#I really like this sketch so maybe at some point I'll do something with it.

[red-moon-at-night]

I drew Paris not smiling within Helen's proximity for once because he's focusing (something something they're lost in each other's eyes).

Inspired by that one greek vase where they're practically touching nose to nose

also you get a close up because you clicked on the read more :) <3

[babvc-au]

Alrighty Folks! The Time Has Finally Come!

Hopefully this is everything and i didn't miss any panels or doodles for this post, but here is almost everything about BABVC's comic sketches, wips, doodles, refs, and even scripts i never finished, plus more! Doodles and other art stuff will be added to the end of this post. (Due to how many wips i have and such, there will be multiple reblogs happening as i go through this so bare with me.)

So, did you want to know how BaBvc would have went? Here's your answer. (This will contain a mix of the script, old comic wips and context)

Now, well jump to where we left off in the comic with a smol refresher.

Scene 6 Nightmare:

It's dark and bendy is in a black like void. He hears voices.

"Why? You had a chance!" OB growls.

"Who's there!?" Bendy shouts.

"Why did you resist?" OB

"What?"

Bendy's eyes are suddenly covered by cold clawed hands. And he tries to pry them off.

"Why!?" OB

"What are you talking about?! Who are you!" Bendy growls trying to fight them off.

"Don't keep me waiting much longer" we see the claws retract and three tails around Bendy.

"I'm sick of waiting"

The last shot is of Bendy's demon cross eye.

“But, how…?”

He hears a yawn from Boris as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, “good morning, Bendy”

Boris blinks at Bendy’s hand and the bag, "You better not eat that so early in the morning, Bendy.” Boris scolded, ears pinned back.

“What? No, i wouldn't do that. But...” Bendy says, looking at the can thoughtfully. "Did you get some more after last night…?" He asked the tall wolf. Boris raised a brow at him, confused. 

"What do you mean?" He asked. "That's the same bag from last night when we went to the market right?" He asked. 

"Well yeah but, I lost it, remember?" Bendy said and looked up at his younger brother. Boris stares at him in confusion. "...You did?" He asked. 

Camera focuses on the can in his hand.

Scene 8:

Bendy and Boris enter Berry cafe and take a seat at a booth.

"So you honestly don't remember?" Bendy starts looking across the table to his younger brother.

"I really don't. I only remember us getting the stuff, and then after that, it's all blurry. Like I blacked out or something, and then it was morning." Boris replied. "Are you sure you didn't just imagine you lost it? Maybe it was a dream that you had last night." He points out.

"..." Bendy thinks, "Maybe you're right. I've been having weird dreams, and I guess it's possible." He says tiredly. "Though it really felt like I wasn't dreaming." He mumbled to himself.

Then Melody comes around shortly after and asks them what they would like to order. "Hello, welcome to Berry's Cafe. What would you - oh! It's you two, the usual then?" She smiles and lifts her paper and pen.

Bendy lifts his head and gives a small smile. "Ah, yeah, for me, at least. Boris?" He looks over expectantly for his order.

"Oh! um, what's the special today?"

"New York cheesecake drizzled in strawberries and syrup, it's so good!" she smiles and hugs her notepad dreamily.

Boris perks at that smiling "Guess I know what I'm getting now, (haha) and can I get a hot coco with that, thanks Melody."

"No problem! I'll put your order in right away." She nods and walks away allowing Bendy to see the other residents in the cafe. And surprisingly enough he sees someone familiar. His eyes widened a little, shocked.

(Isn't that-?)

Bendy looks at his right wrist and rubs it lightly.

(So it hadn't been a dream? I should probably thank him.)

Bendy stood, making Boris look at him. "Bendy?"

"I'll be back."

Bendy walks away and heads for the familiar person.

"Uh, Hey." he says. Catching Cupheads attention who opens his eyes. He looks a little confused and shocked to see Bendy for a moment.

"I wanted to say thanks for the other night you really helped me back there." Bendy says looking to the side awkwardly.

Cuphead says nothing for a minute. His shock turns to annoyance.

"Yeah, whatever, watch yourself, you're lucky I found you when I did." Cuphead says with a steady look. "Didn't your mom teach you not to walk around at night by yourself?"

"It's dangerous." He glares, narrowing his eyes.

Bendy furrows his brows at the semi aggressive tone. "Hey, I came to thank you, not get a lecture! And I wasn't by myself."

"..."

"Anyway like I said, thank you, seriously." Bendy frowned.

Cuphead stands up and looks down at Bendy, who looks up at him in return nervously as they stare at each other.

"Here you go sir, your order." Tostie says, giving Cuphead two drinks.

"Thanks," he says.

She walks away.

"There you are, Cuppy!" A new voice sounds in the cafe besides Bendy.

Mugs comes over and stands by his brother's side. Who gives him an exhausted look.

"Here." Cuphead hands him the second drink.

"Oh! Were you in the middle of something?" Mugs looks between Bendy and Cuphead.

Cuphead gives Bendy another glare.

"No. Let's go." He walks off, but Mugs falters and gives Bendy a nervous smile and a wave before he follows.

"Geez, what a jerk." (At least the other guy was nice) Bendy sweats but shrugs it off heading back to Boris.

"Was that someone you knew?"

"Uh, not exactly," Bendy says as he slides back into the booth.

It's silent for a moment before Boris speaks up.

"Bendy, listen, I know you're just as confused as I am, but you haven't told me a single thing about what happened last night, I was really worried about you."

"I know, I promise to tell you when I've made sense of it, ok? Just… give me some time."

Boris sighs, "...Ok"

Bendy looks away and out the window covered in fog with a thoughtful look. It starts to snow a little.

Scene 9

Cuphead glares ahead. (The hell? Did I not wipe his memory correctly? And what's with that weird smell?) He rubs his nose.

Mugman watches him, concerned. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Cuphead mutters. “I just need to go to the casino… again.”

Mugman frowns. “Huh? Why?”

“I’ll tell you later—unless you wanna come with me.”

Mugman hesitates, then nods. “Mmm… I’ll go with you.” Cuphead glances at him, his expression unreadable. Without another word, he keeps walking.

(Que this scene where they report to The Devil about Bendy being immune to memory wiping)

"Sir, I've come to report something." [Kneeling]

"What is it?"

"There's someone i met that's immune to memory wiping."

"..."

"Is that so..."

(Thus, The Devil orders Cuphead to keep an eye on Bendy and to report back if anything happens.)

Scene 12

Cuphead (bat form) climbs through the crack of the window in the kitchen. He hops to the ground and transforms back into his toon form. He dusts himself off and then looks up. Unexpectedly Bendy was in the doorway and saw everything.

(Que a funny nervous Bendy stares and throws a mug at Cuphead.)

Bendy runs to his couch and starts his spiel.

"What are you doing in my house!? Are you going to kill me!? You're a vampire! Aren't you supposed to stay out of houses unless you're invited!? Or something!?

"Huh?"

"Wait a minute, vampires have other weaknesses! I think I have a few things!"

Bendy runs out of the room, and Cuphead is left in confusion.

"Okay...this is weird." -sigh-

Bendy comes in and out with various "vampire deterrents"

"Garlic!?"

"No"

"A cross!?"

"Nope"

"A stake!?" (It's a twig)

"Na-da"

"Sunlight!?" (Its a flashlight.)

"Did you forget you saw me at the café?"

[eobe]

Commander Fox is done. Completely 🦊☕️

Finally I finished one of my elder WIPs 😂✨ And my dear folks, this post is also for a bit time in my drafts, too 🙈 The mood actually very fitting ☕️ *sigh* 😅 I figured that the Marshal Commander is really a special clone! I call him now the "WIP distraction Fox" 👀

He's always kind of lurking behind a corner in my mind, ready to jump in, spilling caf and doing this bone-freezing fox scream – only because he can and just give a sh*t! 🦊✨

And – the point is – he naturally only does this, when I really, REALLY want to finish a WIP and actually don't have time for him! But the vision of him and his caf and stress shenanigans tend to rampage my brain that chaotically in those situations, that I often kind of "Okay, great I'll do it" – like with this one 🤣 Completely crazy, but yeah, have a distraction Fox 🦊☕️♥️ Enjoy.

Some of you have already seen the timelapse of this piece, showing off my sketching process, the struggles and frustrations during drawing and concepting and else 😂🤷🏽‍♀️ Commander Fox is also the "WIP distraction with internal struggle dealing with caf and fun chaos"-Fox, so I cannot even properly complain! Sly Fox 🦊 Annoying Fox 🦊 Cute and stressed Fox 🦊 *Double sigh* okay, he's adorable and deserves a hug 🥰

I don’t even know anymore why Fox is THAT done with everything, but maybe he only needs a reason to shower in full armor, what actually let me think, if he finds the „rain“ noises on his armor relaxing 🥹🦊 Or maybe Thorn brought him cold caf after the information, that Coruscant is burning again and people's sighting of another Zillo beast or something like that 😱🤯

Taglist: @eclec-tech @lonewolflupe @bixlasagna @returnofthepineapple @sunshinesdaydream @covert1ntrovert @general-ida-raven @vrycurious @dystopicjumpsuit @chaicilatte @groguandthebadbatch @ladylucksrogue @spaceyjessa @morerandombullshit @freesia-writes

My Fox Fun Folks – get reFOXed 🦊: @ghostymarni @thora-sniper @feral-ferrule @nika6q @foxwithadarkside

[tavyliasin]

BG3 2025 Creative Challenge!

Baldur's Gate 3 Fandom Artists, Writers, and Creatives!

I would like to invite you to a year of prompts to create whatever you would like! SFW, NSFW, whatever medium you would like to create in, the choice is yours! The idea is that we have on prompt per month so it should be easier to follow along without becoming overloaded. You don't have to create something specifically for the event either - if you have a WIP or other work you're publishing that month that fits the description you are more than welcome to add that in! I'll make a new post at the start of each month with the details of that month's challenge prompt, but this will be our masterpost to start the year off with a bang. Details below the cut!

The Year Of Prompts

January - New Year New You Pick a new character, trope, or pairing. Something you haven’t tried before. Make it a challenge to do something new and different! February - Romance Novels Go for something romantic, or if romance isn’t your cup of tea try something around the Necromancy of Thay instead! March - Marching Forwards March to your goal to finish a WIP or LongFic, or March into a new world by making something in an AU! April - Fools Rush In Make something humorous, something fun, whether it’s based on a meme or a joke pairing or just something with a bit more whimsy and some laughs~ May - Maybe? What If? Reverse a trope or reimagine a part of the canon - what if things were different? 

June - June Bugs Create something centred around a game glitch or exploit, past or present! July - Why Would July To Me? A piece around lies, deceptions, and other ways the truth can be twisted or obscured. August - When In Rome… A piece themed around the customs of specific races, backgrounds, regions, or Guilds. Are they followed or broken? That’s up to you! September - Seven Deadly Sins Pick one, or more, of the classic “seven deadly sins” and see how that can relate to one or more characters or tropes. October - Days of the Dead Create something around a character death, a memorial, a lingering ghost, or find a way a character might cheat their death or be brought back from it~ 

November - Gnomevember Either create something centred on Gnome characters from the game, or the other story points around them (Steel Watch, Iron Throne, Runepowder, etc) December - Season of Giving Create a surprise gift for someone in fandom, or write a piece around a gift being given by or to a character or characters!

Rules

The rules are very simple!

Create your piece in 2025, preferably within the prompt month but if you post a little early or late that's fine too!

All pieces must be your creations or a collaboration - No AI or chatbot content

You are free to work in whatever medium you like for each and every prompt!

Set your own goal - you can do a short 100-500 word minific, some simple sketches, or write a whole 10k word one shot epic, or draw a full page comic. What matters is that it's a goal YOU want to achieve!

There will be options to submit prompts and fill prompts in the AO3 collections - this is entirely your choice! You can take a prompt if you like, work on something you had already started, or create something entirely new!

Have fun!

The Goal

The aim really is simple - to set some targets, and work on at least 12 things this year so at this time next year you can look back on your progress and celebrate your achievements. If you miss a month or turn in late, that's fine! Do what works for you!

AO3 Collections

For those of you that would like to, there will be a parent collection for the year event as a whole and some sub-collections for each month to allow us to keep everything nice and organised. It's completely optional if you would like to put your work on AO3 or not - you're more than welcome to just keep it on Tumblr or wherever you usually share your works!

This event is for you to use however you feel best, to inspire creativity, working towards manageable goals, and trying something different.

Social Media Tags

Use the tag #BG32025 if you would like to! I don't know if anyone else is using this one but I'll cross my fingers that we're the only ones~ Feel free to share the event and please do support each other through our creativity! A character or pairing or kink or trope might not be your cup of tea, but let's celebrate how it is there for someone else who might really enjoy it, and keep a positive and passionate view whilst respecting boundaries by tagging works appropriately as always <3

Thank you for reading this far and I hope to see you all through they year adding your works and creativity to our fandom <3 we have so much amazing talent here, I'm delighted to have the privilege of seeing it all~

[imnottkyle]

Box Dye Professional - A Solivan Burgmansia x GN!Reader FluffFic!

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

MDNI MDNI MDNI MDNI MDNI MDNI

Tags Kinda?: TKaTB VN, Solivan Burgmansia, Sol, fluff, kinda weird in some parts tbh, gender-neutral reader/no mention of reader's gender.

Warnings: It's Sol, so yeah... However, this fic is fluff, so no warnings really, just Sol gets a little weird over being near Reader.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

Meowdy folks, your newest TKaTB fic writer has arrived! I am so totally hyped to be writing again, and I hope that you have as much fun reading my fics as I have writing them. This is actually my first fic in SEVEN years, so please have mercy ｡･(ू˃̣̣̣̣̣̣ ꞈ˂̣̣̣̣̣̣ ू)

If you're still reading my intro here, I would like to let you in on a special tidbit! I am now starting a Stalker!Reader x Sol fic yayayayayay!! I just think it would be amazeballs to see someone outfreak his freak. Okay, I'll shut up and let you read <3

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

Fingers moving nimbly with the charcoal, you sketched away at your muse, sharp eyes taking in his every detail. You told yourself it was simply because you wanted a good grade for this project, that you wanted to prove the authenticity of the piece, that those brief moments of eye contact didn't make your heart jump. Get a grip, you had only known Sol for a few weeks (even if it felt like a lifetime), now was not the time to start crushing. As you continued to scratch at the paper, your mind couldn't help but fall back to the reason you were here in the first place; your father, your home.

"___…?"

You startled, nearly causing the pencil to streak a nasty gash across your paper. "Sorry, what was that?" You asked, full gaze on your subject. "Something on your mind?" He answered, relaxing out of his pose for a quick stretch. "Oh, it's nothing, just got to daydreaming aga-" The sentence trailed off, your eyes sneaking off to peek at the bit of skin that showed when he stretched. No, stop it eyes, focus! Quickly pretending to notice a stray bit of fuzz on his shirt, you pointed it out, successfully hiding your wandering glance. Sol let out a soft chuckle as he picked off the fuzz, "So quick to notice the smallest things, aren't you? It's quite charming." he murmured rather gently. "Oh yeah, just like how I can't help but notice your hair dye is fading awfully! Tell me where you got it done so I know never to go there." You playfully retorted. The green-streaked, or rather yellow-green streaked, man groaned out loud, hiding his face in his hands.

"Is it really that noticeable?"

"Yep."

"Ugh, I knew I shouldn't have tried a different dye. I guess it really is that bad, huh?"

Okay, now you just felt bad for teasing him in the first place, that embarrassed expression that he wore, only tugging at your heartstrings further.

"Well, I was staring at you pretty hard- er -for the sketch, I mean. Maybe it isn't that noticeable from afar."

It was definitely noticeable from afar, but there was no way that you were going to say that to his face. You took a breath, a flash of brilliant courage (or maybe stupidity) overtaking you. The sketchbook and charcoal fell into your lap as you leaned in closer to your classmate, "Um, if you aren't doing anything later, maybe I could help you fix your hair. I'm somewhat of a bathroom salon pro." At this, you saw Sol's face brighten, "R-Really? That'd be nice, thanks." he smiled, voice soft. "Just shoot me a text when you're on your way, and I'll get everything set up. You beamed back, heart already pitter-pattering way more than necessary.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

Your bathroom looked stupid. It was as if you became painfully aware of every wonky detail in your entire apartment. Two of the shower tiles were crooked, there was a weird blue stain on the floor, and the sink had lime growing on the edge. You had tried everything to get rid of the lime buildup, but in the end you had given up and just accepted the shit. So why now of all times, did it bother you so badly? Was it because Sol was on his way? Was it because you were afraid he would notice and think you were a slob? Why did it even matter in the first place, he was just your classmate, just your project partner.

Lime- 1

Your Idiot Brain- 1

You- 0

For the millionth time, you wished that you would listen to your own advice and calm down. It's not like Sol would even think anything of this, you were just being a good friend and helping him out. You let out a groan and simultaneously heard a knock at the door. Collecting as much of yourself as you could, you headed to the door, opening it to reveal your crush's classmate's handsome face.

"Hey Sol, got the goods?"

"Of course."

He held up the shopping bag, giving it a little shake. You grinned, this was certainly going to be a fun evening. "Well don't just stand there, come in, silly!" You said, before practically dragging him inside the apartment by his sleeve. Whatever nerves you had before had nearly dissipated, leaving you to feel rather giddy. Hair dyeing was fun, you would know. Having done this countless times to your own head, you found the whole process to be rather therapeutic, a welcome metamorphosis. You could have sworn that Sol had mumbled something as you dragged him along, though when you looked back on him, he simply smiled. Wait, was he blushing? It was then that you realized how tightly you had gripped his sleeve, fingers brushing dangerously against his wrist.

"Oh, god, sorry." You loosened your grip, allowing him to regain his left hand.

"It's okay." He replied, setting the grocery bag down on the bathroom counter.

How you wished you had a clock or something, because right now the awkward silence was, well, awkward. Seeing him just stand there suddenly reminded you of something, "Oh wait here, I'll get you a chair!" you spun out the doorway only to reappear a second later, "Did you want anything else? Water, snacks? I have some chips and um, fruit snacks…?" Maybe this whole hosting thing wasn't exactly made for you. Sol, however, didn't seem to mind your scatterbrain, chuckling once more before replying, "A glass of water sounds nice." he rose to his feet, ready to follow you. Aaand now you found yourself panicking, as to whether or not you had somehow left your stinky socks in the cupboard.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

There was now a man in your kitchen. The way he so easily reached into your high cupboards was honestly kind of impressive. Men were like cows, or semi-trucks, you forget how big they are until you see one up close. Or maybe you were just weird and lonely. "Oh, don't drink the tap water, it tastes funny." You interjected, quickly grabbing a water jug from the refrigerator, before extending your hand to take the glass Sol was holding. Once more, you couldn't help but be acutely aware of your fingers brushing against his as you took the glass, heart fluttering at the contact. Pouring the water, suddenly became a very serious task, your eyes focused like lasers, hands steady and balanced. This might be the most perfect glass of water you had ever poured. Handing him the glass, you spun around to place the water jug back in the fridge, quickly taking note of what all it contained in case Sol got hungry later.

It was your cup, or at least a cup that you had used at some point. Your lips had once been pressed to the cool glass, perhaps even at the same spot his were pressed to now. Your lips, your thirst, how he wanted to be pressed up against you, easing your craving.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

Good grief, he must have been parched, the way he chugged the water down. You quickly offered him another glass, but he declined, strange. Back to the bathroom it was, unboxing the dye and getting things set up. It was decided that you would sit on the chair, Sol taking a seat on the ground (you gave him a cushion, of course) so you could better see his hair. Shaking the bottle of dye, you broke off the seal and squeezed some directly on his head. You felt the man jolt, "So, no instructions?" he asked, pointing at the instruction sheet that now lay in the trash. "Just trust me." You declared, using your bare hands to work the dye into his hair. Now this action caused Sol to whip around abruptly, "___!! Your hands are gonna be stained if you do it like this! Why don't you use the gloves!?" You groaned, grabbing onto his head, gently trying to guide him back into position, "It's fine, besides, the gloves just inhibit my amazing abilities." You gave yourself a grin, you were a seasoned professional after all! Well, you still had hair on your head, so that had to mean something.

"So, do you usually do this on your own?"

"Mm, yeah, sometimes Hyugo helps out."

"Oh that's nice. I almost feel bad for taking his place right now, except I'm having too much fun."

You let out a giggle, waving your green, stained hands in front of Sol's face. He simply turned back at you and smiled, "You're so reckless."

Your hands matched his hair. Your hands matched his hair. And they would be stained like that for a few days. Stained like him, marked to match him, branded as his.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

A few more squeezes of hair dye, and even more idle chatting, it was nice really. Gently running your fingers through Sol's hair, making sure each faded highlight was coated evenly with fresh green pigment, it was soothing. However, you found yourself scooting your chair closer every few minutes, as if Sol was somehow sliding away. Oh, that's right, the cushion. It was just a random pillow, actually, which turned out to be quite slippery on the bathroom floor. You let out a small huff of frustration before scooting closer one final time. Thighs spread apart, Sol sat in between them as they pressed against his shoulders, firmly locking him in place. You heard a small mumble escape the man's lips, it sounded like a curse, but you didn't bother to pry.

"Sorry, but you aren't running away so easily." You chuckled, teasingly tugging at a dye-soaked strand of his hair.

"Whatever you say, pumpkin." He murmured with a returned chuckle, though there was little he could do to hide the heat in his voice.

"Hmph, atta boy."

Cheeks flushed, you were never so glad that Sol couldn't see your face. Pumpkin, that stupid nickname he had given you a while back. It was cheesy, but for some reason, you found yourself enjoying it, a rather endearing feeling. Your gaze softened as you tenderly stroked Sol's hair, the warm feeling in your chest only blossoming more. He had been one of your first friends this year, one of the only friends you had actually made on your own. A leap of faith, a single rooftop lunch, a chance at being partnered with this man, had quickly turned into some of your most treasured memories. And now you had started to question yourself; was this love at first sight?

Haah.. The way your fingers tangled in his hair, the gentle tug at it, fuck. The scent of you, snaking around him as he knelt between your thighs, clamping him in place. Your presence was inescapable, all-consuming, just the way he liked it.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

"You look like a seaweed monster!" You giggled, standing in the mirror next to your dye-soaked friend. He simply frowned in reply, "And you look like a sea urchin."

"Huh? That doesn't make an-!!"

You were cut off abruptly as Sol yanked you close, tousling your hair with his hand. Satisfied, he pulled away, now examining the both of you in the mirror. "A seaweed monster and his little urchin." He teased, smiling at your disheveled reflection. "Idiot, now my hair is all messed up!" It was a false protest, your face betraying you, a heavy blush now spreading to your ears. Sol was so close, you couldn't help but inhale his scent, feel the warmth radiating off his body, and hear the rapid beating of his heart. It was beating just as fast as your own, and somehow it seemed as if it was in perfect sync. Could it be that Sol felt just as nervous as you did? That he perhaps harbored a small crush of his own?

"Uh, let's get you rinsed off, I think the dye might be seeping into your brain…"

"Huh?"

"Never mind!!"

You quickly extracted yourself from his space, smoothing out your hair, and instantly feeling the chill of your apartment once again. Had it always been this cool in here? After a brief crash course on how to use the extendable shower head, you let Sol rinse his hair on his own while you tidied the rest of the bathroom. A few moments later, his green-streaked head popped back up, wet bangs covering his eyes. "Uh, ___? Can you pass me the towel?" You handed him a towel as he pushed the bangs from his face, beads of water running down his pretty face. Focus, focus, focus! Judging by Sol's raised eyebrow and flushed expression, you were pretty sure your jaw was somewhere on the ground right then.

"Er, sorry…!"

"N-No it's fine!"

"I'd let you look at me like that all day if you wanted~"

"Did you-?"

"Hm? No, it's nothing!"

The man smiled back in reply, rubbing his hair with the towel.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ━━━━⊱༒︎ • ༒︎⊰━━━━ ⋆⁺₊⋆

You had brushed his wet locks, dried his hair with your blow dryer, the same one you've used since middle school, and sent him on his way. The apartment was silent now, save for the sound of your heart pounding against your ribs. You were sprawled out on your bed, staring up at the ceiling, completely alone, and yet the faint scent of Sol seemed to cradle you no matter where you moved. He smelled like soap, laundry, almost sterile. But underneath that all there was a hint of a woody musk and, oddly enough, a sweet, candy-like smell. Maybe he had a thing for sweets. What kind of sweets did he like? What kind of foods did he like? What was his favorite flavor? You wanted to know more about him, everything about him. There was no point in fighting it, you gave in, curling up into your blankets as if they could somehow offer protection from your own realization. You liked Sol. You really liked him.

[myebi]

art vs artist 2024 ✨ can't believe we're here!

i've been thinking about this year a little bit these past few days, with the holidays being under special circumstances for me. the past month passed quickly but very gently, which I'm grateful for all things considered. i think it's now safe to say that after some reflecting 2024 was one of - if not the - best year of my life. I've never experienced such a whirlwind of gratifying experiences in the span of twelve months: i met so many new and nice people, had my first con experiences in amazing settings and my first job opportunities in a field i wanted an experience in for a long time, traveled the world somehow, got 10x more attached to my characters than i already was - and I'm quitting the year with just as many projects as i did when i entered it. granted, new problems came up and still persist, but with every year that passes i get one step to catching up with the anxiety and fears that hold me back, and it's that one step that each time allows me to surpass fear and welcome something new. every leap of faith partially led to the beautiful things i experienced throughout the year like a ripple effect (partially). it's gratifying and humbling in equal measure. so cool!!

art wise, i'm a lot more satisfied with the direction my art is taking than i used to be in the past two years. i came up with brush settings that shifted my line dynamic and i discovered a new rendering technique i really enjoy that allows me to balance time-efficient with textured together. i think my art has been getting a lot more expressive and while sometimes it makes me feel like I'm straying away from a more sanitized, thought through illustrative style, maybe it's worth it for the feelings to be conveyed the way i want them to. i haven't gotten to a point where i'm experimenting with my shapes, compositions and palettes in a way that shakes up my habits in a good way, but I'll get there.

I've also come to realize while making the meme that i actually have very few finalized personal works to show this year! i made most of my personal work posts on a time rush (they usually were made for specific days). I've been working on a set of drawings that required some tweaking and a few days to sketch properly, but the result is worth it, I'm so proud of them!! i wanted to get them out before the NY but it convinced me that rendering had to take its time as well, i don't always want to rush things nowadays. being on a time limit and taking all the time necessary are both good drawing exercises nonetheless.

lots of rambling, but i had lots of thoughts. I'm so grateful that some people are still in my life as we inch toward the new year. to my moulin squad, to my tol staw, to all the new friends i made this year, to my kitty, to my family. i love you like the world. and of course, to all the people who follow my work from up close or from afar, thank you so much. to know i bring a bit of inspiration, thought and color into your day has a lot more worth to me than you can imagine. thank you for manifesting your interest and your support whenever you do!! 🙏

i hope you all have safe and healthy holidays 💛 drive safely and tell your loved ones you love them. my thoughts are with Ukraine and the people of Palestine.

[anakinstwinklebunny]

Bunny!! I have a request if you don't mind :>

I was thinking maybe headcanons of Sam and Mermaid!Reader (kinda like H2o if you ever watched it). Like stuff of how they met, how he found out and started dating, whatever you feel like it

Just an idea. It's my first request but i'll try to interact more because i really liked your blog

Luv your writing pookie, can i be 🦢 anon?

SAM MONROE X MERMAID!READER HEADCANONS 🧜🏻‍♀️🌊

Author's note: welcome 🦢 Nonnie 🙂‍↕️ that is actually such a creative idea oh myyyyy but I haven't watched H20, only heard of it :(( I hope it's up to your liking :((

🧜🏻‍♀️SAM MONROE who met you on one of his «get the hell away from everything» afternoons. He’d wander down to the rocky beach near his house, chain-smoking and throwing rocks into the water, just trying to avoid his dad and all the shitty stuff happening back home. You had been reckless, resting on a rock, just takin' in the sun..you liked this beach, it was quiet, people rarely came there. But fate had other plans today..When you heard a grumpy curse, your body stiffened and you immediately made your way back to the water. Yet, it was too slow for Sam not to see. He had spotted your tail diving under the water, his brows softening, expression going blank and he really thought he was going insane after pills he just took. "Hey! What the—" he run to the spot you were just by "Are you a freakin’ fish?" He yelled after you

🧜🏻‍♀️SAM MONROE who came back to the place where he had seen you to make sure he's not going insane

🧜🏻‍♀️SAM MONROE who actually one night sneaked out to see if you're there, and when you were, he hadn't stopped looking at you from behind. “So... you’re part fish? Do you eat people?” he'd blurt out, making you jump, before pointing at you like you were a science experiment.

🧜🏻‍♀️SAM MONROE who cursed the life out of him when he saw you become a human again after stepping out of the water. That guy stumbled over his own steps, thinking you're about to..he doesn't even know what, he just let out a breathless, shaky "shit!" before running away as fast as he could

🧜🏻‍♀️SAM MONROE who still came back to this place and this time didn't run away but the interaction between you two was.. awkward..a little but somehow you two got along with each other

🧜🏻‍♀️SAM MONROE who was protective of your secret, often glaring at people who give you, weirdly, too much attention. «Mind your business, freak.»

🧜🏻‍♀️SAM MONROE who secretly loves watching you swim. He’ll sit on the beach with his arms crossed, pretending he’s not impressed, but you catch the way his lips twitch into a smile when you do something cool.

🧜🏻‍♀️SAM MONROE who began bringing you little sea gifts—sea glass, weird shells, all while acting like it’s no big deal. «Found this dumb rock. Thought you’d like it.»

🧜🏻‍♀️SAM MONROE who teased you about your mermaid-ness. «Do you talk to dolphins or something?»

🧜🏻‍♀️SAM MONROE who sometimes asks you quiet, serious questions, frowning at you in the water. «What’s it like down there? Do you miss it?»

🧜🏻‍♀️SAM MONROE who draws you sometimes. Sketches of you on rocks or swimming. When you catch him, he simply plays it off. «It’s not you. Just some random fish person.»

🧜🏻‍♀️ SAM MONROE who spent hours smiling like a fool after the first time you kissed him underwater «Holy shit..that was..uh..wow»

🧜🏻‍♀️ SAM MONROE who, sometimes, let you take him into the water with you; jeans soaked up to his knees, just so he can kiss you properly while you float in the waves. «Don’t make me regret this. My shoes are already ruined.»

🧜🏻‍♀️SAM MONROE who teases you about being a mermaid all the time. "So, do you, like, talk to dolphins? Bet they’re better company than me, huh?" Yet when it he chills out, Sam’s completely enamored by your world. He’ll constantly ask quiet, curious questions late at night, when it’s just the two of you. "What’s it like down there? Do you miss it? Being in the water all the time? Is it worse than being out there?"

🧜🏻‍♀️SAM MONROE who you catch sketching you sometimes--little doodles of you sitting on a rock or swimming in the waves. He would deny it, of course. "It’s not you. It’s just some random fish person."

🧜🏻‍♀️ SAM MONROE who struggled with feeling like he’s somehow not enough for you, in a way. He thinks you deserve someone more “magical” or less messed up. «You’re out here being, like, a mystical sea goddess or whatever, and I’m just...me.»

🧜🏻‍♀️SAM MONROE who, whenever you’re upset, he’ll let you drag him into the water (even though he grumbles about it). "Fine, but if I drown, I’m haunting you."

🧜🏻‍♀️ SAM MONROE who gave you your first cigarette

🧜🏻‍♀️SAM MONROE who literally thought you were Ariel;

"So, uh," he started, scratching the back of his neck. He hesitated, the words seeming to stick in his throat before he finally blurted out, "Are you... some kind of Ariel or something?"

You blinked, tilting your head. "Who’s Ariel?"

Sam froze, lips parting like he was about to explain. But then, his brow furrowed, and he let out a long breath through his nose. "Eh… never mind," he muttered, taking a long drag of his cigarette

"No, wait," you pressed, frowning now. "Who is this Ariel? Another mermaid?"

"Not—well, kinda," Sam admitted, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He glanced at you, cheeks faintly pink. "She’s from a movie. Some Disney thing."

"Disney?" you repeated, your confusion deepening.

"Forget it," he grumbled, tossing another pebble into the water with more force this time. "It’s stupid. You're, like, way cooler anyway. Ariel’s just a cartoon."

You didn’t fully understand what he meant, but the faint praise made your lips curl into a smile. "So, this Ariel isn’t real?"

"Nope," Sam said, leaning back on his palms. "You, on the other hand…" His voice trailed off, and he looked at you again, blue eyes tracing the curve of your tail in the clear, shining water. "You’re, like… real as it gets."

You grinned before flicking water at him with your tail. "Good. I’d hate to have competition."

Sam chuckled, wiping the water from his face. "Yeah, well, you’re safe. Ain’t nobody like you, Ariel or not."

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[kozachenko]

Don't really have much to post again aside from some more sketching that I've done recently, this time of Reimu and Marisa, mainly because I just need a starting point as to how I would go about drawing them in my style (which is why the poses are so boring lol).

Artist's Notes;

So I mentioned in the last post how I've been wanting to experiment with how I wanted to draw Reimu, and I then got an idea for Marisa. So I wanted to try and contrast the two of them with each other via their shape language and body types. For scale I also put some numbers on the side just as a visualizing aid so I can imagine them easier. I wanted to make Reimu very tall and lanky and Marisa to be short and rounder. Also, this provides some interesting contrast in their shape language, and Marisa ends up being more round and Reimu ends up feeling more sharp.

I think what I'm most worried about is mainly that I don't 100% know if these two drawings still...feel like Reimu and Marisa. MMaybe because I made so many changes to both of them, but I feel like it's mostly in their faces. I kept the little personal touches that would add when I would draw them in the past (i.e. Reimu's tiny eyebrows and Marisa's freckles) but I dunno, maybe it's in the eyes? Like, Marisa's bigger eyes and eyebrows are definitley ideas that I want to play with in the future, but Reimu.... I dunno, I like the idea of her face shape in this drawing specifically, and I defnitely feel like I got closer to the monilid eye look I was trying to achieve in my previous attempt at drawing her eyes, but something still feels off with her.

When I drew Marisa, I really wanted to explore some other ideas for her body type, mainly in contrast to Reimu, so I wanted to give her a fuller figure and make her shorter than Reimu. I do feel like her eyes could be a bit sharper as eyes look maybe a little too innocent for Marisa, but I do still want to use these eyes I drew for her as a springboard for later attempts. I made some adjustments to her dress so that they would look good on the body type I gave her. I also need to draw shoes more because those boots....I just, I don't even know, I probably just need to draw that specific body type more wearing those types of boots or find references because I am not happy with how they turned out. Out of the two of them, Marisa was definitely my favourite to draw. I really enjoying drawing different body types when I get the chance to, and I feel like it's important to try your best to expand your variety when it comes to drawing the human body, I'm glad that I'm comfortable with drawing different body types. I do still have a long ways to go with this as I just need to do it more often and still need to do this but with different body shapes and weights and how to combine those two aspects to create unique body types and silhouettes. Also, please feel free to give me any critiques to how these two designs turned out, I remember that I drew Reimu when it was late at night and spent the entire day on Marisa so I defnitely feel like there's some things to critque here.

I'll be honest... I don't really like how Reimu turned out too much. Not to say it's a bad drawing, but I dunno. I think I just need to draw Reimu more, but she's honestly the hardest character to translate into my style. The thing is, I have an idea for her in my head but I just have a hard time putting it to paper. It's not like I've never drawn her before, in fact, aside from the height I really like how she looked in this piece of fanart (why tf did I make her so short in that piece) I did a while back despite the fact that I've imrpoved on my faces a lot since then (again, I do want to try my lineless style again, I just need to find the chance to do so), maybe because that was the drawing that provided me with some of my ideas on how to draw Reimu in my style? I do think I'm definitely in the rut of the "not knowing how to draw a character's face in your style" phase that I'm sure many fan-artists go through, so with enough drawings I'll get through it eventually, just gotta suffer through several more hours of trial and error though so yipeeeeeeee... As for things I do like, Reimu's hair turned out nicely. I did my usual technique for drawing Reimu's hair and then pasted the lineart layer underneath the main lineart layer and changed the colour to give it some extra pizzaz, and I do like how Reimu and Marisa contrast each other a lot. I just need to find a way to make them feel more like themselves while still taking liberties with their designs in my style.

Even if these are just sketches and me laying the groundwork for how I want to draw these two in the future, I still want to improve how I draw them a lot (also I don't like how much these two look like teenagers, I see both of them as being in their late 20s-early 30s and it just doesn't read like that and I definitely need to do more studies in the future to get them right in my style).

[goldenlikedayl1ght]

do i wanna know? | connor rk800

a/n: oh hi!! i am like 99% sure no one is going to gaf about this fic besides my two irl friends who i'll send this to. the moral of this story is: don't watch the big bang theory while high because you'll watch a scene and get inspired to write a fic based on it. season 7 episode 15 if anyone's curious. enjoy! warnings: touch starved reader and asexual/autistic coded connor, connor's kind of a dick and doesn't understand social cues or dating AT ALL, some light angst, kissing, a lot of awkward conversation between reader and connor, not canon compliant AT ALL reader is always dealing with bullshit BRO GET UP, gavin reed is the worst! also some cursing, but overall very sweet and corny word count: 3.2k summary: you spend your first valentine's day with connor. pairing: connor rk800 x gn!reader now playing: do i wanna know? - the artic monkeys (covered by hozier) "do i wanna know?/if this feeling flows both ways?/sad to see you go/was sort of hoping that you'd stay/baby, we both know/that the nights were mainly made for saying things that you can't say tomorrow day."

You have always hated Valentine’s Day.

You’ve had a couple of alright Valentine’s Day, but for many years, February Fourteenth meant minor discomfort at best and heartbreak at worse.

Until you started dating Connor.

You met Connor at work. You worked as the sketch artist employed by the police station. So, you’d run into him every so often.

As his software instability increased, your affection for him did as well.

By the time Valentine’s Day rolls around, you’ve been dating for six or seven months. You push him to do things he never imagined doing, and often, you spend your time together either trying new things (Ice skating, unsuccessfully. Pottery, successfully.) or you’re watching movies or tv shows Connor has had recommended to him. It’s nice.  

You had agreed to take things slow. Connor was very new to this whole relationship thing. The whole being human thing, too.

More often than not, Connor isn’t comfortable with physical touch, finding himself hesitant to hold your hand, and not to mention the fact that he never says anything nice to you without it being weird—

(“You have excellent bone structure.”

“Oh. Thank you, Connor.”

“I bet you have a very distinct skeleton.”

“…Thank you. I think.”)

So, by Valentine’s Day, you haven’t even kissed him. Your friends think you’re crazy. Dating an android is bad enough—An android who doesn’t even kiss you is insane!

There’s been quick pecks, maybe three or four times since you started to date, only ever on Connor’s jaw, when you were sure he wasn’t paying attention, and once, he kissed your head when you fell asleep at your desk. But you’ve never actually kiss him—

You know, a kiss that lasts more than a few seconds, a kiss that isn’t so awkward, a kiss where you feel your lips against his—

A kiss that you feel like isn’t just an obligation to Connor, something he barely tolerates.

So, Valentine’s Day should be fun.

When you first asked him about Valentine’s Day, he seemed to be agreeable to your desire for a romantic evening. And maybe ‘agreeable’ isn’t how you would’ve liked to describe your boyfriend’s attitude towards Valentine’s Day.. But beggars can’t be choosers.

“So, we’ll do dinner that day, then?”

“Sure,” Connor agrees, and he’s barely looking up from the case file he’s reading over. Hank raises an eyebrow as he watches the interaction from his desk. “What did you have in mind?”

“Have you ever tried sushi?” You ask, and your face breaks out into a grin when he shakes his head. “Perfect. There’s this really nice place I’ve been meaning to try. We’ll go there.”

Finally, Connor looks up from his work at you.

“That sounds nice. I look forward to it.” And then he smiles.

Your heart melts because you know this is the closest your boyfriend will get to conveying actual excitement at this point.

“Great. It’s a date.”  Resisting the urge to kiss him goodbye, You smile back. “Okay, great. Have a nice rest of your day, Connor.” You say, standing from your position leaning on his desk, a hand landing on his shoulder and giving a soft squeeze as you pass.

“Have a nice day,” he says, watching as you leave. He goes back to work for a minute, before glancing at Hank. “Hank?"

“Yeah, Connor?” Hank asks, taking an opportunity to sip his coffee.

“Valentine’s Day is important, right?”

Hank hesitates, contemplating how much help he should give Connor, and, by extension, you.

“To people who have been married for forty years and have built a life together? Usually not. To you and your seven-month-old relationship? Yeah, I’d say it’s important.” He watches as Connor processes this information.

“Huh.” Is all he responds with, “Interesting.”

And then he goes back to work.

Hank just silently prays you haven’t gotten your hopes up too high.

-

Valentine’s Day rolls around faster than Connor would’ve anticipated, and it happens to fall on the day that Connor and Hank make a major arrest in a recent murder case they had been handling. Hank gives you some of the credit, since they never would’ve found him if you hadn’t done such a good job sketching the suspect.

But an arrest means paperwork. Lots of paperwork. Connor’s week had already been stressful, between this case, dealing with emotions he’s not familiar with, and this case was just.. heavy. So he feels as if he can barely focus on the report in front of him.

Hank heads home around 5:30, watching the clock.

“Connor, don’t you have your date soon?” He asks as he pulls on his jacket.

“I don’t have to be at the restaurant until 7:00, Lieutenant, I have plenty of time.” He assures, “I’m sure I can get this done quickly. That way I can give Valentine’s Day my undivided attention.”

“That’s..” he hesitates. “Actually, kind of reasonable. I’ll see you at home, Connor.” He concedes.

Connor wishes him a good night, before turning his full attention to the report he’s working on. As six o’clock begins to roll around, he’s made progress, just not as much as he would’ve liked. That’s when Gavin Reed strolls over to his desk. Connor notices they’re the two last people here.

“You’re still here, Bolts?”

Connor is not amused.

“Yes, Detective, I am.”

“No plans with Damaged Goods for Valentine’s Day?”

Connor finally looks up at him.

Bolts & Damaged Goods.

Reed’s impressive nicknames for the two of you. He isn’t sure why he calls you that, but he has a feeling it would be intrusive to ask.

“Actually, detective, I—”

“Yeah, that’s nice,” He drops a thick folder on Connor’s desk, “Listen, I have a hot date tonight. Do me a solid and help me out with some paperwork so I can get out of here?” He asks.

His LED light flickers yellow.

“Aren’t you supposed to do the paperwork yourself?”

“C’mon, bolts,” He huffs, “Just help a guy out. You’re faster at it than I am, anyways. I’d owe you one.” He promises, and Connor can’t tell if he’s lying. He can still be in time for dinner and get this work done..

“Fine.” Connor resigns with a sigh, “I—”

“That’s great, you’re helping me out a lot,” From the smirk on Gavin’s face, Connor realizes he’s made some sort of mistake. “See you, bolts, Happy Valentine’s Day!” He says as he grabs his jacket and then walks right out of the office.

Connor’s attention is turned back to the paperwork at hand.

At 7:15, he gets a call from you.

Connor only got a phone recently, since both you and Hank agreed that the two of you needed to be able to reach him if need be. Mostly, his phone is barren. Hank is saved in his phone as ‘Lieutenant Hank Anderson’, and your number is saved under your full name too. He knows in your phone, he’s ‘connor’ with a simple blue heart emoticon.

Guilt eats at him as he answers the phone.

“Hello?” He answers.

“Connor? Where are you, we were supposed to meet at the restaurant fifteen minutes ago for our reservation.” He can hear the frown in your voice.

“I got caught up doing paperwork.” He answers honestly, “Detective Reed needed help with some reports and he.. sort of left before I had the chance to say no.”

Silence.

He knows you don’t particularly care for Gavin Reed.

“How long do you think you’ll be?”

“I’m not sure,” he says, “Maybe half an hour?”

You can hear the lie despite the distance between the two of you.

“Connor, It’s Valentine’s Day.”

“Correct.”

You realize he doesn’t understand why you’ve brought it up.

“Okay, you know what? You finish working and I’ll… figure something out for us to do instead.” You offer.

“Okay,��� He says, his eyes already wandering back down to his work. “Is there.. anything else?”

“No, Connor,” Your voice holds a bitter edge he doesn’t pick up on, “I’ll let you go.”

“Okay. Goodbye.”

“Bye.”

When you hang up, you glance around the restaurant. You observe happy couples of all types, sipping wine and enjoying delicious food, large smiles on their faces, fingers laced together.

You try to remember that Connor is a deviant, someone who is trying to navigate the emotions you came to terms with in your adolescence. Of course he doesn’t understand the importance of Valentine’s Day, he’s never celebrated it before. These two facts do not sooth the frustration you feel inside.

You inhale deeply as a plan begins to form in your brain. Fuck Gavin Reed. You can still have a wonderful Valentine’s Day with your boyfriend, it’ll just take a bit of.. extra flexibility.

At some point during his paperwork, Connor drapes his suit jacket over his chair and rolls the sleeves of his button up to his elbows, his stress only growing. At around eight, he needs to grab a witness report from another room.

When he gets back, he stops in the doorway to absorb the new additions to the room.

Candles are lit, sitting on his desk, not touching the organized paperwork he had been chipping away at. Three different sushi rolls are laid out, along with two wine glasses. The picture is completed by you, sitting at the other end of the desk from where he usually does, a nervous smile on your face, a bottle of wine in your hands. You look nice.

You look.. beautiful.

Connor’s LED lights up blue.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” You finally break the silence. “I figured if you couldn’t come to dinner, I could bring dinner to you.”

Dinner’s more for you than anything else. Connor always takes a few bites of whatever meal you share, just to try, but he doesn’t need to eat or drink to sustain himself. Although, he can’t deny that, while unnecessary to him, the dishes you pick out are always delicious.

He moves from his place in the doorway to sit down across from you.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” he says gently, unable to take his eyes off you. He’s not sure why. “I can’t believe you came here and did this..”

You just smile.

“I still wanted to see my boyfriend during Valentine’s Day, even if you have to work.” You say, imagining that he’ll only be busy for maybe another twenty or thirty minutes.

“That’s very nice of you.” He watches as you pour wine into each glass, “You’re sure you don’t mind if I work?” He asks.

You shake your head, digging into the bag you had brought with you and pulling out your sketchbook.

“I’ll just draw until you’re done.” You promise. He had seen your sketchbook several times. You had a large one you use for work, but when you were on break, he had seen this smaller one you carried around. He’d never peeked, not wanting to invade your privacy.

But that didn’t stop his curiosity.

“Okay.” He nods, “This’ll be nice.”

You spend the next five minutes showing Connor how to properly use chopsticks, and then, time starts to tick by as you watch him do work, occasionally doodling in your sketchbook as you eat in silence.

Twenty minutes go by.

Then thirty.

Then forty.

At nine, you finally decide enough is enough. Connor doesn’t even seem bothered by the fact that you just close your sketchbook, and sit there, arms crossed.

“Connor?” You finally say at ten past nine.

“Hm?”

He doesn’t look up.

“Are you almost done?”

You see him pause.

“Soon.”

Another pause.

“Connor?”

The way he grips the pen in his hand tighter is not lost on you.

“What?” His voice is strained.

“It’s almost nine thirty, maybe you should just leave it to be done on Monday.”

Finally, he looks up at you.

“I told you, I’m almost done, don’t you get that?” he asks, and you can hear the frustration in his voice, “What’s the matter with you?

His question snaps something in you.

“What’s the matter with me?” You ask, “It’s Valentine’s Day! We’re supposed to have a romantic dinner, enjoy each other’s company and spend it growing closer, like every other couple does!”

“Every other couple?” His LED light flickers yellow. “You want us to be just like ‘every other couple’?” Connor isn't even sure he knows how to be like this couple, let alone every other one!

You decide now is as good as time as any to voice your frustration. Valentine’s Day is already ruined, why not just dig the hole?

You stand, beginning to throw out the empty sushi containers and tuck away your sketchbook. Connor watches you.

“That’s not what I meant,” You start, “But Connor, we’ve been dating for seven months! God forbid I feel like I deserve some romance!” You huff.

Silence.

Heavy silence.

Connor is processing this, but you can tell anger is bubbling up inside of him.

You round the corner of his desk as he stands up too.

“Where are you going?” he asks.

You sigh.

“I’m leaving.”

“How come?” He asks, and you can tell he’s being rhetorical, that the stress from the week has become too much on him. “It’s Valentine’s Day,”

“Connor, Don’t—”

“No,” He starts, only standing about two feet away from you now. “I can be romantic, If you want Romance, let’s do romance.” He begins to search his memories for romantic scenes in movies and television, looking for this 'romance' you crave so badly. He glances to the wine on his desk, “Wine’s romantic,” He starts, and you roll your eyes as he picks up his glass and takes a sip. You watch as his face twists, the taste of wine not one he loves just yet. You can tell by the way his LED flickers yellow, and then he puts the glass down.

“Stop it—”

“We can gaze into one another’s eyes,” Connor bends down a bit to make eye contact with you. He’s got a good couple of inches on you, so he has no other choice. You roll your eyes and Connor shrugs, “You blinked, I win.” He reports.

You’ve had enough of this.

“Connor!”

“Alright, what’s next,” He takes a second to think, and then it hits him. “Oh, kissing’s romantic!” And before you realize what’s happening, Connor is bending over again, and his lips are against yours.

You freeze.

You don’t know what to do. On the one hand, you feel like you’ve done something wrong by making him so upset, that maybe he didn’t actually want to kiss you, that you should pull away. On the other hand, you’re sure that if you do pull away, you’ll never feel the sensation of his lips against yours again.

So, you wait for Connor to make the first move.

You’re sure he’ll pull away.

But this sensation is new to Connor. The warmth that’s started by the heat that comes from your lips spreads through him. An unfamiliar urge overtakes him. He has no name for it, but he doesn’t break the kiss as he takes a few steps towards you, his body relaxing into the kiss. He stands tall, but your head tilts up to keep kissing him. That unfamiliar urge tells him to get as close to you as possible. To chase this warmth.

His hand even moves to rest on your waist, and your hand rests on his bicep.

Why hadn’t he done this ages ago?

He tilts his head a bit into the kiss, unsure of how to advance but not wanting the moment to end. You, on the other hand, need to breathe, and he knows that. He slowly pulls away his eyes locked onto you.

Your attention is caught by his LED light, which lights up a soft pink.

This is romantic.

Neither of you say anything, just looking at each other, both too afraid to shatter the moment that has swept you off your feet.

Finally, you decide on,

“That was nice.”

Connor nods.

“It was..”

Silence.

Delicate silence, this time.

“May I walk you home?” He asks.

“What about your reports?”

Connor doesn’t hesitate to answer.

“They can wait until Monday.”

A smile tugs at your lips.

“Alright. Let me just get my jacket.”

Connor ignores the disappointment he feels as you pull away, already missing the warmth that came from such proximity to you. He just grabs his own jacket and slips it on. He doesn’t even bother cleaning up his stacks of paper, he just waits by the doorway as you blow out the candles and tuck the bottle of wine into your bag.

He can’t stop looking at you.

When you get to the doorway, you smile, your flushed cheeks revealing your happiness.

“Ready?” You ask.

Connor’s hand finds yours, locking his fingers against yours. Your heart thumps out of your chest.

“Ready.” He responds. The two of you head out of the police station, a warm silence filling the air. As he walks you back home, a small one bedroom, one floor house you rent from a woman who now lives in Florida, snow begins to fall around you.

Not heavy, thick, annoying snow. Just flurries that stick to Connor’s hair and make you shiver. Connor, who is now calculating the most appropriate way to assess that unfamiliar urge he felt makes no attempt to stop you from leaning against him as you walk.

You pass other couples who make their way home from their own Valentine’s Day plans, but instead of the jealous, bitter feeling you usually felt towards these couples on the holiday in the past, all you can focus on is Connor.

You squeeze his hand when you step onto your porch. The two of you stand under your porch light, snow falling around you. Your free hand comes up and wipes some snow from his hair.

“Tonight was wonderful.” You say honestly.

Connor feels awful for his behavior, but he’ll tackle that later.

“It was.” He agrees with a smile. His eyes flicker down to your lips, and you watch as his LED flickers that light pink again. He doesn’t ask, he just leans down and kisses you again, and he feels your hands coming up to rest on his jaw, your thumb rubbing gently against his cheek as you kiss him back.

He knows he’ll be chasing the warmth even more now. More and more each time he kisses you, and he will chase it until he dies.

He pulls away from kissing you, and his face is just an inch or two away from yours.

“Happy Valentine’s Day.” He says gently.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Connor.” You smile. He hesitates, but eventually he pulls away and you unlock your door. You stand in your doorway, just looking at him.

“Goodnight.” He finally says, his LED still pink. He turns and makes his way down the steps of your porch. When he steps onto the concrete, back in the snow, he glances back and takes another look at you.

You’ll catch frostbite at this rate, just staring at each other. So, you take the plunge and slip inside your door, closing it behind you.

Best Valentine’s Day Ever.

[personadescent]

I felt like practicing some rendering the other day, so I used that one panel sketch as a base and painted this over it.

I could probably do more with this, but for something I mostly just messed around on I actually really like how it turned out, so I don't mind leaving it here for now.

The background isn't anywhere specific, I just needed something that looked like a REALLY dark room that was out of focus. It's wherever you want it to be.

Since I was practicing rendering and not sketching, I wasn't exactly worried about cleaning up the sketch itself -- I erased some lines so that I could do that blended 'seam' between the dark and light fur, but that's about it.

I wanted to see how well I could pull off multiple textures in general, but especially fur -- DD!Werehog Sonic has a handful of different fur textures, ranging from short 'suede' fur on his face and hands to long coarse fur on his back and arms.

(...I feel like I should mention that I have hyperphantasia, so whenever I visualize things I 'see' them in full detail, including this design itself -- I can literally see it at the same level of detail as a CGI model. That's why I think about "high definition" details like fur texture.)

I should make a proper reference sheet for this design at some point. Maybe I'll do an in-depth breakdown of it whenever I get around to that.

[accirax]

DRDTtober Day...... uhhhhhh......

Given that we are (*checks calendar*) now half a year out from when DRDTtober 2024 was meant to begin, I think it's finally time to admit... yeah, I don't think I'm ever going to go back and make art for those prompts 😔✌️

I did, however, draw this back in September, in accordance with my original plans for the event! For those curious, below the cut is a (hopefully) brief explanation of what these designs were intended to be for, and why the comics ultimately never came to fruition.

As you may or may not recall, librariansrose kindly shared 2024's DRDTtober prompts to Tumblr well in advance of October's beginning, on August 22nd. Because I had so much fun making all of the comics for 2023, I definitely wanted to participate again. However, making the comics for 2023 took a lot of time, so I resolved that, if I was going to commit to these comics as a fairly big time investment, I might as well go all-in and make something nice that I could ideally use as a portfolio piece in the future. One polished, paneled page per day, in a 31-day overarching story. That idea also aligned with my personal desire to do something different than I had done last year, just for spice.

"This will be so easy!" I thought. "I have the end of August and the entirety of September to make my designs, write out my script, and get well ahead of drawing the comic itself so that I'll have plenty of buffer for the beginning of October!"

A few days after the prompts were shared, it was announced that DRDT Chapter 2 would resume on September 6th.

Suddenly, all of the time that I had mentally blocked to work on my DRDTtober comics was absorbed into watching the series itself and writing up my episode-by-episode dissections, as well as reading and responding to other various theories. It was awesome, obviously, but by the end of September I had done basically nothing other than make some very loose notes and draw up these first passes at character designs. At the beginning of October, I played with the idea of doing 7-page bursts at the end of each week, but when the first week ended, that turned into starting it mid-month and finishing in November, to starting in November, until it devolved into where we are now.

The biggest reason why I never wound up making this comic is because, to this day, I still don't have a clear idea of what its ending would be. With the comics being one connected story instead of 31 largely separate jokes, I needed to know what the ending would look like in order to properly set up the beginning. And, as I quickly found out, trying to make up a satisfying story that has to feature 30 random prompts in a specific order and feature 17 different characters when you only came in with the desire to make a comic instead of to share a story, is really, really hard 😅

What I can say about the story is that it would have had David as the protagonist, with Xander and Teruko starring as fellow main characters. They would go on a quest throughout the kingdom and into the wilderness, encountering the rest of the cast (themed to various prompts) at various points along the way. For instance, you might be able to recognize Hu, Eden, and Min as representing the "magical girls" prompt, while Whit and Charles exemplified the "coffee shop" prompt. There was also a lot of lore, the details of which were also never fully fleshed out. If people are interested in hearing more about the story, maybe I can share the beginning of the script that I wrote out, and the layout sketches I made of what the first few pages would look like.

But yeah, unless I wind up reviving this story in some other form in the future, I don't think I'll ever wind up circling back to 2024's prompts. I'd be much more likely to either just wait until 2025's prompts come out, or continue making my own events, like the Secret Santa and Valentine's Day series I've done. I guess I could maybe try to combine 2024's prompts with 2025's prompts to do two prompts per day? That sounds kinda interesting. But also really hard. No promises!

I have no idea if anyone was still anticipating these from me at all, but in my mind I did promise that I'd do the prompts eventually, and leaving that dangling thread was bothering me. Plus, I did like these designs, and hopefully you do, too! Probably so, if you're still reading this. Thank you for reading this! It's not a month's worth of comics or illustrations, but hopefully it was interesting regardless :)

[steamberrystudio]

02/03/2025 Devlog

Hallo everyone!  Tumblr devlog time! My last post was a month ago because I keep missing my notifications to update here. You can follow me on Itch.io where I also update monthly but I swear I am going to find a way to remember to post here.

Summary Bullets:

More sprite variations

Finished up with sprite expressions for Chapter 5

Set up the flowchart for chapter 5

Coded in all the unlock statements for the flowchart

Completed all the necessary new sprites for this chapter

Coded in the new BGs and variations

And minor BG animations

Sketched all six CGs

Lined and flatted 3 CGs

Completed 1 CG

Art:

For Chapter 5 I ended up creating new outfits for several characters. And some new hairstyles for a couple as well. This wasn't something I was planning on doing but just somehow...happened. Ha ha. You'll (maybe) get to see them towards the end of the chapter.

I also finally....*finally* completed a sprite that I have been putting off drawing for ages. I just didn't really have a super clear image of this character and was flip-flopping on major design choices and it finally got to the point that I just needed to sit down and draw this guy. So he's done. He's completed.

And I'm not...displeased with how he turned out. 

I got all the BGs ready as long as simple BG animations.

And I started on the CGs. The CGs are the last major thing to complete for this episode.

I have 1 complete. 

I have 2 of them sketched, lined, flatted, and waiting for shading.

And I have the remaining three sketched out but not lined yet.

Other Stuff:

I set up the flowchart and got it coded. It's another monster. I think the flowcharts will calm down for a couple of chapters before exploding again later. Ha ha.

Why. Why am I like this?

Beyond that I also finished all the expressions - the 'easy but tedious work.' I think there ended up being over 4000 expression switches.

Upcoming Weeks:

I will be working to finish the CGs. LoL That's obviously the main thing left to do. I am going to try to push out the beta version of the episode to Patrons later this week. I want to try to get at least one more of the CGs finished before that and then I'll wrap up the rest of them during testing and early access.

So that is where we are with Episode 3/Chapter 5. The next time I update here will probably be when the route is already in beta and I'm busy with making inevitable typo corrections.

I'll see you then!

[nana-b0b]

》🔞 These panels are censored, you can go to the last of the post to find out where to see them!

A little historical info to better understand:

♡♡♡♡♡!!! I really feel happy and overcome with these panels, I was thinking a lot about how to make them since there were several obstacles: I had never drawn something NSFW before as it should be 😅 I never got that far so to speak, there was always a line that prevented me from taking that step, since it is not the same to draw some small scene where you only see something specific to a whole pose as such and all that implies. But after many ideas and turns I managed to take that step (maybe small for some but for me it was like reaching the moon 😂) and the most important and most feared was that the essence of the drawings and the style would be lost but I could keep it well and make it coexist ♡.

Note: as for the text accompanying the panels I want to say that it's not my best work as a narrator hahaha I don't write anything since I was about fifteen and it was my era of fanfics and stuff, so I feel its very basic and empty! 😅 ♥!

Now, let's talk a bit about the panels! Well, as we all knew this moment was coming, it was no surprise -3- Ryomen really had to be patient to get what he had been thinking for a while, but he didn't want it to be something random as it could be with any woman he wanted, he was really curious to see how Aurora could look like with the full appearance of a lady of the Heian era and when he saw her, he just couldn't resist. One thing will be clear: Aurora won't wear black teeth again, there will be no way to paint her teeth again without someone losing a limb. As for her eyebrows: she's really mad about that, but I'll let it go.

And to close this post I come with a novelty (I've been thinking about this for days) now we are going to be able to have these drawings completely uncensored on patreon.

I'm not going to lie, using more than two social networks for me is already a lot 😥 if it were up to me I would only post everything in one place but we know how the rules are and we have to respect them, if just by showing a nipple (which is a pixel 😂 ) they almost censored me on Instagram I knew this would be difficult and Tumblr is not lagging behind, while there are things that it lets pass there are others that it doesn't and it's not nice to have to make such complex drawings so that the AI doesn't detect them as 🔞 since there comes a certain point that you get tired too and it loses the grace.

My patreon will be the place for all my works 🔞 without any censorship already, you are going to be able to enjoy both public and private content depending on the type of work ♡. I think also for me it's an incentive to be able to start letting go more of my ideas and continue with everything I want to do :)

To say goodbye first I want to always thank you for all the support you give me and all your messages 🖤 and second to warn you that this CAP of Ren will be in patreon already published privately but all the other censored drawings are public for you to see and enjoy them as they should ⭐

Here are the publications that I censored and that you can now see, there are not many at the moment x'D

[viperbunnies]

It's officially New years for me here! I am not the best at words, but I'm thankful for the support that I've received for the short amount of time that I've started posting art more often.

What started off as me wanting to just Archive some art I'm proud of snowballed to so many memories that I'll look back fondly to, so many silly ideas that breached containment that I remember seeing people do (Like the draw your oc reacting to their fave card that me and addie just talked about as a joke, and the Shroompocalypse that was just meant to be an Jade stealing people's yume joke)

I'm glad that I met so many amazing people and discovered new artists on this site! With that said I want to drop a few words of thanks to some of the amazing people that I've met here <3

Firstly, thank you to @oya-oya-okay being my first ever follower and mutual! If it weren't for you sharing my art I wouldn't be able to meet so many of my moots, your words of encouragement means a lot to me (and to other people that you also support!) I wish you well in life!

Thank you to @natsukishinomiyaswife ! If it weren't for you reaching out to me back then I probably would've continued lurking. You're a dear friend to me and I enjoy our random talks! May it be about life, or our own interests 💕 I hope the new year treats you kindly.

Thank you to @justm3di0cr3 ! For giving me so many ideas (some I've yet to finish...) and for listening to me whatever the topic maybe. I'm thankful that I met you! You're such a considerate person, always checking in on me whenever I feel down. If something's bugging you, I'm always all ears!

Thank you to @scint1llat3 , your overwhelming support has helped me so much. It's always fun seeing your currynoodles, and just your art in general. But it's just as fun just reading your thoughts! Your comments/tags are always so fun to read 😭 I hope you never get tired doing what you love! Labyu lodicakes (/p) kain ka ng madaming pansit sa new years for long life

Thank you to @jovieinramshackle ! I remember feeling so scared due to some inevitable changes, but seeing your general words of encouragement during that time helped me so much. Wishing you the best on your journey as well!

Thank you to @fell-e ! Your keysmashes and memes are so fun to see 😭 Genuinely need to know how you make them so quickly. Thank you as well for being my earliest supporters, I probably would've been burnt out so quickly if you didn't show genuine interest in my arts.

Thank you to @part-sadist ! For the laughs that you give me from your silly sketches, and for acknowledging some of my ideas. You've contributed so much ideas to my to do list as well, to the point that I don't think I'm gonna run out of any drawing prompts any time soon (They just need to give me the time already...)

Thank you to @taruruchi ! for being one of my earliest supporters, it's just so nice to see someone with similar interests as me! I still have so many Oz and Taru interactions that I want to make, so I hope you look forward to them hehe.

Thank you to @jadelover69 (i miss your old name /j) Thank you as well for your overwhelming support! I love seeing the things you rb on my tl, may it be twst or different fandoms you're interested in. They help lighten up my mood whenever I need it!

Thank you to @the-travelling-witch ! We haven't been mutuals for long, but you've always been so supportive of me! Thank you for showing genuine interests in my ocs! And for sharing me rambles about yours as well! If you ever get any new ideas, I'd love to hear them :> (Probably not asap due to Timezones and schedules, but of course I'll get to you soon!)

Thank you to my friend (alias Melone) If you see this I hope you know that I'm thankful that you pushed me to draw more. You'll always be my no. 1 hypeman, and I wish we can spend more time together soon. 2024 really is cursed-- our annual meetup didn't happen 😔 I hope we can meet soon! I still need to give you my gifts from your birthday.

If I could add everyone I've met here I genuinely would 😭 I love all of my moots/supporters /p.

Honestly I feel like I'm more cynical qnd negative irl... due to many reasons, but perhaps it's due to the people that I've met here that I'e had such a positive influence, which I'm honestly so thankful for. It's helped a lot with my personal struggles.

If you've made it this far, I hope you know that life gets better. A struggle today, doesn't determine the wind's path tomorrow. Wishing you all Happy new years! I hope that this coming year will be kind to us as all ^^

[dirtycombatboots]

I was writing a fanfic but something happened and now the file is damaged. I'm not sure I have it in me to start from scratch once again so I'll just pour this idea here, maybe someone will like to use it

One winter Eskel, injured, got stuck for winter in Lettenhove, small county of Kerak, taking full advantage of healer's hospitality. During winter he befriended a little boy who isn't afraid of a witcher and, in fact, is very interested in his stories. Eskel knows he shouldn't tell quite a lot of things, but some of them just slip out occasionally. Well, not like a child will remember any of those, so no harm. Winter end, Eskel goes back to his usual life. He doesn't come back to Lettenhove, path taking him to different parts of continent.

Little boy, however, has a very good memory and a newfound obsession with witchers. As he grows older and learns how to read, he tries to find anything about them in the books. His curiosity is somewhat satisfied when he is already a student at Oxenfurt and has access to Academy's library with a lot of ancient scrolls on history.

After graduation Jaskier, no-name young bard with nothing but his lute, is brooding in the corner of a small tavern in Posada. He is dead set on becoming the best bard, but he has nothing to write ballads about. No muse. Well, no problem, lets make one up. Since he was always obsessed with witchers, why not sing about them? Only needs a hero. A bit of searching for old memories plus everything he learned from archives, sketching what he thinks Eskel looked like (Jaskier was a child, he couldn't possibly remember Witcher's face in full detail), a bit of artistic choices to modify that face, a pinch of tragic backstory, sprinkle with personality that would do good for hero of ballads, and a suitable name as a cherry on top. Congratulations, you just created Geralt of Rivia.

While thinking about how to start working with this new character of his creation, Jaskier goes to take a look at the devil he heard local rumors of. He finds a cave with half-starved and incredibly intelligent Sylvan and a few dead elves. Creature turns out to be a surprisingly good conversationalist after Jaskier shares some of his bread with him. Jaskier promised to make up a story that will keep humans away from searching for the "devil" and receives an elven lute as gift, since otherwise it will just rot in this cave. That is how "Toss a coin" was made.

Toss a coin is more successful than Jaskier could predict in his most narcissistic fantasies. He writes a few more songs about Geralt and his career really takes off. At some point Jaskier realized that people actually think Geralt is a real person. Amused, he plays along, completely satisfied with his own genius. Especially when some people not only recognize him, but claim to have seen the White Wolf. They actually believe it.

Jaskier knows that Geralt is fictional but an artist needs emotions to make his art, so he intentionally falls in love with his character and intentionally makes Geralt in his mind harsher. Because Jaskier is dramatic bastard and unrequited love is perfect fuel for ballads.

After silently watching from sidelines the whole epic of Pavetta's bethrothal ball, Jaskier spins the story of how Geralt was involved a claimed the Law of Surprise. Jaskier gets invited back to play from time to time, watching Ciri grow, and realizes that somehow even Calanthe - a person directly involved in the whole thing, an eyewitness and active participant - believes in Jaskier's made-up story about Geralt's involvement. Jaskier knows it will bite him in the ass later, but this is too funny and he is just a bit insane so he indulged with pride.

When Countess de Stael breaks up with him, Jaskier is drowning his sorrows in a bottle of gin on a riverbank. Oh, crap, he slipped and scratched his throat on something accidentally. He goes to the local healer to buy some ointment for scratches - bard with a scar on his throat would be absurd - and she is a lovely sarcastic young-looking elf with dark curls and just a bit of magic, named Jenny. Deciding that if he is suffering from a broken heart, Geralt should suffer too. Jaskier's drinking spree transforms into a story of fighting jinn, saving a mortality wounded bard and falling in love with a sexy dangerous witch. Welcome, new character, we will call you Yennefer. Thank you, Jenny, for inspiration. Jaskier is jealous and heartbroken, but he thrives on it and enjoys every second of his life misery very much, milking it for creative purposes.

Annual visit to Cintra, bad news. The whole family of three perished in sea waters. Lioness of Cintra is loosing her mind with grief. It really is a pity to see such a strong woman in such state, so to calm her Jaskier sings about Ciri as if she was still alive. Surprisingly, it helps.

Jaskier tags along on some idiotic, in his opinion, quest to hunt a dragon. It is a failure through and through, nothing interesting happening and no material for ballads. On top of that mountain Jaskier decides that he needs a break, perhaps a vacation somewhere nice. Maybe go to the coast. But he can never really get a break from his own imagination. Besides, a bit of a heartbreak seems like a perfect grand finale for this failed adventure. So, Geralt and Yennefer fight, than Geralt sends the bard away. Perfect. This way Jaskier will be able to suffer as much as he wants AND not be distracted by thinking about Geralt being present.

Unfortunately , no vacation for Jaskier. Cintra falls, and the bard finds out that, apparently, he gaslighted the entire continent into believing that not only Geralt exists, but Yenn as well, and that lion cub of Cintra is alive. Well, fuck, Jaskier really is a genius if he says so himself. If only Nilfgaard didn't have a bounty for his head, hoping to get information about the witcher. Really, the whole empire on a wild goose chase for a fictional witcher and a long dead princess, can you imagine. Jaskier knew it would bite him in the ass.

Being tortured by Rience is no fun, especially since Jaskier literally cannot give him any information, but firefucker doesn't believe Jaskier when the bard tries to explain that Ciri is dead and Geralt doesn't exist. He gets saved eventually and tries to lay low for some time. Jaskier may be a bit crazy, but he doesn't have a death wish.

The story ends with Jaskier meeting witchers of Kaer Morhen. To his utter disbelief, even they are affected by collective madness. They fully believe in Geralt's existence and have memories about shared life experiences with him. Even Eskel, which is another level of ridiculous. Because Geralt, at his core, IS Eskel, just with a whole lot of artistic liberties and a very successful PR manager of a bard.

There is no explanation given to why this happened. Maybe Jaskier just so convincing, maybe he is a bit magical, maybe it's his elven lute being magical. The only thing that gets explained during the story is why some people believe they actually saw Geralt with Jaskier. After visualizing his character for so long, Jaskier accidentally and unknowingly created a tulpa. Given magical nature of the world, sometimes its presence is noticed. But its not real, nothing more than a weak projection of bard's fantasies.

[chriskotiesen]

How do you think of your wonderful beasts?

Usually I start with really vague ideas for shapes or colour schemes and just make the creatures up as I go along. Most of the time I'm aiming to make something that has personality but isn't too easy to compare to any existing animal. If it's too boring then I'll weird it up a bit by rearranging parts or throwing on extra shapes. If it's too abstract then I'll swap in some more realistic animal features.

I saved some in-progress pics of yesterday's creature to step through the process:

I started by giving myself the very open-ended task of drawing a creature with a mouth in an unusual place. When sketching digitally I often like to forgo lineart and just play with blocks of colour.

Why is it crescent shaped? Why is it orange? I dunno. But I think that I can turn this into a body with the mouth at the centre of the mass. There are certainly weirder and more interesting places to put a mouth then in the belly, but I don't really know how this sketch is going to go from here. Maybe I'll put more mouths on the feet or something. Finding out is part of the fun.

Let's start simple. I figure that it should have arms to pick up food, as well as eyes and a nose to clearly define a 'head' somewhere away from the mouth. Okay now it looks like a creature, but not one that I particularly like. Also there's nothing between the nose and the mouth so it looks less like it has a mouth in its stomach and more like it just has a really big, weirdly-shaped head. I can fix that if I move the arms above the mouth. And I'll give it a tail and another bend in the torso to balance it out and make it less front-heavy.

Now we're getting somewhere. I'm starting to like this for reasons entirely unrelated to the mouth, so I'll just remove it completely. It's getting in the way of the rest of the anatomy. There's no client or art director dictating what I need to make here. The initial premise is just a jumping-off point and I can ditch it entirely if the design works better without it. I like this bug-eyed, cobra-hooded aardvark-centaur-dragon-thing. That seems like enough of a creature without throwing on extra features.

I try to keep my palette organized and only add more colours when they feel necessary. The countershading here helps to define the creature's shape a bit better and break up all of that orange, as well as just making it a little more realistic. I made the tail bigger just because I like what that does for the 2d composition of the picture.

Cleaning up the shadows also helps to make the volume read a bit better. The stripes help too, but I mostly added them to break up the orange some more and make the creature more interesting. I also started laying in some blobs of colour for a background. Now that all of the basics are in place it's just a matter of adjusting colours and polishing out details until I'm either happy with it or just sick of looking at it!

Done!