#Seriously! I got some stuff in the making...I think.

[luna-azzurra]

Dear Writers who can’t stop comparing themselves

Me, you, and probably every writer ever...

☽ Someone else’s success is NOT your failure. Just because they got there fast doesn’t mean you’re slow, you’re just on your own weird little timeline, doing your weird little writer things, and that’s fine. You're not late, you're just... you. And that’s more than enough.

☽ You don’t see the mess behind the masterpiece. That perfect book? It probably had 49 drafts, six meltdowns, two deleted subplots, and at least one sob session over a blank page. You’re not broken for struggling, you’re just in the middle of the part they edited out.

☽ The age thing is IRRELEVANT. Some people write bestsellers at 19. Others don’t write anything until they’re 39. Or 57. Or 83. That doesn’t make it less magical. It just makes it yours. (Seriously, google late-blooming authors, it’s comforting as hell.)

☽ If you’re comparing your draft to a finished book... Please, stop, NOW. That author had editors, proofreaders, beta readers, deadlines, caffeine-induced panic, probably a spreadsheet or two. You’re not comparing apples to apples. You’re comparing a soft, screaming baby draft to a book that went through glam boot camp.

☽ Your voice isn’t supposed to sound like theirs, I mean it’s not supposed to sound like anyone else. That’s the point. You don’t need to be the next [I dont know, J.K.R or Stephen King (Fun fact=I love both)...]. You just need to be the first you.

☽ Your writing might be exactly what someone else needs. Like, exactly. The right story at the right moment can feel like a lifeline, so don’t keep yours locked away because you think it’s not “enough.” It is, you are.

☽ You’re not going to grow by tearing yourself down. Being cruel to yourself doesn’t make you a better writer, it just makes the work heavier to carry. Be kind to yourself, especially on the days the words won’t come (And they will come, I promise).

☽ Someone out there probably reads your stuff and goes: “Damn. I wish I could write like that.” You might never know who, but they exist and they mean it.

[kisses4rafey]

older!rafe catches you smoking

the sun had barely started to dip, your legs stretched out on the back porch of the beach house, a blunt lazily burning between your fingers. you weren’t even high yet—just chasing that first hit, exhaling slow like the smoke might carry your thoughts somewhere less heavy. you didn’t hear the truck until it was too late.

the screen door creaked. “seriously?”— you froze.

there he was towering in the doorway like some storm cloud in a black t-shirt and salt-worn jeans. his eyes narrowed immediately, jaw tight like he’d been biting his tongue all day and just ran out of patience. “are you actually getting high right now?” he asked, stepping out. the blunt was still smoldering in your hand.

you went to flick it. too slow.

he was already in front of you, snatching it from your fingers like it was poison. “jesus,” he muttered, shaking his head. “you’re really pushing it.”

“it’s not a big deal,” you mumbled, refusing to look at him. and he fucking laughed—humorless. “not a big deal? you’re barely outta high school and you think burning weed on my porch when I’ve got neighbors two houses down who’d love to call your parents is just… casual?” you flinched. the word parents landed too hard. he knew it.

silence stretched between you like the heat coming off the deck boards. “i didn’t think you’d be back so soon,” you muttered.

“oh, that makes it better?” his voice rose, rough and cutting. “you think that makes me less pissed?”

“i’m not a kid—”

“you are a kid,” he snapped. “you’re a kid screwing around with stuff you don’t get to play with—not here, not around me.”

that one hurt. it wasn’t the weed. it was the distance in his voice. the shift. like he was suddenly drawing a line between you again—age, experience, risk. you tried to bite it down. “you’re the one who keeps saying I’m grown enough to be with you. so what is it, rafe? i’m old enough for your bed but too young to smoke a little?”

his jaw clenched. hard. like you’d slapped him.

he stepped closer—too close. you could smell the faint salt of the ocean on his skin, the underlying sting of whatever cologne he always wore when he was pretending not to care.

“you think this is funny?” he asked, voice low now. “you think I’m doing this because I want to control you?” you stared at him, defiant—but your chest was tight. “i don’t want to lose you,” he then proceeded to say in a softer tone. “not to dumb shit like this.”

“you’re not my dad,” you whispered. “you can’t tell me what i can and can’t do”

“no,” he said, still watching you like he was memorizing every expression. “i’m not. but i care about you more than he ever did.” you swallowed hard, throat tight. you hated how his anger cracked just enough to show you where the hurt lived underneath.

then he reached up—gently this time—and tucked a strand of hair behind your ear. “don’t make me the guy who lets you burn yourself out just to seem cool. i want more for you than that. you hear me?”

you rolled your eyes. “it’s weed, rafe. not heroin. jesus.”

he didn’t laugh.

“you wanna act grown? fine. then be grown enough to take care of yourself. don’t pull this shit and expect me to clean up after you if something goes sideways.”

you blinked. that hit harder than the weed ever could. “i wasn’t expecting anything from you,” you said, quieter now. “i just… i was anxious. and i thought I had time.”

[hazard-haze]

Eddie and Volt headcanons (no player)

Soooooo

My brain has decided this shit is my new hyperifxation

And that these are my new comfort characters

But I heard that everyone was getting a hate ending with them and guess who got friendship with them first tryyyyyy! So uh, skill issue/j heres some headcanons for ya'll :)

-He doesn't do it often because he knows Eddie hates it, but Volt can 110% pick up Eddie and will abuse this power if he needs to

-Eddie is Volt's anger translator. It usually goes something like this:

Volt: "We are sorry you weren't satisfied with our service, but this is the best we can do and I'm going to have to ask you to leave now."

Eddie *passing by behind him*: "Pay your fucking tab and get out!"

-Volt cannot keep his hands still, he tries to play it off suave-ly (?) by just tapping his fingers and running his hand through his hair repeatedly but when he gets really excited or angry about something he will wave his hands with big, fast, eccentric gestures.

-Volt wears eyeliner, sometimes Eddie helps him put it on.

-Eddie is very talented at most things he does, fixing, building, mixing drinks (he can even do some tricks with shakers), and there's a plethora of odd things he's picked up throughout the years. However this makes him get pretty frustrated when things don't work out the first couple times he attempts something. While not the main reason, this is part of why he was so frustrated and irritable during most of his main plot. Volt sometimes has to remind him that it's okay to not have everything figured out immediately, or pull him from his work if he's starting to stress out or exhaust himself too much.

-On the topic of pulling Eddie from his work, that is a feat. Volt full well knows he can't just ask Eddie to take a break, usually he has to either ask him to do something easier as a favor, or blame the break on himself.

"Oh Eddie, I know your in the middle of something but could you wipe the bar down? I have no time before we open."

"Eddieeeee, I have no one to watch the new season of Cougar vs Cougar with! Would you take a break to and come watch it with me? Please! Just for a little bit! Just one episode!" (They got through like 2 1/2 before Eddie passed tf out)

-Oh yeah, Volt loves reality TV and Eddie pretends to not be at least a little invested.

-Eddie can draw. Volt cannot. Volt is very jealous of Eddie in this regard.

-Infodumpingggggggg. They infodump to one another without even realizing it, it is so much of how they communicate. They will ramble and bounce ideas off each other, mostly about the club but about other stuff too.

-On the flip side. They can also communicate by saying pretty much nothing, just through brief glances. I think it would partly be because they are literally split from the same thing but it's more in that way when you widen your eyes slightly at your bestie and that equates to like a full paragraph of text.

-Eddie is short af, Volt is tall af.

-Volt makes fun of Eddie for being short

-Like seriously ya know that audio that's like "I know we don't always see eye to eye" "that because your too short to do so"

-Eddie will get revenge. He can kick/punch really hard but he can also come up with some other very clever ways of revenge. Do not mess with the guy who has access to the tools.

-Neither of them really like just hard liquor. Volt likes sweeter drinks and Eddie likes quality craft beers. If either sees the other drinking something like scotch/whiskey they can usually assume somethings wrong.

-Volt has sooooo many ideas for the club, several of which are not exactly... possible. Eddie has to be the one to break the news to him that No Volt we can't break down the retaining wall of the bar and turn it into an inanimal fish tank. Why? Because without it the roof would collapse!

-Volt's love languages are physical touch and words of affirmation

-Eddie's love language is acts of service.

-Going deeper into that, Volt loves physical touch, as previously mentioned. Eddie however does not. But they make it work, Eddie can tell when Volt needs a hug or just to have someone next to him, Volt can tell when Eddie is getting overstimulated or just needs space.

-They both have their ears pierced. Volt did it for both of them.

-Eddie actually quite likes talking to people, I mean he's definitely tended the bar at some point, he just doesn't like talking to annoying people. He's sarcastic and his humor is a bit deadpan and he's more reserved, but he 100% can be very funny and hold conversations very well with patrons and even better with friends.

-That being said, bro does not chat while he works on maintenance. If anyone, including Volt, is working with him, he isn't saying shit unless its telling them what to do, or looking over their work. If someones lucky they get a "Good job."

-Neither have ever been a fan of the dark, but they especially would not be after the black out.

-They both hate silence, I mean they work in a night club, at this point it just feels unnatural.

-Kinda already mentioned this but Volt gets quiet angry and Eddie gets loud angry. If Volt goes silent, you know you fucked up. On the opposite end, it will sometimes be assumed that Eddie is mad because he's being quiet but that just how he is, if Eddie actually is properly yelling you know he's upset.

-Nerve damage babyyyyyy. It is all up Eddie's arms, contributes to why he's not super touchy because his arms get that awful pulling, itchy, pain when something touches them.

-Volt can get some nasty fatigue. The electricity fluctuates? Bro is immediately drained, head rush, migraine, the whole shabang.

-Not really headcanon but neither of them are good at admitting they need help or at accepting it when its offered.

-They both know each others triggers tho, and make sure to tell the other to rest when they need to. Neither take their own advice.

-Eddie hyperfocuses like crazy. If he sits down with his tools, something to fix and no one around he will not move from that spot for hours.

-Volt is always jumping from project to project, person to person, never slowing down. There's a lot to do in the breaker box and he is more than happy to juggle all of it.

-Both of them forget to sleep because of these facts. and eat (do they eat?). and talk to other things. and talk to each other. and-

-They would be cat people. Volt has definitely brought up getting an inanimal from Mateo but Eddie is always hesitant (even though he would 100% end up loving it to bits if they got one)

----

Ya'll I think I'm a loser. Instead of being out on a night off I am sitting in my bedroom writing headcanons about an actual breaker box in a dating sim that I'm not even attracted to, I just think their silly. What is my life T-T

[theinheriteddutchess]

Like Fate

Summary: Steve seemed perfect. Until he didn't. And now you're not sure if you'll ever be safe because he does not accept your breakup.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader

Word count: 2.002

Warnings: stalking, non-con vibes, ex-boyfriend Steve, possessive Steve, mob!Steve, threats, controlling ex.

Notes: I forgot I had this done for a bit, sorry, just been busy on other Stories, but right I thought, why not? Make room, vol that masterlist. So here it is, enjoy.

Masterlist

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

The lights were so bright it was disorientating, blinding you at times, making it difficult to see your surroundings clearly. But you could have sworn you saw him.

When you looked a second later, he wasn’t there.

You tried to calm your racing heart. No need to panic. It was your paranoia. You were out of town, visiting your friend. He didn’t know where you were. That was the whole point. To be away from that smothering tension that his presence left in you. You ex-boyfriend.

Steve Rogers. The picture of perfection. Boy scout good manners, eager to help. That’s how you two met. You, stranded on the side of the road when your car suddenly gave up, and him, stepping up to help you out.

He had asked you out before you parted ways and you had accepted immediately. He had been so kind, and you weren’t too ashamed to admit that his good looks and dazzling smile didn’t make your heart flutter.

He seriously gave you the best sex you ever had. It’s like he knew your body better than you did! There were times you lay limp on the bed, not knowing how to ever get back to normal again.

He was perfect. Well, he had seemed so anyway.

You knew he had been thinking of proposing. His best friend let something slip and winked when you stuttered nonsensical words in your total surprise. It might’ve been fast, you didn’t even know each other a year, but you already knew you’d say yes.

And then you had accidently been at the wrong place at the wrong time. And you had watched as Steve shot a person.

He had looked nothing like the friendly man you’d come to know. But that this wasn’t the first time he had killed, that was sure. And the way he had spoken, about the man messing up a delivery, it didn’t take a fool to know he was in some shady business.

Shaken, you had packed your stuff - thanking whatever entity was out there for looking out for you and you having been undetected so far - and decided to leave everything you�� couldn’t carry. No word, no note. Just ran as fast as you could.

He called after an hour. Then rapidly several times when you didn’t pick up. He drove to your apartment, but you refused to open. He got agitated then, but obeyed your wishes to be left alone. For a few days. Then he demanded to talk. When you told him you wanted nothing to do with him, that you knew he was a murderer, he let out a chuckle.

“Oh honey, I’m much more than that.”

It had chilled you, afraid he was going to kill you right then and there, cursing yourself for being so dumb to tell him you knew, but he hadn’t come near, he didn’t force his way into your home. He had told you to think about it for a few days, and that you would come back, he was sure.

He seemed to be under the impression you would take him back. And you spend a few days and nights terrified he was going to show up again and force his way into your apartment to either murder you or abduct you. None of these things happened, but you felt watched. Sometimes you saw his face in the crowd. Or your car was suddenly filled up. Your sister received an expensive gift for your niece under your name. You never shopped in that store, you couldn’t afford it. 

Weird things like that kept happening. A filled fridge. Money into your bank account, your male friends rapidly refusing to hang out with you anymore. It was his doing, you knew it. You had no real proof. And what could you say? My ex is trying to take care of me? I just don’t want him to? He murdered someone? You had no proof and you were sure the body had disappeared long before. 

You couldn't sleep, and you couldn’t focus, and your neck hurt from twisting it so much while walking outside, to see if you spotted him. Sometimes he was nowhere in sight, but you did not let your guard down. You refused to go to your favourite coffee shop, because they told you everything was paid for, indefinitely.

You thought for a moment if it was easier to give in. But you couldn’t condone his lifestyle. You could not deal with seeing anymore murders. And Steve had proven he had a possessive streak. How did you not notice it before? Were you so blinded by infatuation?

So when your friend had offered you to come over for a few days, to get pampered while dealing with a break up - and that’s what you told everyone, not anything more -  you took it.

It was supposed to be a few days away from it all, to be able to let go and figure out what to do from there. Move? He would know before you made one step. The only thing you could think of was to disappear, but that meant leaving your family and friends behind, and you did not think it past Steve to use them against you. You wouldn't expect any decency from him after what you witnessed him to be capable of.

It was your first night here in this place, and yet you thought you spotted him. It couldn’t be possible. You had told no one. You grabbed a bag and just left. If anyone wanted to contact you, they had your number. It was the safest way you could think of.

But as you looked around frantically, he was nowhere in sight. A figment of your frightful illusions. You took a deep breath, told your friend you’d be right back. Off to the bar, ready to drink and forget your problems, even if only for a few hours.

As you waited to be helped you felt someone press against you from the side. Maybe a drunk clubber, maybe an interested guy, maybe both. You weren’t looking for any attention though, so you peeked up to check what situation you might be in and froze.

A sparkling smile shone down upon you. He was wearing a deep blue shirt, hair styled to perfection. As usual, it always looked like he had a personal hairstylist with some kind of secret serum to make it lay on his head that way. His sleeves rolled up to show his impressive muscles - and you weren’t the only one who ogled them -, eyelashes casting a mysterious shadow on his cheeks with how long they were.

God, he looked perfect. And you were a dumb hoe to fall for it!

“Hey baby, having fun?”

“How?” You only managed to stutter, your eyes not leaving his frame even once.

“How did I find you? Baby come on, I always know where you are and what you are doing. I’m a little hurt you’ve tried to flee from me, but I get it, you’re scared. You saw something I never wanted you to see and now you’ve got it in your head I'm not the man you fell for. But you don’t need to be so frightened around me. I don’t hurt the people I care about.”

LIke it was going to make you feel relieved to hear it. “Just everyone else.”

He shrugged, looking unapologetic. “When they get in my way. Or steal from me. I really hate liars.”

He brushed some sweaty hairs from your forehead. Almost lovingly. “But you are different. I knew it when I first saw you. Special. I knew I couldn't let you slip through my fingers. And we were perfect weren’t we?”

“It was all a lie,” You told him, trying to whisper but the loud music made you raise your voice at the same time. “You were never that person.”

“Of course I am, I’m just also a little more.” He signed at the bartender to come over, and of course the man came over immediately even if you tried to catch his attention for minutes before. “She'll have a sea breeze cocktail. And give me a beer, okay?”

Then he turned to you again. “We’re going to have a drink and we’re going to talk things out, and after, once I answered all your questions, you’re going to tell your friend we’ve made up. Just a silly misunderstanding.”

“I will not!” You hissed. “There’s nothing you can say that will make me change my mind.”

His eyes narrowed, even if the smile never left his face. “If you’re worried about her getting bored without you, don’t worry. Bucky will be happy to keep her company. Look, it seems they're getting along already.”

You recognized him after a second. Bucky. His best friend. He was smiling down at your friend, and his hands were on her hips and she peaked coyly from under her lashes at him as she let her finger trail over the opened collar of his shirt.

He turned you and pointed into the direction where you had left your friend on the dancefloor. She wasn’t alone. A big dark haired man was dancing close to her. Your friend was looking at him with that expression she used when she tried to lure men in, before they realised they’d be limping from her bed the next morning.

You stepped forward, or were going to, fully intend to put a stop to this, to get her away from him safely, when you got pulled back, and into a firm chest. You felt him lower himself so he could talk into your ear.

“Don’t. He won’t hurt her. He actually might be a little interested in her. Maybe you should let them get to know each other. It will give us time to work things out, and as long as we are talking, he’s got no reason to get to work. So what is it? Does Bucky get to have his well deserved day off, or do I need to put him to work and give some orders?”

You felt bile come up watching them and hearing Steve's words. You didn’t want to do this, you didn’t want to be near Steve, he terrified you. But your friend was in danger, that was sure. Tears sprung in your eyes and you tried to prevent them from rolling down and alerting anyone. It would not end well.

And even if you managed to escape now, what about your friend? And what about after? Steve had already proven he wasn’t going to let you go, and now he knew where she lived. And you knew he could get to any one of your family or friends. The only reason he hadn’t was because he wanted you to play along. Maybe hoped you would come to be okay with who he was. 

You wouldn’t be. But as much as you were frightened by him and by everything that was still a mystery to you, you didn’t think you could put anyone else in trouble.

You sighed, feeling the breath shakily come out.  “I, I think we can talk.”

His smile brightened. “Good, I’m glad baby. You’ll see, we can work this out. You have nothing to worry about. All you have to do is just hear me out. I’m sure we can get back to how things were, right? Although….I'm sure you know about my plans, Bucky was a little eager to spill, wasn’t he? He’s always been a sap. Romantic at heart. And who knows, maybe next year he’s going to be the lucky man at the way those two are eyeing each other right now. Reminds me of us. Like fate.”

He dragged you to the VIP area. Secluded. Alone. Your heart beating quicker with every step you took further away from your friend, further away from backup, further away from the freedom of what your life had been.

Taglist:

@rnurse-kole

@peaches1958

@alicedopey

@chickensarentcheap

@thezombieprostitute

@stargazingfangirl18

[silkieluv]

Found my old notebook from seventh grade and it has a full page dedicated to headcanons I had/have for Jay……. You know what that means!!

*First I’ll state all the headcanons, then I’ll comment about them

Deliberately did a poor job whenever it was his turn to clean to manipulate Zane into doing it instead

Isn’t the biggest fan of sea food, yet frequently pretends to like it (specifically in front of Nya)

Frequently oversleeps

Terribly afraid of spiders and giant animals

As a child was incredibly energetic and restless, often exhausting Ed and Edna

Still, nobody is aware of his adoption for the sole reason that he’s scared of having a meltdown if anyone asks ‘how do you know?’

Picked up driving faster than the others

Feels the need to make any serious situation/predicament into a joke, otherwise getting severe panic attacks

Bought a silly pajamas for 3999.99$ (aka got scammed), and isn’t allowed to shop at all (offline/online)

Has a collection of shiny stuff that Maya threw out, mistaking it for trash

Mild anger issues

Used to brush his teeth 5 times a day or -9 times

Bawled when watching Lion King. *After finishing the movie, Kai compared Jay to that crazy monkey

Star is his favorite shape

Shiny colors? Shiny colors!

Keeps handmade gifts

And now for my opinion….. if you have a different opinion of mine (like something I don’t/vise versa) and want to comment, but feel like you shouldn’t, you’re totally welcomed! Don’t listen to me, speak your mind!

Stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. He doesn’t need to ‘manipulate’ Zane, and Zane is smart enough to pick up on it. And if not, Cole and Kai will pick up after maximum two days (if you have siblings you know that you always search where your sibling is, to see if they’re also doing a chore to make sure they’re (God forbid) resting while you’re working) and tell Zane and get revenge on Jay. That scheme will not last for more than three days. Bonus: Jay confesses he just doesn’t know how to do it and Zane warmly offers to teach him

Somehow even more stupid? What led me to think about this? I would’ve agreed if only we would’ve known Nya was the water ninja before Possession. I can totally see Rise of the Snakes through Legacy of the Green Ninja Jay doing this, but it makes no sense if nobody knows about Nya’s powers. So, just no. (*because it’s out of character for Possession Jay to pretend, and I really want to believe Skybound Jay isn’t this pathetic)

Gyatt dammit. Funny how I wrote that then yet today I headcanon that he ‘never fully sleeps’ and even if he does hit the deep state, it’s never for long (I won’t elaborate about why, I think I reblogged some smart post talking about this and have been obsessed since)

Love the reminder I’ve always been a Skybound fan. You know what, Sure. I’ll humor you, younger, silly me. Sons of Garmadon with that crab? Yeah. Jay had a panic attack behind a giant rock. Adam from Master of the Mountain? Jay couldn’t sleep for two days.

Totally. Great headcanon! Lightning never sleeps. Enough said, your honor!

I wouldn’t say ‘nobody’s aware’… I’d like to think Nya has a vague memory of him screaming about his adoption back at the island (I headcanon that post-turning back from losing herself and her memories, she forgot most of Skybound thanks to my wonderful moot). I’d like to think he told the team, but keeping it a secret seems cute. Surely, Ed and Edna knows, as well as Wu

Sure. Why not, honestly. He had knowledge from video games, most likely travelled using a bicycle/motorcycle he built as a kid/teen, and is a fast learner. Seriously, cool

Way to state the obvious. Are we Joppy from seventh grade or Nadakhan from that one scene, am I right you guys? Plus I think a ‘panic attack’ is a little of an exaggeration of his situation. I would like to say that in stressful situations he often has the need to crack a joke. In case the situation isn’t fit for a joke, he plays in his head self-degrading jokes

NO. JUST NO. SHUT UP. He’s a very intelligent, smart, and most importantly, TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED man. He would NEVER IN A BAJILLION YEARS fall for a scam. He probably programmed that scam if anything!

Uh…. Sure? I’d like to think of Jay as a hoarder (he literally grew up in a junkyard), and one day he was like “So pretty…” and started collecting. Probably stuff from their adventures! (Like stolen a little something in Legacy of the Green ninja, the last episode (I think) WHATEVER THE BEQUEATH EPISODE, got himself a golden tooth from Misfortune’s Keep, stole Morro’s remains— there’s a lot of possibilities!)

Again. Canon. Get original dammit.

Makes no sense, not sure what I meant by that. I probably meant that he either brushes his teeth 48 times a week (double than the required/normal/advised amount), or he brushes his teeth nine times a whole month. Uh…. No….? The ninja probably have a routine of doing things like that together (probably as a competition to start the day with a punch), and as a kid I believe his ma always reminded him of self-care (based on her screaming for water in Hands of Time)

I never watched the Lion King. Idk why I felt the need to headcanon this, but now I headcanon the whole team secretly hate that movie and agreed to never see it. something about it being ‘overrated’ (Kai secretly watched it) (he was ignored for a day) (Zane and Pixal secretly watched it together) (their crime is still unfound)

Superstar Rocking Jay based. Love.

Okay that I have no idea. I think I meant neon colors or something, but I think I was referring to something about Superstar Rocking Jay?? I don’t know what to say since I have no idea wtf does it mean

Cute. I’d like to think he has a special drawer/place to put everything he got as a gift that was handmade (it’s mostly full with things from his ma)

[fantasticalleigh]

Thanks for the tag! This is such an interesting idea and I’ve enjoyed seeing all the responses. I had to do some digging to find my oldest art and turns out i don’t remember where much of it is and i guess i haven’t backed it up anywhere so as of now some of the oldest stuff i have is from 2017/18.

OLDEST ART I CAN FIND: 2017-18

For a long time I considered myself as mostly a portrait artist. I loved drawing people's faces and had a fear and aversion to drawing full bodies. All of these are from 2018 (the black and white one might be 2017) but I wish I'd been able to find even older art than these because the skill jump was huge between high school and my first couple years in uni. In high school I never really used references when drawing and despite taking a ton of art classes I never really paid attention to the fundamentals so whatever I made would come out looking wonky. So fast forward to freshman year of uni and I really started taking that more seriously and I would find images I liked of celebrities and draw them as closely as I could. I was also dabbling in ballpoint pen drawings at the time but couldn't crack a proper technique until later.

I mainly did only traditional art until I got my first job after high school and could save up for an XP Pen drawing monitor and I started dabbling in digital art. I'd owned a pen tablet before from Wacom years before but it was also the kind that had no screen on it and I hated the experience of drawing on a blank slate but needing to keep my eyes on my laptop screen. It felt extremely unnatural so I only used it a few times and then gave up. So having a tablet with a screen directly on it opened up a whole new world for me but I really struggled with learning the ins and outs of digital art. I hated everything I was making but was determined to get better, and the most important thing was I knew I didn't want to go for the level of realism that I usually liked in traditional art. I liked doing cartoony stuff a lot too so I wanted to explore new styles through digital.

FIRST ART POSTED ONLINE

It was difficult to find the actual first art I ever posted online! I have some ancient Deviant Art accounts that probably still have that old art but I don't have the login stuff anymore ;-; I started using instagram in 2012 but sort of don't use that account on the left anymore. Once Instagram implemented AI a couple years ago I sort of nuked it and ended up deleting most of my archive on that account. I mainly use that account to message irl friends. But my earliest art on IG was all straight from my sketchbooks and most of it was like chicken scratch. Very messy, unpolished, and rushed.

I've pretty much always done tons of fan art. I drew the Draco Malfoy thing in the middle for a Dramione fic I was writing at the time--this must have been 2016 or 17... I was/am obsessed with Kylo Ren (and reylo in general) so I drew him a ton. I also was working on my own OCs (the Knight lady in the second image at the top of this post). My art professors at uni kept pushing me to get out of my box and focus on more conceptual/non fan art stuff which I found terrifying. By this point I was growing more comfortable with digital art--in 2020 I (perhaps irresponsibly) used my pandemic stimulus check to buy an ipad and apple pencil and procreate and having a smaller, more portable tablet made it so much easier to practice more often and I think that's when digital art really started clicking for me even though it took a lot longer to actually start developing my own style. I made a second art account on instagram (with this current username) to post all my fanart in since one professor told me it might be unprofessional for me to host fan art on my "serious" art account.

MOST RECENT STUFF:

The top two are admittedly from 2021 but I was and still am super proud of that entire body of work. For my art major senior 'thesis' I had to develop a body of work and set it up in an exhibition at uni. I threw myself into that and by then had really managed to nail down a good ballpoint pen technique that satisfied what I wanted to portray in my art. This process involved layers and layers of delicate hatching with ballpoint pens and it ruined my eyesight and because each piece took me so long I was experiencing wrist pain often. The whole series was supposed to be about fear and madness, hence the super garish and intense colors and weird imagery. I made like 10 or so drawings like this but I haven't really made any more ballpoint stuff since. It just takes way too long and I burnt myself out severely just completing that body of work but I'm still really proud of it. Maybe I'll return to the pens one day...

As for the digital stuff, since I graduated uni I jumped headlong into further developing my digital body of work. Most of it still is admittedly fan art but nothing else has helped me grow quite like fan art so no issue there. I've made several short and long form comics and worked on more illustrative stuff. I have other/new OCs and ships that I draw quite often when I'm not making wrestling fan art and I try to push myself to keep going out of my comfort zone. I have always haaated drawing backgrounds or ornamental stuff but for the past while I've challenged myself to really give a shit and actually put in the effort and it's slowly paying off. I'm still not 100% satisfied with where I am now but compared to where I started I think it's pretty neat :')

Ok here's a little thing i thought would fun for any artists to show off their progress at learning art (plus I'm nosey🤭).

Show off the oldest drawings you did (or the oldest that you can still find), the first things you were confident enough to upload online, and your most recent drawings and talk about them and show off how much you've progressed :)

Probably gonna end up missing some people, but I'm tagging a bunch of cool artists I follow/am mutuals with and am nosey to see how they started out, but no pressure :)

@fantasticalleigh, @thlayli-ra, @heelhausen, @stupidmarkzone, @2ndcitynightmare, @punk-o-ween, @normallypassingby, @tvheit, @seasonal-depression-of-punk

And if you wanna have a look at my old stuff, I've got it below =)

Oldest Drawings I Can Find

Of course, the first is an OC. Never did anything with her tho. Notice the lack of forehead and elbows, the arms that barely reach the hips, how indishtinguishable each part of the body is from one another. They're a perfectly smooth pole. and of course those wings. This is the first thing in my first proper sketchbook when I decided I was gonna start taking art more seriously. This would have been when i started secondary in 2014 at 11 years old. And I can't find anything from before that, since I never kept anything in a proper book/folder.

Second image is another of the first drawings in the book. It was my first closeup of a face, and also my first time drawing anime. I know I'm not the only artist who was desperate to learn to draw an anime-style as a kid. I remember doing this while on holiday, trying to follow an online tutorial, taking about 4 hours to get the outcome I did, and getting so frustrated that I couldn't get it to look right, that I was almost brought to tears. I'm pretty sure this was one of those "I'm never drawing again! >:(" moments, lol. Looking back, it was a pretty good first attempt. But I guess I was always a bit of a perfectionist, lol. Funnily enough, while I carried the anime eyes forward in my art style for years, to this day, I still can't draw a proper full anime style character.

First Drawings I Uploaded Online

I put these on insta to show my mates from school. The first picture was an attempt at a close up face with the new brush markers i'd got for christmas. This was 2017 just before i turned 14. Pretty sure I copied the design from an art tutorial book, that was supposed to be hyper-realistic (another christmas present). But I just couldn't bring that to life so just did what I could. Also, first time I used a signature. My signature's very different nowadays cos it's based on my tumblr username and not me actual name. But yeah. I was tryna get more professional I guess.

Second pic is the first full body piece I uploaded a few days later. Again, used the drawing books trying to learn how to draw flowy clothes. Think it was a book about drawing anime clothes that I used for this (another christmas present). By this point, each body part could move seperately and had joints. Also note the anime eyes, cos my simpler-but-still-anime-inspired eyes were something I stuck with a long ass time. This was the style I drew most often, and could usually do without having references (but obviously for this drawing specifically, I had the reference for the clothes). Had a lot of trouble with perspective, so all my characters faced forward, and later they would always face a 3/4 angle. And they could never lean or reach forwards cos I just couldn't get that to look right.

Most Recent Pieces

The most most recent is on the left, being my most recent closeup of a face. Still has a cartoonish edge with the lineart but much more realistic. And I'm fucking with this semi-realistic look atm. Tbh I dunno if i'd have the patience for the tiny details in hyperrealism. Also, fun story, in 2021 when I was doing my a-levels, I did an art piece that we were free to do in any style we wanted, and my teacher saw mine and was like “I wish you’d done it as realism instead of a cartoon style :(“ but it was actually my best attempt at realism and she hadn’t even realised. So I dunno, maybe I’m not cut out for realism 😂😂 I like my style rn tho so who cares

Then I got my most recent drawing of a (almost) full body. I got joints and decent hands and proportions and more body details.

Also this last year is the first time I've really got into digital. I always used to just do pen and paper. I even got a cheap drawing tablet, but couldn't get used to drawing on one surface and the image being up on a seperate screen. So I could never get the lines right. I did draw on my old ipad for a while which was easier, but the stylus was one of those with the thick rubber ball on the end, rather than a fine nib. Again, I had trouble cos I couldn't tell where it would register the contact with the screen and draw the line, which made it hard to do details. I got a new ipad a little while back that supports apple pencil, so I got one for it. And it's so much easier now that I've got a fine nib and can see where I'm drawing. I'm in love with drawing digital atm.

But yeah. That's how i've drawn over the years. Mental to see how much my style has changed and improved :) makes me feel better when I get frustrated with a drawnig and think I'm shit. Cos I know I'm getting better with each new drawing, even if it's only baby steps.

First: Now:

[anewp0tat0]

i lied i had like atleast one more weston thought to expell from my brain, before i miss this boat entirely. we're heading to green lands woooo

[edwinisms]

you ever think about how edwin got like. no warning, no time time to process, nothing, when he reappeared on earth faced with the fact that virtually everyone he knew in life is dead. his parents? probably died in the 1950s or so (at best) almost forty years prior to edwin’s return. if any of his classmates were still around, they’d have been elderly, possibly senile, and in a few years they’d all be gone– except, of course, edwin. nothing looks the same, cars look like spaceships, there actually are spaceships, he can no longer see the stars, and everyone he knew is dead.

[liliputkalin]

#fucki t#i saw it around the evening but i thought that if i start tagging i would lose the time i needed to make the final assignments#its almost 2:30 am lets see

sorry for ruining your sleep <3/j hope it was worth it <33

#first of all DUDE SERIOUSLY?? ? ? ? YOU JUST WENT AND DREW TWO PICTURES BC YOU STRUGGLED WITH ONE ?? ? ? IDK HOW IT WORKS BUT YAAAAYYY !!!#CRYING WHAT THE FUCK#No i think the first one is my fav so lets start with the second#okay i looked closer at the second one and now im not so sure which i like more augh well nvm ! looking at these colors. theres probably so#some blending mode business is going on (which is socool theyre so difficult to me personally i can never make those work) all in all it#looks like postcard paper? or some yelowwed paper buut if blue color faded instead of red

Its called gradient maps and they are my best friends <3 I love using them when I cant come up with a pallete,,,, also used posterization a lot, it makes such funky textures!! and the colors that come out are soooo cool,,,

#my main focus is the wd (kelp cant keep track of names) and it has this one blue repeating throughout the whole thing + some purples + peac#+ thiss orangish grey?? it looks really orange in this context i dont even know what it is and Green. you could literally colorpick rainbow#from it . bro managed to sit his ass on it lets pray for his pants <3 DAMn colorwizardry again on his arms goddamn it ! ! AW HES SMILING#like his dreads here . tbh whenever i make a kelp sketch page (oka that happened at least two times) i try drawing him from the back just#just cuz im still not sure. but this looks legit mb ill use it as a ref lol ! using noxs drawing for the front and yours for the back lol#whose oc is that ToT also his hand is so cute here i cant <3 dying from this purpl#also thank you for giving him oversize goddamn hed actually like it a lot. like now thinking about it. in modern au hed need a hoodie#a hoodie 1.5 times bigger than him. and a tshirt with sleeves falling lower than his elbows... . i recently tried to figure out his adult#version design and im shifting my focus now. . . my idea was like sd-scaled almost-knight but no he needs to be a dementor with 14 layers#the wd is smiling <3 i like how you always make them so Long and so roller-coaster shaped theyre literally a крендель also the air perspect#perspective is peak it almost fades into sky color ! now thinking about it wds are perfect dragons for stuff like that cuz theyre so long

I actually wanted to make him come out of a cave or something but it just didnt work :( so flying under stones it was,, I glad I got the back view ok :33

#textre brus . . . OR WAIT NO ITS NOT THIS HATCHING IS MADE BY HAND 0_0 WOAHG.. . . idk something about this mountain thingie is#just so cool. this hatching is just right also i like how wds body ended up significantly lighter than it due to the air perspective. this#this may be the least intuitive composition desidion for me actually wait. so instead of making the mountain rly light you lightened the wd#you go girl this is fire . its like chessboard. does it make sense#anyway a little moment of appreciation for the green on the little mountain closer to camera bc 1. it is awesome 2. looking at your brain#under microscope. IT EVEN CONTINUES UNDERWATER GIRL HOW oh this is made w a texture brush i found it >:)#tho mb its all a texture brush just its so small i dont see </3#im running out of tags so just know im just sitting here zooming in and out

>:3333

#part two what do you mean ive been sitting here for an hour i need to wake at 7 . okey speeding up guys#аа кто такие фиксики большой большой секрет or idk what theyre trying to say w this hand gesture but they both look like theyre having fun

They'r saying hi <333

#no actually three of them look like theyre having fun and zhora looks like he knows hes the most strong and majestic creature on earth#like he took a biiiig breath and is about to make a super powerful wing flap#the way this wing is folded is honestly amazing zhora has never been this powerful and i reallllllly like the lil hatching under his wing#i generally like your hatching a loooot DAMN ON THE BELLY TOO LOOK GUYS#the crown (tubes?? ? idk what to call those i think those are a sort of receptors for chemicals and electricity) being purple here#is amazing. still love the 'thunderdrums are colored like tropical toads' hc ANd still havent researched the toads to choose smth for him#hes a chameleon you dont get it/j also wd is darkgreen + light green for the crown and zhora is orange with rather dark purple for the crow

I think they're supposed to be external gills in canon but i love your take on them as the tubes. they look so neat that way!!

#i just find it sweet. in actual plotline they dont interact a lot i believe i have like 1 little story for them and thats it#but i think aqu would find him cute :) i like their face here theyre joyful for once BUT IM already impatient to go for the first pic bc#bc its just amazing im dying from this compo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!! and colors !!!!!!!! like its not as experimental as 2 but its ve#very readable. come on you know it is ! everything here serves composition dark lord and cunt#aqu is fucking amazing. and adorable. sorry i liked the backview more but iddkdidk it makes me feel feelings#almost. almsot makes me think about whatever their story is. they unlike kelp dont really have one bc theyre ME but maybe. maybe

👀🤲🤲🤲🤲 story? story of aqu???

#their purple is amazing and the way the vest is shaded w lasso is amazing and the pose is amazing and the sleeves are amazing#waving their stupid little hand <3 kelp what are you saying their ass is Not Listening OH WAIT I GOT IT THEYRE COMMUNICATING THROUGH#HAND GESTURES. I GOT IT I GOT IT !!! kelp yu lk need headphones too bc the second zhora opens his mouth youre having a panic attack#a man who gets flashbacks from loud dragon noises is forced to hang out with thunderdrums and screaming death(deathS >:)))) )#bc the life is unfair. aw his nosee !!!!!!!! hes so cute i cant im dying ! helmet tho. .. . . . OH MY FUCKING GOD WDS FACE.. 0_0#ITS GIVING... . I GENUINELY MEAN IT AS A COMPLIMENT PLS IT MAY SOUND WEIRD BUT ITS GIVING MOBILE GAMES LOADING SCREEN VIBES#LIKE ONE OF THOSE GAMES WHERE THE PLOT AND LORE IS EPIC AH BUT THE GAMEPLAY IS BORING SHIT THEY WOULD KILL FOR THIS FACE#THIS FACE ON THEIR LOADING SCREEN OR EVEN THEIR ICON TBH!!! idk i think its the reflection in the eye that got me#so wow. and the nosehorn is cool too this faceshape is generally peak#a little mwah to their wings theyre very volumous. AND ZHORA'S WINGS OMG THE SPOTS!!! ZHORA'S LEFT WING NHHH#thats so cool. same brush as the sky. the most random brush in the world why does it work so well#its here in the waves too ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh#the waves........................................#the wavessssssssssssssssss.............................................#exciting piece

my reaction to all of that ^

btw the night pic was done on 90% lasso tool <3 i only used a scetter brush for stars <333 went a little insane honestly once i got the understanding for lasso tool...

@tanasha-not-yet

hey. its yo boisssssss!!!

[greyedian]

MAN I'm seriously so sad about season 2. Bc I wish act 2 had the same emotional impact on me as it appears to have on so many others. But rn I'm just somewhere between unable to care and actively annoyed by some of those writing decisions. Seriously the more I think about it the less I like it.

[archersgoon]

being trans in charyn must be a fucking nightmare. imagine arjuro doing your bottom surgery. collegiati assisting. good god. like im sure the man's a good surgeon but his bedside manner...

[hana-bobo-finch]

tis here!! My stupid little beta pdbc comic!! UHHHHH

additional ramblings because I don’t know how to stop yapping:

I know the ending is extremely abrupt but honestly? I can’t even lie I think it’s funnier and somehow more in character that way. There is no way in hell he’d question what just happened he’d just lay on the floor and say “alas!” As if that is in any way is a proper response to what just happened. So no apologies for that, I genuinely think the ending is amazing and won’t hear anything else. Alas.

I WAS REALLY SCREWED OVER WITH THE TEN IMAGE MOBILE LIMIT SO THE PACING IS VERY IFFY!! That alongside the fact I wanted to get this out as quickly as possible to gauge opinions and such—therefore making this much less detailed than I’d like to have made it, yes that’s my own fault I know—means that I couldn’t properly show what the briar zome is like (HEARTBREAKING). It’s a lot more spacious and unending than what’s shown here. In this it only looks like you’re there for a few minutes but experiences there can last up to a week. There are also a lot more thorns and spiked vines, it’s just that, like I said, I wanted to get this posted quickly and coloring in all of those spikes probably took more time than some of the drawings themselves. Had I made this as accurate to canon as possible, it would be much more visually cluttered. The briar zome is VERY hard to traverse because almost everything is covered in thorns (hence the name). Also worth noting that although it’s seemingly wintry there, there’s no actual temperature in the briar zome which is why pumpkin daddy is not fucking freezing to death (you have to look DAPPER when you’re illegally eating crabs)

This technically isn’t canon. This is a mishmash of all of the stuff I have about the briar zome, but in canon it’s all much more spread out, e.g. the eyes weren’t discovered until a few trips in when they actually bothered trying to figure out if/where the briar zome ends, in which BAM they found a buncha eyes!! Speaking of the eyes, their official names are Sotes, and where they’re found is called the “Eyes Rink” (GET IT!!! EYES!!! ICE!!! GET I-💥💥💥)

you’re probably wondering what the Miika chimp incident is, which is a fair thing to be wondering, however I will not be elaborating because I think it’s funnier that way. sorry (I am not at all sorry)

AND THE TIIIIIIME yes indeed the time works differently there. As one could. Probably guess by the wack-ass watch positions. The briar zome does in fact have its own time system that’s displayed differently than most would be used to. Alas, I had to cut that part short because I realized I was quickly running out of pages and I really wanted space to draw some of those beautiful beautiful eyeballs. I has this whole lecture about different types of watch hand designs and their names but that was unfortunately cut for time (ironically)

anyway uh. hope this was somewhat enjoyable? *EXPLODES*

[honeyconez]

guys hear me out would painis cupcake pay taxes? Because he’s not like mega insane like ass pancakes I think he’d pay his taxes in my professional opinion.

[vibingforjudaism]

I need a therapist who I can argue with and who will give me jewish advice ....a rabbi. I need a rabbi

[beatersdoitbetter]

Ember couldn’t help but to continue to grin down at Anne as they entered the theater and made their way to the wall of posters. There was a fair few of them, though most didn’t really seem to be the kind of thing Ember would particularly enjoy. She didn’t mind though, as long as it was something Anne might like. Her eyes scanned over their various options, noting the way her girlfriend lingered at the horse poster (of course she did) and grimacing at the sight of the Wolf Man one. She wasn’t entirely sure what kind of portrayal Muggles would make of someone like her, but she had absolutely no interest in finding out. The look on Anne’s face said she didn’t either, thankfully. There didn’t seem to be much of those… drawn movies she liked available today and the other seemed a bit… gushy. Her eyes scanned the row of posters again, not sure which one to pick but leaning towards the one with the horse if only because she figured Anne would probably like that one the best. She glanced down at the blonde, a small smile forming on her blueing lips at the question of what films she had liked. That was an easy one. She could still vividly remember the very first time she and Eveleen had come here together, the Ravenclaw insisting that Ember would love it if she just gave it a go. The redhead had been wary but had caved and come back out of the theater awestruck a couple of hours later, absolutely gobsmacked by the wonder she had just experienced. She had insisted on seeing it at least twice more before the summer had been over. She’d been sad when it wasn’t still playing come winter.

“How to Train Your Dragon.” The Gryffindor admitted, not an ounce of embarrassment on her face. “It was the only film playing at the time that me’n’Eveleen didn’t need an adult to see. It was… I’d never seen anything like that before, y’know? Even if the dragons were so inaccurate Eveleen almost had to drag me out the theater the first time we went. She kept telling me it wasn’t supposed to be correct because Muggles think dragons are a myth. If I didn’t know they’d actually swallow me whole, I’d’ve traded in me broomstick for a Night Fury. Maybe. I haven’t seen it since but… I think it’s still my favorite one. I wish they’d play it here again, but they only do newer stuff.”

Ember sipped at her slushie in contemplation, temporarily releasing Anne’s hand to wander over to ticket counter, leaning up against the glass. She stared at the pimply twenty-something man boredly sweeping up some popcorn that had spilled onto the floor until he glanced at her and sighed.

“Whaddayawan’, Ember?” He asked, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow at her as though they had had many a conversation before in the past and he always found them less than amusing.

“The film with the horse. Does it die?” Ember asked as seriously as one can when their mouth is a vivid shade of slushie blue.

“What?”

“The horse, Pat. Does the horse die?” The redhead rolled her eyes as though her question beforehand should have been obvious. “I’m not taking my girl to a film just to have her cry after.”

“That’s a kid’s film.”

“And?”

“And the horse doesn’t die.” Pat sighed, shaking his head. “It’s the main character, but it’s for kids. You’d be better off with something like Wolf Man. Now that’s a good one. It’s got this-”

“We want two for the horse film.” Ember insisted, not bothering to let Pat finish trying to explain about the god awful wolf movie that would probably make her stomach turn and spew the entirety of her slushie up on the floor.

“Suit yerself.” Pat shrugged, punching the order into the register.

“And a large popcorn.”

“And popcorn. You know you’re not supposed to bring in outside food.” Pat chided, though his heart didn’t seem to be in it.

“Like anyone ever follows that rule.” Ember laughed, knowing full well that Pat didn’t actually care even if he always managed to mention it. It had never stopped her and Eveleen, knowing the shop across the way was much cheaper than the inflated prices of the theater. “Babe, we’re going to the horse film.” She announced to Anne, even her teeth tinted a bit blue as she grinned at her. “That’s the one you want, right?” She double checked, knowing she shouldn’t assume but… well, it was Anne and it was a horse… The odds were in her favor.

“No Eveleen?” Pat asked as he handed off the tickets and started filling one of the red and white striped bags with popcorn and extra butter. “You guys break up?”

“What? No. We’d never break up. She’s spending the spring holidays with her boyfriend.” Ember laughed, shaking her head at the absurdity. While she and Eveleen had had an awful falling out because of Ember’s own stupidity after being bitten, if there was one thing for certain in this world, it was that they would always be together. Best mates for life, no matter what came their way.

“Her… boyfriend…?” Pat asked, seeming flummoxed.

“My brother, yeah.” Ember beamed, even more amused by the extra wave of confusion that fell across the poor man’s face.

“You have a brother?!”

“Yep.” The redhead shrugged, grabbed up the popcorn bag with one arm, pinning it against her chest with the same one holding her slushie cup, leaving her other hand still free to grab up Anne’s. “See you.” She nodded and turned, checking the number on the tickets for the right theater. “Ready, dove?”

Bro</3ken

“You just have to work on your balance.” Ember insisted, her blue eyes shining as she held on tight to Anne’s hands. Spring had finally arrived and with it had come the blossoming of early flowers, the budding of leaves, and the melting of snow. The sun was shining today, warming the earth up more than it had been in ages and with it returned the chirping of birds. The last month and a half had been mostly wonderful aside from the unbearable amount of homework the seventh years were being assigned. When she wasn’t stuck studying or, better yet, practicing for Quidditch, Ember was with her friends. She spent the majority of her free time with Anne, laughing over ridiculous things, kissing until their lips were sore, and snuggling up in bed at night together with no worry about who knew. Ember had finally, at last, completely ditched sleeping in a shirt when she was with Anne, which had made her little blonde girlfriend smile and kiss her all the harder. The worry over her scars, at least when it came to Anne, was mostly gone. Ember still had her doubts and refused to change or shower in front of anyone else, even Eveleen, but with Anne it was easier. She continued to kiss at Ember’s scars, working her way down from her neck and back up again, whispering ‘I love yous’ into her flesh with her hot lips and warm breath until they were a tangle of limbs and moans with a mild bit of hair pulling.

Ember was filling out more as well, her body definitely more on the healthy side than it had been at the beginning of the school year. Her face no longer had signs of that sunken gaunt look it had previously held, she had ditched the need for a belt on her jeans, and her shirts had mostly gone back to hugging her body in all the right places. She was eating more than just apples, indulging in things she enjoyed again, finding that being back with the ones she loved was much more beneficial to her health than pushing them away had been to hers or theirs. She, Eveleen, and Coal were as close as they had ever been, for the most part. The main difference was that the latter two were doing a fair bit of their own bed rolling together and thus, she couldn’t just slam open Eveleen’s door like she used to expect for Sundays after noon. Unfortunately, the closer they got to the end of the year, the frizzier Eveleen’s hair was becoming, a clear indication of stress for the Ravenclaw. This time though, it had a lot more to do with school than other things. Their N.E.W.Ts were coming up in June and they only had a couple of months left to really prepare before it would be fail or pass, affecting their whole futures and the jobs they would be able to get once they graduated. That was the main reason Eveleen and Coal had stayed behind at school while Ember and Anne had retreated back to the sanctity of the little cottage in Ireland.

“There you go, you’ve nearly got it!” The redhead encouraged as she side stepped a bit, her eyes flickering from Anne’s face to the old skateboard under her girlfriend’s feet. It was still in good shape despite being a bit beaten up, but it was a hand-me-down that Ember had owned since she was about ten and Ack had given up on it. As it turned out, being able to balance easily on a broomstick had given the redhead an advantage when it came to learning how to skateboard, that and an unhealthy amount of courage when it came to falling off of it. She’d come back to the house banged up, bruised and bleeding with a huge grin on her face and no regrets. After all, on a skateboard, the ground was much closer than it ever was when she was on her broom, and she’d fallen off of that plenty of times without dying or breaking her neck. Plenty of broken bones and a couple of concussions, but nothing too serious. Ember barely noticed anymore when she broke her nose when she was going to fast to stop properly and ran into a tree or something. It would bleed as she laughed and Eveleen would sigh, snapping it right back into place with a spell that left Ember cursing because that part actually twinged a fair bit. Now that the weather was nice, the redhead had decided that it was time for Anne to learn how to ride a skateboard too. After all, she could ride a horse and fly on a broom, so this shouldn’t be too difficult. Unfortunately, while Anne’s core strength was remarkable, her balance while standing wasn’t quite as good as when she was sitting. Still, Ember was excited to share something with her, her heart feeling light as the sun stayed warm on her shoulder, hoodie keeping off the wind, and she watched Anne’s honey hair glisten as it was picked up and put down by the breezes, dancing upon her head like so many fine little tendrils of grass. It reminded Ember of the clearing they had ended up in on the Winter Solstice, of the long grass there, how the clearing had been so warm and welcoming despite the wintry weather around them. Their first time together, only days after their first official date but Ember wouldn’t have change it for anything. She and Anne? They were meant to be together, she felt it in her very bones every time she saw that wry smile on her girlfriend’s beautiful face. Every time she clutched the little resin heart hanging by her key on her chain.

The skateboard lurched a bit and Ember looked down as her girlfriend stepped off of it with one foot so as not to tumble completely even with Ember holding onto her. “It’s your skirt.”

The older Gryffindor reached down and untangled the fabric from one of the skateboard wheels, the pink floral print on white now dirty but, well, Anne never cared about stuff like that. She released Anne’s hands then, reaching out, instead, to her waist. She snuck under the hem of her girlfriend’s shirt and grabbed at the elastic holding her skirt up, pulling it higher and then folding it back down so that the edge of the skirt was up higher, out of the way. “There, that should…”

“Emmmiie!” Ember looked up, her head turning to stare at her house just down the lane a bit. They hadn’t gone far, so it wasn’t hard to hear her mother as she came around the corner from the back of the cottage dragging along a red wagon full of bags and baskets of produce. “I need you to deliver these down in town. The list is in the pouch.”

“Aye, Mammy.” Ember sighed and reached down, removing the skateboard from the ground and holding it under one arm while reaching for Anne’s hand with the other. She gave it a squeeze as she started back for the cottage. “Sorry. We can do more later. Should only take a couple of hours. You can come if you want. Me and Eveleen used to do it all summer. I’d board and she’d sit in the wagon and make a day out of it. Mam usually hooks it up to her bicycle though, it’s easier.”

Ember grinned, thinking about all of the times Eveleen had climbed into the back of the wagon, knees bent and off to the sides to leave plenty of room for bags and baskets. Ember would grab hold of the wagon’s handle and down the lane they would go, wind blowing through their hair as they laughed, chattering away about anything and everything. After they had made all of their deliveries, they would end up down at the ice cream parlor, lapping up cones nearly as big as their heads. Eveleen always got the triple chocolate chunk, Ember tried to change it up but she usually ended up with the cinnamon apple crumble crisp anyway. They would trail along the sidewalks, eating their ice cream, skateboard in the wagon, one hand each on the handle as they pulled it behind them. Sometimes they ended up at the local playground, a place Ember had never been to before Eveleen. It was fun, swinging from the bars and climbing up the slides, chasing one another around until Eveleen was too hot to continue. She always wore out faster than Ember, but the redhead had never minded it. They’d rest on the swings for a bit, then make their way to one of the shops for slushies that turned their mouths blue and snacks for when they were up late giggling in Ember’s little bedroom. Meghan never minded it, listening to the noise across the hall with a smile on her face. Her girls, safe and sound and oh so happy. Though those days had passed, Ember still remembered them fondly. Maybe this summer she and Eveleen could retrace their steps if they had time. Get ice cream, go to the playground and make their mouths absolutely blue beyond reason. Of course, looking at Anne, she realized that they could do those things together as well. Maybe not all of them, it wouldn’t be the same without Eveleen, but it had been a long time since Ember had a slushee. Her eyes fell on Anne’s face again.

“D’you like slushees? Or uh… we could go do deliveries and catch a… a… the Muggle thing with the pictures that move but aren’t like our pictures that move? On that big wall thing with the chairs and the popcorn.” The first time Eveleen had gotten her to go into that place with her, Ember had nearly lost her damn mind. Partly because Muggles had managed to make these things without magic and partly because the dragons on the screen had looked nothing like actual dragons, but Eveleen had covered her mouth when she’d tried to argue the point and been hushed by several annoyed people behind them.

[baekuras]

sometimes i reread sections to make sure the line between actual canon characterization vs my deeper thoughts on that vs my stupid having fun thoughts aren't blurred

i forgot how fucking many suits Asmodean just brought(?) with him to the waste and beyond I-did he steal them? Channel them? Lanfear said she brought him "out of that hole" (paraphrased-i am not looking that convo up rn) so did she pay for them or steal them? Did they both decide a shopping trip was in order? Idk if Kadere would be the kind of darkfriend-peddler to bring a bunch of silk and velvet suits and matching pants and boots with him ESPECIALLY since he didn't even know he was around 2 Forsaken the entire time

also shoutout to him walking off to get Rand's horse as ordered and deciding an outfit change was in order as well-SIR WHEN THE FUCK EVEN AND WHY?