#and then drew some jerboas

[buggybee48]

I think my art block might finally be over this is beautiful

[dujour13]

Caught in a blizzard or cookies for Siavash?

Thank you so much for the ask 🥰 Sorry it took so long. January, you know what I mean.

---

“What have you learned from your people watching?”

“People like cats.”

“Also cookies. Here.”

She took the cookie in both hands like a sacred host. “Thank you.”

He watched her eat it delicately with her sharp, white teeth. “What do you think?”

“I’ve eaten many fine feasts, but this—this makes my heart want to jump like your pet jerboa.” She wiped crumbs from her ruby lips and smiled.

Arueshalae had practically twisted herself in knots with embarrassment when she came up to the Citadel to ask Siavash if he had time to talk. They met at the Half Measure, and found themselves a secluded corner while Aivu “helped” Fye at the bar. It was early evening, before the rush. Still, a couple of crusaders spotted them and came over to salute the Knight-Commander, and he shook their hands warmly even as they cast uneasy glances at his companion. He thought he overheard one of them saying he ought to be wary as they went back to their table, and relished the day she would prove them wrong. He wanted to believe in her.

“People like you,” she said when they were gone. “You’re full of hope and inspiration, like an azata…” Pain flashed across her features so briefly it might have been a trick of the light. “But there’s also something sad, when you think no one’s watching.”

“You’re good at reading people.”

She flinched and looked away. “My demonic nature.”

He started to lay a hand on her arm but drew back, giving her a warm smile instead. “You know, maybe some of the talents from your demonic nature could be used for good. If a succubus senses people’s fears and desires, maybe she can see how to help them.”

“It won’t be easy to… sort the wheat from the cheese? But maybe you’re right. I should learn to use my gifts to help people.” She looked him straight in the eyes with her intense, crimson gaze. “For example, you just deflected.”

Now it was his turn to flinch. Part of him warned that this was really foolish, but another part wanted to confide in her, in all her seemingly guileless curiosity. Which was exactly what a succubus would want him to do. And even if not, even if she was being honest about wanting to change, she could lose control at any moment. Yet how could he help her if he didn’t extend his trust? “All right. Yes, I’m a little lonely sometimes.”

“You’re surrounded by friends. Why do you feel alone?”

“Maybe I think I deserve to be alone.” He fidgeted with the paper cookie wrapping on the table between them. “Not to let people get too close, because I tend to let them down. Maybe I’m not all that different from you. Well—not quite as extreme. But maybe I’m also struggling against part of my nature.”

“You’re not letting people down in the Crusade.”

“Not yet,” he smiled wistfully. “I’ve hurt people before by not keeping my promises. I want to do better.”

“I never thought I could have anything in common with someone like you. It makes me feel so much more hopeful.”

“We’re not as different as you think.”

“Maybe it’s silly and selfish, but sometimes I think Desna sent you to me. When I first saw you in a vision you looked like an azata, beautiful and glowing, and then you freed me from prison. It’s as if She sent you to free me from the prison of being a demon.”

“No, Arue, you have to free yourself. I’ll be here to listen and feed you cookies, but that’s not a door I can unlock for you.”

“You’re right, of course, but eating cookies with you does make me feel stronger. Like maybe I can want to be with you without wanting to… to destroy you. I’ve watched mortals just be happy together, with no violence in their eyes, and someday I want to feel that too. But you’ve been in love before. Tell me what it’s like.”

“Love is a wonderful feeling. It’s like the sun is shining even in the middle of winter. Your beloved’s smile is like the sun in your heart: it lights up everything, fills everything with warmth and joy. And you want desperately to give them the world, to make them happy.”

She leaned forward as she listened, her eyes wide and her lips parted in a wondering smile.

“With time it mellows, so you don’t feel as if you’re walking on clouds all the time, but love grows deep roots. You still have moments of sunshine, but it’s more like your heart has learned to drink from it and grow strong and bloom. When you’re with your beloved you feel whole. At home.”

He was aware his voice wavered as he spoke. Thinking of Kristov didn’t stab him in the heart like it used to, but the old ache was still there. He stopped to gather himself and realized only at that moment what had happened.

Arueshalae’s face had ever so gradually changed while he was speaking, her jaw growing squarer, her brow heavier, a slight hint of stubble on her chin.

“Arue!”

She gasped, instantly melting back to her feminine form. As he watched, helpless with shock, she shoved violently away from the table, leapt up and ducked out of the tavern, leaving him to shakily finish off his wine, fold the paper over the rest of the cookies, and throw his cloak on.

Part of him was aware of the danger. His heart pounded like a rabbit’s that had barely gone to ground in time. But mostly, he wondered if he’d foolishly just undone years of her hard work, so wrapped up in his own musings he hadn’t noticed until it was too late what effect it was having on her. Maybe feeding people cookies and listening to their troubles was all part of what Kristov called his “act.”

He faked a friendly smile for Fye and the crusaders as he left.

Maybe it’s right that people should run when they start getting too close, he thought wistfully as he walked up the dark streets toward the Citadel. She wasn’t the first.

Still… as the Sword of Valor came into view, bright in the dusk with its graceful tree growing even here in the heart of the Worldwound, he drew a deep breath and fished a cookie out of his pocket. There was always hope. When he found her again, he knew already what he would tell her: there’s a little bit of the Abyss in all of us. We have to learn to overpower it. But also to forgive ourselves.

[fmp2wendyread]

Jerboa drawings.

My second sidekick Keiko is a made up creature I made using a Jerboa as my main reference. So that why I thought I should draw some jerboa so I can understand their anatomy a bit better. I think Jerboa are really cute animals, I just love how big their ears are it's so cute and that's why I really wanted to create a creature similar to it. I drew these using references from Pinterest and copying the main shapes and then going in with more details. I think this is the best way of copying something because once you've learnt the different shapes and where they are supposed to be, you can then draw it without a reference and in any pose.

[slimy-vore-bog]

MY CONTENT IS NON-SEXUAL NS/FW INTERACTION IS NOT APPRECIATED

A couple days old, but here's a drawing of cat Amity committin' vore on a little jerboa Luz XD

I drew this while having a migraine * dabs * seriously though, that's why it's not too high effort.

I thought it was a regular headache and I was waiting for it to pass while I drew, since I had taken painkillers already, but it just got worse and I had to turn off all the lights and crawl in under my blanket before I could sleep through some of it.

Anyway, Luz is a jerboa, because puns XD (desert rodent = dessert rodent lol)

Hope you like it! Have a great day/night! <3

[razieltwelve]

First 7 Win Draft! (MTG Arena)

In Magic: The Gathering, I’ve generally been better at constructed than draft. However, with the way MTG Arena is structured, getting better at draft was something I wanted to do.

So, over the past couple of months, I’ve been saving coins and even using gems to do drafts to try to improve. The first month was pretty awful. I’m not going to lie. The fact that I was also rare-drafting to help fill out my collection didn’t help either. It was also a way of mitigating my losses since I tended to be awful, so at least I’d walk away with some rare cards even if I bombed out. And there were most definitely drafts where I bombed out.

But I kept at it, and I started studying more. I read draft guides; I looked at tier lists; I practiced on Draftsim; and I watched a lot of more skilled drafters in action. I found the videos by Nizzahon Magic to be especially useful since he talks a lot about why he drafts the things he does or makes the plays he does, and I felt we had a similar approach to the game in general.

I also had to get used to the different rhythm of draft. When you’re playing constructed, just killing everything is an option because you can build a deck with enough removal to do that. In draft, you’ll basically never have more than a few pieces of removal, so you have to use them sparingly. Likewise, your threat density in draft is so much thinner than in constructed, so you have to be much more aware of how you manage your creatures. That 2/1 or 1/3 isn’t something you can throw away, and you’ve got to really shepherd your fliers and other evasion critters because they might be the only way you can get damage through later.

Today, I finally managed to get to 7 wins in premier Zendikar draft. 7 wins is special because once you get to 7 wins, the draft ends, and you get the highest level of rewards possible. I’ve never done it before. I’ve gone 6-3 a couple of times, but each time I stumbled on the final match. Not this time.

But let me set the stage...

I started off by doing a Theros quick draft since I wanted to get some drafting in, but I didn’t want to spend any gems. After drafting what I felt was a very solid deck with plenty of playable and more removal than I ever thought possible, I proceeded to go 2-3 after getting horribly mana screwed twice and getting run over by someone with a playset of Iroas’s Blessing and the sort of hyper aggressive B/R deck that you dream of drafting. Seriously, that deck was incredible. Looking at my deck, I thought it would go at least 4-3, but it just wasn’t to be.

I was a little bit aggravated by that, but at the same time, I was also very happy with the deck that I drafted. I thought it was super solid. I just didn’t get much help from the shuffler, and I ran into the equivalent of a rocket-propelled freight train. So I thought... why not give premier draft a go? My recent drafting attempts had managed to garner me a decent quantity of gems, and I had a good feeling about it since I feel I’ve got a better grasp of Zendikar draft than Theros.

So I paid up my 1500 gems and gave it a go. Of course, since I’m me, I decided I’d do some rare-drafting as well. 

The first pack wasn’t bad. I opened a Haggra Mauling for a super easy first pick that was also a rare that I wanted. I also picked up some nice playable like Shepherd of Heroes and Malakir Rebirth although I hadn’t settled yet on a colour to pair with black. About halfway through the pack, it became clear to me that black was relatively open since I was able to load up on plenty of mid-range (in quality) stuff to help round out the pack. I also dipped into red after Roil Eruption and Cinderclasm came by while white only had a few playables, but nothing as good as those two cards except the angel.

Pack two began with me picking the Mankindi Throne (yes, I know it’s draft garbage, but I needed it for my collection...) and finding out that red was getting cut by somebody else. I was a bit surprised since the Roil Eruption and Cinderclasm had gotten to me late in pack one, so I’d assumed red wasn’t taken, but I got nothing out of red from pack two. With red cut, I switched fully to white, which seemed to open up as a Canyon Jerboa and Felidar Retreat made their way to me mid-pack. At that point, I was questioning the sanity of some of my fellow drafters because I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Felidar Retreat go pick 7 before. That card is completely nuts and requires basically no commitment from your deck other than you have some plains in it. 

Despite only committing properly to white in pack two, I was extremely relieved to be able to pick up some solid playables for it. I even managed to snag a second Shepherd of Heroes, which had me feeling even better about my decision to switch from red to white.

Pack three began with some more good luck. I opened a Squad Commander for an easy pick, and there were suddenly some clerics available to help fill out the party sub-theme I had going. I grabbed a couple, and I must have sent a strong enough signal because a Cleric of Life’s Bond wheeled and made it’s way into my deck. I didn’t have enough for a full on cleric deck, but I had enough clerics + incidental life gain that I thought I could make it work. If nothing else, I did need a two drop to fill out my curve. Getting a Mankindi Stampede in pack three was great too, and I was pretty certain that, at most, only one other person was drafting white because I was getting some goodies in the mid-to-late pack that I wouldn’t be getting if more people were in white.

My deck ended up being a BW mid-range deck that used clerics and a party-sub-theme to get through the early game and put on some aggression before landfall stuff (e.g., Prowling Felidar, Dreadwurm, Canyon Jerboa, and Felidar Retreat) combined with my fliers stabilised and took control of the game.

It did not start well.

In fairly short order, I was 2-2 with my two losses being just brutal and my two wins being close fought. At that point, I was already consoling myself with the fact I’d managed to snag quite a few rare cards during the draft, and at least I’d get some gems back (albeit not many) for winning twice. I told myself that I just had to focus on getting one more win since three wins gets you most of your investment back.

That fifth game was extremely close. It basically came down to me surviving an onslaught of aggression and trading creatures until I finally managed to slam Felidar Retreat onto a basically empty board. Felidar Retreat then did what it does best, and I basically out-valued my opponent the rest of the way.

From there, I played three more close games. Seriously, the games were tight, and I don’t think I’ve ever played better in a a draft. I won all but one of them with barely any life left after always going second (I think I only went first once the whole time), and there were a stack of complex decisions to make about how to use the removal I had and about when to trade and when to just take damage. The only easy game I had was the one in which my opponent got stuck on three mana, and I drew like a boss to just run over them with Canyon Jerboa shenanigans.

The last two games were nerve-wracking. In the game for my sixth win, I was up against this white-green party build. The early game was basically me getting punched in the face over and over again as they curved out like a champ and used three copies of Practiced Tactics to blow me out. After the second one, I thought, there’s no way they can have a third... and they did.

The pivotal moment in the game came when they went in to attack with their entire team, and I was able to engineer a situation that resulted in my team trading for theirs thanks to a Practiced Tactics of my own on a key creature. With the board clear, I was able to find my fliers, and they soared over for the win.

In the game for my seventh win, I was again on the back foot early. I went second, and the opponent was playing this awesome three colour landfall build with a party sub-theme. I was knocked down to 10 life in a real hurry as his landfall creatures outclassed mine, and I couldn’t find good spots to trade. I even got stuck on four mana for a bit. Finally, though, I found a Shepherd of Heroes and Felidar Retreat to stabilise with the lands to make them work. Unfortunately, they had a Territorial Scythecat, a Canyon Jerboa, and a bunch of creatures on their side with a Seagte Banneret threatening to pump their team. 

The game stalled out, but the biggest moment came when I could have played a spell on my turn but elected not to because I wanted to bluff a trick after showing him a combat trick earlier. I didn’t have anything, but the game was so close that I felt sure they wouldn’t attack into five open mana with three cards in my hand.

They played Mind Drain. In my hand were two cards that I didn’t super need... and my one copy of Mankindi Stampede. If I had played a spell, I would have been forced to discard it since I’d be left with only two cards in hand. Instead, I got to keep it, and I was able to gradually add to my board even as he forced through damage using Angelheart Protector to make his gigantic Scythecat indestructible. 

Since they weren’t in blue (they were running BWG), I knew that if I could just get enough creatures on the board, then my Stampede would win me the game. Unfortunately, I stopped drawing lands, so I couldn’t keep using Felidar Retreat to go wide, but I did draw a few creatures. However, they were drawing plenty of creatures themselves, and that Scythecat just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger.

At this point, with the board basically stalled out, I had a slight edge since I had the only flier on the board. I was slowly but surely chipping away at their life total, but then they made their move. They had played a Tajuru Blightblade earlier, but they’d kept it back to dissuade my reasonably large Prowling Felidar from cracking back at them. That’s when they drew a Taunting Arbormage.

I knew exactly what they were thinking. The kicked Taunting Arbormage would force everything to block the Blightblade, so that when they swung with the rest of their team, I wouldn’t be able to block, and I’d be dead.

There was just one problem: I was holding my Practiced Tactics in hand.

I blew up the Blightblade and started assigning blockers. The end result was me being alive and them without any blockers left to stop my counter swing for lethal. Once the dust cleared, they conceded, and I had my seventh win.

I might have done a little dance around the room when I realised that I’d finally gotten it.

7-2. 

Not bad. And the six packs I got as part of the prize? Solid hits on all of them.

Best night on Arena ever.

[dzmoot]

It’s been several months since Igginsworth’s departure back to Ippicus and although the Tuuns miss him dearly, they aren’t about to let it spoil the celebration of their favorite holiday, All Hallows’ Eve. It will be a Halloween like no other as the Tuuns can finally trick or treat for actual candy instead of the horrid moonrock cookies they get every year, and they can hardly wait to attend Mitchell Manhee’s Midnight Monster Mash. But they very well might have something more spooktacular in store for them, something that will make their flesh crawl and their blood pressures soar to galactic heights! 

Halloween on Namasis was just like the Halloweens of Earth. Tuuns dressed as something they weren’t and went all over the entirety of Inkwell Village, expecting passer outers to throw niblets of sugar into their pales or crudely knitted bags. For our gallant Resisters, who probably loved Halloween more than any other entity in our known realm, they started prepping for it weeks in advance. While they went out to collect goodies on that cool night (which believe it or not had a tendency to be the coldest Namasis has ever been), they placed a festively dressed scary straw man in front of their home to hand out the treats to the trick or treaters. Siobhan came up with a clever name for him, Hay Leno. 

Hampire was responsible for conjuring up the costumes he and his comrades would wear. This year, his attire of choice was a cowboy outfit, although he was out of a horse to ride on. Kruonch, who had been reading Hampire’s book on dry bones decided to go as a skeleton. To the shock of Siobhan and the others, he even shaved his beard so it wouldn’t droop under his mask. Everyone was so shocked and horrified by his clean shaven look that he was forced to wear the mask several days in advance. Siobhan dressed as a traditional wicked witch, although the potion she had to drink to temporarily change her skin green and her hair red tasted like bad fish tank water. As for Zappy, he didn’t even need Hampire to make him a costume, for he had one already in his possession. You see, Zappy was a part time crime fighter called “Zap Man” and his imposing costume was enough to invoke the spookish delight ideal for Halloween. They were all ready for the big night and they would be accompanied on their Halloween rounds by two of Namasis’ most foolish ghoulish fellows, Mitchell Manhees and Joachim Jerboa. 

Well into the evening, the Tuuns conjured enough goodies to open their own candy store. Siobhan was anxious to get home, dump it all out and eat every morsel. 

Diabetesville, here I come! 

Kruonch told his daughter that she would gradually eat some of her candy every evening after dinner until it was gone as Zappy pointed in the direction of a nearby house on a hill. 

Look guys, it’s the Hitchcock Hillhouse! Legend has it that our alternate universe counterparts from Razlaobo dwell in that house! 

Everyone let out an array of emotions, from gasps to grumbles to giggles. Kruonch assured Zappy it was just a bunch of hocus pocus. 

Oh Zap Man, everybody knows it’s a pot of hooey! Our mirror dimensions selves are dead! The Confectoons defeated them 5 years ago! 

Mitchell muttered something through his mask, but just like everything he said, it was all jumbled and hard to understand. Joachim rolled his eyes and interjected. 

I don’t think so you schmucks! Mitch and I have heard demented noises up there for years. Something’s gotta be lurking in that place! 

A great fangy smile came over Hampire’s face. 

Let’s go in! 

Mitchell started squabbling heavily through his mask as everyone stood around him trying to make out his sentences! Once again, Kruonch protested.

Now I’m telling you varmints, there are no Darkies up there in that house! You’re all high on lunar smarties! 

Siobhan tugged on the sleeve of her father’s costume. 

What’s the matter daddy, are you chicken nuggies? 

Kruonch tripped over his tongue collecting words. 

Well, I, I’m no nuggy honey, I’m just, well, I don’t...

Hampire used an unlocking spell to open the gateway and they all made their way up the stone walkway. With a small tap, Zappy rang the doorbell and within seconds, a strange reptilian gentleman arrived accompanied by a see through spectral dog. His voice sounded like Kermit the Frog with strep throat.

You rang? 

Mitchell stepped forward and started introducing everyone, but as the gentleman turned his head in confusion at the muffled words, he was swiftly pushed aside as Zappy stepped forward. 

I’m Zap Man! These are my companions, Buffalo Bacon Belly, Margaret Hamilton, Mr. Baggaboanz, Mouserabbit and the unintelligible hockey guy. 

The lizard man gave a sinister smile. 

I am Lizardton Longleggs the 5th. This is my dog, Zilch. Why do you bother us at our humble home this evening? 

Before Zappy could continue, Kruonch pushed him out of the way. 

Sorry to bother you Mr. Lizzyton

Lizardton interrupted and his face expanded to that of a t-rex.

IT’S LIZARDTON LONGLEGGS YOU STRAWBERRY SKINNED BAFFOON! 

And just like that, Kruonch felt as if he shrunk to the same height as Siobhan. 

I’m so terribly sorry. You see, it’s Halloween and we were treat or tricking and my friends insisted we come up here to see these Darkies that I know aren’t really here but we still came up here anyway and now I’m waiting for you to tell them that they are indeed not here so we can leave this dreadful place and they can realize what a ginormous waste of time this whole thing was...

Lizardton interrupted again. He was sinisterly staring directly at everyone besides Kruonch.

Let me get this straight. You believe the Darkies are living in this house?

Zappy, Siobhan, Hampire, Mitchell and Joachim all shook their heads up and down. And the dapper Lizardton slowly found his lips trembling and his chest filling up with giggle fluid. Then he let it out, a laugh as loud and as potent as that of a clown killer whale. 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

After a moment or two, Lizardton composed himself and went back to his stoney face. 

You fools! You all thought the Darkies were still here?! 

Kruonch started laughing himself as he looked down at his friends. 

I told you foolies! The Darkies are dead! Now let’s get movin...

But Lizardton continued. 

Of course they’re dead, you pink Pinocchio nosed ping pong for brains! But they’re not here. They went to a Halloween party across town. And look, here they come now!  

Kruonch looked over his shoulder as everyone turned around shortly therefore. 

Look, it’s the Resisters! After all this time! We’ve been DYING to meet you! We hope you’ve been DYING to meet us! 

From inside the house, the corpse of the evil Igginsworth started cackling maniacally. Zappy quickly drew a zapperang from his belt and Mitchell manned his machete and knife glove to strike. But before he could slash, the masked coward sprung into the air and Hampire’s evil doppleganger eradicated him with a slap of his hand. He crumbled away to ash before everyone’s eyes and Zappy was soon after slashed to salami by his evil clone’s cybernetic arm claws. With Zappy and Mitchell dead, an enraged Hampire began hurling spell after spell after spell at the evil ones. 

You who have killed my friends shall see soon your horrible ends! Avada Kedav... 

And just like that, Hampire's head was bitten off by the sentient head on the evil Kruonch’s nose. Only Joachim, Siobhan and Kruonch remained. Joachim tried jumping on every Darky and beating the snot out of them, but the evil Siobhan gassed him to death with her deadly night shade, garlic smelling bad breath. Kruonch put Siobhan on his back as they started to run towards their home. Kruonch looked behind him to see, to his relief that the Darkies were gone. As he made his way into the house and locked the door, he noticed that Siobhan was gone! As he looked around in a frenzy, his nose protruded from his skull mask and to his horror, the decapitated head of Siobhan, equipped with a candle embedded in it’s mouth was hurled at Kruonch as he saw that all the Darkies combined to make a super scarific, ultra terrifying hairy hare vampire Darky from hell! Before Kruonch knew it, he....

woke up from his horrible nightmare. Still clad in his skeleton costume, he looked over to see Siobhan and the others rummaging through their candy collections. Siobhan jumped onto her father’s exasperated lap. 

And you tell me not to eat all my candy in one sitting. You ate so many malt balls, it’s funny your brain didn’t burst. 

Kruonch began rubbing his head. 

My brain didn’t explode, but I did have one rascal of a nightmare! 

Nearby, Mitchell, in his chef attire was preparing the special stew for his Midnight Monster Mash. 

Dubber, dubber, turr and trurber. Herper, berg me der perper! 

Hampire approached with a shaker of lunar pepper for taste as he shook his head in disgust. 

A Halloween nightmare. How original! 

As he walked away, he began scratching the metal clamps around his neck. 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 

[deadlyessencewhispers]

Precious - The Wild Fig #3

Short #1 |  Short #2

-- More work than he was worth – was right. Before Rhea and Yusef had even set their first foot out of the city, the color had drained from his face, the edge of his vest crinkled from the continuous fiddling, and his mouth just continued to ramble – like a waterfall flowing over the edge.

“Yusef. Yusef. Please – stop.” Rhea begged as she took a step past Citarhe’s walls.

He laughed nervously and adjusted the bag strapped to his back. He scratched his head making his fluffy red hair fall into his face, he futilely tried to blow it away, “Heh, yeah… sorry. I just- what’s it like? You, you know the forest, right? Samuel would not have picked an inexperienced – just anybody to gather herbs for him. I mean, you have to have some knowledge, right? Like-“

“-Yusef!”

“Ha! Sorry…”

Rhea shuffled the straps on her back before pulling out the herb list. There was a page and a half of herbs, with little numbers scrawled beside each name. Rhea glanced it over – the closet herb was mareroot – but getting it from her usually spot directly near her camp out was not going to be wise.

“There are so many trees.”

“Uhm. Yeah.”

Again, Yusef chuckled nervously, “I just- I haven’t been… out here before.”

“This is one step outside?”

“I know…”

Rhea shook her head and tapped the list. There was a place southwest of her home she could find most of the ingredients. “Com’on. Let’s go.”

Yusef nodded diligently, before slowly following behind Rhea. He kept pace well, that was until Rhea made it into the wilderness. When she started bounding over branches, and through root tunnels, he struggled to keep up. Even the simple task of stepping over a log became a much larger endeavor for the boy as he could hardly keep his balance and his shoes lacked the grip needed to traverse the forest’s multiple terrains.

 “YUSEF WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Rhea shouted as Yusef belligerently stumbled forward.

Caught off guard, he fumbled, “I- uh- what?”

“You killed a poison frog.” Rhea huffed as she pointed towards where Yusef had just stepped down.

“I what?” He checked under his shoe, and surely enough, a small frog had been his victim. Green poison had oozed out of it.

“Now you track poison everywhere.”

“I-I’m sorry…” Yusef did his best to wipe his shoe off on a leaf.

“Do you not know where your feet are? You… are… so dumb.”

Yusef swallowed hard before replacing his shoe.

 The rest of the journey went much the same with plenty of: “Don’t kill that!” “Stop stepping on those!” “Do you know to walk?” And plenty of apologies from Yusef, who was supposedly trying his best.

 “Yusef… you don’t know to climb a tree?”

“It- it wasn’t exactly taught…”

Rhea took a deep breath in. The look in her eyes expressed how badly she wanted to bound the tree, and leave him here, at the base of the cliff.

“Is there another way around?”

“Do you know to climb rocks?”

There was a moment of hesitation before a meek reply, “No.”

“You could try?”

“I-… what?”

Rhea rolled her eyes as she drew a deep breath in before pinching the bridge of her nose. “Look, if you can’t climb the rocks, or the tree, then we go back.”

“Back?”

“Yeah, the way around.”

Tentatively Yusef threw his shoes into the bag on his back and looked at the hurdle before him like a Jerboa facing off a predator – scared and wide-eyed.

“It’s only a wall.”

“A cliff… actually… wall sounds more intimidating. Cliffs at least have a flat land at the top – not another who knows how long of a fall awaiting. But the tree might be a better option… though, it is too large to wrap my legs around…”

“Yusef.”

“Sorry…” With that, he first attempted to put his back against the tree and his feet against the cliffside. He was just going to have to try his best.

Taglist: Want to be added or removed?

@abalonetea @writings-of-a-narwhal @thewriteblrchronicles @grittygambit

[kings-notebook]

When drawing the second design idea for Toothpick i was thinking about how they might move and act a little. I think theyd move low and close to the ground and be very agiel and dexterous. While thinking i noticed that they way they look along with the way they acts kind of reminds me of a dessert jumping mouse. With their leg shape and twitchy nervious personality. I though it might be a good idea to do a little research into these mice to see if i can get some insperation

The american variant of the desert jumping mouse is called the kanjaroo rat. some points of interest i found is that their tailes are as long as their head and body combined and that their a borrowing species, some prefering soft soils and sands while others clays. The idea of Toothpick being a creature that lives in burrows would be kind of interesing and could lead to some fun design aspects. I good few western fictions are set around the American Goldrush, where mining for gold was a big craze. Maybe adding some mining elements to their design could work

The other spieces i found of interes was the Jerboa, which is a arabic, west african and asian spieces of jumping mouse. The thing that really caught my attention with them is their ears and face shape. In general it reminded me a lot of the current way i drew Toothpicks ears and the face shape reminds me of the more snotish style i played around with .Jerboa are know for changing their speed and directions in rapid hard to predict ways to excape preditors. I like that idea and think it could be a fun way to animate Toothpick, zipping and zigzaging away from a shoot out they were to close too. Their also a nocturnal species which i thought could also be interesting to inculde for Toothpick. A lot of desert animals are nocturnal due to it being cooler so as Toothpick is a desert dweller it makes sence for them to come out at night too

[tyrantisterror]

So for my Fan Region I was struggling with what to make the Pikachu Clone. I was originally just going to do a shoulder sized dragon with Pikachu markings, but I wasn't satisfied with that. So I tried to see if there were any rodents named after dragons. There is. Some Jerboa are in the Genus Jaculus, so Drakochu is gonna be a Jerboa.

That's pretty ingenious. I'm picturing a pikaclone with a long serpentine tail and feathery wings - like if an old bestiary artist drew a pikachu from description alone.

[sykntired]

Tell me more about your less known characters! (You can choose which ones - could be anyone you'd like to talk about, actually.) What are their interests and most prominent personality traits? What do they like or hate the most? Where do they live? What inspired you to create them or what made you adopt them? (That's a lot of questions again. Can't help it!)

These are all excellent questions, I’m glad you asked! I’ll pick a few random characters, but feel free to let me know if there’s anyone in particular you’d like to know more about!!Radio: I created Radio back in 2009 and planned to use him in a series of comics that I never got around to making. He was the leader of a gang of outcast felines who called themselves ‘street mules’ (based on the sound one of my cats made - mewl!). I didn’t realise at the time how close it sounded to ‘drug mules’ haha. Whoops! Anyway, Radio’s appearance was loosely based on our cat Thom who passed away in 2002. We used to call the spots on his upper lip “beauty marks” and I made sure to incorporate those into Radio’s design! I named him Radio because 1) he wore the knob/dial from a busted old radio around his neck and 2) his ears were long like a radio antenna! I suppose you could say his ears are his most prominent physical feature, though he’s also a bit self-conscious about the tip of his tail - it’s bald for some reason!Personality-wise, he’s nothing like Thom. Radio is usually a grump, kind of bossy, and has zero tolerance for goofing off. The real Thom was patient and affectionate and loved playing!Originally, Radio was going to live in a junk-yard, but now I’m not so sure.. He and his friends were once house pets who were abandoned for one reason or another and fate happened to bring them together! I actually sold one of the members of his gang to someone on Furaffinity a couple years ago and I’ve been too sad to think about these guys ever since hahah. I would like to do more with them some day though!_________Puggsley:Created in 2008! I drew inspiration from Pugsley Addams both for his design and personality (and, uh, name). I’ve been obsessed with the Addams Family since I was very young and Pugsley was always my favourite! Creating a character based after him was bound to happen someday. What kind of animal is Puggsley? Nobody knows. He and his siblings look like a cross between a chinchilla and jerboa with a little bit of elemental magic sprinkled into the mix as well. Puggsley can create and control fire which is very unfortunate for the rest of the world. Luckily his twin sister Gretchen is there to keep him in check! She can create and control water & ice, so the two don’t get along very well.Puggsley is deathly afraid of water - it won’t hurt him, he just doesn’t like it (and he doesn’t know how to swim)! As a result, his sister has to find creative ways of tricking him into taking a bath. Most prominent physical features are his swirly ears and mane, and his stripes! Most prominent personality traits are his mischievous nature; love of playing practical jokes on others, his shrieking giggle, and his loyalty to his siblings (even though they don’t usually get along!). Family is important!_________Pudge:Also created in 2008! Pudge is sweet, though a bit dense. He means well, buuut he’s clumsy. He eats too much, buuuuuut he’d share his last morsel of food with a hungry mouse. Poor Pudge is a mess!!Pudge’s close friends are able to overlook his imperfections because deep down, they know a kinder, gentler soul doesn’t exist. He may have an unhealthy relationship with food, but he’s also incredibly generous - happy to share with anyone who asks. He’s sensitive, so his feelings are hurt easily. He doesn’t handle rejection well.Pudge’s design was definitely inspired by Jim’s characters (whom I had just met!), but I was also very much into Don Bluth at the time. His most prominent features are probably his big tummy, ear tufts, unique facial markings, and snaggletooth!Most prominent personality traits would be his innocent, almost childlike behaviour, his desire to help others (even though he usually just messes things up more!), and his sensitivity. _________Shaantu:Designed by @Quaggyart, adopted by me in February 2018. I haven’t talked about him much, but I like him a lot already! He’s Indian and his full name is ‘Shaanthava’ (the hindi words for ‘calm’ and ‘wind’ combined). Shaantu has dreamed of traveling the world since he was a child, but those dreams aren’t likely to come true anytime soon. There are several things holding him back, but the biggest one is his loyalty to the people in his village - all of whom he considers family. Shaantu is young and strong, so there are many people who depend on him daily! He’s afraid something bad might happen to his loved ones if he left. His most prominent features are his coat pattern and his big paws! He likes working outside, playing with the children in his village, and going to the nearest city with his neighbours to hawk their wares. He’s stayed in the city overnight once or twice to help them pan for gold in the sewers. It was disgusting work, but exciting for him all the same!Most prominent personality traits: Shaantu is loyal to a fault, tends to blame himself whenever things go wrong. He’s also very openminded and curious about the world around him!_________These are just a few of my lesser-known characters, but I didn’t want to overwhelm you! If you have questions about a specific character, I’d be happy to answer them! Hope this helps, and thank you for the ask :)