#although ive thought of redrawing this

[patoslover]

Have an old little drawing that I still like..

It's ineffable husbands (but it's long-hair Crowley))

[varilien]

ive been wanting to do some redraws of the gravity falls art i made as a kid n since it's seasonally appropriate, here's some magician au doodles ^^

and just in case i don't come back to draw it again any time soon here's my thoughts so far on the topic and the original art circa smn like. idk maybe 2015 or 2016?? i wish i'd put the date on anything from back then lol

Palestine: Funds | Action | eSims | Info

Sudan Resources | Congo Resource | Lebanese Red Cross

i might change the designs later on but at this point i thought it'd be most fun to just kinda leave it really close to the originals :3

anyways!!

okay so gravity falls magician au. plotwise it's all actually about the same, the twins might be a little older actually, like 15 or 16 (maybe they've visited gravity falls in the past?), but whatever. they get sent to a sleepy little village in the woods to stay w their great uncle. magic runs in the pines family, although no currently living pines is thought to have any notable capability. healing a scratch or finding something u lost under ur bed, basically. magic is actually probably a lot more common and mundane in this world than canon, so gravity falls' weirdness as a region comes more from the intensity and unpredictable nature of the magic found there

anyways the BIGGEST plot difference is that i like the idea of the kids meeting bill pretty early on. he introduces himself as a seasoned familiar looking to get back in touch with his old partner. now, bill is a breath of fresh air for dipper in particular, who finally has someone he can speak frankly with about the weird experiences he's been having, but even tho bill loves nothing more than spilling secrets and arcane knowledge, he's not really able to do so as he'd like to. he's got TONS of spells placed on him for the express purpose of keeping him quiet, but there's a few things bill has been able to elude to if nothing else: 1, he knows who the author of the grimoire dipper found in the woods is. 2, he knows stan pines' great secret. and 3, he knows how to access magical power beyond comprehension

hehe idk i just like the idea of bill spending possibly months mentoring and making friends w the kids fully planning on just using them for his own gain the entire time but. well. maybe it's nice not being alone anymore too. tho he'd never admit it

[leclercenjoyer]

SWEATER STEALING

oh sweater stealing... one of my greater demons... i had originally planned it as a "3 times este stole pierre's sweater" type of fic (born of me thinking "hm, what if i wrote something borrowed again But More) but every time i tried to write it or outline it the pacing kept driving me insane so it's been on the backburner while i work on other things, and i'm not sure whether to distill it into One Time and make it like a. developing relationship to lovers type thing or whether to completely gut it for scraps and use the parts ive got for something else (ive already... pilfered parts of it for a different fic, so whichever one ends up getting written first ill cut those parts out of the other one with an x-acto knife.) i do LIKE most of the prose i have for it so far but i just cant make it cohere.

SNIPPET under the cut:

This is the first time he’s been at Pierre’s apartment and he feels a little awkward, standing there in the entryway, like a foreign body in Pierre’s life. This isn’t really something they do, historically, although they’ve hooked up a few times over the past few months since they’ve been teammates (however ill-advised it may be, and Esteban knows it’s not the best decision they’ve ever made, but he’s at a place in his life where he doesn’t have to deny himself this). So far it’s been meetups of convenience in hotel rooms, rushed encounters in their driver’s rooms, on one memorable occasion a sloppy blowjob in a maintenance closet at the Alpine headquarters at Enstone. But never anywhere permanent.

Never anywhere real.

“-in the guest bedroom– are you even listening to me?” Pierre chides, that stupid half smirk on his face that Esteban can never decide whether he wants to slap or kiss off his face. Esteban shakes himself out of his reverie, stepping further into the apartment, hoisting his bag further up his shoulder where it had started to slip.

“I was just. Looking around?” Esteban offers, and Pierre rolls his eyes.

“Well, look less. Like I was saying, you can drop your bag in the guest bedroom. I even changed the sheets,” and he says the last part jokingly, but the wheels start spinning in Esteban’s head. 

He’s not sure what he expected, or if he even expected anything at all, being asked over like this, whether he thought they would share a bed or not, whether this was even an attempted proposition or just Pierre’s own opaque way of trying to be companionable, if they really were just hanging out as something that keeps getting closer and closer to friends.

Esteban still isn’t quite sure where the lines are drawn, between estranged to former to sort of again friends, teammates but still kind of rivals and now occasional hookup. At this point, he’s not sure if there even are lines or, if there are, they keep morphing when he isn’t looking, or Pierre keeps moving them around, erasing and redrawing until they both end up tangled in the cross-hatching.

[sssatrn]

striker design process notes

a bit about the process for designing my fake omega strikers character. posted separately since not everyone will be interested.

the base character design comes from my pngtuber i use while streaming, which is loosely based on my irl appearance/outfits.

obviously, there were going to have to be some major changes, but i wanted there to be some consistency between this character and the striker character. the haircut is the same, but i iterated it two different ways (one tied, and one down). the jacket also makes an appearance in one of the striker designs with most of the same patches and pins, but recolored to match the color palette. some other aspects made it to the striker design like the baggy pants and chunky shoes, but they aren't as iconic or important in my mind.

the originals are both pen sketches i jotted down while running errands. tbh most of my projects start off as shitty, quick, and EXTREMELY rough sketches or thumbnails in my tiny pocket notebook. i find that having a basic idea of what im gonna draw makes me feel infinitely more confident while transferring it to digital, even if i know i'll have to make edits. i usually force myself to draw these initial sketches in pen, so i dont overthink and waste time redrawing it a million times. im sure that strat doesnt work for everyone, but i still thought id share.

honestly the hardest part of this was making sure that my character fit into the omega strikers "aesthetic", which is this sort of futuristic, streetwear, sportswear combo??? to match this, i added things like the goggles, arm guards, knee pads, straps, sneakers, etc.

this past week ive drawn a metric ton of omega strikers fanart b/c there are so many interesting aspects of the character designs. here are some things i tried to integrate into my own:

a striking color scheme. this doesn't mean having ALL striking/saturated colors (although some characters do that). it just means having a set of colors that define the character, usually one or two colors to make up the majority, and one or two to highlight parts of the character and make them pop.

so many accessories... i tried to make sure that there was no "dead space" in the design. with most strikers, even if their outfits are very straightforward, there's a pattern or accessory to break up the monotony.

weirdly, a lot of strikers have a sort of... triangular, chevron pattern? idk how to describe it but SO many of them have it somewhere on their outfit. so i went wild with it, occasionally converting it into straight stripes when necessary.

some strikers have something dramatic on their outfit that indicates motion. so like, something that will move around when they move. this could be hair, ribbons, straps, jackets, capes, etc. since my character's hair isn't quite long enough to float around, i added the scarf. this step was especially important for me since i sort of wanted my character to be a speed-based zoomy striker, so the impression of movement was essential.

sheeeesh i've written a lot. sorry for the wall of text lmao

i have a lot of other projects this week, so i wont be able to draw lots of omega strikers for a while, but ill come back to it, promise >:)

that's all. see ya ~

[someone-always-cares]

curb your enthusism theme plays

in advance: comic is still going full steam ahead, very small delay, have a new temporary laptop

so. pretty much day after that last post, this happens! long story short, its a hard drive issue (likely hardware issue not software), which is bad because that's where the computers everything lives!

so: waited to go back to work to ask it guys there for help, they cant (time + liability issue, completely understandable), went to local it repair, they told me there was a very good chance of restoring my files. they couldn't. checked out some data recovery specialists, but those cost £500-700ish vaguely, saw one place for £299 (price listed ex vat because theyre dicks) and got excited and contacted them but luckily i checked some not google reviews and saw multiple "don't go here" (1 star on yelp!)

so shits fucked

anyway thats not fucking stopping me

things i still have:

the actual edited comic pages. (backed those up early this year)

the flat pngs of the front/back cover, inside covers (although were work in progress but got all the wip sketches too). apparently dumping them in a discord chat still leaves them in good quality. unlike tumblr. annoying that its just the flat pngs, but since they're finished, its all good

the files for stickers and stickersheets. since i ordered samples before, i just emailed the manu and explained and asked if they could send me the files i submitted, so i have those back (again mostly just pngs but very helpful. shout out to zap creatives)

pages 1 and 4 of the redrawn prologue. (for some reason i didnt send those to anyone and im mad)

a working laptop. mercifully, my bro had his old brick of a dell lying in a drawer (now at least 3rd hand but works like a champ. lots of storage in here!). did have to factory reset because he couldnt remember the password, but here we go! (he even installed steam and discord for me which was nice of him!! he also made the profile for the computer "torries are wankers" typo included and i don't know how to change it but its funny so.)

things that are gone:

most of my sanity

pages 2, 3, and 5 of the redrawn prologue. (fuck)

misc not comic related shit (fuck x2)

chapter five pages after 68. has the pngs for 69, 70,73-75 thought but just the extra small versions (tapas has a limit on width) i don't know why those and not the the og files, i think something went wrong with the backup

the folder that i have manually searched for all sac related art to put in the bonus art pages. like thats not going to take more than a day to find again but ffs

my old laptop. rest in pieces. literally, the repair place somehow fucked up my hinges more than they already were, before it was broken and now its just completely snapped. even before that they said it really wasnt worth fixing. it's like, a decade old probably and already had its case replaced once (used to be red) and it's fan but that was easy to fix. i'm going to have to save up for a new one (although bro's old laptop is growing on me. ive named it The Brick)

my fucking font (apparently the site i used to make a handwriting font saves it to the browser not the account?) but whatever i once emailed an older version of the font to someonw or i can just grab something off blambot, its nbd

have to redraw anything half finished, bleh

anyway tldr:

computer: fucked

files: fucked again

IT help: failed

comic delayed?: barely. honestly not that much. i have the important bits. just need to redraw a few pages and do a bunch of double checking literally everything. at most an extra months work? pain in the ass though

other art files: had more backed up than i thought. didn't do much not comic art this year, kinda glad tbh. fucking rip to anything not in my doodles file.

current timeline: shrugs. not sure but before the end of the year for sure. the only outside deadline is needing comics before megacons in jan, so it'll get done before that.

sticker samples: oh those are done and here. need to adjust the colours slightly but knew that going in (printed in their normal colours to see which ones needed adjusting. mostly the darker colours. looking at you, tree in ch2 sheet) and can also get away with making the borders smaller

also treated myself to some very big holo samples (printed as one giant 30cm holo sticker for price reasons) just to see what they'd look like (fun strech goal? little treat for me? both?)

added little hearts for funsies and so i can cut them all out with scissors. kinda have to anyway, my eyes hurt staring at all that holo

like it was not that fucked when i brought it in??? bro

anyway rip broken piece of shit toshiba, my faithful compainion. you had so many problems. and so little storage. but it was mine. going to see if i can like, safely remove the stickers though. still like them. also there's the brick. liking the wide screen.

anyway that's what's stressing me out the past nearly 3 weeks, and i got the "hardrive is fubar" memo a couple days ago, was waiting to update after everything was fixed or confirmed unfixable and its was unfortunatly the latter, but at least i still have most my art shit and a temp laptop.

this concludes the comic progress update and psa to update your backups

Progress update

Edit: laptop broke (hard drive issue), so thing will either be delayed a week or A Lot depending if my shit is recoverable. Back up your files regularly yall

Realised I should probably update yall on how things are going! Things are almost ready, just need to stich the book together together and finish a couple things, then I can order a sample of the book. I don't want to start the kickstarter until I have a book sample in hand that I'm happy with.

Admittedly looking like my original timeline isn't quite going to fit but such is life. its a close enough timeline so im not too annoyed just not in time to advertise it this weekend

to thank yall for your patience with this, here a sneak peek of the stickersheets made because I'm very happy with them and also because I just approved the proofs the manu sent me for those samples:

disclaimer: colours may vary depending on how the samples turn out (converting rgb to cmyk, my beloathed).

[id: two stickersheets, one of characters from chapter 1, and the other chapter two: chapter 1 sheets has: rami (civilian clothes), his whole team, tsunami, inkmaster, swarm, sound flood, and mori. as well as some smaller stickers: a sparkling wave, rami's logo, two diamond shaped sparkles, a small fireball, swarm's butterly, and three hearts with the ace, trans, and rainbow pride flags. chapter 2 sheet has: lewis and sound flood (both in civilian clothes), iris, faete, mindforce, and omen (super costumes). also several smaller stickers: mindforce's eye, a yellow and pink rose, a snowdrop, faete's sword, iris's notebook (with the words "stay safe"), a starry sky with city view, rami's hand holding a rose, and 5 blue pink and white hearts. end id]

also here's the cover (minus the blurb)

[id: image of the cover design, layed flat. aka the front cover is on the right side, back on the left, and the spin inbetween. designed to look like a corkboard with photos pinned to it, and red sring connecting things. on the back there are photos that are from various panels in chapter 1 and 2 (redrawn, specifically faete after transforming, cam readying her forcefield, lewis on the roof, and tsunami riding his wave. the back also contains enamel pins: a trans flag, an ace flag, and mindforce's eye. as well as the corner of a missing persons poster, a business card for "cullen's bowls 'n' bowls", and a blank sheet of notebook paper where the blurb should be. the spine has some starry washi tape with the title written on. the front has a piece of blue paper torn off at the end with the title on it, and stickers of a silver star and rami's logo. below is a large image of rami sitting in the water staring intestly at the viewer, light emerging behind him. around him, hands all strech out towards him, hands belonging to the significant character significant in chapters 1 and 2 of sac. end id]

so specifically what is left (no particular order):

spellchecking

adding page numbers to the bottom

finishing the rest of the not comic pages (aka the thank you note, about the author, deciation and the bit where im going to add names of people who pledged to the kickstarter) 75% done

character bios (admittedly optional i just want to do them)

bonus pages for art and sketches (i have collected all the art and sketches, its just deciding which ones to ue and which ones to save for next time because it makes more sense to put them with the more spoilery chapters 3-5 specific arts)

assembling these and sending a sample off to print

actually starting the kickstarter (once i have decived book sample back and am happy. i am not starting it without knowing 100% that i can fufill it right then and there)

(in the intrest of transperency: while these are all easy and mostly quick (aside from character bios. havent started that one yet), i also have some upcomign events that will have to take priority. that being a convention this weekend, next weekend, and my sisters wedding the weekend after (and the wedding gift, which is custom artwork of my sister and future brother in law. like a wedding painted but not on the day and also digital. so that will take up a bit of time after [another reason i wanted to get this done before then but ah well])

for real though one day i hope to be able to do art stuff full time because i am. so tired of doing a day job

also also there are versions of lewis and rami stickers in super outfits, they'll be seperate stickers

[id: drawings of lewis and rami, same as the stickers in the sheets, just seperate and in different outfits, the drawings have been placed close together, so it looks like thye're holding hands. end id]

you can make them hold hands :)

[ceramyn]

love grows here ||| fear dies here

redraws of some of my older sigils, which can be found here and here. 

love grows here;; a declaration of desire and growth; to make a healthy love that is already there grow and flourish. a sigil steeped in love, and trust, and honesty, it will not make love out of nowhere and will not coerce anyone into love, but strengthens the bonds that are already there

fear dies here;; a ward-watcher and a threat. kill your fears and salt the earth beneath them. a black dog to guard your hearth and home, from your mind to your house. fear has no place in your heart and your life and you will meet it with your fangs bared. 

[alicenpai]

recent pandora hearts doodlz (vanitas anime hypeeee)

some thoughts! kinda felt like changing up my art recently...! i haven’t been super happy with my art and progress during quarantine. i feel that although lineless work looks GREAT, the way i do it - i lose a lot of details n depth that could be otherwise be easier ? more effective? to achieve via lined work. and doing overlapping limbs/objects in lineless is HELL (my 2 character drawings... i’m looking at you.) my art has went from anime -> more cartoony and my influences mix a lot..!! even so i think it was like, 50% anime and 50% cartoony since i started animation school. it was never 100% anime or 100% cartoony. but now i kinda want to put ..more ? anime influences? back in? but with more utilization of shape language and stylization? so then it’ll be like, 60-40 or maybe around 70-30. i did the will of the abyss (image 1) above as a lil experiment and i think it turned out pretty successful! (it was also a study off a photo for the pose, and some other photo refs for the lighting.) and i think i’ll be moving in that direction with my art. i want to improve in depicting depth and anatomy.. my anatomy isn’t so hot. i want to be happier with the art i make :> IF ANYONE REMEMBERS THE 2012 WOTA PICTURE. YOU ARE TOO OLD. GET OUTTA HERE (joke) i remembered recently that 5 years ago i bought crimson shell for a dear friend.. so i ended up buying a volume for myself (FINALLY) and it’s coming in the mail soon, i’m so excited TT

[onepunchmiss]

OPM s2e7 Live blog

“The S Class Heroes”

IM SCREAMING ALREADY I ONLY READ THE EPISODE TITLE ALRIGHT OK SO IT BEGINS TODAY, MY DEATH guys I am so pumped for the S Class focus thats about to begin with this episode like from here on out they become main players in the series and asfdbfhirksvfjkevfsnjkvfnjek how is it legal for ONE SERIES to contain SO MANY FAVES. Anywayyy Before I get started I’m actually wondering- this is the 7th episode of the second season… do we know how many episodes the season is supposed to run for? S1 only had 12 i think. I’m… I’m not even close to ready for it ending. Now that they’ve introduced Orochi, I’m not even sure where a good break in the plot would be?? Random concerns aside, lets get to the episode. As always, I’m watching this as someone who has read the manga and web comic to date

OROCHI IS PINK HE IS HOT PINK THATS ALL I HAVE TO SAY BEFORE THE TITLE SEQUENCE HITS ME LIKE A GUT PUNCH EVERY SINGLE TIME AND I STILL PAUSE IT AT ZOMBIEMAN OK off to a great start woo

Oh thank god we’re starting with the tournament I can stop quite literally holding my breath. Alright its Choze time. I’m actually excited for him to do things, his face has been nothing but terrifying thus far and hes one of those characters that are just fun to hate unapologetically. I love over-the-top Nazi stand-ins for that reason tbh

OH FUCK OH GOD I LOVE HIM also GAROU hiya welcome back I know it’s only been 2 weeks but i missed you so much thank you for gracing my screen for 5 seconds OH HECK the dramatic music and beginning of the internal monologue just being blatantly REJECTED caught me off guard I cackled AH WAIT WAIT

EYESIGHT DOGMAN ASDFGHK MY BABY IS COMING IM DEAD IM FUKKIN DEAD ALREADY I MISSED HIS CUTE VOICE hey no wait that was very quick?? I must withhold my bias, we’re at the point now where I have SCRUTINIZED every single panel of the manga over and over because of all of my faves, so even the smallest differences will be glaring to me. As much as I want all the action to be drawn out as it is in the manga, I know that’s never been how the anime has rolled. I must bite my tongue.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA THE ONLY TIME WE’LL EVER SEE HIM AND YET!!! oof i had to pause for 2 minutes to chill out and actually type. I. I just. juST. BOI ARE YOU OK WHERE ARE YOU ARE YOU WELL AND WHY DO YOU LOOK LIKE G4 tell me your secrets

WAIT COME BACK i dont give 2 SHITS about sweet mast HECKK

speaking of whom get off my screen u creep I have a personal bone to pick with u disrespecting the bae as you will

[SCREAMING]

Oh god this whole scene is so EXCITING and TERRIFYING child emperor’s face as Pig God just eats her, speaking of which -QUIT CUTTING BACK TO THAT TERRIFYING IMAGERY ASDFGHJ  

YES THEY KEPT IT YES YES YES YESYEYSYEYS YOU DONT UNDERSTAND how much Ive been looking FORWARD to that little scene??? im crying how is it possible to work myself up so much of this please help

ok ok back to the tournament give my heart a break phew Hey Choze if you’re genes are so superior then where are your eyebrows????? You dont pull it off HALF as well as Z does. Jeez everything about this guy is so absurd I can’t help but laugh irl the damn DNA helix rolling across the screen dude just stop you’re embarrassing yourself

although you DO know how to strike a pose. change ur name to Poze. Wait no. Your name is now GMO Corn I lied.

AGAIN GETTIN ME WITH THE WEIRD COLORS Hundred Eyes Octopuss is red and blue OK SURE

DEATH GATLING DEATH GATLING ASDFGHJKL guys I cant look at Narcisstoic oh no “no you’ll do no good”

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I WASNT EXPECTING THIS THIS EPISODE BUT I SHOULD HAVE I WASNT PREPARED I paused it I’m afraid to push play he’s not on the screen yet i can still turn back and make it out alive -

                    Behold.                                     the moment   I          died        

I actually have this thing with eye gore and seeing it in motion fucked me up I had to skip 10 seconds but anyway FUCK he’s so SPARKLY and PRETTY

Noting also the music there totally gave me flashbacks to the Darkmatter Thieves invasion for a split second and that sequence in general was really well done I like how they emphasized the suckers sticking to the concrete and everything- it have the monster a lot of weight imo. Of course the studio would be fools to not give Tatsumaki the the utmost respect like that sooo

SPARKLY and PRETTY and TEMPTING FATE YOU FOOL yo I was so excited to this scene but I feel like they didn’t make his response angry enough it’s funnier when it so uncharacteristically mad I might do a redraw with the face he makes in the manga………….. FUKKIN was smiley face man just yelling noises to cover flashy’s voice???? FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

OH MY FUCK WE’RE GETTING MONSTER CELLS THIS EPISODE. OH MY HECK WE’RE COVERING MUCH MORE GROUND THAN I THOUGHT WE’RE ONLY HALF WAY THROUGH THE EP

plot progression plot progression plo t p r ogr e ss i on hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Kamikaze being the badass that he is i lov

SPEAKING OF LOVES LOOKY LOOK God i love those three Okamaitachi is a WIFE and IAI is a BAE HEY WAIT let them speak come back they said words i want voices!!!!!!!  this is going so fast??? Oh my god I was absolutely not expecting to get the Suiryu fight this episode holy crap holy crap?? Ok but I’m getting pumped the music is hype “trying to hide his nervousness by looking like a doofus” “this is how I always look” Oh saitama why do they do this to you. Jeez as much as I love everyone else I forget how much I miss him. 

Oh and he’s getting his hopes up again sweetheart no

This is so good I’m hardly pausing to type my thoughts I’m too invested AND NOW ALSO IM DIGGING THIS MUSIC this is good v good yes and there goes Saitama being a genuinely good person offended by this jackass Saitama is too good for this world

His voice… I love him sm. aaaaaaaaaaaaaand its over. hmmmmmmmmmmmm so I have a guess as to what the post credits scene will be but let’s just see

YUP I KNEW IT cause we skipped it last week and now that we’ve introduced the monster cells it was only logical Genos no bby stop getting completely obliterated mannnnnnnnn

In all, no real complaints??? My children?? Have began to appear finally??? I just wish they literally went word for word shot for d\shot with Drive Knight if only because I’m STARVED for DK content in general. But based on the pacing of this week’s episode, will definitely cover a lot of ground and be pretty intense. I should be less, uh, screaming? Next week too. I’m exhausted from spazzing every 10 seconds hah. Well, I just skimmed the manga again and there might be some but yeah I think I can calm down for maybe 2 weeks. maybe. take a wild guess who should show up right around that time. ANYWAY Thanks for reading see yall next weeeeekkkkk

[ase-trollplays]

Behind Closed Doors

“Hm? Awake already? I was hoping you would be unconscious just a little bit longer. I’m not finished setting up all my tools yet. I suppose I could just as easily put you back under, but I don’t want to be waiting for you to wake up, so you’ll just have to watch.

“Don’t bother struggling; you’re tied down quite firmly. All you’re going to accomplish is giving yourself bruises. I’m going to talk you through everything; it gets dreadfully boring doing this in silence.

“Now, I imagine you have a few questions for me. Everyone who wakes up here always does, and they’re always the same, so I won’t bother ungagging you so you can ask. I’ll just go ahead and answer for you.

“Who I am doesn’t matter. Just know that I am the last person you’ll ever see. You’re in my hive in a room I reserve specifically for the ritual sacrifice of trolls such as yourself. I usually try to get trolls younger than you since they have the most to offer, but I suppose you’re good enough. You’re only, what, eight sweeps? That’s still fairly young. And you’re teal, so you have a decent enough lifespan for me to take.

“As for why I’m doing this? This body of mine requires sacrifice. This body has a tendency to very painfully and traumatically destabilize, and by stealing the vitality of others, I can remain stable. Plus, the more I take, the more my own lifespan increases and my soul strengthens. I’ll likely outlive Her Imperious Condescension.

“Why am I bothering to tell you all of this? Because it’s of no consequence. You won’t live to tell another soul any of what I’ve told you. Tied down to my bloodstained table will be your final resting place.

“There we are; everything’s nice and ready for you. Now the only question is whether or not I should blindfold you. Not being able to see what I’m about to do to you adds a nice bit of suspense, and the anticipation and paranoia that comes with not knowing what will happen next adds a nice touch. However, seeing yourself getting mutilated -- Watching the blood pour from your wounds and being unable to help yourself -- is equally effective.

“I suppose I’ll let you choose. Do you want to see what’s coming or not? You don’t? Then I’ll forego the blindfold. I never said I’d do what you wanted. I like seeing the fear and pain in my sacrifices’ eyes anyway.

“If it helps, the pain won’t start immediately. I have to draw the proper runes, symbols, and sigils first to ensure I’m able to take your lifespan, otherwise I get nothing from this. If anything, this will probably tickle quite a bit, but try to keep still. I hate having to redraw them.

“Now that those are done, the real torture can begin. This syringe I’m injecting you with is filled with a special concoction I was blessed with the knowledge to make. It overstimulates the nerve endings, making the body hypersensitive to sensations. I can see you writhing already; that initial discomfort is from feeling the air upon your skin. Next, you’ll be able to feel things such as the blood pulsing through your veins, the hairs on your body standing on end, and even your organs resting against each other. It’s a very uncanny, disconcerting feeling being so keenly aware of your body, isn’t it?

“As I’ve learned from past failures, this overstimulation could lead to catastrophic sensory overload and send you into shock before succumbing to unconsciousness. I can’t have that happening to you; I need you conscious to feel everything I intend to do, so I’ve hooked you up to an IV of special chemicals to keep you awake and aware. Just think of it like an anti-sedative.

“Now, this first incision is going to be right down your left arm. It’s just a light cut barely breaking the skin, but I imagine to you it feels like I’m digging straight into your arm with a butchering knife. Now I’m going to cut your right arm.

“Crying already? I’ve only just started. I haven’t even sliced down your legs yet. Really, this situation is your own doing. Young trolls should know better than to be so trusting of adults. Just because I helped you doesn’t mean I wouldn’t also hurt you. Didn’t you find it odd that someone like me showed interest in you?

“Now then, onto your legs. Can you feel how slowly and rhythmically I’m going? You can close your eyes all you want; it won’t block out the agonizingly slow, painful feeling of blade cutting through skin. I can only imagine how discomforting it is feeling your own blood spill from your wounds and down your skin in such great detail.

“Oh, silly me, I completely forgot to brand the symbols I drew. I don’t want your blood washing them away, after all. Be a dear and wait patiently while I get my wood burner.

“Where to begin, where to begin~ I think I’ll start right here on your chest. I have to move extra slowly and carefully so I don’t make any mistakes. I’m sure you understand. Just remember what I said about staying still~ I’ll make your experience so much worse than you can imagine if you cause me to botch one of these sigils.

“If you keep convulsing like that, it’ll take me longer to make the brands. I would think you’d want this to be over as quickly as possible, but instead you’re prolonging your suffering by not letting me work. I guess you just want to make this take longer than it has to. That works just fine for me; I have all night to do this.

“Are you done? Good, now I can get back to work. You can scream and sob all you want as long as you keep still. And just to make sure you keep still, I have a little something else to inject you with. It’s a serum made from blowfish venom to paralyze you. You’ll still be fully aware of everything going on, but you’ll be unable to move. Had I been thinking clearly, I would have given you this before I started, but we all make mistakes.

“Can you feel the fluids mixing with your blood? It must feel awful with your hypersensitivity. Just think of it this way: Perhaps The Diviner will see fit to share his knowledge with you. You won’t live to put any of it to use, but you should still cherish the honor.

“There, now all the brands are done. That wasn’t so hard, was it? Once you stopped moving, it was so easy to trace the markings. I will say, though, I don’t think I’ll ever care for the scent of burning flesh. The sight of charred and blistering skin doesn’t much appeal to me either.

“What does appeal to me, however, is seeing the insides of people. Tell me, have you ever wondered what your organs look like? Of course you have. Luckily you have me to show you. It’s really rather amazing. Although everyone has the same general organs, each one looks unique.

“I’m just going to make some quick incisions and... There we are. Which one do you want to see first? Your stomach? Or perhaps your intestines? Oh, what have we here. You still have your appendix. Why don’t I go ahead and remove that for you. I’ll try to keep my cuts as clean as possible, but with how much you’re bleeding, it’s hard to see exactly what I’m doing.

“Isn’t it fascinating? Your appendix has an unusual curvature to it. It’s like a bloody, fleshy croissant, don’t you think? And here, just look at your stomach; it has a pupation mark! Let me place it right in your face so you can see for yourself. Do you see it? Your gall bladder has a similar mark. And your heart’s beating so fast, it looks ready to break from your ribcage. You’d love to see your heart and your lungs, right? Of course. Just give me a moment to fetch the electric bonesaw so I can open up those ribs.

“Oh dear, how unfortunate. The blade is completely worn down. I’ll have to replace it right away. I must have a spare blade somewhere, but I’d hate to leave you. I suppose I’ll show you mercy and give you a break while I search for a replacement blade. 

“Naturally, I need to take what I’ve earned for torturing you this much. You’ll feel a slight pain, like every atom of your being is being torn apart, but it’ll only last for a few moments. Afterwards I’ll heal you a bit just to be sure you don’t die before I come back.

“There, that should keep you stabilized. Of course, I don’t know why I’m still telling you any of this. By now, the pain has completely consumed your every thought. I doubt you even know I’m still talking. I just like hearing the sound of my own voice, I guess.

“Lazaro will keep you company until I get back. Try not to die before then~”