#and drew a cat at the very end of the process

[myonmukyuu]

Birthday night 🎀🎙️

And a quick extra 😂

[shapelytimber]

Sunday evening

[PRINT] - [COMMISSIONS]

I wanted to do something cute for once :)) so take this fluff <3 they live together, have a cat and are happy <3<3

Process below vvv

But first, Kim as to face his crimes (@quijicroix chose the final haircut for Harry <3 they're my evil advisor on this one)

While doing this I realised the last time I drew something in daylight was more than 6 months ago-

In the end, it's not my favorite painting, but I like it ! Doing mondain scenes is very hard, because things must feel natural, and I don't know if I'm quite there yet but well, can't progress if I never try

[gay-dorito-dust]

bro a ken x reader where the reader moves to barbieland but she’s got tattoos and he’s got no clue what they are …

The ending to this is absolute arse. Idk what to do.

‘What’s this?’ Ken asked as he gestured to the tattoos you had littered here and there before even more questions followed after. ‘Can they come off? Did someone draw on you like Weird Barbie? If so was it with permanent marker?’ Ken then proceeded to smile, puffing his chest out like a proud bird, ‘I learnt that big word all by myself.’

You chuckled, now realising that ever since you came to BarbieLand there wasn’t a single person in sight who was even remotely as tatted up as you were, and so all of Ken’s random inquiries concerning them made all the more sense. ‘These are called tattoos and no they can’t come off, and I guess you could say that someone ‘drew on me’ but not with a permanent marker pen, but instead a piece of equipment that some might consider a painful process.’ You shrugged. ‘Though that depends on the pain tolerance and the placement of the tattoo.’ The look on Ken’s face was borderline hysterical to you with how wide his eyes became as they trailed over your most recent tattoo as though it’ll jump out and bite him.

‘Did you say painful? Like someone pinching your skin type of painful?’ Ken asked.

‘Hmmm. Think more like being stung a thousand times when in the midst of the outlining of the tattoo, only to then feel like your being scratched repeatedly and all over by a stray cat when they start the shading and or colouring process.’ You told him.

‘So you’re meaning to tell me that you were being hurt!’ Ken cried, retracting his hand away from you as though he was going to cause you more harm, which was something he doesn’t want to have happen. ‘Why would you or anyone ever want to go through that horrible process?!’ He said, voice muffled with his hands clasped over his mouth. You should’ve probably known that Ken would’ve reacted like this but the damage was already done, and yet you couldn’t help but find it sweet when he exemplified concern over your well-being, despite the fact that it was over something as briefly painful as a tattoo.

‘Beauty is pain as they say,’ you began, ‘but I found that once you get your first tattoo, you’ll soon enough want more to add to the collection. Think of it this way, we use tattoos as a way of self expression, some of them can be of something meaningful or something fun and cartoonish and hold no meaning at all other then it looked cool at the time. But I think they quite cool, don’t you Ken?’ The blonde then removed his hands from his mouth, moving himself closer to you as to get a better look at your tattoos in general, just as a smile appeared on his face. ‘They’re so cool.’ He admitted but it was clear he was still a little conflicted about the pain you put yourself through for a tattoo. ‘But they still sound a little frightening.’ He admitted to you with a weak chuckle and you couldn’t do anything but understand and sympathise where he was coming from.

‘Yeah, they can be frightening at first but I promise you Ken, I wasn’t in that much pain for very long, besides I was the one who wanted it done, the tattoo artists were just doing their job.’ You reassured him as you felt his fingers gingerly trace the tattoo, taking in every last detail as he looked at it with a new found perspective. Your tattoos are beautiful to Ken and he’d show appreciation for each and every one by tracing his fingers over it, almost as though he’d ruin the artistry that went into them if he went any harder. He found tattoos fascinating but would probably never get one himself and even if he did, he hoped that this tattoo artist that you talk about could give him a horse portrait, or at least something related to horses at the very least. That would be cool.

[angelofchaos001]

Meet the Rivulet! (Splitmind AU)

Reblogs > Likes (Reblogging helps out a lot, even if it doesn't seem like much!)

It's Ruffles time!

Lore under cut, includes pre and post Scugerator

Quick tidbit about her design, is that as I draw more designs, I slowly make these slugcats less cat-like and just go more and more nuts, with the Splitmind AU being very different. Rivulet isn't even furred, but instead has placoid scales and has a more sharkskin feel to her.

Also, something you'll see with more of the AU is that scugerators will have their left eye black with a pupil colored like the iterator inside the scug. The only time this changes is when the iterator takes temporary control (whether willingly or through force), where both eyes become reflective of the iterator.

Moots, Interested, or Ones who I think will be interested

@doodlebug091

@keeper-of-magic

@angeliteonfridgeduty

@stupidscav

@batnip

@riverripplespeaks

@cherry-b0mber

@luxdraconia

@voldkat

@lunas-sketchbook

Pre - Moon

Before Moon placed her consciousness in the paws of a slugcat, Rivulet was just an aquatic beast that lived in Shoreline, mostly near the seafloor of the ocean and only coming up every so often to sunbathe or hunt if her normal prey was scarce. (Splitmind Rivulet has true gills, so she can live underwater. She also still has lungs, don't worry, evolution didn't screw her over too bad)

Rivulet lived a solitary lifestyle, only coming into contact with one other slugcat in their life, who simply came and went. At some point, she did visit the local iterator before their collapse, and was given the Mark of Communication before going back to the life she usually lived.

After the iterator collapsed, Rivulet started collecting some of the scraps that washed into the sea, such as pearls, bits of metal and wiring, and even a rarefaction cell (and a lot more damaged cells too). Eventually, she saw another slugcat traveling to the iterator, and out of curiosity, she followed them to watch as they brought the lifeless puppet back to life. After the other slugcat left, Rivulet dropped down to listen to Moon's stories, and would even stay in the chamber when the rains came since she could still breathe.

Post - Moon

After several cycles of living with the iterator, Rivulet saw another slugcat enter the chamber. After initially being hostile towards them, Moon wanted to investigate after the slugcat drew a pearl from a pouch and handed it to her before speaking to both of them, despite marks not being two-way communication. The creature explained that it was an iterator inside of the slugcat's mind, and it hoped this could be a convoluted way to ascend themselves by binding their own minds to another, more feral creature. The pearl contained the instructions on how to do such.

Without lingering for much longer to answer any questions, the creature then gave a suggestion that, normally, it would prefer to genetically engineer the perfect host for such a task, but in Moon's condition, it could be less stressful on her fragile systems to use what was on-hand.

After reading the pearl, Moon asked Rivulet if this was something she was okay with: An iterator in her mind. Rivulet agreed, having grown fond of Moon's presence, and wanted the best for her. Moon went ahead with the process, transferring her mind to Rivulet's.

With a newfound consciousness alongside her own, Rivulet originally wanted to try ascending straight away, but Moon encouraged her to spend some time exploring and showing her things she'd never seen before. Rivulet began doing just that, and Moon offered insight into things that Rivulet didn't understand. The two meshed perfectly, and in the end, the choice Rivulet made was one she never regretted.

Rivulet also met some of the other scugerators on her travels, namely, a feisty and explosive slugcat that had the same telltale eye, but refused to open up on who or why. The slugcat, Artificer, had two missions: Kill the scavenger cheiftain, and then ascend. Rivulet wanted to help, at least with the ascension, and accompanied Artificer on parts of her journey until finally taking her to the new place the scavengers had set up, Bitter Aerie in the remnants of Moon's structure.

After Artificer had done what she wanted, Rivulet took her to meet echo after echo, though both the echoes and Moon told Rivulet that something was wrong with Artificer, as a carnal desire bound her to this world. Despite this, Rivulet still guided Artificer through the world until they'd reached Subterranean, where the guardians (obviously) attempted to attack Artificer. With Rivulet's speed and a bit of trickery, she was able to sneak Artificer past them and eventually, to the void sea.

Riv watched Artificer go, but shortly after could see the golden shimmers in the water and almost saw the red slugcat being fragmented. Confused and worried, especially after seeing what looked like the slugcat trying to claw her way back to the surface, Rivulet dove in to save her. Despite the pain of the void fluid starting to dissolve her body, Rivulet managed to grab Artificer and pull them both out before either could echo/ascend.

After this, Artificer said she was going to 'make things right', and after the two sheltered together, disappeared into the world. In attempts to find her lost friend, Rivulet found a trio of slugcats that didn't have the telltale eye and instead, seemed like just that: Slugcats. As she talked to them and got to know the three, a pair of siblings and the third being like an adoptive one, she became friends with them as well and tries to visit them as often as she can, since she still roams the world looking for Artificer.

[rippleap]

into the wild kitties! #1

HI GUYS MY FIRST ART POST

since i have no clue what kind of art to post on here yet i decided to do something fun!!!

I'll be designing and drawing every single cat in the into the wild allegiances, hopefully uploading each day! yeah im only doing into the wild (for now) cause i would like to stay alive and breathing thanks!

(way more text below)

also designing ISNT WHAT IM BEST AT, these are just for fun!

im gonna start explaining and babbling about the designs now,,

firepaw is TECHNICALLY not the first cat in the allegiances but come on i have to do him first he's FIREPAW. I didn't have much of a thought process for him other than mmmmm yes fire. I really wanted to add some blue to his eyes cause like, blue fire haha but i couldn't find a way to do that without making the whole design look weird.

Next is bluestar! bluestar with long hair my beloved. i tried to make her as BLUE as possible without making your eyes burn off, but she is VERY BLUE

Now for redtail! this one was a bit more tricky to be honest, i wasn't too sure of what to do because, i sorta forgot how i perceived redtail lmao?? most of what i was thinking while designing him was.....hmm spottedleaf brother...... of course he has his signature red tail, and i wanted to give him that sort of calico kinda hair color, like how people dye their hair to be calico yeah i was going for that. like he dyed his hair but it's actually just like that.

And lastly, spottedleaf! i think you all can clearly see the neapolitan inspiration here lol. I was thinking of how i was gonna design her, and a lightbulb lit up above my head and went ICE CREAM ICE CREAAMMM so here's neapolitan spottedleaf! i also this these colors make her look like she smells good which is a trait of hers i guess, like look at that cat and tell me she doesnt look like she smells like vanilla and strawberries and chocolate. I also made an effort to have spottedleaf and redtail to resemble or mirror eachother! that'll probably become a pattern with the siblings I'll be designing.

also side note, literally i drew these with a pencil on paper, lined it with black paint and a stiff paintbrush and THEN transferred the drawing into ibispaint. just wanted to put it out there...heh... probably one of my new favorite ways of drawing ever.

I'm gonna be using the #into the wild allegiances to tag all of these in case you wanna find them all later.

umm idk how to end this, bye guys!!!

if you have any questions about using these designs orrr whatever feel free to ask!

i posted the higher quality individual versions of the designs on my instagram! same user as here!!

[baldurs-gape]

Pulling githtails

Sometimes people had very peculiar ways of making friends. If Gale had ever felt like he was not very well equipped in such a skill, watching some of his current tadpole infected companions made him reconsider his own aptitude. Sure, there were some like Karlach who were larger than life, laughed and drew in all those around them. She had an easy time making friends wherever she went. So did Wyll, his earnest determination didn't even have to wear people down, he simply existed in their orbit and people let him in. By contrast, Shadowheart seemed to choose being aloof, something something Sharran teachings about connections leading to nothing but grief. It was fine, that was her choice. Meanwhile Lae'zel seemed to simply not care for forging bonds. She was on a mission and that was all that mattered. Those who could assist were welcome to share her space in order to obtain their goal but that was it. Last but perhaps most fascinating was Astarion. His aloof manner and poorly disguised vampiric nature were made all the more interesting by his incessant need to poke and prod at people.

At first Gale had been irritated. He didn't enjoy Astarion's digs at his abilities, his past with Mystra or even his fashion sense. Yet every one of his rebuffs was met with a laugh and quip rather than Astarion leaving to pester somebody else. Truthfully, Gale had thought Astarion would be more like a cat that needed a subtle approach until he was accustomed to his presence. Instead, he found himself being treated like a cat but by a five year old who tugged at the cat's tail for attention and perhaps even trying to poke at the limits of a boundary. Either way, the end result was that Astarion's snide comments became less about Gale himself and more about life in general. And, actually, Gale found himself rather enjoying Astarion's company once he'd calmed down somewhat. It also afforded him the luxury of watching the same process of making friends take place while comfortable in his own standing.

After a fight where they were all covered in viscera, blood and who knew what else, Astarion gave Lae'zel a long look from head to toe. In another situation it could have been misconstrued as something more but now Astarion just smirked.

"Looks like we've got ourselves a githskanky," he announced and grandiosely pointed towards the river. "Please wash off that stench before I lose my lunch."

Grumbling, Lae'zel stomped past but made sure to flick her braids near him and Astarion got a glob of mushy red on his cheeky. He scowled, nose crinkling and looked at Gale.

"I guess she took double lessons in fighting at the cost of etiquette lessons." As if that would put someone like Astarion off. If anything, he was spurred on as he trotted after Lae'zel. "Wait! Lae'zel!"

She was wading into the river, already half stripped and rinsing the worst off her armour. Head snapping up, she took in the approaching vampire.

"What?"

"I had the sudden concern around your relations with water," Astarion explained. However, his mouth was already pulled into a badly hidden grin, betraying the incoming joke. "You're of the lizardy sort and they're not usually very water oriented in these parts. It would have been a rather unfortunate oversight on my part to not ensure you are safe. After all, I'd hate to be respinsible if our merry little group had to remember you as their githsanky."

A helmetful of water was hurled rather expertly in Astarion's direction, drenching him. But it didn't wash the smile off his face.

Astarion didn't ease up. At dinner he asked Lae'zel about washing up and whether she was their 'dishyanki' which earned him pot washing duties for the rest of the week. No matter how much he complained about not actually using any of the equipment, the whole camp seemed in agreement he needed to atone for his terrible jokes. At least Gale was more than happy to accompany him to the quiet spot with the flat rock that plates could dry on. And maybe the dishes weren't the only thing getting wet, something which Astarion's dick very much approved of (so did Astarion but that wasn't something he was ready to think about yet).

Trading with the woman wanting the githyanki egg was fortuitous. They had all been carrying rather a lot of scavenged wares they had no use for. To be able to offload it all was a relief. Until Astarion spied a ring in the woman's wares. Trying to bargain for it hadn't worked, neither had he managed to pickpocket her much to his frustration. Determined to get the ring, even if it was outside of his means, Astarion did the only thing he could.

"Lae'zel," he said in a singsong voice. "I know you plan on leaving this plane as soon as we're successful in our mission. Having all that gold would only weigh you down, it would be useless to you in the Astral Planes where you'll fight glorious battles."

"Spit it out."

"I don't suppose I could pretty please alleviate you of such a heavy burden?" Astarion paused, fluttering his lashes. At the lack of reply he shrugged. "No? I could make it up to you in other ways." Hearing that made Gale's heart clench. "Just think, I am a dab hand with swords, I could sharpen yours each day for a tenday. Consider it a loan maybe? I'd pay you back whatever you gave. And with interest! What say you? Be my githbanky?"

Lae'zel marched away from him without dignifying a response. Pouting, Astarion tried to play off his disappointment as over the top dramatics. That evening through, he couldn't hold back the surprised little "ooh" as he spotted the much coveted ring on his bedroll. His eyes met Lae'zel's but neither of them said anything.

Any worries Gale had about Lae'zel's intentions towards Astarion were laid to rest that same evening when she rather loudly and in a prolonged manner claimed Shadowheart as her own. Come morning, sat around for a snack of nuts and fruits, Astarion leaned into Shadowheart's personal space.

"So, you played githyanky?" A glare was his answer but he was undeterred. "Guess you must be on best behaviour or you'll get a githspanky."

"I wouldn't let her hear you say all that," Shadowheart replied airly. "She can get quite irate when tired. Let's just say she stayed up very late last night."

"Oh I know. I think we all heard." Not missing a beat, Astarion bumped his shoulder against hers. "We'll blame you for the githcranky."

A blade was under his throat and lifting his chin to turn away from Shadowheart. Lae'zel glared down at him. With zero sense of self-preservation, Astarion let out a giggle.

"Oooh. A githshanky!"

The flat of the blade smacked gently against his pale cheek before it was dropped back down. Lae'zel seemed to feel she'd made her point and turned away, already fully armoured and ready for the day. Her head turned as he looked at Astarion with a crinkle at the corner of her eye as though smiling.

"No. A githpranky."

[stepswordsen]

【KagePro】 KuroEne/SaeEne 🖤💛💙

【KagePro】 KuroEne/SaeEne 🖤💛💙

【カゲプロ】 黒コノエネ/クロエネ/冴えエネ

My shadow wants to swallow up this dream of yours.

Intro Rambles

Happy 9/6! Happy HaruTaka/KonoEne/KuroEne Day!!! 🖤 💛 💙 🥳 🎉

I've loved 9/6 and all related ships for over 10 years now 🥰💞

KuroEne was baby Sen's 1st ship that I was OBSESSED with as a 12 year old, and after 10 years, the KuroEne obsession is here to stay.

Snake x Bunny 🐍🐇

Ene's twintails look like bunny ears 💙

I came back to KagePro in April and got obsessed with Kuroha and KuroEne again, exactly as I predicted. Turns out I'm not immune when my meow meow mf gets handsy with my wife.

B*tches when Snake of Clearing Eyes. I'm b*tches! /lh

I first got into KagePro when I was 12 when I watched the Outer Science MV. Sidu's MV aesthetics and Kuroha's design drew me in immediately. Great design and song~

I'm obsessed with Meow meow mf charas. Black and white colour scheme and design aesthetics. Causes problems on purpose. Sen-core bastard cat. Smug chaotic edgy evil asshole character. Violent, unhinged, bloodthirsty and murderous. Arrogant with a huge ego that distances them from humanity (or social interactions).

All of my top fave masc charas are like this. There's literally no one with more obvious and predictable tastes than me LMAO 😭

Kuroha/Saeru, the embodiment of "Knowledge/Wisdom" as a dark evil cunning and malicious entity in KagePro, and the main source of conflict and tension in the plot, is so interesting to me.

The truly evil monster who wears the face of a past love.

With Ene, I'm very enamoured with her chara and design. The way the way she acts so cheery and self-centered in the hopes of Shintaro to open up more, how she wants to be someone else's friend to subside their loneliness, the same kind of loneliness she'd always felt back then… It also feels like over-compensation for her past regrets, wahh, Ene… ;_;

Rough sketch WIPs. I love their expressions here sm~ I started playing around with Gradient Maps cuz I love picking colours. My works tend to lean more saturated with high contrast, so I ended up going with a more saturated palette.

This shows my process for picking colours. The final one I ended up picking is the 1st one. It has a blue hue shift on Ene, red hue shift on Kuroha, and generally more saturated colours and higher contrast. The last one shows the colours I started with.

The more red + purple toned Kuroha has really nice visual contrast against Ene's cool colours (blues) in her design tbh~

I started off with a more muted palette (different from what I'm used to), but ended up going with more saturated colours cuz I think it fit the mood of the piece more. Though I think it'd still be fun to do both a Muted Colours and Saturated Colours version!

These doodles aren't refined, and just me roughly filling in the base colours on my sketches to get an idea of colours. Since Idk when I'll get to refine these drawings and clean up the sketch and lines

Shadow gate to love by Guilty Kiss is sooo Sen ship-core. It basically works for every Light/Darkness, Angel/Devil, and Narrative Opposites ship of mine. Oh baby shadow gay~ 🌈

KuroEne has such a unique context as a ship cuz it uses HaruTaka and KonoEne (my no. 2 KagePro ships), as a basis. Ene has a "special" relationship with the person that Saeru uses as his vessel.

KuroEne is like the equivalent of the evil sleep paralysis demon (in this case, evil sadistic parasitic snake) possessing your past love (Haruka), or the person that you're conflicted about, but still have a certain kind of tenderness for (Konoha)

Sadistic parasitic evil snake bf and computer virus gf~

Ene already gets flustered around Konoha who is airheaded. So with Saeru, the teasing would just be merciless, cuz Ene is easy to rile up. ENE BELOVED…

KuroEne is SUCH an interesting ship to think about and analyze due to their characters' context and the potential of the complicated, complex, and messy relationship that they would have.

They give me immense brainrot.

I'll talk about the setting of my KuroEne AU. I'll put the rest of my rambles and art WIPs under the cut! I copy pasted these rambles from my side blog and previous post, since it's pretty long.

It feels fitting to include it again, cuz it's basically the big summary of my KuroEne AU.

Art Rambles

Version 8: Lineart (Multiply + Colour Burn) + Increased saturation on Ene's Eyes (50% Opacity)

Version 7: Lineart (Multiply + Colour Burn) + Increased saturation on Ene's Eyes (20% Opacity)

Version 6: Lineart (Multiply) + Increased saturation on Ene's Eyes (50% Opacity)

Version 5: Lineart (Multiply) + Increased saturation on Ene's Eyes (20% Opacity)

Version 4: Lineart (Multiply + Colour Burn) + Increased saturation on Ene's Eyes (20% Opacity)

Version 3: Lineart (Multiply) + Increased saturation on Ene's Eyes (20% Opacity)

Version 2: Coloured Lineart

(Sketch is coloured a dark blue)

Version 1: Lineart (Multiply + Colour Burn)

(Sketch is coloured black)

KuroEne Kiss 😚 🖤 💙

Progress WIP shots of the Lineart set on Multiply vs. Multiply + Colour Burn (Combined)

These are still super sketchy lines for me since it's the 1st sketch pass (that looked good right away ^^)

I drew Kuroha with black nails (since I have a tendency to add painted nails and/or eyeliner on my fave) but Kuroha having black nails just felt so natural I forgot it was even a HC

I'm planning to do more sketch passes to clean up the sketch later on

Also I'm gonna say. Their headphones are lowkey annoying to draw 😭

Kuroha's are at least easier to draw due to the shape, but Ene's has this rectangular part on it that I honestly dislike drawing. I'll fix the sketch up eventually.

Also I adjusted the white colour on Ene's sweater compared to last time, so it's a bright tinted blue~ish white instead of pure white

Usually I don't repost stuff unless I redraw stuff (or make new edits and significant changes), but I figured I could talk about my art process this time.

I initially had Ene's eyes as ice blue for visual contrast against her hair.

With the lines being set on Multiply, the lines are slightly translucent

With the lines being set on Multiply + Colour Burn (combined), the lines gain a subtle glow on the edges.

In response to the lines being lighter, I upped the saturation of Ene's eyes.

I think having it at 20% Opacity looks best cuz it still harmonizes with the colours well

And I think I lightened the value of Kuroha's inner clothes a bit compared to last time. I'll play around with the values later.

I have a tendency to shift hues in my arts for the colours used for lighting and shadows, to keep things looking visually interesting.

That's why I roughly splotched red on Kuroha's hair, and pinks on Ene's hair and sweater to get an idea of colours

I've been playing around with a Auto Action called Better Line Color that you can find on the CSP Assets Store that colours the lines according to the colours underneath, and makes a subtle glow on the lineart.

It does some steps like Gaussian Blur, other adjustments, then sets the Layer Mode to Colour Burn, Linear Burn, or Multiply.

The duplicated lineart, when set to Colour Burn, creates a nice subtle glowy effect that I've been using on my coloured doodles.

Having coloured lines makes such a huge difference with my art. I think it has a really nice effect on my art 🥰

When I first tried it with the KuroEne doodle though, I was so confused cuz all white colours would show OVER the lineart. I found it strange cuz it didn't happen on my other drawings.

So then, for the KuroEne doodle, I just set the lines to Multiply Layer Mode instead. I think both versions look nice ^^

Colour Burn darkens shadows, deepens colours but preserves whites, so the whites show over the coloured lineart. The solution is to change the pure white to a tinted colour white instead. I'll fix that and make edits and combine both versions later.

So far, the dark spirals around Kuroha are on the same layers as the sketch, so it has the glowy lineart effect on it. Though I'll eventually make the dark spirals apart of the colours instead, like in Version 2

The version with the saturated purple glow still looks nice. This time I combined both Multiply and Colour Burn lineart versions.

...

I've been having fun playing around with colours, seeing which layers to turn off and such.

I've been playing around with Gradient Maps and Hue shifts and slightly different colours.

The purple/red toned Kuroha one is also really nice cuz it has nice visual contrast against all the cool colours (blues) in Ene's design

Red vs. blue contrast <3

Plus, it fits Kuroha to be tinted with red...

Considering the red tinted shots in the Outer Science MV where he smears the Mekakushi Dan members' blood over his face.

Love the chosen shots in this MV. Outer Science is my top fave KagePro MV due to its stunning visuals and visual storytelling. Additional Memory and Losstime Memory are also in my top faves.

The white, black and red shots here look so good. And the expressions as well~ I love Sidu's brilliant visual aesthetic sense.

KuroEne Rambles

Ok I also have something to add (once again I'm snatching these rambles from my side blog's rambles cuz I've yapped way too much about these two)

It's pretty unfortunate that my yapping and ramble posts outspeeds me creating art so I'm just waiting for the chance to draw so many of my KuroEne writing and art ideas so I can post them on main combined with drawings

Canon verse KuroEne is not “romance,” at least definitely not in the traditional sense. But there IS desire and passion, and a sense of yearning/longing, a need for warmth and fulfillment. It’s filled with desperation and tension and conflict, which makes it really interesting…

When I think about their relationship in this kind of canon-verse AU setting, it's infused with feelings of love, obsession, desire, passion, yearning, and attachment.

It's so fun to think about Kuroha's selfish twisted nature and dark urges, combined with Ene's bold tenacity and confidence. Since he's someone that's generally observant and good at reading people and their desires, it makes him pair well with Ene who has trouble facing more honest feelings and being open about the things she wants.

I think a lot of things are playing into their relationship dynamic. Like the circumstances of HaruTaka and KonoEne's context, Kuroha's omniscience and knowledge, desire, and a craving/yearning for warmth, touch, and affection and companionship on Ene's end, and the pull she feels for him because of the vessel he uses, and his intimate knowledge of her.

For 9/6 day, it's time to blast the anthem of my fave ship, Yuukei Yesterday~ The song dedicated to Takane's feelings and HaruTaka~ Tatatara!! 💗

Considering the theme of my art, though, I put a lyric from Shadow gate to love.

I also wanna say that I'm seriously obsessed with my genderfluid Kuroha HC 💞

Kuroha can change his body into whatever he wants by using Konoha's Eye Ability, Awakening Eyes. In Novel Route, he knows how to use Awakening Eyes to rebuild the body molecule by molecule and make him immune to other Eye Abilities.

...

I think it's interesting that canon verse KuroEne is a ship that's so tinged with angst and tragedy. But I also love that aspect about them.

I think that in the context of a Kuroha ship AU, Kuroha believes that he and his S/O have a connection of karmic fate with each other, in the way that they'll continue to meet across all the different time loops, for all of eternity.

Kuroha’s love would inevitably be very dark and twisted, because he is that way at his core. At the end of a Route, he kills his S/O, and/or their friends, in order to meet with them forever. Ensuring the next coming of a new cycle is a priority to him.

The intimate knowledge that Kuroha/Saeru would have of his partner’s desires, wants, past, insecurities, relationships, etc., due to all the time loop resets, is so interesting to think about.

And, he gets to be with the other party forever by doing this. It’s a win win for him! He doesn’t want to give that up. Cuz in some fucked up way, in his fucked up form of love and obsession, he creates the concept of “eternity” with his S/O, by killing them, and/or, their friends, constantly, endlessly.

...

Kuroha is someone that wants to draw out "truth" to add to his "knowledge" (massive knowledge bank) and explore endless possibilities.

And Ene is someone who has trouble being honest, especially with her wants/desires, and Saeru was created for the purpose of granting wishes. So he finds it fun to tease her and rile her up, and fulfill her desires for warmth and pleasure, etc.

Ene asks Kuroha if he's learning how to pretend to be human throughout all the time loop resets. Kuroha says there’s no “pretending” about it. And it's true. He's been here since even before the beginning of the world. He asks her if you can really call it pretending at that point.

The end of Outer Science's MV shows Saeru in Azami's hair even before the creation of the world. He's existed before humans were born. He knows the nature of humans better than anyone else after observing them for a long time. He has so much knowledge, that the sheer extent of it is just unfathomable to the average person.

Each time the Route resets, he gets to “perfect” his knowledge, and in the context of intimacy, he gets to know his partner and their intimate desires even better and better, each time.

He constantly refines and adds to his “knowledge” every new Route. He likes learning new things about the other party. Kuroha likes how Ene, with her confrontational, brazen personality, and predictable unpredictability, always manages to find a way to catch him off guard and surprise him.

Kuroha/Saeru possessing Konoha's body means he has his face. His body. His voice. Ene can't shake off the feeling of how uncanny his resemblance is to them, physically, and gets reminded of Haruka and Konoha around him.

...

Now I'll copy paste my rambles from my old posts that summarizes my KuroEne AU. Here. I added some new stuff at the end

KuroEne AU: Set-up

Source: KagePro LN: 7 - from the darkness - Colour Illustration Source: Sidu's Mekakushi Dan Members Colour Illustrations

Ok, I'm just gonna ramble about the setting of my KuroEne AU.

I also included a summary for context just in case my non-KagePro mutuals want to tune in to read these rambles.

I just wrote this quickly before I go to sleep. I have more to say but I think this is a good starter.

In official KagePro media, the present day plot starts after 2 years, on the fateful day of August 15th (Kagerou/Heat Haze) Day.

The Kagerou Daze, the never ending world, swallows up people who die on August 15th, and gives those with especially strong desires, who are compatible with an Eye Ability, a substitute life so that they can return to the real world.

In most Routes, Saeru ends up orchestrating Haruka and Takane's deaths. One thing you'll learn about KagePro is that this guy (Kuroha) is responsible for almost everything bad that happens

Because killing them so that they'd come out with an Eye Ability, is a part of his plan to get the rest of Azami's snakes out of the Kagerou Daze and into the real world.

Haruka's death leads to the creation of Konoha, and Takane's death causes her to lose her human body and become a cyber girl named Ene

There are multiple different ways that a KuroEne AU could go, depending on the Route. KuroEne AU Routes are so fun to write, because any time I get a new idea, I can just put into a different Route (timeline) to explore all the "What if" scenarios that don't fit into a single Route.

Kuroha's Plan and KonoEne

Source: @/x0401x

Mekakushi Dan Clear Files: (X)

Normally, the rest of the Mekakushi Dan members meet each other in the present day plot after 2 years, the fateful day of August 15th, the day Kuroha/Saeru plans to kill everyone.

Kuroha/Saeru's plan is to gather all the snakes with a new Medusa in the real world (bringing the rest of Azami's snakes out of the Kagerou Daze to the real world), and killing all Eye Ability users.

Then, he forces Marry, "the next Master," to rewind the world using the power of the Queen Snake, Combining Eyes.

In official media, Kuroha/Saeru usually possesses Konoha's body at the end of a Route on August 15th, the day he plans to proceed with the "Tragedy" and kill everyone.

I imagine that in my KuroEne AU, Kuroha/Saeru possesses Konoha's body MUCH earlier. Like, anywhere within the timespan after Takane and Haruka's deaths (1 - 2 years)

Because of this, Konoha and Ene usually end up meeting and befriending each other earlier. Ene recognizes Konoha as Haruka's game avatar from back then, and mistakes him for Haruka. Konoha asks if she has the wrong person, and Ene gets heartbroken at Konoha's seeming amnesia and inability to remember her.

Ene imposes a sense of distance around Konoha due to her conflicting feelings (he resembles the person she loved but isn't him).

In my AU, KonoEne establish a relationship dynamic of some kind (which varies depending on the Route), which either progresses to an acquaintance-ship, friendship, or intimate relationship.

Kuroha introduces himself to Ene for their first meeting in a Route

Source: Sidu's 2016 Calendar Hanafuda Set

And then, at some point, Kuroha/Saeru possesses Konoha's body. At this point, when he introduces himself and makes himself known to Ene for the first time, he can choose what information he wants to reveal, and how much.

For example, Kuroha can choose if he wants to introduce himself as Black Konoha, and/or "Saeru," or whether to reveal it for later. (And he also chooses whether he wants to reveal his true identity as the Snake of Clearing Eyes.)

Ene later nicknames him "Kuroha" and "Saeru" to shorten the name.

He knows that the 1st one would be more familiar to Ene. To introduce himself with the 2nd one would make Ene more distrusting/suspicious of him.

He most likely doesn't reveal his true intentions (to kill the Mekakushi Dan) so soon, because he knows that if he does, Ene is (obviously) not gonna want to "play the game" (of being intimate with him) anymore, cuz it means that he is literally putting her and her friends' lives in danger.

Though, across multiple Routes, he probably does play around and experiment with the timing of when he reveals certain information, and how much.

I think in most Routes, Ene is suspicious of him at first, and asks about his intentions and what he's really after, and Kuroha/Saeru just tells her that it's too early to say yet, and that she will find out soon.

(Though, Kuroha could probably quell her suspicions with enough convincing, due to the massive amount of knowledge he carries)

KuroEne AU: Context

Source: Mega Man Battle Network 6 (Rockman.exe 6)

In my KuroEne AU, Kuroha/Saeru, who has messed around with human technology and innovation, has been able to develop a humanoid android/robot body with human flesh that Ene can transfer into.

This concept is inspired by Mega Man Battle Network (Rockman.exe), specifically, the NetNavis (humans' companion AIs in this universe) from MMBN/EXE.

NetNavis can transfer into CopyBots (android bodies) for limited amounts of time, to move around in the real world. These CopyBots take the appearance of the NetNavi that transfer into it.

In my KuroEne AU, I imagine it's battery powered, but with every Route, he gets better and faster at making it. Like he improves the battery life over time, so it goes from lasting an hour to lasting a whole day, etc.

According to the KagePro LNs, Kuroha/Saeru has knowledge from everything from the start of civilization...

Shintaro in the KagePro LNs compares Saeru to "a living encyclopedia with a full grasp of everything from the start of civilization up to modern science."

That LN bit confirms that Kuroha/Saeru carries knowledge of the history of mankind and its technologies over (probably) millions or thousands of years.

Especially when scientists have made developments regarding wrapping living human-like skin onto a robot that can heal when cut.

If he carries knowledge from the start of civilization, so much knowledge that it's unfathomable to the average person, then yeah I definitely think he could get it done (especially for the sake of my AU).

KuroEne's Intimacy

Source: (X)

Scan: @/ayara-resara

Kuroha proposes that he has a solution for Ene not being able to move around in the real world, and introduces the little invention that he made, for her to test out, which Ene eventually agrees to, out of curiosity.

Ene feels a sense of gratefulness to him for allowing her to move around in the real world since it gets lonely in the cyber world, not being able to feel or touch anyone on the outside…

Kuroha gets to know and bonds with Ene, anywhere within this 1 - 2 year timespan, and at some point, Kuroha and Ene get intimate with each other.

Ene gives into the sense of longing/yearning that she feels for Kuroha/Saeru, a yearning for warmth and touch after being stuck alone in the cyber world for so long (in spite of everything - if she knows about his true identity at this point), which is in part caused by his vessel (being Konoha, who's in Haruka's body).

Kuroha knows how to react to her and what to say to her and how to act around her due to his knowledge, and so, seduces his S/O and tempts her with carnal pleasures, and they indulge in "the game/dance" of being intimate with each other.

Because Kuroha/Saeru keeps memories of previous Routes, he remembers memories of being with the Enes of previous Routes, and thus, knows how to react to her when talking/chatting with her normally, knows how to appease Ene's behaviours and whims, goes along with what she wants, knows how to get the responses he wants when he wants something from his partner (so he knows how to seduce them), and knows how to satisfy his partner in the context of intimacy.

Because of the knowledge he carries, he knows the context, past, Eye Abilities, vulnerabilities, etc., of every Mekakushi Dan member, and that includes Ene. So he'd definitely know about Haruka and Takane, and Konoha and Ene's context and relationship together.

The person who's her greatest enemy (whether she knows it at this point or not), very literally knows everything about her.

And not only that, the greatest enemy of the Mekakushi Dan, knows her better than she knows herself.

Kuroha's Nature

Source: COSPA - Tsumamare Series (Keychains and Rubber Strap Charms)

Not only does he weaponize Konoha's body by using Konoha's body as a murder weapon to kill everyone at the end of a Route, he weaponizes words, too. Kuroha/Saeru uses "knowledge" as an advantage over his partner, and weaponizes knowledge. Actually staggering advantage. Because he knows almost everything.

Kuroha ships are like the only time I have ships where one party in the ship has THIS much of an advantage over their partner.

Therefore, as I said before, Kuroha/Saeru ultimately has a power imbalance with his partner (any Mekakushi Dan member that he could be paired with).

He has an overwhelming advantage over his partner due to his role (set-up as an antagonist constantly killing the cast) and capabilities. It is ultimately in his favour.

That fact in itself, that the power imbalance exists, isn't inherently a bad thing, it just means that you NEED to tread carefully with portraying Kuroha's ships. I always make sure to depict my ships with as much care as possible, and as healthy as possible.

Ene is one of the characters who is a really good match with him. Because making Ene more assertive and dominant in the KuroEne ship, and making them take turns in leading intimacy, with having Kuroha letting Ene take control through their bedroom intimacy at times, helps alleviate this power imbalance slightly.

Kuroha is literally so fucked up dude cuz even his twisted form of affection that he holds for his S/O (the Mekakushi Dan member who he's paired with), is still in a twisted, selfish, self-serving way.

Due to his twisted nature, he embodies Koi (恋), "Selfish love," "loving someone for their own sake."

Even when he caters to his partner's pleasures, it still ultimately caters to his pleasures the most. That makes him interesting, though. Someone so inherently dark and twisted and sinister, with selfish desires like that… 🥰💖✨

Misc Rambles

So I imagine, in most KuroEne AU routes, he reveals his true intentions either approaching the fated day of August 15th, or right on the day of August 15th.

There's absolutely a sense of betrayal that Ene would feel following the reveal of his true intentions - he built up a relationship with her, on purpose, just to drop the worst possible scenario imaginable.

Like let's be real. The reveal of "I've been killing you and your friends throughout multiple Routes (timelines)" just sounds like a nightmarish scenario, especially if you've been fucking this guy, like come on. 😭

And something that would make Ene get especially pissed at him, is if he decides to reveal that he was responsible for orchestrating Haruka and Takane's deaths in the first place.

(In official media, Ene sees Konoha for the first time, on August 15th, 2 years after Haruka and Takane's deaths)

Though, there are probably KuroEne AU routes where Konoha and Ene don't get the chance to meet each other - Routes where Kuroha/Saeru possesses Konoha's body before the two can actually meet, so when Ene sees who she thinks is "Konoha" for the first time, it's actually Kuroha/Saeru. With this kind of setting, he could even pretend to be Konoha, if he wanted.

And then on August 15th, he proceeds with killing the Mekakushi Dan with sadistic glee (and even his S/O - though if he's feeling nice, then he can spare them, since he doesn't need to kill everyone), and forces Marry to rewind the world.

Thankfully, due to the nature of Ene's body and predicament, she won't feel physical pain when he kills her. And then, a new Route (timeline) begins.

Previous KuroEne Posts

In my new post (this one), I wrote more about the set-up of my KuroEne AU, and then copy pasted my old rambles. I copy pasted the summary of my KuroEne AU cuz it felt relevant since I'm posting the same art.

My old post has some more rambles regarding some general ideas of my KuroEne AU (since I didn't feel the need to copy paste the same stuff here too)

Shadow gate to love

Lyrics:

Song: (X)

These lyrics work so well for ships like LimGuda, XanLena, IdaTatsu, and KuroEne.

The song sung by the sub-unit, Guilty Kiss, in Love Live! Sunshine!! My favourite version of Shadow gate to love is this fan-edit that pitches down the song to match the original voice actors’ voices, compared to their characters’ voices (which are higher in pitch)

Shadow gate to love is sooo Sen ship-core. It basically works for every Light/Darkness, Angel/Devil, and Narrative Opposites ship of mine.

It’s my song to fall back on if I can’t think of any other songs for my ships. I think it fits these 4 the best, though.

Oh baby shadow gay~ 🌈

The lyrics are in the link above.

The lyrics of the song works for all of my meow meow mfs in general.

In KagePro, though, the mention of "Strong scented eyes" takes on another meaning cuz of the emphasis on EYES, particularly the Eye Abilities.

I also love the emphasis on the Light/Darkness aspect and seduction in the lyrics.

KuroEne: Kuroha seduces Ene by tempting her with carnal pleasures, and keeps the secrets of his plan to commit the Tragedy (killing the Mekakushi Dan on August 15th, Kagerou Day) hidden from her. He tells her "beautiful lies" in order to keep up his facade.

He decides to act tamer prior to the fated date of August 15th, catering to her desires and befriending and bonding her and spending time with her and actually getting to know her. They'd do soft and fluffy stuff like go to the amusement park together, play video games together, and eventually, get intimate with each other.

Due to his inherently dark and twisted nature, Kuroha/Saeru prioritizes his own desires and desire for immortality, and constantly keeps causing the Tragedy by killing the Mekakushi Dan, Marry's friends, forcing the time loop resets. He also believes that doing this allows him to be with his partner forever, because he can continue to come and meet them forever and ever.

Ai (愛) vs. Koi (恋)

Azami's genuine pure form of love for her family, willingly sacrificing herself for her family and mankind.

Vs.

(In the context of a Kuroha ship AU)

Kuroha/Saeru holding a twisted form of affection and obsession for his S/O and wanting to continue the time loop Tragedy in order to be with his S/O forever in a twisted, selfish, self-serving way.

He looks up to his Masters and serves them, but won't put anyone else above himself and his wants and needs.

In the end, he's doing this all for Azami, because he believes that this is what she truly wanted and needed, but ends up being the one causing her the most suffering.

"Selfless" vs. "Selfish" love.

Ai (愛) vs. Koi (恋)

Azami -> "Loving someone for the sake of someone else"

Kuroha -> "Loving someone for one's own sake"

Kuroha's twisted selfish love and how he ultimately loves someone for his own sake, to experience the "high" of being in love...

Reminded of that one chapter title from FGO: Tunguska Sanctuary event (Koyanskaya's main story chapter)

"Love is Karma, and Karma is..."

This fits so well with Kuroha/Saeru's character and KuroEne. Good god.

I can't put any more images due to Tumblr's image limit so you can read about the two loves (Ai vs. Koi) here

Source: (X)

...

If you wanna put it crudely or in funny terms, then Kuroha ships are like the most elaborate ships with the time loop tragedy causing serial killer, in the history of anything ever. But actually really interesting and fascinating.

"I'm gonna kill you" boogaloo (and nothing else) is not very compelling for ships (and even in general) lol

In canon-verse, Kuroha/Saeru lacks humanity and forms of care for others (when compared to my other faves).

That's why I wanted to explore the ideas of Kuroha messing around in the Routes and actually getting to know the Mekakushi Dan members before he kills them all.

[lindseybyrd]

The Sun Blessed Prince: Character Art!

With WorldCon coming up, I wanted to do some soft promotion for The Sun Blessed Prince. There's no official cover art yet, and we're a bit too early to start any official marketing runs, but it seemed like a good opportunity to just quietly spread the word while I'm attending the convention.

I had the idea of making bookmarks showcasing some of the characters in the book. Two, in particular, made the final cut: Elician and Cat. These two are the heart and soul of The Sun Blessed Prince for a number of reasons. But that's a topic for a future blog post!

This post in particular is about the process of getting character art done.

First, I'll say it from the start, I was extremely fortunate to know a fantastic artist. @zairaalbereo, whose portfolio and contact information can be found on her tumblr, and I had collaborated on some fan projects prior to me entering the book publishing field. I wrote and she drew, and I fell in love with her art then. I asked her if I could commission her for the bookmarks, and she did not disappoint.

The process of designing a character is never easy. When writing my book, I always felt an urge to keep things as vague as possible so that readers could fill in the blanks with who they felt fit the bill. Some key details, of course, are always included. But I'm a firm believer that if a reader feels a character should look a certain way: then the character is whoever the reader wants to believe they are.

I gave Zaira some basic details, then later a whole lot more details. She's a privileged beta reader who gave me some amazing feedback once the book hit the editing phase. She asked me for some actors or face casts that I could think of, and then added her own embellishments from there.

The end result was just fantastic. Elician's smile, Cat's uncertainty - both come across so well and make me feel like they're truly real. Seeing them made me feel as though they were real characters for the first time. Not just figments of my imagination. It was a startling realization, and I'm so grateful to her and her very talented hand.

The final form of the bookmarks, with beautiful colored frames and book appropriate symbolism will be posted at a later date. But for now, I wanted to share this gorgeous art with the world. I cannot thank Zaira enough. She brought my characters to life in a way I could never have done on my own. And because of her, I get to share them with all of you.

If you're curious about my book, or want to know more, visit my website for more information! And, if you're headed to WorldCon this August, I'll be happy to give you a free bookmark. Trust me - you'll want to see the final copy in print.

If you can't make it to WorldCon, fear not. Any leftover bookmarks will be used as special gifts or promotional material in the future!

[bitegore]

stuntikitties! individual bits and thinkythoughts under the cut :D

Kittycat Drag Strip is about the fluffiest out of the entire batch of regular kitties, and he's very soft. He wants your attention and your love or else you HATE HIM FOREVER. How dare you leave the house. How dare you shut the bathroom door. If you try to pet any of the other kitties he will come over and bite your ankles. He's not even a good lap cat; he squirms too much. But he's very, very soft.

A friend of mine pointed out he could be a rare male dilute calico, which I think he'd like. Assigned rare coat color at "that would give your ego a boost, wouldn't it" XD

Dead End is the least fluffy and the sleekest out of all of them, but he's also the most well-groomed so his fur lays flat because he said so and he will die if it doesn't. He does not want to be touched, because don't you dare fuck up his fur. He spends an abnormal amount of time grooming himself on the daily.

By virtue of being the specialest boy on the planet (read: colorblind-ish) brown and maroon are the same to me even if they aren't to you. This is how I picked the colors for him. He's sort of a desaturated marooney color with stripes because I thought those marbled looking stripes were cool.

Wildrider is one of those cats who desperately wants into every single thing and loves problems. He will climb your curtains and he can jump ten feet in the air. He knows what (some) handles are and how to use them exclusively because he loves mischief. Will run by and steal chicken nuggets directly out of your hands and eat them. He is a horrible chaos goblin and he never gets the fuck out of sillymode and he is having so much fun. Good luck. At least he's fluffy, and affectionate when he's not biting your fingers because it's funny that you make noise.

When I did my (robot) Stunticon redesigns (that i also havent posted anywhere) I made Dead End and Wildrider sort of like the brighter and darker versions of each other. I made some attempt to make Wildrider look like if Dead End, the first one I drew, were fluffier and brighter colored... and then I went "wait, but wildrider is my stupid little punk baby and i like that he's red and black" and gave him some sort of little dark cape marking. I have no idea if that's a thing that happens to real cats, where they get like dark back/topline, but i think it works for him. Also he looks like a little tiger and I think that's cute. H

Breakdown is one of those cats that like desperately needs to be taken to a vet and prescribed kitty anti-anxiety meds. However it is also the only reason you haven't lost him yet because this is also the smartest fucking cat ever. He understands how every single kind of doorknob and every kind of lock works and he is probably capable of turning on the TV himself. If it weren't for the fact that he's terrified of Outside he would've just gone outside one day and come back later and you would be none the wiser unless you locked the door and he freaked out on your porch. He used to get into the cabinets and take food out to share with the other kitties but you put child locks on them and thought that was good because you didn't see it happen again until one day you tried to pull a plastic bag out from under the sink or something and found him napping inside the bag of treats. He will vanish for multiple days on end if strangers ring the doorbell and avoids mirrors like the plague.

full disclosure, i based his patterns off a friend's cat because I wanted him to be the most cute. But largely the thought process was something like "He has an orange face and little orange details but mostly he's blue so he should mostly be blue". Not very complicated. His little collar has a heart decal because i couldnt come up with anything else and I'd given Dead End a skull, so I wanted to give him a shape too. I gave up on that when I drew Drag Strip.

Motormaster is like a good forty pounds of cat and enormously fluffy. The only reason he's not a terrible chewed up tom with like one ear missing and scars everywhere is because you keep him indoors and he is not smart enough to figure out how to open the back door. (He did run out straight through the screen door one summer until you stopped having a screen though. He tried it with a glass door later. This did not work so well.) He has fur so deep you could lose your hand in it and a collar that is in fact lost in it. I had the most trouble transferring his design to kittycat because he's like. purple. But I think this worked out.

All five of them come from the same litter because I said so and I wanted them to look similar. That's why their stripes are basically the same, and why they all have such similar little white bits. Dead End and Drag Strip get visors on account of I Said So. They're all bonded to each other but they also all fight constantly and they are all just a little bit too clever for your own good. If you have the stunticats you cannot have nice things, this is just how it works.

[moodymisty]

Couldn't help jumping in the tooka reader train, because a thought struck me and wouldn't leave: but imagine if reader gets the 3am zoomies inside the Marauder for the first time and the batcher on watch goes to check on the noise. Reader looks over and the eyes catch the light in that eerie way cats do sometimes. Do you think any of them would spook?

Author's Note: Catlikespecies!reader continues :3

✦ Hunter ✦

Now I don't know what artist drew it, but I remember a meme post with Hunter having glowing catlike eyes also because of his senses. So I fully think that it would be a case of having a bit of a stare off.

He heard some noises and decided to slide off his bunk and check it out, in case something fell he needed to pick up. Wouldn't be unusual.

Instead however he catches sight of you in the pitch black of the ship, other than the safety lights that glow on the floor and the glow of the control panels.

You can both quite clearly see each other, and it's a bit of a stare off for a moment as you both decide how to go about this.

'Just keep it down?' He ends up whispering to you quietly, and shaking his head.

✦ Echo ✦

Echo gets up a lot when he sleeps, he rarely gets more than about two or three hours of sleep at a time if he's lucky. So it's not uncommon to stumble across him in the night while he's getting himself something to drink, returning from the refresher or just stretching.

But needless to say he isn't at all used to being the one stumbling across someone else.

He almost freezes as he catches sight of you in the dark, before putting a hand to his chest and letting out a breath.

'Nearly scared me half to death...' he breathily jokes. Once you apologize and he gets his water, he lays back down and hums. 'So that's what those weird noises were.'

✦ Crosshair ✦

Crosshair finds it hilarious, and gets not a small amount of amusement from startling you. Him however...

You can't scare him; It's pretty much impossible. At least outwardly, if he gets startled by you he doesn't show it visibly.

'Quit darting around in the dark', he says, watching you stare wide-eyed right at him surprised. His eyebrows are raised as he looks at you, before he goes back to his bunk.

What's amusing is that he never tells any of his brothers that he found you like that, or that you're the source of the random noises at night. He'll make jokes about it, but it stays between you two.

✦ Tech ✦

Tech is actually still awake at the time, which you had totally forgotten about when you decided to slip from your bunk and stretch your legs.

When he first hears some noise he completely ignores it, distracted enough that it doesn't even register for awhile. Though after a bit he becomes curious enough that he gets out of his seat, and leaves the cockpit only to come face to face with you.

You almost yelp with how he came out of nowhere, as your eyes are wide with surprise. Tech however seems largely unphased. It's Tech's dirty little secret that he's done more than a bit of research on your home planet, but he hasn't told you yet. It doesn't mean he still isn't curious, especially as you stand in front of him showing of a myriad of things that interest him.

'Is this usual behavior for your species?' He asks, sucking you into an hour long conversation.

✦ Wrecker ✦

Wrecker is half asleep when he decides to get up and take a drink, since he normally sleeps like the dead and doesn't wake up like this.

Since it's so unusual, you never thought anyone would be around to witness your quick movements to try and get rid of some pent up energy, as the Marauder is sometimes borderline suffocating.

Very much so, as suddenly you ram straight into Wrecker's chest, nearly scaring him and yourself in the process.

He doesn't even notice anything different about you, he's just making sure you're ok.

His hands are on your shoulders and you nod, before he lets you go with a brush and grabs a drink to wet his throat.

He suddenly has a ton of questions once he lays back down, but it's too late to ask any of them now.

[a-world-of-whimsy-5]

Allow me to feed your indulgences :) This one is for Vamp! Feanor with prompt:

“I'm sure you've known hundreds like me–” “I've never known anyone quite like you.”

A trick theme and not too dark please. Can't wait to read what you came up with 😁🌻

More vampire elves! *cracks knuckles*

“Sacrifice”

Pairing: Vampire! Fëanor x Reader (second person POV)

Location and time: London / 19th century England

Prompt 5: "I'm sure you've known hundreds like me-" "I've never known anyone quite like you."

Themes: Angst-ish | Emotional | Happy ending

Warnings: Vampirism | Mentions of blood drinking and the process of changing | Reader wants to become a vampire

Wordcount: 900 + words

Summary: Fëanor is asked to turn you into something that is more than just a familiar. He tries to explain why he is reluctant do it.

Minors DNI | You are responsible for the media you consume

A/n: this is for the @fellowshipofthefics October challenge. Also, your Finrod request will be up next Saturday.

Divider by @firefly-graphics

“I will not do this, my love. You do not understand the cost of what you ask of me.” Fëanor retreated to his private rooms and shut the doors behind him.

You pushed them open and followed him in, determined to make your argument heard. “I understand perfectly, Curufinwë. I am asking you to change me and make me like you, am I not?”

“You ask me, yes. And you say you understand. But do you, though? Do you truly understand, because I do not believe such is the case.” Fëanor strode toward a window facing the busy streets of London and drew back a curtain that kept out the bright light of morning. Even now, at twilight, with a chilling autumn fog creeping in, people were going about their business, calling in on others, and stopping by brightly lit shops. Several boys were playing dice by the side. Others still stood by carriages, unlit torches in hand, offering their services to those in need of someone to run beside their horses and light the way once the fog grew too thick. Fëanor pointed just beyond all of them, to a near-empty park. A tall, well-dressed gentleman was leading a young woman to an empty bench, where he sat her down after looking around to make sure no mortal eye could see them. 

“Watch,” he urged. “Watch and listen and learn.”

You watched, your senses now keener after the ritual binding you to Fëanor as his familiar. The gentleman removed his top hat and sat beside his companion. Even from this distance, the shimmer of his eyes could be easily seen by your own: golden and yellow, much like a cat’s. They were also brimming with thirst. The lady turned to speak to him; her words cut short when he dipped his head into her throat without warning, like a predator pouncing on his prey. Fëanor dropped the curtain and shut out the world once more.

“Do you see it now?” he demanded, his eyes bright with fury. “Do you now understand? This is my life. This is the life you seek: keeping to the shadows and forever hiding from the light of the sun. Living apart from mortal society, living in silence to escape discovery. Consuming the very life force of others in order to prolong your own. I have spoken about it often enough, and still, you desire it?”

Your reply was swift and certain. “Yes, Curufinwë.”

Fëanor was baffled. He expected a wholly different answer. “Why?”

“I have already told you. I love you. I want to walk the path you tread. I want to share the burdens you carry on your shoulders. Is that not enough?”

“My love. Please. Do not ask this of me. Please.”

“Do you truly love me?”

“How can you say such a thing? You know I love you! That is why I refuse to condemn you to a life like mine!”

“I am not asking you to condemn me, for I do not see it that way.” You straightened your back and walked toward him, your footsteps muffled by a thick, richly embroidered carpet. Fëanor took a step back, but made no attempt to order you to leave the room. You stopped and said, “Sharing an eternity with you would be a joy, never a punishment. If only you could see it that way.”

He did not say a word, but moved to sit in a great chair beside the hearth instead. For a long time, nothing could be heard but the pop and sputter of wood burning. Fëanor gazed into the flames, toying with a signet ring the entire time. You knew about that ring. It was crafted, by his own hands no less, the day you pledged to serve him, and no other. A matching band sat snugly around your thumb. All he had to do was smash his and revoke his vow, and the oaths binding you to him would shatter. The pain of such a sundering was unlike any other pain in this world or the next, or so the others said. In your heart of hearts, you knew you would never be able to bear the agony of such a separation.

“I am sure you have known hundreds like me,” you began, hoping it would convince him to say something, for he did not speak for a long while. “Mortal supplicants. Other vampires seeking your favor. Familiars hovering around you like moths drawn to a brilliant flame, and–”

“I have never known anyone quite like you,” Fëanor confessed to no one in particular, then turned to face you. “Many people I have known in my long life, both small and great, but never have I met anyone quite like you, attentive and devoted because that is how you are, not because you hope to gain something from me.” He hesitated while he still grappled with the gravity of your request and the change you insisted on enduring. It astounded him a great deal, and yet, it touched him deeply as well to think you were willing to forsake mortality and live out eternity in the shadows with him. “Are you truly willing to do this? Sacrifice your mortality and the world you know for my sake?”  

“Yes, my love,” you swore. “I am willing to sacrifice all, if it means never having to lose you.”

Fëanor rose and returned to you, his eyes welling with crimson tears. “Tis I who is fearful of losing you,” he professed, taking your hand into his. He gave it a gentle squeeze, his mind now made up. “And I know no being would be as honored as I am to have you by my side. Very well. We will travel to my home in Kent. On the next full moon, you and I will be bound as more than just master and familiar. So much more.”

[vanderbilt-draws]

BREAKING little guy receives genuine parental affection for the first time ever

Left: Ensign Kadenze "Kade" Smith, he/him - Romulan android spy. His Romulan origins are known, but he is undercover and posing as a true Romulan. His mission is to destroy the USS Euclid-C without anyone suspecting that he is an altered alien android made to mimick humanoid life. However, due to damage to his memory banks, he is incredibly bad at sabotage, and usually ends up doing something helpful in the process.

Right: Jeide Buumkat (formerly Jeide Prameh), she/they/he - Isuman nurse and both biological mother and father of Chief Engineer Radclyffe Buumkat (it's alien reproduction nonsense, don't worry about it). While she is technically a nurse, their role more often than not ends up being a confidante or parental figure to many members of the crew. You're looking lonely on your first prolonged mission in space? Not a problem. You have an 8-foot-tall cat mom now.

i have no real reason why i drew this other than i felt like drawing kade and jeide. i think theyd get along very well! jeide is probably going off on a tangent about her pirate days. kade is totally enraptured by her (toootally not exaggerated) stories

[vtforpedro]

long life update - TWs in tags

It feels like it's been ages. I'm so exhausted and in a lot of physical pain. Going on two months of it being the worst it's been right after a couple of months of the best it's been. Chronic pain + grief + trying to get help from doctors who should have their licenses revoked + dealing with a shit relationship with my mom + a good, decades-long friendship ending + the ongoing disability process with the SSA + LAW FIRMS.

I'm so fucking tired. I don't remember if I updated that the appeals council decided not to review my case because the 'judge followed the law' except that he didn't. So, as it turns out, my original attorney (and he did not tell me this) before he left, wrote that if they denied me, it should go to federal district court.

I'm now working with a NY law firm to take my case to federal court because my current law firm believes it has merit, and I guess they do, too. That's how fucked the decision was, and I'm glad my initial reaction of bewilderment and anger was spot on lol

The good news is, it should only take another year! ._.

My neurologist is the worst doctor I have ever come across and I'm quite literally stuck with him with nowhere else to go. I wish him upon no one. I'm so tired of calling the SSA, getting documents to them, signing things for law firms, contacting law firms, getting no responses, and contacting them all over and over again. I am in incredible physical pain, like this actively makes my neuro stuff worse. Everything makes it worse. I have autonomic testing in a few days, and idk if I'll get through it b/c I have to stop the meds that keep me out of the ER two days prior, and it scares me.

My relationship with my mom is fractured and I don't feel like family therapy is actually helping. I had to end a friendship with someone I love and care very much about but who was growing too comfortable mistreating me and I was giving them too many passes 😞 I've known them for the better part of two decades.

It's been over seven months since my cat Isis died. I don't know how. It feels like she was here just yesterday. Yet, all the nights I've sat and talked to her and wept are all too real. I miss her more than I can say. She was my soul cat. I keep thinking about tomorrow and how she'd be so nosy getting into EVERYthing when gifts are opened at Christmas. Having to stop her, move her, laugh because she was just so n o s y and it was hilarious. And she's not gonna be here for that ever again.

I'm having a really fucking hard time tonight. It's just hitting me how god-awful this year has been and how I have a bad week to look forward to before even getting to the new year lmao I have to stop taking so many of my medications 48hrs before 1.5-2hrs of testing to see if we can find out Yet Another Thing Wrong With Me but knowing my luck it'll be 'no findings' and the mystery of why my core body temp plummets to 93.9 in the blink of an eye won't be solved until I have suffered juuuuust enough.

It never ends. Never. I want to give up. I'm so tired of doing this. I don't want to anymore. It never. fucking. ends.

I absolutely cannot say it's all been bad, though. I've met incredible, warm, welcoming, giving, kind people this year. Y'all have helped me more than you know and I'm so so so lucky to be able to call you my friends. This year has sucked for so many of us, but I want to say I'm proud of you, and I love you all very much.

My fic is gonna be printed in a hardcover zine early next year. I participated in a Big Bang for the first time and that'll also go out early next year. I'm hosting a tiny event in my tiny fandom server that I'm super excited about. I have a raffle prize to write (bagginshield !!!! SO EXCITED to revisit the og otp) and a Valentine's gift to write for another fandom.

I posted 401,000 words this year and wrote many more unfinished wips, plus a long one (90k) that I am very invested in finishing.

I painted and drew so much this year. I improved a lot, too! I got a couple of portraits printed from inprnt to see how they looked, and it was MY art, and they were GORGEOUS. I thought I would hate seeing my art professionally printed, but no! I almost cried. They looked so lovely.

My cat Lilly had health issues almost immediately following Isis's passing, but she is doing so well right now. She's blossomed into another cat, and while she's not my constant companion, she is with me so much more than she used to be. When she walks onto my desk I am to stop everything and hold her like baby in my arms until she decides that's enough (or I really need to move) lmaaao she's such a goober. My heart cat. <3

I'm not doing well right now--my MH is bad. Especially tonight. But it felt good to write the good things.

I'm sorry for my lack of replies and kinda disappearing. I'm running on fumes. I hope next year will bring physical relief so emotional relief can happen.

For those of you facing difficulties of any kind, I am holding your hand in spirit.

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #105

I did a much better job with my to-do list today.

I went to therapy and drew a picture. We're gonna keep working on my ability to have faith in the integrity of my own senses, perceptions, and experiences. From there, I did laundry, washed a bunch of dishes, and made whipped cream - one was just plain cream and sugar, and the other is cream and hot chocolate mix, beaten until it has a mousse-like consistency. I like to call that one "hot chocolate pudding"!

…You wanna know how to make it, doncha? 😁 Who wouldn't, ahahaha~! So I'll tell you:

You need 1 cup of heavy cream (or coconut cream, if you prefer!) and 8 tablespoons of hot chocolate mix. I use Sillycow Farms; it tastes really good, and it's vegan and gluten-free, just in case that matters.

Then you stick the heavy cream and the hot chocolate mix into a bowl, and beat the shit out of it until it's a consistency that you like. If you have a stand mixer (I have one of these, because trying to mix stuff together while dyspraxic is an exercise in messes and frustration…), it's very, very simple. Then, you have a bowl full of foamy, chocolatey goodness that is suitable for putting on ice cream, spreading around as frosting, sticking into tea, or just eating straight from the bowl with a spoon!

I will show you some pictures now!

This is the finished regular whipped cream. I wonder if you like this stuff:

This is what it looks like when you combine the hot cocoa mix and the heavy cream in the stand mixer:

Here is the resulting hot chocolate pudding!

...And here is the whisk I wish I could give to you to lick. Everyone should get an opportunity to lick a whisk that has tasty things on it:

...And this is Hoshi! Hoshi is sad that he can't have anything on the whisk (chocolate is poisonous to cats; they can't process the theobromine in it), so I gave him some scritches:

I also got around to trying that lychee and rose tea. Apparently there is also vanilla in it; I missed that little detail in my previous letter to you. Sorry about that. It's very good!! But I can't give you a cup of it. So I'll send along some pictures.

This is the tin it comes in:

Here's how it looked like after it was brewed; I used my fancy DINOSAUR MUG!!! OH MAN!!! 🤩🤩🤩

Here's how it looked after I added honey and milk:

I also cooked a steak! Because I need the iron! It's seasoned very simply with some salt, pepper, and garlic powder! It's good stuff!! I also can't give you any, and this is very sad, because this one turned out REALLY good!! So I'll send along a picture:

…I'm definitely in the "leave it mostly raw" camp, when it comes to steak. Naturally, you have to kill the surface bacteria to avoid getting sick (this is why I make the outside all brown and crispy), but that's pretty much it. I wonder how you like yours cooked, if you like beef at all. Some people don't, and that's okay too.

There's so much still that I wanna do today. Last time I was at the grocery, I managed to get the supplies needed to make a recipe that was sent to me in this space, and I'm VERY eager to try it out in the near future. Sadly though, I think I might have to wait until some of the other food I made is eaten so that we have room in the fridge…

…For some reason, I get the feeling that if you were around, we'd have absolutely no problem making room in the fridge, though, hahaha! For sure, I wish you could be here so I could give you all sorts of tasty and wholesome things to eat. There's a lot I wish I could give to you, actually. My world has its problems, for sure, but there's also lots of cool stuff to do - lots of good books to read, pretty places to go walking, awesome music to listen to, fun games to play, and enlightening things to watch. I really, really wish you could visit. You'd be safe here.

I can't really think of anything else to write today, so I guess I'll end things here. Don't lose sight of the fact that you're loved and that there are people who wish well on you.

I'll write again tomorrow.

Your friend, Lumine

[mylackofgrammaristerrifying]

OC prompts!!! for both personality traits and whole ocs!!! trying not to stray too far into any specific genre bc i am a fantasy bitch, so adapt the prompts however you want (or don't use them at all! see how they sit with you):

An OC who hasn't ever been outside in their whole life for whatever reason, is completely out-of-touch with the world, and sees it as beautiful or horrifying.

An OC who knows how and when every person they meet will die. They're so used to death and being aware of when their loved ones will die that they've grown numb to it. But, they never know when or how they die - or if - and that and the guilt of being so detached haunts them.

Two OCs who absolutely hate each other but are forced to live together/share a body/work closely together. There's no tragic background or enemies to lovers stuff (unless you want that) - they just have personalities that clash horribly and both are incredibly petty. But they're stuck together for however long and are fed up, so cue pranks and mild inconveniencing. Maybe there's another OC sat on the sidelines who's on neutral ground and given up, or takes photos.

An OC who is a ball of stress and is terrified of their own voice, but the instant something scary does happen, they are the most calm and 'wow this is happening. oh well' type of people.

An OC who is used to having control (eg. is rich/bossy/influential, a hypnotist/boss/god, etc.) and if their authority is taken away, they don't know what to do to the extent of freezing up. Potential for angst if they like the control they have due to past trauma or fear of something going wrong.

An OC physically incapable of doing something essential to survival from a curse or a species trait, but still lives without (eg. can't sleep, drink, eat, etc.) and is constantly grouchy, foggy, or in pain but tries to cover it up (or doesn't).

An OC who keeps accidentally befriending or adopting people who are very very very traumatised and has become the Group Therapist (TM). They are also very very very traumatised, and are sometimes treated to their own therapy by their group - but they're so used to helping the group that they don't feel they really need it because they should be above it.

An OC who has the most niche, unheard-of, possibly problematic special interest you'll ever find and is obsessed with it, but tries to hold back infodumps. And an OC who loves indulging them and listening to them about it.

An OC who owns a cat café. That's it. That's the prompt. :3

A shapeshifter OC who either feels fully at home in their bodies or never does.

An OC who's stuck in a timeloop of however long and is desperate to get out, or has just got out of one and is processing stuff while trying to act clueless about the future. Angst potential for timeloop trauma and knowing about horrific events and when they take place - and knowing they can't stop some of the things because no one would believe them.

An OC who has trauma or self-hatred for some reason or aspect of them, who meets another OC who went through nearly the same bad stuff and came out the other end (for better or worse.)

Kinda leading on from the previous prompt but could be separate, an OC who meets the future version of themself and doesn't know who they are. Future them is resentful or overly happy for reasons they don't explain, so they either avoid them or become friends with them, to the future self's hatred or confusion.

An OC who is terrified of lightning, but loves stormy weather. Enjoying the torrential rain and wind until lightning flashes and then they're screaming.

Morally questionable OC. You know you want to :)

Uni's childhood friends (or lack thereof). Was it a good relationship and dynamic they had? Was Uni the leader of the group/two of them or were they a follower? Did they feel left out or did they accidentally/purposefully leave others out?

Uni's closest family member(s)!

The fighting OCs you drew - what are their fears? Weaknesses? Strengths? Why do they fight - out of honour, fear, bloodlust? Secret pining for the other? (/jk)

could do more but gotta do stuff........... will def send more in another time, but these are probably enough for now haha. stars i got carried away (and used caps??? what is this dark sorcery /silly)

may use one or two of these ideas myself tbh lol but if we both use the same ones then yay!! twinsies!!

hope these help! :D

OH MY GOSH I LLVE THEM ALL!! I’ll tag you in the drawings I’ll likely only use a few but I appreciate this so much! That’s artsy! And please do use these as your own because they are :))

[oddogoblino]

So I just had a dream where, essentially, trying to find an artist's art tag for what I bought a sticker of sent me into a strange world where the people there thought they were dogs.

Dream rambling under cut

Like, I was looking for some sticker the artist drew because, in the dream, a friend asked what I'd bought from them so i looked for it because i didnt remember, and suddenly I was in a field and had no clue where I was.

And this short girl with curly hair and her taller best friend with straight hair ended up talking to me and leading me around, asking what kind of dog I was because i didnt look familiar nor like everyone else. The curly haired girl was a chihuahua and the straight haired girl was I think a German shepherd. "Everyone's a dog here!" The chihuahua girl was named Chelsie and the German shepherd girl was named Alana.

They were still very excited, confused, and welcoming to me as they showed me around. They dressed and looked like people but just weren't 100% human looking for some reason. They didn't have like- dog ears or anything, they looked human but like- not- entirely??? I think it was their hands, their hands looked like paws somewhat with fur and claws for nails and darker skin on their palms.

And I'm just wandering around trying to get used to this small town of sorts that they set up in an abandoned amusement park, mainly just walking around, and I meet two other dogs. A tall (compared to me..), muscular man with blonde, messy hair and his unwilling roommate(?) who was an older man with black , graying, cleanly styled hair. I think they were implied to be a golden retriever and a i'll assume a chocolate Labrador given how I remember his hair looking. I think their names were Alex and Ricko.

The blonde man just asks inappropriate questions upon being met, so I ran off to avoid him, and he later sulked and asked his friend why he "can't get bitches like you can" (which is really funny to me-) and the older guy reminisces about when he was younger and was the heartthrob of the town. He was a musician & singer too. He was implied to still have incredible pull but he didn't feel he was as handsome or anything as he once was.

The dream moved on to me with the girls and we're chatting and Chelsie accidentally spilt her friend's snacks on the bed so we were just awkwardly there as Alana began to vacuum them up, the other having left bc she didn't like the noise and me trying to nervously pick out some of the chips(?) that were missed. I remember Alana ended up talking to me about "knowing I don't really seemed to care for them" and how she'd kinda felt I was looking down on them for being dogs after we'd spent the day hanging out & them hunting animals with me tagging along. It was such an awkward moment in the dream, because how do you explain you just haven't figured out how/processed you ended up here to begin with? But we'd talked it out and got on better terms. I went to my new home or sorts after saying goodbye since it was late out.

My home was like- an abandoned apartment that I was given the uh...honor ...ig of fixing up so I could comfortably live there. A gang of dog people ended up hearing about me though and kept trying to break in the next morning while I was away to "see what kind of person I was". They used a literal actual cat to try and sneak them in because they hoped it'd unlock the doors for them or show them another way of how to get in. Cat refused and instead messed with them. Tho I remember I had subtle cat imagery in my room along with things from fandoms i like, which might've indicated I was/was becoming a literal cat person paired with the girl thinking I was looking down on them when I wasn't.

I think the dream ended with me walking back home, not knowing there was a gang of dogs trying to get into my apartment.

So yeah I had a weird dream, just wanted to type it down before I forgot.

Oh also, everything about the world I'd seen looked kinda abandoned. The dogs lived in abandoned houses that clearly had been human houses before, there were broken cars that were rusty and not used for years, grass was overgrowing in places it didn't before, the night was pitch black if not for all the stars and moon lighting the place, the amusement/Waterpark stuff the people I found lived in were all unused and moldy/rusty. They figured out how to make foods I knew of because well- recipes n such they found around. They had farms and such for all of this. Never once saw chocolate or grapes around any food I'd see in the dreams though.