Many of you reading this already know my summer started with tragedy and other life-changing events. One of those was a life-threatening diagnosis for someone very close to me. It saddens me to share that the disease progressed, and this week I lost the woman who raised me.

Since then, I keep thinking of "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler on the Roof. Life keeps moving and changing, whether we're ready or not. I've also been thinking about day and night. Each one is beautiful on its own, but only during a sunrise or a sunset do they get a brief moment together.

That idea led me to make two new OCs, Stella and Solara. Stella lives from the start of sunset until the end of sunrise. Solara lives from the start of sunrise until the end of sunset. Each has a beautiful world of her own, but for a few magic minutes at dawn and dusk they exist side by side. To me, they stand for the time we get to share with the people we love and the time we spend on our own.

So I'm starting a challenge: Stella and Solara are free to use. You all know I usually encourage, and sometimes practically beg for, NSFW entries in my challenges. Those are welcome here too, and any rating is fine. But this time I'm not nudging anyone in any direction. Please make something that's meaningful to you.

Please tag your entries with #sunrise_sunset, and tag me (@preceptor) in the comments so I can find them. There's no deadline, and I'll give a small tip of beans to everyone who takes part. Tips are only guaranteed for entries posted within the next week, though.

Thank you for being here. 💜

Stella's prompt is here.

Solara's prompt is here.