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Before Yuri Day ends, does anyone want to admit they have a crush on me 💕😘

IT FUCKIN YURI DAAAAAAAAAAAY

[uchidachi]

So apparently Illario was supposed to wear nail polish? Which is hot, but I made it (kind of) sad, my bad. And then I was thinking about Bellara getting him a present and this came out.

Pairing: Illario x Bellara, established relationship Rating: G

It is a beautiful, compact display case - clean lines of dark wood and clear panes of glass - that fits in with the motif of the rest of his room. There are even crows carved along the sides although the shape of them is a little too soft, not quite angular enough.

And inside, neatly arranged by saturation in all the colors of the rainbow, are dozens of bottles of nail polish - more than Illario remembers owning. A few of them shimmer with flecks of glitter.

"Where did this come from?" he asks.

"Hm?"

Bellara is not paying attention to him, face pinched in focus and tongue poking out the side of her mouth. She's holding tweezers, concentrating on fitting two small bits of metal together for whatever larger piece is strewn across his desk. It's supposed to burn things - or does it play music? Maybe both.

He waits until he hears her small cheer of success to avoid startling her around something that might explode, then he poses himself with his foot tapping and clears his throat to try again.

"I asked, where did this come from?"

"Huh? Sorry," Bellara apologizes. She only glances up at him briefly, but at least he has some of her focus now. "Where did what come from?"

He gestures at the box again, hand waving impatiently. "This."

"Oh, I asked my mom to make it. I found those at the bottom of a drawer when I was putting your clothes away, and I figured you show off all your jewelry and make up and stuff but there was no space for them."

There are so many things wrong, he's not even sure where to start. No matter how many times he tells her that they pay people to clean, she insists on helping the maids. And as if digging through his belongings wasn't enough, she is rearranging his room now, adding more than just the clutter of the artifacts and journals she brings over. With something made by her mother no less - she talked to her mother about him?

He wants to tell her that he hardly uses the polishes which is why they were tucked away, that she can take the whole thing away and get rid of it, that she should stop touching his things.

"Anyway, you always look so happy when you paint your nails," she adds, oblivious to his silent outrage. "So I thought if they were out, you'd remember to do it more."

Something cracks painfully in his chest. He does like to manicure his hands but the colors - it's too frivolous even for him, Caterina had said, obvious, harder to change immediately if he needs to. Clothes can be swapped like identifies, make up wiped off to change to the shape of his face, but nail lacquer takes longer to remove. It chips off during his work, makes him look sloppy then, and even when he wears gloves, he can still feel Caterina's disapproving gaze.

(Buried somewhere deep in the back of his mind in a place he steadfastly refuses to acknowledge, somewhere small and warm and where he lasts remembers feeling safe, he sat with his mother and held her hands while she helped him color each finger a different hue.)

So he opens his mouth to tell her that he absolutely does not need a display to showcase polish that he should have thrown out anyway, but what actually comes out is, "And what about your nails?"

"Me?"

"Yes," Illario declares. She has a hangnail that's been driving him crazy for two days, and he can use the opportunity to take care of her cuticles and the ragged edges of her nails; he can work on ignoring the display case after. "You're a mess."

"I guess," Bellara says while she lifts her hands to examine them. "Maybe after I finish with this?"

He walks over to her and digs a little into her trapezius. "You need a break before you develop a hunch."

"I'm fine," she protests, which is particularly unconvincing with the way she is melting back into him kneading her muscles.

"Oh? I could stop then."

"Maybe a small one," she concedes.

"Get your latest chapter," he decides and releases her. "You can read out loud, and I'll tell you what needs to be fixed while I work on your toes first."

"I can do that! I - wait, my toes?"

"Cara mia, you desperately need a pedicure. We might as well take care of both."

Bellara huffs in response, but she's already got her notebook in hand and is following him to the bathroom. "Do you remember where you left off last?"

"Yes, the character you refuse to admit is based off of me was being tragically and dramatically handsome while torn between his dangerous life and a beautiful woman."

"Lucanis took a lot of that out when he was editing it for me."

"I know - I added it back. My cousin's taste is pedestrian at best, and I am terribly attractive after all."

[uchidachi]

long time no surana art

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eevee goes to pride

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Gerbera (Hoa đồng tiền) | Fortune, Joy

Not an illustration, but a stamp design I made for @daflowerzine 🌿

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Rarepair enthusiasts will look at two characters who have never interacted and ask “is anyone gonna ship that?” And not even wait for an answer.

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okay, y'all can have another merehawke. as a treat

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Today's government mandated femslash couple of the day is

Peggy Carter and Angie Martinelli!

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Murder Triad sandwich I forgot to post here. See the full version on Bluesky so tumblr won’t bonk me <3

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Harding caught staring.

(Based on the Baby Tee photoshoot)

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THE BLACK EMPORIUM EXCHANGE RETURNS FOR 2025!

Black Emporium is a rare pair exchange that encompasses everything Dragon Age – provided they have less than 300* completed works on Ao3. Whether you’ve been a fan since the beginning or got in to it via Veilguard– whether you write snappy dialogue or draw detailed scenery – we want YOU to participate!

*Except for Rook; see our post about how we're handling that!

2025 Schedule

All deadlines are as of 9 AM US Pacific / 12 PM US Eastern / 4 PM UTC+0.

Nominations: June 24 - July 1

Signups: July 1 - July 12

Assignments Go Out: When mods are done matching (probably sometime on July 13th)

Works Due: August 24

Works Revealed: August 31

Authors Revealed: September 7

Links

AO3:

AO3 Nominations Tagset

2025 Subcollection

Parent Collection (all past years)

Resources:

Participation Walkthrough Guide

FAQ

Fun Spreadsheets & Other Useful Tools:

Searchable Nominations Spreadsheet

Request Database

Treatless List

Official Links:

Tumblr: @black-emporium-exchange

Dreamwidth Mirror: black-emporium

Discord invite

Questions? Email us at blackemporiumexchange@gmail.com!

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i'm sorry i don't know what came inside me. came into me. came over me. sorry.

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I redownloaded tinder but i’ve been ignoring it bc it sucks, and its constant attempts to get me to reopen the app are getting kinda creepy ngl

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“unbothered. moisturized. happy. in my lane. focused. flourishing.”

-Cassandra reading her smutty literature on the beach (don’t tell Varric)

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Now that the results are in from This Poll… The portal went both ways!! What a twist!! Now the PC that you voted for in the last poll has to take Rook’s place!

(If you didn’t get to vote in the last poll, just pick whichever option you would have voted for)

[uchidachi]

He GIVES the best hugs, no past tense, I refuuuuse that, and I needed to see these hugs realized so, here, indulge 💖

[uchidachi]

I’m doing a page of dragon age stuff but here’s bellara and assan for now :)