caede styles
@caede.sanctuary17223.com
1.6K followers 312 following 1.4K posts
author & illustrator of queer comedy fiction. 30↑ they/any 📚 books caedestyles.itch.io 🪦 #AbsurdTheatre 🌌 #Sanctuary17223 🔗 links linktr.ee/caedestyles 💬 ENG/DEU/日本語. oc大好き
![“Weeeeeell ...” He stretched out the word like stringy cheese, torn between wanting praise for having tried, and wanting to later swoop in like a hero who didn’t exactly save the day, but still did a very helpful thing.
His girlfriend’s comics had taught him that some developments were more fun with an extra sprinkle of — drama, he thought. Maybe he could have both.
“Not quite,” he told her. “Em’s pretty shy and you’re busy enough already, so I thought I’d try and borrow some mannequins for the event.”
“Aren’t you just the sweetest thing?”
“I am, aren’t I?”
Smirking, Vivienne squeezed his hand. “Did it go well, then?”
“Ah, so, about that,” Sorin said, somewhat accidentally, then slipped back into the semi-confident hero character he’d made up mere seconds ago. “It was going well. Too well, even—”
“Uh-huh, uh-huh.”
“But then I started thinking—”
“Did you now?”
“Their mannequins looked pretty same-y. All tall and slim and stuff.” Sorin scratched his cheek, feeling a little out of his element. “It’d be kinda bad if people thought their bodies had to be a certain way to look good in ropes and, y’know.”
The brief silence that followed had Sorin uncharacteristically worried he’d said something stupid. But next thing he knew, Vivienne pulled him around the corner and into a deep kiss that cleared his mind of any doubt.
The pleasant warmth of her mouth caressed his lower lip as she pressed him against the wall. Feeling her soft chest squeezing him, he reached for her sleeve as if on instinct, wanting so badly to take things further, to feel more of her.
Vivi chuckled into the kiss and nuzzled her nose against his face before pulling away. She fixed her bangs and continued holding Sorin in a gentle embrace.
“You do always think about us, don’t you?” she asked.
“O-of course I do.”
Seeing her boyfriend make such a cute face, Vivi couldn’t help but tease. “And about us... tied up? Tying you up, maybe?”
Flustered, Sorin tried to step aside, but Vivi’s hold on him was too [...]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hbldmq3e2k6dm6cjwowy34zg/bafkreidufwmatjuyaq6cm3gkltn45rgaa6sb5n64aw2ule5pbc3runxf2m)
![Black-and-white split-screen illustration of two sides of an interrogation table, with a single dangling light bulb separating the views. On the left, at a Dutch angle, Bianka stands confidently with her hands on the table and Eric sits shielding his face from the light, both in suits. On the right, Yanhua sits looking more than a little dubious of her current predicament. [Alt text adjusted from original by ebook producer subvertebra.bsky.social]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hbldmq3e2k6dm6cjwowy34zg/bafkreide2zy3ajt4lie3f5zlpo3wpoasf6wffoatvna3cd3umjdmpwzkmm)
![Black-and-white illustrated cast page for Act I, with theatre curtains pulled open to reveal a starry night sky, the full moon high overhead. Beneath the moon, the cast list is:
Eric Hanada: Actor, witch hunter. Bianka Dorn: Eric’s fiancée, witch on hiatus. Kuon: Magic cat. Yanhua Liu: Actress. Haruto Mitsuguchi: Police inspector. Kouki Wakao: Film director (stone-dead). Korone Hanada: Eric’s mother. Sonja Kasuga: Eric’s manager. Theo and Ruby: Shopkeeper and part-timer. Makoto Hibiki: Costume designer. Suzuki-san: Lawyer (not Bianka). Tanaka-kun: Paralegal (not Eric). Xuli Zhou: Lawyer (legitimate). At the very bottom of the list is Ayumu Kuroaki, whose role is obscured by the trailing, dripping-ink scarf of a thin man exiting stage right. He has short hair and wears a black beret, puff-sleeved white blouse, and a short graveyard-themed pleated skirt. [Alt text by ebook producer subvertebra.bsky.social]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hbldmq3e2k6dm6cjwowy34zg/bafkreih4f2pwb47g5wbz3xyjslvno5hrz47hs67hbxcmzdtpo7qtypttue)
![Black-and-white full-body illustration of Bianka and Eric in profile their bed, against the backdrop of a moonlit sky. Bianka, in her short nightdress, draws Eric closer with a hand on his shoulder and a smile on her face. Eric, undressed from the waist up with his top surgery scarring visible, holds himself up between Bianka's legs with a look of pure joy on his face. His engagement ring gleams in the moonlight. [Alt text by ebook producer subvertebra.bsky.social]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hbldmq3e2k6dm6cjwowy34zg/bafkreib5ofmvtrn7f7htea2welfuuffyhn4mwmxybhcqghuj3udmlkni5e)
![Black-and-white full-body illustration of Bianka and Eric in a dilapidated room with exposed wiring in the ceiling lights and cracks in the wall plaster. Bianka, a fat pale woman with long, wavy, light-coloured hair, wearing a short frilly dress and matching hair bow a bit like a magical girl outfit, leans into Eric's arm and leers at him while Eric lines up his coin toss. [Alt text by ebook producer subvertebra.bsky.social]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hbldmq3e2k6dm6cjwowy34zg/bafkreifcodd47za356hophj5uydim4gz745jsu6bkzcksb4wb4yxhvmr5q)
![Cover art for The Absurd Theatre of Eric Hanada: Act I, showing Eric cradling a human skull and looking just a little too pensively unbothered about it for that to not imply he's a raging [redacted]. To the right, four cropped illustrations from the book are shown: Eric looking focused with Bianka grinning smugly at him; Ayumu looking over his shoulder with tears in his eyes; Ayumu writing in his notebook with Yanhua sitting across from him, laughing; Eric holding Bianka's chin. Text reads: illustrated novel, ~45,000 words, 16 illustrations, please enjoy the show.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hbldmq3e2k6dm6cjwowy34zg/bafkreie43wfx7bxwljxjnpppyz3o3m7f6yd7k7tdwsvpjg6krrrhrc5xme)
![Cover art for The Absurd Theatre of Eric Hanada: Act I, showing Eric cradling a human skull and looking just a little too pensively unbothered about it for that to not imply he's a raging [redacted]. To the right, four cropped illustrations from the book are shown: Eric looking focused with Bianka grinning smugly at him; Ayumu looking over his shoulder with tears in his eyes; Ayumu writing in his notebook with Yanhua sitting across from him, laughing; Eric holding Bianka's chin. Text reads: illustrated novel, ~45,000 words, 16 illustrations, please enjoy the show.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hbldmq3e2k6dm6cjwowy34zg/bafkreih3sapzhrdyncm5bgbei6idtmdzx2ttkeujwaroyrfntmrq3badau)
