fakecheshirecat

[fakecheshirecat]

Welcome!

A blog where I try to post and sort all of my creative endeavos, currently mostly focused on these two stories:

Forgotten Heroes

Pages and Petals

This is a side blog - follows and interactions come from @celestialspark

[fakecheshirecat]

Before the fall

One more bonus snippet from Pages and Petals - with my favorite title that you also see on my tumblr blog~

The innocent childhood of the protagonist, the last days before the disgrace of house Tse ...

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Sweltering heat came down from the sun high in the sky, accompanied by the deafening sounds of crickets in the field. Only the silence in the house was more oppressive when An Ju stood by the main entrance and peeked into the estate of her mother's family.

The young girl, who had stuck out her tongue in concentration, stood on tiptoes as she peeked past the pillars. She could get to her room unseen. She only needed to hug the far right wall in the shadows and then take the turn towards the inner court before she would reach her room.

She would only need to be very careful. The lack of servants and the deathly silence spoke of her grandmother's mood. An Ju really did not want to be seen by her like this. Not after having missed a lesson by forgetting the time. She had run back now, leaving her younger cousins outside to keep on playing, but it still was already too late.

Taking a deep breath, the girl began her venture.

As long as she didn't make too much sound, no one would—

She tripped.

It took a moment for her to catch herself from the stumble. Her lips were tightly pressed onto each other to not let a sound escape.

Only when she had found her footing again did An Ju twirl around to see what she tripped over.

There was nothing.

An Ju squinted her eyes. A moment later, she noticed one of the talismans against intruders stuck on one of the plants.

A defeated sigh escaped the girl's lips. No wonder there was no servant near the main entrance. They were all warned against the trap.

"Well?" Matriarch Dou's voice floated from the main hall towards the main entrance.

Contrite, An Ju folded her hands how it befit a young lady and went to greet her grandmother. She hoped it would hide her muddied nails and dirty hands. But considering how her dress had gotten stiff with dried sludge, there was not much to be done.

Inside the main hall, only the matriarch of the Dou family was sitting. As she was drinking tea, two servants stood on the side, ready to attend her. With just a short look at her granddaughter, the stern woman took a sip from her tea. "Do you know what you did wrong?"

Her voice was calm. She rarely raised it in volume, but each word was punctuated and bore gravity.

An Ju squeezed her folded hands. At least none of the rest of the family - neither her parents nor aunts and uncles - were around to chime in on the scolding. So, she needed to confess and be as truthful as possible. That was the best way to appease her grandmother.

"I went out to play with the little ones after breakfast and forgot that I had a lesson scheduled today. Also, while chasing a kite, I slipped on the road and fell into one of the rice fields. I've fixed the damage I caused with the workers but that made me be even tardier."

The matriarch put down her tea bowl with an audible clink. "To think your parents even went through the trouble of finding you a teacher here in the countryside so that you won't be lagging behind. Is that how a young lady behaves, Tse An Ju?"

The girl lowered her gaze. "No, grandma."

"You're almost a young woman now, An Ju," her grandmother continued. "You'll be participating in the Blossom Pageant next year - ready to be presented to His Majesty, the king! You can't keep on going out to play like a child!"

"I understand, grandma." An Ju really did. As the daughter of a household where both spouses came from prestigious family lines and growing up in the capital, she was well aware of what society expected of her. But at the same time, this was her summer retreat, and she loved her cousins too much to not be playing with them. There was no way for her to run beneath the endless sky like this in the capital.

As if knowing exactly her granddaughter's thoughts, the stern woman sighed. "Hands," she demanded as she rose from her seat.

Surprised, An Ju looked up. When she saw that her grandmother grabbed a stick from the servants, she pressed her lips onto each other in fear. Still, she obediently held out her hands with the palms up. She had messed up this time and her grandmother was no one who left misdeeds unpunished.

The three hits came in quick succession. Despite her advanced age, Matriarch Dou was still nimble and strong.

Tears stung in An Ju's eyes as her hands burned from the hits.

"This was for damaging the rice fields. You were able to fix it but that was luck. It could have ended up worse and you cannot bear the responsibility of depraving some household of food for this winter. You know harvest has been bad."

"Yes, grandma," An Ju replied as calmly as possible. Yet, the tears that welled up threatened to spill over. Considering the possibility that she could have caused misery for someone due to her carelessness hurt her more than the hits.

The matriarch sighed a second time. She returned the stick to her servants before she took her granddaughter's hands. Massaging them gently, she spoke again: "As one of the richer households in the area and blessed with magic on top, we have a responsibility to our neighbors. It does not matter if it was on purpose or not, once something goes wrong, people will blame us first. So don't give them a reason to bear a grudge against you."

"Yes, grandma," were the only words that An Ju could repeat.

Her grandmother did not use magic but her cool fingers did alleviate some of the pain. The soft skin did not shy away from touching the girl's dirty hands.

Only when the throbbing in An Ju's hands stopped and the fiercely held back tears had dried agai , did her grandmother let go again.

"And now, go apologize to your grandfather."

An Ju opened her mouth. She had thought that the punishment was done. But when she looked up and saw that the matriarch was serious, she meekly walked over to the family altar.

Kneeling down on the cushion, she watched one of the servant bringing over a incense stick. It was not the large one. This one would only last an hour. It was still an hour.

"Apologize properly," was what Matriarch Dou said when she lit the incense stick.

An Ju could only nod as her grandmother left the room.

This was the worst punishment for her. It was not the kneeling. It was not how her knees would feel afterwards. It was the boredom.

She could tell her plaques of her grandfather and ancestors stories about her day. But even if she did, it would not be enough to let the time pass quickly.

More than once had the girl already fallen asleep while kneeling, only to be met with additional time on top of the incense stick. Her family knew that this was the best punishment against her.

So, An Ju only had to push through the hour. She recounted story in her mind. She counted the time. She tried to remember some songs as she kneeled there. She watched the ashes of the incense fall down piece by piece.

The very moment the incense burned down, the girl jumped up. "I'm free!" she shouted excitedly. Only to be met by a servant clearing her throat who was cleaning nearby.

"Sorry," An Ju whispered, then ran out of the main hall.

When she arrived in her room, she noticed that her parents, some servants, and even her grandmother were there. Most of her things were packed, except for one fresh set of clothing laid out next to a basin with fresh water.

"Oh? We're already leaving today?" she asked as her mother waved her over to finally clean her up.

As her mother pushed a wet cloth into her face to clean it, she answered: "Yes. Your grandmother says it will be raining tonight. If we leave soon, we can still reach your other grandparents this evening. Then the horses and wagon won't have to pull through the mud."

An Ju's father nodded eagerly, before he turned to his mother-in-law: "Thank you for your hospitality as always, mother. It is always a great pleasure to see you in such good health."

"And it is always lovely to welcome you, Tse Chang Ping. Thank you for taking care of my Seon Ha. Send the Tse household my regards."

"I will."

Tse Chang Ping smiled and then left the room as his wife shooed him out so that their daughter could change clothes.

As Seon Ha took care of the dress, Matriarch Dou stepped over to comb An Ju's hair to make her look proper again. While she did so, she gently murmured: "It was a good summer with you. I do hope I won't see you troublemaker here next year anymore, though."

"Grandma, that's mean!" An Ju shrieked. But she laughed and at the nod from her mother that she was finished, the girl turned around and wrapped her hands around her grandmother. "I will miss you greatly if I can't see you every summer!"

Those words made the matriarch laugh, too. She bowed down and pulled her granddaughter in a warm embrace. "May you always walk under the Sky, my dearest. Bring honor to the Tse and Dou families."

That was the greatest blessing Matriarch Dou could give her granddaughter for at that time, for everyone, the only reason for An Ju to not come back to the countryside was her being chosen as a candidate to become one of the king's wives at the next Blossom Pageant.

None of them would have expected for this to be the last time An Ju had ever stepped into the Dou household again.

[fakecheshirecat]

Peaceful Days

One of the bonus snippets I've been writing for my original story Pages and Petals - the peaceful childhood days of a certain boy~

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"He's still alive."

"Tsk. So he survived. Yet again."

"They're so lucky for no reason."

The disdainful voices woke Ji Hui from his sleep. As he heard them curse and mock, he pulled his thin blanket over his head as if it could block them out.

Of course, it did not help. It had never helped.

"How old is he now? Six?"

"Well, the luckiest lived until nine, so it's not unusual."

The boy pressed his lips onto each other. He knew he would not live for long, but it wasn't a reason for him to hear about it every time he recovered from a fit.

Right.

Ji Hui opened his eyes and touched his chest. It didn't hurt anymore. His lungs were not on fire anymore each time he took a breath.

A relieved sigh came over the boy's lips.

He felt weak and his body was sore, but as they had said, he had survived yet again.

His bed and blanket hustled as he sat up. He did it quickly to scare the spirits away. It didn't quite work but at least he startled them to silence.

The quick movement made the boy's head spin, but at least it was silent for a moment.

When he got his bearings again, he let his gaze wander through the little cabin that his mother and he called their home.

As he suspected, his mother was not there. Else, the spirits wouldn't be so loud. But his mother had left behind something on the table next to the bed.

A bowl and a candy. Seeing the sweet alone already made Ji Hui make a face. It meant there was medicine in the bowl.

He reached out and carefully lifted the lid from the bowl. As he could still see steam rising from the medicine, it meant that his mother hadn't left too long ago.

Ji Hui stared at it. He closed the lid again. Only to be met by a disapproving look of one of the male spirits. "Drink it," the man demanded, gentle but firm.

Once again, the boy made a face, but he took the bowl with both of his hands.

His ice cold fingers were almost burned by the heat. Despite it being summer, Ji Hui was almost constantly cold.

Blowing the medicine, he tried his best to prolong the time he needed to take it. But as more and more spirits joined to watch him, Ji Hui just screwed up his eyes and drained the medicine in quick big gulps.

"Ew!"

He put out his tongue the moment he finished. He felt like the medicine was getting more and more bitter every time.

One of the smaller spirits, even younger than him, waddled over and tried to push the candy to him.

Ji Hui smiled at the child. Although it couldn't truly touch anything, it still tried to help him. While he plopped the candy into his mouth, he reached out and motioned as if he was stroking the child's head. It was the least he could do.

Seeing that he was awake and well, most of the spirits soon lost interest and left him alone, so that it became peaceful around him.

Rolling the candy over his tongue, Ji Hui looked out of the window.

Only a few small clouds passed over the sky. The sun was shining brightly and as it slowly crept over the horizon, it also began to shine through the window and warmed Ji Hui's body.

This back window of their cabin had a good view down the slight slope to the vast fields with crops. From afar, he could see some children play. He had never seen them up close but his mother had said they were about his age. They were running on the paths between the fields, dragging kites behind them.

Ji Hui knew he could never join them with his weak body, but he always wished he could. if the wind was just right, he could hear their laughter carried up to his cabin.

Looking a bit further, Ji Hui could spot his mother. With a basket on her back, she was harvesting some of the vegetables.

For helping out with the fields, the village had allowed his mother to take some crops for themselves, too. That meant she would be back with a bunch of vegetables soon.

Tearing his gaze from the window, Ji Hui slid down from the bed and slipped into his sandals.

They were going to need to wash the vegetables, so they needed water. Ji Hui could help with that.

He walked over to the kitchen corner and looked at their utensils. Why was his mother keeping the big bowl for water so high up? It was above the fireplace. The shelf there held a bunch of buckets and other bowls and the one he needed was the last one.

With an annoyed sigh, the boy looked around and chose his chair to push towards the fireplace. It wasn't more than a low stool but stepping on it made him at least a little bit taller.

Only a little bit, though, because he had to stretch to reach for the shelf.

The moment the tip of his fingers reached for the rim of the bowl, everything came tumbling down.

When Ji Hui opened his eyes again, he was lying on the ground of the cabin with all the buckets and bowls around him. He blinked right into one of the spirit’s faces who backed away with a disappointed click.

“He still lives.”

A collective sigh was heard around him. There were more disappointed than relieved sounds around him.

“Ji Hui!”

His mother’s voice dispersed all spirits’ voices. The woman came running. Throwing the vegetable basket to the side, she helped her son sit up while she frantically patted him. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

His mother’s calloused hands were gentle to him. Ji Hui turned slightly to fall into her chest, his arms clinging to her in a hug.

“I’m alright,” he muttered into her clothes. “I’m sorry.”

He could literally feel his mother’s tension passing as she now just gently patted his head. “You should have stayed in bed if you’re not feeling well yet.”

“I’m feeling fine!” Ji Hui immediately exclaimed. He pulled back to look into his mother’s face. “I’m okay! I just wanted to help!”

His face made his mother stop. Only now did she take her surroundings in. At least nothing seemed to be broken. Just slightly damaged, but not broken. With a sigh, she looked back to her son: “I have told you not to try to hold something that is too heavy for you.”

Ji Hui began to pout. “It’s not too heavy!”

“No?” The woman laughed. She booped the boy’s nose as he was pouting. “Then why did everything fall down?” With ease, she lifted her son and put him back on his feet. “Now come. If you want to help, you can separate the leaves from the stems.”

As his mother said so, Ji Hui sat down at the table as she brought him the basket that she had carelessly thrown to the side. “Thank you for your help, my little man.” She placed a kiss on the top of Ji Hui’s head. “But I will be the one getting water.”

Diligently, Ji Hui nodded and began to separate the leaves from the stems as his mother had taught him, while she gathered up all the scattered bowls before she took the largest to walk out to the small river near their house.

No matter how menial the tasks were, as long as Ji Hui could help his mother, he was happy. She was already taking care of him so much, he wanted to repay whatever he could as long as he was able to.

Because he knew that he did not have much time. The constant whispering of the spirits told him so.

As his mother went away again, the voices around him started to chatter again. Some of them crept up and examined his work.

Some criticized him for doing a bad job despite his age. Others praised him for being so helpful to his mother and being a good child.

They were never of one opinion except for the fact that he wouldn’t be living long.

Ji Hui knew that and he was alright with that. The only reason for him to live was for his mother. He only wanted to make her happy as long as possible. If he ever had the chance, he would do everything for her to have a good life. But as they both had made peace with the fact that he only had limited days, they did everything to make the best of it.

Thus, Ji Hui was also able to tune out the spirits whispering because as long as his mother was by his side, they would be silent and let them live their best life.

[fakecheshirecat]

Pixel wallpaper comm for @celestialspark ! (IM SO SORRY I TAGGED THE WRONG PERSON TT-TT)

Once again, thank you for the opportunity~ i had so much fun doing this!! <3

[fakecheshirecat]

[fakecheshirecat]

@celestialspark 's Commission. It was so much fun making it. Definitely one of my favorite works (˵¯͒〰¯͒˵) Please follow them for their #Pages and Petals

[fakecheshirecat]

POV: You're attacking a place the generals are guarding

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Imperial Court Drama ❤️💚 She is a Butterfly in the Garden✿✿ヽ(°▽°)ノ

@celestialspark 's cute OCs

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mutuals, non-mutuals, ops of years old posts, you can all catch these paws

[fakecheshirecat]

Happy Halloween! 🎃

More Witch Hat Atelier Fanart~ I suddenly had an urge to paint Coco's swirly hat as transparent, like water.

Not sure if Brush Buddy is happy to be safe and dry inside the hat or trapped in a hat made of water 😂

Here's a quick timelapse (sorry the quality is low res still, I'm trying to figure out a better way to do this since SAI that doesn't have a built in timelapse feature.) The full video recording is in high res and hours long. It will be DMed on Patreon on Nov 5th!

[fakecheshirecat]

Boop PSA, for Mobile Users:

To Boop - either tap the boop button next to someone's name or go to their blog and tap the cat paw icon

To Super Boop - go to someone's blog and hold the cat paw icon until it spins once, then let go

To Evil Boop - go to someone's blog and hold the cat paw icon until it spins twice, then let go

Can't Boop - either you or the person you're trying to Boop hasn't opted in yet

To Opt In - go to your feed and you'll see the boop-o-meter and the option to opt in

I'll update this when I know how to get certain badges and such.

[fakecheshirecat]

getting you getting you getting yu getting you getting yuo getting you getting u

[fakecheshirecat]

A commission of An Ju I got from @pochikendi !

As always, thank you so much! Your style is so very unique and it is every time a pleasure to work with you ♥

[fakecheshirecat]

Genshin Impact | Wallpapers from Echoes of Harmony (Blank) (2/2)