Mikael checks his email for any commissions or requests from his customers. When he saw and opened his inbox, he grinned and began opening them one by one while sipping his water.
But the first email already got him in a bad mood.
{ Hello, I have 5 dollars as a budget. Can you draw my uncle in Goth style? I plan to prank him for the coming Halloween.
Here's the picture: *PICTURE*
I hope you accept this request. Thank you.
From: coucksucker6996 }
When he clicked on the picture, Mikael almost spit out his water and cursed, "What the fuck?"
"Even if you pay me a thousand dollars, I wouldn't want to work on that shit," Mikael said with a disgusted tone. By the way, in this world, "dollars" has become a global currency.
Mikael put down his glass and immediately deleted the email; he didn't even reply to this guy and just moved on.
"I'm not fucking gay," Mikael cursed once again.
As you might have guessed, Mikael's job or career was artist and illustrator, "that" kind of artist, to be precise. Anyway, Mikael began clicking on to the next email.
{ Morning, my esteemed and favorite artist,
This month, I'd like to see a Goth version of Wonder Woman and Ms. Marvel. My budget is 500 dollars; I expect you will do your best, as usual, and not disappoint me.
From: gothsfeetlover1765 }
Mikael chuckled at this email because this customer was a frequent customer who had commissioned or requested a lot in the past. He replied to the email and moved on to the next one.
This reading, accepting, and rejecting of emails went on for the next two hours. Mikael stood up from his seat and stretched his neck and back. After stretching, he took a quick bathroom break and went back to his computer.
*RING RING RING*
When he was about to close his email, his phone suddenly rang. When he looked at the caller, there was confusion on his face. Without waiting any longer, he answered the phone.
"Hey Mike! Got a lot of commissions today?" the caller greeted Mikael.
"Hey John, yeah, I got a lot today, including the disgusting one as usual. So, why did you call? You usually make a commission on the first day of the month. Is there something wrong with my work?" Mikael asked John with a confused face.
John was Mikael's friend who had been friends with him since the day his parents died. John joined the military the same year as him. John received a couple of punishments because he was always lazing around and didn't show results in the first three months.
Mikael wasn't even sure if his friend would survive the war when they were deployed.
"No, your work is great and amazing as always. I've lost gallons to them-"
"Huh?" Mikael intercepted him.
"N-Never mind that; I got a big one for you. I don't know who this person is or why he contacted me and not you. I've sent the email to you, so you better check it out," John said with a bit of impatience in his voice.
"Thanks, John, I owe you one," Mikael said with gratitude to John.
"No, no, my friend. I thank you for everything you've given me. Anyway, I have to come back to my Goth Harley. *Cough* Pretend you didn't hear that. Bye!" John immediately closed the call, leaving Mikael chuckling to himself with a bit of amusement.
Mikael always knew John was that kind of person, and that same person was the one who brought Mikael into the world of DC and Marvel.
Mikael wasn't as immersed in the stories of both these worlds as John, but he was immersed in some of the character designs from their comics. He began drawing and became an artist because of these comics.
His sales began to increase the moment he drew "spicy" versions of these characters, especially John; the moment he knew Mikael could draw these characters in their "spicy" form, John began poisoning Mikael with Goth girl supremacy, and now all of his works are Goth-related art.
At first, Mikael was reluctant to draw these Goth arts because, to him, they gave off a sense of depression and helplessness. However, seeing the sales begin to increase more than before drawing Goth arts, he immediately put that thought aside, and to this day, he no longer thinks like that.
And over time, because of the constant drawing of these Goth characters, he grew akin to them and began developing stereotypes about girls. Perhaps that is why Mikael doesn't have a girlfriend to this day.
One, because his work was time-consuming and he didn't have time to search for a girlfriend. Two, because Goth girls are as rare as diamonds in the city where he lived.
Anyway, Mikael immediately checks his email after getting a notification. He clicked the email and he was surprised because in the email, there's only a few words and a picture.
{ Satisfy me, *PICTURE* }
Mikael scratched his head, then drank his water before clicking the picture. When he clicked the picture, he was surprised.
"Isn't she already a Goth? What do I have to change?" Mikael said to himself in a confused tone.
In his opinion, this Goth girl was already perfect and didn't need any changes. He took a good look at the picture again, looking for any details and unique aspects of her.
"Hmm... pale skin, dark hair, dark tank top, dark pants, dark gloves, dark umbrella, and the most unique thing on her, a hook tattoo on the bottom of her right eye and an ankh necklace." Mikael murmured while observing the picture.
"Wait, isn't this..." Mikael immediately went to the little bookshelf he had in his room and searched for a certain comic. Once he found it, he came back to his seat and opened the comic, looking for a specific character.
"This is it, it's her... Death of the Endless..." Mikael said with quite a surprise. Why? Because in this world, the fans or just regular readers and watchers of DC don't like her very much.
Some of them blamed her for the cause of their favorite character's death, and some don't like her because of her name, "Death." In this era of chaos, war, and depression, her character doesn't really match the vibe, and it would only bring more people into depression.
The same goes for Death from Marvel; her skull face makes the fans hate and despise her even more, and Thanos is the most loved and favored character to date.
.
.
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Note:
Just a reminder that all of this is AU and never Canon.