throughout each of the guys bedrooms. Stories of how these characters helped them through their depressions, divorce, death, communicating with a loved one, to quit their addiction and so many other stories. She had closed the door to her room when they came back to the bunker letting them find their rooms on their own. About an hour later she found them both outside her door and the swooped her up in to a big group hug. Both of them simply saying thank you. Just like then Raelyn wanted to give them a little slice of a normal life in the only way she could which was creating a whole world just for them.

My Nerd Herd: @waywardbaby @waywardrose13 @ladywinchester1967 @anotherwaywardsister @carryonmywaywardcaptain @1967-essentialghoul @weirdoblogger69

[goron-king-darunia]

Roast 10-Year-Old Me.

So, when I was, like, 10 (hard to know because the story isn’t dated) I wrote a little illustrated story and oh boy is it bad. I’m going to transcribe it here, with spelling errors and pictures included. Anyone who wants to can roast me because I was 10 and even I’m roasting child-me because child me was a dork. Please enjoy! How I came to be with you

I never knew my child hood withought Knuckles with me. When I came of age Knuckles told me of a great power that I had to achieve. “You must brave great dangers withought me, weapons or any protection.” as he told me this he also told me that I had no choice. He said, “If you don’t go you can never come back, you may die, but your not my resposibility yet.” he told me I had one day to prepare and then I must leave. So that day was my last day, tomorrow I would have to leave. that day I went to Station Square bought a large napsack, said good-bye to my Chao fearing I wouldn’t see them again. I bought a few blankets and bought some food, a cooking pot, a box of matches, and 2 cantieens (Knuckles told me I could bring a Chao to keep me company.) Then I set up my stuff and got ready to go. So I dropped by the drug store and bought some medicine and bandages and went back to Knuckles’ place and packed my bags.

[Image 1 description: A green and orange backpack with two pockets and a bottle holster sits surrounded by a small, blue box with a picture of a lit match labeled “Matches”, a nondescript brown bottle labeled “medicine” with scribbles underneath, and a green disc-shaped bottle labeled “Suprime Cantine.”] I still had vacant space in my bag so I went out with my Chao and got some herbs and berrys. I also made some sand witches and other snacks. 

[Image 2 description: A line up of several items with each labeled. From left-to-right, top-to-bottom, they are: A white, loose square with a brown border labeled “sandwiches”, a collection of leaves labeled “Basil”, a spiky green ball labeled “parsly”, several long, green, colored pencil lines labeled “chives”, something that actually kind of looks like a rice ball labeled “Rice balls”, a brown torpedo shaped object labeled “hotdogs”, the most spherical rendition of a strawberry you have ever seen labeled “strawberries”, a pile of select Chex mix pieces including the corn Chex, the square and round pretzels, the wheat bagel chip, and the mini breadstick labeled “Chex Mix”, a purple and pink version of the same shaped grape-bunch objects labeled “Blackberries & rassberries”, a vaguely burger shaped object with a sesame seed bun, a beef patty, and lettuce with nothing else visible labeled “cheeseburgers”, and finally 2 blue pomegranate shaped objects labeled “blue berries.”] After I had picked enough to fill my bag I got out a handkerchief and picked more. When I had all the supplies I could carry I set off on my journey, but not before Knuckles told me the way. “To complete your task you must go over those far mountians and I will meet you on the other side, that is if you live. I will give you a week to get over those mountians otherwise I’ll asume that you are dead and leave.”

[Image 3 description: Brown mountain like objects jutting up from a green patchy field. On the left are green scribbles of various shades that are likely meant to be trees. The shapes get much more stretched and warped as they go toward the right side of the page, eventually ending with a large dark green blob. I’m not entirely sure what all these are meant to represent and they may have just been lazy trees or fields. In the blue sky over a pass in the mountains is a big red arrow pointing toward what is presumably the heroine’s destination.]

So, Knuckles flew off over the mountians to wait for me. So, I started and went on my journey. I hiked up the hill ‘till I could hike no longer, ate some and slept. I did this for 2 days and then I had to over come the most dangerous thin g ever.

[Image 4 description: On a sloppily crosshatched black (or rather, grey) background is the drawn outline of a egg-shaped head surrounded by a frill. Two batlike but otherwise featureless wings can be seen on either side of the head and a claw with three digits can be seen on the left side. The face includes two distinct fangs in an incomplete mouth, two nostrils, and a noticeable flap added on with solid red narrow eyes. The entire thing looks very flat and there are no other details.]

[Image 5 description: A towering dragon appears. It is white with a black frill with a rainbow border on the edges. The face has defined scales, the arms have some attempt at scaling and the rest of the body is a lazy crosshatch. This time a definite muzzle can be seen, but the head is still very egg shaped and flat looking, as is the body. The tail has spines along the dorsal edge and ends in a round club. White featureless bat-shaped wings are still emerging from the head and not the shoulders. The eyes are more slanted now, nearly converging, and there is an attempt at angry eyebrows. The nostrils and two fangs are still present, so at least that’s a continuity win. The sky is black and the ground is white. On the ground there is the silhouette of a young girl with legs apart and arms outstretched and a tiny Hero Chao being lit by huge flames. The fire is made of red and yellow teardrop shapes overlapped. There is a dry tree or perhaps a skinny bush in the foreground at the bottom left that is also being silhouetted by the fire. the shadow it leaves doesn’t quite match the branches but the attempt was made.]

I was face to face with a real dragon. I fought hard and long I swung at it with my only weapon, my fist. Unfortunatly I missed, it struck me down and bit me when I swung at it again. I tried to get up and fight, but I was poisoned so badly it was a challenge just to get back on my feet. When I finaly got up I noticed that the dragons was wounded and that when it had bitten me it had left a tooth in my arm. As quick as I could I pulled the tooth out of my arm and with an unknown power (perhaps it was the instinct I enhareted from Knuckles to keep fighting) I managed to bring the dragon to it’s death. I had just then realized that (with a special secret power) I could remove the dragon’s wings and attach them to myself and fly the rest of the way, but I was badly hurt so I cleaned my wounds and took a rest. The next day I took whatever I could of the dragon (teeth, scales, wings, anything and everything I could) so I could prove to Knuckles what I had done. Now I got ready for flight and attached the wings strung the dragons teeth into an anklet, a bracelet and a necklace. Then I took off for the place I would meet Knuckles, but just as I lifted from the ground I realized what I had done, I had killed another living creature with my own bear hands, weather or not it tried to kill me and I realized what I had to do. It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t pay my respects. I built a monument. I could feel that my Chao was as sad as I was. After I paid my respects I took off.

[Image 6 description: A blonde heroine with messy hair kneels(?) over a small carved(?) stone rectangle with an orange marking on it. The stone is surrounded by three lit tealight candles. Behind the monument is a bush, obscuring the heroine’s lower body. The heroine is seen wearing a light blue T-shirt with several tears, under which many bloody cuts can be seen. On the heroine’s right arm, a large bleeding puncture can be seen. There is a necklace of many canine teeth around her neck. On her left is a Hero Chao with a white and blue body with red wings.A large sun is seen peeking up from below and behind the heroine, leaving a red streak in the blue sky, presumably indicating sunrise.]

My journey was finally over. I reached the mountan where I was to meet Knuckles. When I landed he looked surprized as if he hadn’t planned to see me. I told him the whole story and he told me this “I am very proud of you, you are some thing I could never be, you see I’m personal, but it never shows because I piled a brick wall around my emotions when I was young, but you have a gate on your brick wall.” “What do you mean?” I aksed. “I mean you have emotions. I don’t have any weak spots which made my life miserable, but you broke that brick wall , now I understand some times it’s good to cover your emotions, but having no emotions is worse than having your feelings hurt. You showed me something today and I’d like to say ‘thank you’.” so from that day forward I lived with Knuckles with new adventures yet to com. 

[Image 7 description:  The heroine stands beside an approximation of Knuckles the Echidna on a green field. The wounds are more or less in the same place so continuity win. Both of them have sparkly anime eyes. The paper where the heroine’s face is drawn is noticibly warped from having too much pressure applied when coloring. There is a panel between them with a red glowing heart as they gaze at each other. The panel, to my memory, was added because I let someone read the story and they vandalized it.] Two friends, no matter how different are reunited, and are now more understanding of each other. THE END @aery-child @actualaster, @kitareyo, @unicorn-spew @biophilie @hannikka  And to anyone else who read through this: PLEASE ROAST 10-YEAR-OLD ME! I’m dying at how bad this is. I’d roast myself but it’s killing me. This is also probably obviously self-insert garbage, but just in case you didn’t know, the heroine was my childhood version of me, I guess. 

[3rdyearvisuallogbookbysarah2]

Chosen final 15 images for Ba3b/Zine and Justifications why

Above are the 15 images I have chosen as final ones for hand in for this term of Ba3b. As stated in my learning agreement, I have wanted throughout this project to produce creative portraits that have a girly aesthetic and an approach of pastel colourings through them all to hold them together. When looking through my work and choosing the final images, I felt these 15 best represent what it was that I wanted to achieve. As a collective I feel they all work really cohesively together due to the consistent use of colour and the girly audience in my mind when creating them.

I wanted to experiment with pushing the boundaries a bit of what ‘correct’ photography is. I don’t think there is such a thing as correct photography and definitely within these images there are elements that would be seen as errors but these are the things I have actually done on purpose because I enjoy the way they make the image look. 

First image: Collage of Amy

- Suitable for target audience of teenage girls

- Could be used for makeup advertisements due to pose showing pink eyeshadow

- Enjoy the colourings in image – contrast between blue/green and dusty pink

- Hair colour pink too which I have enhanced slightly to match background – cohesive

- Ribbon as bow to make image more tactile taking inspiration from scrap book feel and collage using different materials

- Glitter on her cheek created slight discoloured patch, not bothered as adds to makeup feel

- Slight highlights on her chin and forehead above eyebrow but I think this slight shine creates a glamorous look so left them in

- Printed portrait scanned in so textured effect produced

- Think texture adds to the effect of collage type work and I am pleased with how it works

Second image: Collage of Amy 2

- Cut out figure from background and placed her on a piece of paper

- Drawn girly illustrations around following her outline shape

- Felt tip pen to draw over tshirt which I like as it makes me feel like it isn’t real and has been stuck on

- Took inspiration from Kate Rabbit and her icon work

- Printed portrait to create image, the colour is not the colour it was when shot so her skin colour is slightly more orange than should be

- Adjusted the colour once scanned back in in photoshop turning down the orange colour balance

- Actually enjoy slightly more vibrant skin colour as it produces bolder contrast between pink eye makeup

Third image: Photoshopped image of Amy

- portrait of Amy from the same shoot as the one before hence the same outfit.

- made this collage all in the computer

- image from last term used as part of the background and scanned in a piece of cellophane i had painted blotches of paint on as an overlay

- got this idea from the textured patterns in portraits by Bernhard Handick

- I enjoy the transparency of this overlay and like how the colour of this works with the paler colour of Amy and the image in the background on the other side

- slight colour cast on this image which made her skin colour look a bit ill so adjusted the colour balance until is was as close to normal as I could make

- like the contrast of how pale she is with the bolder surroundings

- Highlight on the tip of her nose and the centre of her chin - I thought to get rid of the highlight on her nose however with it gone I felt the image loses its spark. For some reason this bright dot reminds me of magic and sparkles so I wanted to keep it.

Fourth image: Collage of Bethany

- drawn to this portrait due to the editions of texture and sequins which I have added to it

- I shot the portrait on my DSLR outside in sunny weather, I was not quite happy with the portrait on its own

- exposure was correct and I quite liked the pose of the subject, however I thought it looked boring and wanted to make it more exciting and girly

- printed this image and experimented with different layouts - I placed it on top of a pink piece of sugar paper and then placed a piece of sheer fabric over the top

- enjoyed the look the fabric gave creating a slight distorted look of the portrait. I think it gives the image a feeling of purity in a way as the girl is covered up

- the fabric produces a dream like feeling

- I felt just on its own like this it was still a bit plain and took inspiration from my research such as work by Valheria Rocha and Kate Rabbit by adding sequin stars over the top.

- felt the stars were appropriate to relate to the dreamlike feel and also they are an icon I associate with a girly feel - thought included too many stars but the more I have been looking at it the more I like it

- I sprinkled them on so they landed in random positions as this rough scrap book style is something I am influenced by and I am happy with how they fell surrounding the subjects face nicely

- used the scanner to scan this layout into the computer - think scanning is effective with this due to it capturing the texture of the fabric and all the creases

- the creases of the fabric are coherent with the lines in the background of the portrait which I think looks appealing

- also like the frayed edges of the fabric in the right hand corner of the frame as it reminds me of a scrap book which is an influence of my work.

Fifth image: Collage of Eleni

- used a studio portrait of Eleni

- this is one of the slightly darker images I have produced, however it still involves the pastels and the pink along with the stereotypical girly doodles

- I cut out a printed picture of one of my favourite portraits of Eleni from our studio shoot. Then I cut out shapes from different coloured papers and made a lay out around the shape of her body

- enjoy this darker more neutral colour palette and think it works particularly well with this black and white (grey scale) portrait due to the dark shadows on the right side (as you look) of her face

- to make this collage I took inspiration from Kate Rabbits series as well as information I gathered from the book Collage Art by Jennifer L Atkinson

- enjoy the repetition of the shapes on the opposite sides and think this adds interest to the portrait.

Sixth image: Eleni Photoshop

- placed a portrait from our studio shoot on a pale pink background in Photoshop and duplicated the image so there was 3

- shifted them around in different positions creating a layered look which I liked

- I think this works really effectively and think it could be used for an artist’s profile such as an album cover or in an editorial setting

- enjoy the layered effect and how all the parts don’t join up evenly

- This look sort of reminds me of a puzzle or glitch because of the layering

- chose to use this particular portrait because I thought the pose felt relaxed and I liked how her eyes are shut as this is a bit different

- her facial expression is like she is dreaming and I like how this relates to the teenage audience I am targeting due to being young and full of dreams

- I made this image black and white as to me this felt more glamorous which is the aesthetic I wanted to achieve

- the contrast between the black and white works really effectively with the pale pink background and the background colour links to the rest of my work, holding this series together.

Seventh image: Eleni and flowers

- summer like aesthetic

- image has been made using the same portrait as the image before, however I have split the image through the middle and flipped the sides around so they don’t join up

- Splitting the image in half is a look I liked the look of as I liked how the colours of the background in each half worked better split due to the differing gradients

- I placed this next to and overlapping an image of flowers I took and changed the blend mode so that the flowers blended into the half of the portrait

- The blend mode I used is pin light and I like how this has almost become illuminous

- This is a look I am drawn to and one I think appeals my target audience as it reminds me of a UV party which is common at that age

- The illuminousity, to me, creates an ethereal mood to the image which I really love and am attracted to

- I like how the lines of the edge of the flower image lines up with the centre divide line of the portrait and how the colours contrast. I think this image is one of my favourite.

Eighth image: Collage of Fozzie

- One of the first collage experiments I did in this project

- To produce this image I printed two different portraits of Fozzie from the same shoot and ripped them up carefully trying to achieve a ripped line around the outline of her figure

- I ripped pieces of the images and played around with different layouts until I was happy with the way it looked

- I put the layout into the scanner and scanned it in to the computer

- I enjoy how this collage looks due to the ripped effect and other textured elements due to the way the portraits printed on normal paper

- pale colours all complement each other and create the girly mood I wanted

- I put the scanned in image into photoshop as I felt it needed a coloured background surrounding the ripped papers

- settled with this pale pink background as it is worked best with the other pale colours

- I was worried how this image would look printed in my zine due to its quality but I changed the image sizes in Photoshop and set the resolution to 300 before putting it in my layout

- I realise that the image has some lines down it, especially on the front portrait due to how the image was printed the first time, but I actually wanted this textured quality to be there as I think it gives the image the scrap book look and feel which I like. This texture is purposeful and I think it has printed out as well as it could in my zine.

Nineth image: Grid layout of Fozzie

- slightly different to the rest as it includes more simplistic portraits as well as a still life image of a flower I have taken

- took my favourite images from a shoot with Fozzie, along with one image from the next shoot of flowers and made a layout for them in Photoshop like a grid

- used the image with the floral shadow on her face at the right and the image of the flowers at the left at the edge of each side of the frame so that it looks like the flowers are making the shadow on her face

- enjoy the idea of having a grid with small images spread across one frame

- I feel that this could be seen in an editorial for a magazine or a cool layout for a lookbook which is an area of industry I have been interested in and researching throughout this term

- colour palette of this image works really well across the frame with the pink tones being in two of the images and more grey, blue tone being in the other two

- enjoy this contrast of colours and think it creates a soft mood as they aren’t bright bold colours

- There is a difference in size of the gap before the image on the right as the bottom image is closer to it. However, because the gap between the left image and the right image with the portrait in between is equal, I don’t think this matters too much

- the spacing of this layout I like as I think it allows the images space to breath and work as individuals as well as a collection

- The image at the bottom I rotated around and cropped part of her out but I like how this works.

Tenth image: Layered Fozzie

- chose this portrait of Fozzie as it was my favourite from the most recent shoot I did with her

- shows I am capable of shooting with ambient light to capture engaging portraits

- I wanted to choose this image for a final but did not want it to just be plain as I felt this wouldn’t work as well in the series due to the other images all being more experimental

- I enjoy the layered effect and how all the parts don’t join up evenly

- This look sort of reminds me of a puzzle or glitch because of the layering

- chose a lilac background colour as I enjoy the contrast between this pastel colour and the pale pink background I used for the portrait

- positioned this layering in the bottom right corner due to the composition of the portrait feeling more to the right. Because her hair is pushed over to the right I felt this positioning echoed that.

Eleventh image: Naomi

- inspiration from a sort of kaleidoscope look by overlaying same image in different positions and angles, changing opacity and blend modes so becomes transparent

- enjoyed how this looks with the leading lines from the edge of the transparent pictures leading into the centre frame and the subjects face

- these lines remind me of a star shape which is why I added in star illustrations too, taking inspiration from my research of Matty Bovan’s doodle designs throughout the LOVE issues

- I added an overlay of pale pink to make the image fit with the colour palette and pastel feel I like to work with

- I am quite pleased with how this has turned out and enjoy the soft feel the transparent effects adds to the portrait

- transparent appearance I think produces an ethereal look which is soft and represents a feminine feel

- pale pink colours also represent beauty and add a playfulness to the image which I enjoy and thinks suits my girl audience.

Twelth image: Nicola

- not as experimental as the others

- keep it simple as liked the natural portrait

- thought portrait strong due to how model is engaging directly with the camera

- change to black and white so it fitted with some of the other work I have done – brown twigs in the background made it too different and a pink overlay didn’t work

- added doodles to this frame in the colour palette I have been using to make it cohesive

- pleased with the outcome

Thirteenth image: Collage of Rosalie

- physical collage experiment by cutting and sticking

- achieve a slightly rougher look as felt photoshop was too neat

- enjoyed making this as included my love for craft and illustration as well as photography

- shot portrait on fuji point and shoot camera

- enjoyed the shoot and pleased with the portraits but wanted to experiment still

- chose this image as liked how she leaning in, feels more intimate

- cut out the girl and placed her on a ripped square of another image I had made previously

- began adding doodles surrounding the shape of her head

- coloured the ripped edges of the background in in yellow felt tip pen as I thought this colour would work well with the colour of her hair

- drew the flowers in pink and yellow too as I really enjoy this clash of colours, I think it is very bold and I love how vibrant the look of the two colours together is

- To me, this image has a strong girly aesthetic and I am really happy with how it has turned out.

Fourteenth image: Rosalie layout

- Chose these portraits just on their own as I liked the way the model engaged with the camera and also I liked the look of the model and thought she is appropriate as an icon for a younger target market audience as she is a young girl herself

- cropped parts of my favourite portraits from this shoot with Rosalie and positioned them in this layout

- tend to be drawn to only half of the face for some reason. I think this is endearing and in this layout I like how I have used crops of each side of her face but positioned them on the opposite sides of the composition

- felt that the portraits were were slightly too bold and vibrant to work with my aesthetic so adjusted them on Photoshop

- added an fx overlay to the image on the left making it appear slightly faded by adding a light grey colour overlay but with a very low opacity so it wasn’t fully obvious

- think this overlay softens the portrait which is what I wanted

- then added an fx satin overlay to the portrait on the right but made the colour pink so this would fit with the rest of the work I have been producing

- This has added a pink colour cast making the black fur coat appear pink which is what I wanted. I like how this contrasts with the black coat in the other image next to it still being black.

- colour cast was purposeful because I wanted to add a pink tone to the image as this is the aesthetic approach I work with and makes the image obvious it is mine. I know colour casts aren’t usually wanted within photography but here I think it works well and feels girly.

Fifteenth image: Rosalie newspaper

- printed this portrait of Rosalie off on standard paper as I wanted to play around with it physically

- tried a few layouts and wasn’t sure what would work but then I decided to screw up the portrait and un fold it

- was drawn to the creases and folds screwing it up created and how once scanned in this has created other textures and distorted focus’ on the image

- The focus I am particularly drawn to is on the face how some of it appears softer than other parts

- used newspaper as a border and painted over it in pink to match the colour scheme of the rest of this series

- pink is used a lot as to me this represents girls and works for the audience I am targeting

- I think the newspaper and rough paint complement the creased portrait.