#avoiding inktober again

[maiumeni]

*chu*

[pbfanart]

Thought I'd post some of my favourite Inktober drawings so far. A lot are half finished due to being too tired.

I've gone for a bird-plant-bird rotation of drawings. All native to Aotearoa New Zealand.

[blessyourhondahurley]

Suptober day 3 - Day Like Any Other

Today feels different somehow. Or maybe it's Cas who feels different.

Suptober prompt: Inspired Fictober prompt: “Okay, show me.” Flufftober prompt: “Wait, you love me?” - “I always have” Inktober prompt: Path

(Read on AO3)

He begins the day watching the sun rise from the Bunker's roof, a habit he's recently acquired as the weather turns crisp and autumnal. Afterwards, he sets the big industrial coffeepot brewing in the kitchen, another of his habitual behaviors. As the contraption starts to steam and hiss, Sam walks through and tosses a “morning, Cas” over his shoulder on his way out for his daily run.

Generally, at this point in the day, he would retire to the library to read for a few hours, or go outside to work in his garden. But today feels different somehow. There's a yearning itch under his skin, an inspired desire to act, to do. He's not quite sure yet how he wants to act, what he wants to do, but he heeds the metaphorical tickle in his brain. He grabs Dean's favorite mug (the oversized one shaped like a cowboy boot, “Saddle up!” written across it in letters made of twisting rope), fills it with fresh coffee, stirs in a spoonful of sugar and a dash of cream, and carries it down the hall.

He taps on Dean's door, waiting for a quiet “hmm? 'Sup?” from inside before entering.

“There's no case or anything. I've just brought you some coffee,” Cas says. He keeps his voice soft, unwilling to further disturb the dim quiet of the room. Thanks to a small nightlight in the corner and the light from the hallway that filters in through the vents of the door, he can see well enough to avoid tripping on a pair of discarded jeans on the floor as he brings the cup over to the bed.

Dean, heavy-lidded and tousle-haired, sits up and accepts the offering, patting the covers next to him in invitation for Cas to sit. He takes a deep inhale of the fragrant, rising steam and sighs in sleepy contentment. “How come I rate such a special delivery today?” he asks hoarsely. He harrumphs to clear his throat a bit, then takes a sip.

Cas shrugs, helpless to explain why he's there, helpless to put into words the feeling he's had since he watched dawn break across the meadow behind the Bunker this morning. “I felt like company,” is the best he can do.

“'M not usually the best company in the mornings, dude,” Dean remarks dryly. He's drained half the mug by now, and his bleary gaze is beginning to clear. “Aren't you and Sam still working on that lore project on our off days?”

And there's that itch again, urging him on. It pushes him to say something that, on any other day, he'd swallow. “I don't love Sam the same way I love you,” he says. The words are raw, deeply felt, searingly true, but he does his best to deliver them in an offhanded manner, as if he's doing nothing more exciting than remarking on the weather.

Despite his feigned nonchalance, he watches Dean startle when those ten little words land. The hunter reels for a moment, seems almost dizzy, and it takes him three tries to place his now-empty mug on his nightstand. He turns wide green eyes towards him, face beseeching and open, and asks, “Wait, you love me?” His voice is little more than a wheeze, as if he's had the wind knocked clear out of him.

Cas marvels. I did that, he thinks. His words have discombobulated his friend as thoroughly as a bat to the head. Well, in for a penny, in for a pound. There's no going back from this now.

“I do. I always have,” he replies, and then he waits. He waits for Dean to yell, to laugh, to walk away, to proffer a distraction, to punch him.

Dean does none of these. He smiles. It's a shy, uncertain smile, but his eyes shine in the low light of the room. He clears his throat, quirks his mouth like he's fighting a sob, then huffs a soft laugh and asks, “Why, Cas? How??”

Emboldened, Cas lays himself emotionally bare. “Beloved,” he begins, and what ecstasy he feels when that word leaves his lips! “Beloved,” he says again, “I could trace the winding path of my ever-growing devotion, recite back every precious moment between us, talk about how wonderful you are until the sun sets tonight and rises again tomorrow morning. Or I could show you everything you need to know.”

Dean, ever a man of action, leans forward. “Okay, show me.”

Their first kiss tastes of coffee, with a spoonful of sugar and a dash of cream.

[vomitlover-art]

Art Summary 2023 aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Last new years i got really down because every artist I knew was doing year recaps. I decided to avoid that this year, I was gonna try to draw at least one thing every month. I was able to do it thank gosh gdkjfnghjf.

I wasn't able to do an excellent piece every month- sometimes just a sketch. Maybe that should be goal 2024? I'll try to make a really good piece every month.

Here is my favorite art of every month. Thank you for enjoying my art this year aaaaaaaaa thanku thanku aaaaaaaaa

January

Didn't start off strong really. Best thing I did this month was a sketchpage of Q. The campaign she's in started in January and has been going strong since =w=

February

I couldn't design between the two aack. The first was a lil sketch I did when I first started dating Cam. She said she wanted to watch me draw and I couldn't think of anything, so I just started putting together something mechanical aack. You can tell I kinda got tired after just drawing the head .-.

Second was when I was still super into Bocchi. Still am, just haven't drawn any fanart in a while gkfdjhnjgff.

March

"Recipes for Strawberry Jam" was my absolute favorite thing to work on all year I think. This specific page took so long but it all worth it. It was my first serious foray into making a comic, using color, and trying out weird perspectives and I think it worked out so well. I'm really hoping to do more soon =w=

April

This is around the time I switched my sketch paper to a more grey-color rather than a yellow-ish tone aack. I later switch it again to stark white. Road Queen~

May

I drew one (1) thing in May. May is always the worst part of the year aaaa. It starts to get hot again and because I live in the desert that means that life is suddenly unbearable and I have to Deal with all of that.

June

Ultravex! Everyone loves Ultravex =w=

One of the best xenobiology pieces I put together aack. I love designing animals that are fucked up and horrible.

July

Thricefold Judged.

August

Another sketch month. Summer sucks aa

September

Sketch this month, all in prep for Inktober \o/

October

It's hard to pick a fave for inktober, but it's probably the Lavender piece =w=

It was really calming and nice to take my time and work out individual details. I feel weird describing my own art gkjdnhfj I just. liked this one aaa

November

I made a lot of Maleghast necros this month. Was a little sad I didn't get more comms for Deadsouls Necros. It was my favorite one to make ghkfjdhnjgf

December

I was really happy to be able to make a necromancer for the Archivists homebrew house aack. I honestly didn't draw much in Decemeber except for. A lot of vent art I'd rather not share and nsfw art I don't wanna share aack. Almost fumbled it all at the end aaa

This was the first year I made like, any significant living off of commissions. I hope to continue growing next year. Thank you sincerely for following me. It's a little... nerve wracking, but I'm glad to have people aack. I'd like to keep working like this- making art on commissions and ko-fi supporters, and everything helps. It's always been my dream to scrape a living from my art, so, thank you. aaaaaaa

[furbygoblinxiv]

For Inktober, I like doing personal challenges. This year? That challenge is gonna be detailing out some of the media rewrites/aus that I have laying around, compiling my ideas into one spot.

First up! Miraculous Ladybug! A show I stopped watching after 2 seasons but kept up with tangentially lol. I used to have a lot of ideas and expectations for this show, but sadly never had those fulfilled. I will likely never post anything Miraculous related again btw.

More rewrite info, elaboration, and the villain picture below! Warning you tho, this is like a personal archival post for me, so the following is Very Long, like 3k words. You've been warned.

if this makes no sense then actually yes it does anyways

So! This idea originates from how I found out about Miraculous Ladybug. I saw art of it, I googled it, and the Wikipedia page filled my head with so many ideas that are never expanded upon in the show. Marinette is a fashion student and a hero! That love for fashion would be such a fun thing to bake into her character and the world! And yet while they up something like that in the show, it's never fully realized. Hence, rewrite.

The basic frame of how my Miraculous AU rewrite (that's been cooking since like season 3 i suppose) would be based on the idea of logos, pathos, and ethos. Marinette as being logos, the brains of the operation, the solver of puzzles. Adrien being pathos, the empathetic and playful one, in tune with the emotions of others. And Gabriel, with ethos, having immense credibility due to his status and wealth. I kinda tweaked their characters and the plot to reflect this focus on how they're three parts of the same narrative. Also, Adrien and Marinette are highschoolers.

First up, Marinette! I wanted to fully lean into her being a fashion student. While she does have friends and hobbies, her passion that she spends all her free time on is fashion. She knits, sews, crochets, and weaves to make clothes. She even volunteers for the local community theater making their costumes in order to get experience! She's not really a games or media nerd, or else she'd do cosplay, but she definitely helps others like Alya with their cosplays. She really like the technical aspects of fashion, and she's quite good at having an eye for things around it. She could eyeball someones measurements pretty accurately if she needs to tailor something for them, guessing their height and wingspan with ease. As Marinette, she's a bit of a scatterbrain when she isn't focused on something she's innately interested in (like clothes). She's fidgety and forgetful and rambling, and can get loud when she's passionate about something. She has her own systems of organization, which from the outside appear to be completely random and scattered.

As Ladybug, she's cool and confident and in control. She enjoys using her skills and brains to help people, and the work of saving Paris is just another puzzle that she needs to solve to help everyone. She settles down when focused, a feature that's reflected as Marinette. Her Ladybug outfit is different every time she transforms, the fashioning of the outfits reflecting her moods and mindset at the time of transformation. Her eye for technical fashion stuff comes in handy. In this au, the villains that Hawkmoth sends after Ladybug are completely unrecognizable due to how over the top their costuming is. Ladybug is able to use both her logical deduction skills and critical fashion eye to deduce who might have been transformed, and use that knowledge of them to formulate plans to pacify and save them. While she loves being able to use her deduction skills to save people, she prefers being the brains BEHIND the operation, and thus tends to avoid the press and public appearances where she can.

Also, something I think would be fun and would give Marinette a connection to Gabriel and play on her fashion interests would be if she actually managed to land a role as his intern. I feel like this would give them a dynamic thats like the opposite one to the lovesquare dilemma. Marinette sees Gabriel as her cool mysterious aloof competent boss who she respects and wants to imitate, and Ladybug hates Hawkmoth and resents what he keeps doing to Paris. Gabriel, while definitely viewing himself as above Marinette, does respect the work and ideas that she brings in. Meanwhile as Hawkmoth hes like plotting Ladybug's downfall. It'd also open up plotlines that include Gabriel as Gabriel as opposed to Hawkmoth, as well as more Marinette and Chloe interactions, since Chloe is a prominent model in the agency.

Also she owns a cat that acts lowkey like Plagg but lazier.

Next up is Adrien! Adrien is a normal human boy in this au, btw. I'm gonna explain his back story more in depth than Mari's since I didn't change too much about hers. He was raised by two rich famous parents, with Emilie being the one generally in charge of what he did. Under her direction, he was home schooled, learned music, and learned dance. She was artistically inclined, and wished to refine his skills in the arts, hoping he would be a cultured figure in the future. He also occasionally modeled for Gabriel, but that was more of a once a month type of deal, and he had plenty of free time to watch movies and play video games. He never left the house. While both of his parents worked frequently, he saw Gabriel less often, and viewed him as more of a distant influencing force in his life that he respected.

Then, not too long ago, Emilie fell into a seemingly permanent coma, which caused the rift between father and son to grow even more distant. Suddenly, Gabriel was spending even less time in the house, and the person who was directing Adrien's free time and education was gone, and neither pursued any therapy types of resources. Adrien spent some time grieving his not even fully dead mom while alone at home before Gabriel decided to change things. He started pushing Adrien to model even more, in a twisted attempt to spend more time around his son and ensure he kept him safe and supervised. He also promoted Natalie to his own personal assistant, giving her full reign over what happened to Adrien and their estate. While she cared for Adrien, she was never fully able to reach him on his level, especially following Gabriel's orders.

It actually ended up being Chloe, a girl he met while modeling, who became his first friend and actually started trying to drag him out of his depression. She watched movies with him, supported him at photo shoots, and most importantly, she actually listened to him and what he wanted. Under her questioning, he realized that what he wanted to do in the future was become a teacher. She's the one who pushed for him to go to public school, both so she could have a friend there and so that he could have more opportunities to pursue this dream. So long as he shows up to model, Natalie actually ends up lying and saying he's being homeschooled in order to cover for Adrien going to public school. For public appearances on tv, he acts like the perfect extrovert, but he's actually a quiet and reserved introvert, which is how he acts at school.

Chat Noir is an extension of Adrien's play at being an extrovert. He's also Adrien having the chance to let go of the guilt and the strings attached to all of his public appearances he does for his father. As Chat Noir he's a performer! He has showmanship! He's having fun and cracking puns! He also uses it as a chance to get out all his pent up jittery energy from being inside and inactive most of the time, especially in terms of talking to people. I want him to love talking to people, chatting with the random citizens of Paris, wanting to meet and get to know everyone. He's just a little stir crazy from being inside and isolated for so many years. He's also the one who willingly and happily does all the press appearances that Ladybug tends to avoid, which he has fun at due to being able to say whatever under the mask of anonymity. Also, after some time as Chat Noir and realizing how much he enjoys performing as this eccentric and energetic character, he ends up using some of his precious free time to go join the local community theater.

Also, Emilie had a little yapper purse dog that Adrien ends up taking on once she's comatose, because I think it'd be funny.

And now for the villains, all of whom have something to do with status wealth and credibility because of it, and side characters:

Gabriel is a well known and well respected man in the fashion industry and in Paris. He spends all his time away from home, focused on his job and furthering his fashion empire and career. His wife was also a prominent public figure and a working woman, and while he loved her, he didn't spend enough time with her. In her youth, Emilie was actually a villain with the peacock miraculous that she stole in her youth, with Gabriel being a hero with the butterfly miraculous who opposed her when he stumbled across it by accident. They fell in love and gave up their miraculouses, especially after the peacock got damaged. However, Emilie used it as a last ditch effort to stop a home invasion and save Adrien, and even that one transformation was enough to damage her body and lead to her going into a coma (this attack is also what led to Gorilla getting hired). Gabriel was determined to get her back, so hired a team of specialized doctors to care for her and keep her stable while he donned the butterfly miraculous to try to find and take the mythical ladybug and chat miraculouses that Emilie had told him about so many years before in order to wish her back to health.

See, while I like the drama of Adrien not knowing where his mom is and one day being able to stumble across her preserved corpse in the basement, if Emilie is a public figure and disappears, there'd be a manhunt for her. If she's said to enter a coma? Not only is there no manhunt, but Gabriel gets a perfectly curated tragic image to garner sympathy and support from the public, and Adrien has the opportunity for angsty moments of visiting his mother in the hospital

Hawkmoth is the form he dawns when hunting down the miraculouses. His outfits are over the top flamboyant runway style outfits, with his face obscured in abstract ways with each transformation. His lair is actually his office at work, not in his basement, part of the reason why he started spending even more time at work after the "death" of Emilie. Having to keep up the appearances of being at work is why he starts sending off akumatized people as scouts to do his work for him. Specifically, he uses his targets as bait to get the magic box holder to distribute the the ladybug and cat miraculouses in order to combat the problems he's causing. As things progress, however, and he gets more info on the powers, routines, and profiles of the miraculous holders, he gradually starts making more in person appearances as Hawkmoth.

Natalie started off as Gabriel's work assistant, who had worked with his company since graduating college. She had immense amounts of reverence and respect for both him and Emilie, and he in return had immense amounts of respect for her. After Emilie fell ill, he promoted her specifically to his personal assistant, giving her parts of the responsibilities that Emilie had in the company as well as over Adrien at home. At first, she takes her role over Adrien incredibly seriously, not really listening to him in favor of filling out Gabriel's orders. Over time, however, she finds herself getting incredibly attached to Adrien, wanting to connect with and help him wherever she can. She doesn't always understand him or his moods or his interests, but she cares for him nonetheless. It's after this point that she accidentally learns about Gabriel's identity as Hawkmoth. Since he trusts and respects her, he offers her to join him, though she knows she doesn't really have a choice. She ends up joining him and not voicing her concerns, determined to stay on his good side in order to continue being able to be there for and support Adrien. She still has respect for Gabriel at this point, especially once he explains his motive, but as time goes on, her motivations and allegiances become more and more muddled.

Chloe is another villain of credibility, but lessso. I really liked Chloe as a character, so I wanted to do a take that gave her more depth. Chloe's mother is an international superstar, and her father was a peer of Emilie's who died when Chloe was young. Chloe's mother married the mayor of Paris not too long after that. Chloe has grown up in an environment of money, privilege, and nepotism. She got into modeling work at a young age because she wanted to become famous and show off how beautiful she was, and her dream is to become just like her mother one day. Due to her upbringing, she looks down on those she sees as beneath her, but is actually incredibly kind to those she sees as equals. I wanted to kind of paint her as a foil to Adrien. Both have a distant parent and a parent no longer with them, and both have different responses to people and the world around them because of it. Adrien cares for people but tends to be reserved, while Chloe is cruel to others and tends to be loud. However, she does genuinely care about Adrien, and tries to be a nice person, it's just that this is all she's known. She has no idea that what she acts like could even be considered cruel since no one's ever told her before.

She worked alongside Adrien without much thought, but after he started working more due to the Emilie situation, she became fast friends with him. They shared a love of comic books and a desire to go on grand adventures, as well as a similar enough sense of humor. Chloe, having never had anyone willing to be kind to her and also build on her ideas and challenge her like Adrien does, gets attached. She thinks she's in love, but really the feeling was just friendship. She's the one who pushes Adrien to go to public school. I also think it'd be interesting if it was a reverse of what happened in the origins episode, where Marinette is the one viewed to misstep. Something she said is misinterpreted by Chloe to be a diss against Adrien, who she then defends with a passion as he is sad. Marinette, in return, feels genuinely awful for misstepping and hurting the feelings of the new boy even if she doesn't really like Chloe. By the end of this, Marinette ends up seeing Adrien as this aloof mysterious hot classmate of hers, and starts catching feelings. Adrien, meanwhile, ends up seeing Marinette as what could be considered his second friend, much to Chloe's chagrin.

Yes Chloe does eventually get the bee miraculous. That plus her realizing that are two reasons she dislikes Marinette so much: 1) she's leeching the attention of her best friend and 2) why is such a pretty girl so focused on her best friend and not her anyways, and uh oh Chloe accidentally develops a crush on Marinette lol. for the lols. anyways.

The only plot I care to develop beyond what's mentioned above is irt Alya. Logical Alya and logical Marinette, and brainiac duo. Alya, without knowing Marinette is Ladybug, starts doing independent research to track down who Hawkmoth is, just based on journalist curiosity. She uses things like cctv footage and areas of Akumatization to narrow down location and suspects. After learning about her research, Marinette tries to learn more, but Alya actually blocks her from learning more for her own safety. Eventually, Marinette reveals her identity to Alya in order to work hand in hand with her to track down Hawkmoth. Meanwhile, also for safety reasons, Ladybug and Chat Noir haven't revealed their identities to each other, despite Chat Noir's requests since he has a crush on Ladybug lol.

Beyond that, again this is a show I haven't actively watched since season two, so i dont really care about explaining every detail out lol (despite like three thousands of words to the contrary above). This is just how I would have shaped Miraculous if I was in charge of it or a reboot. If you've read this far and any of this sounds at all intriguing to you, especially if you're a miraculous fan, I encourage if not beg you to steal any ideas wholesale, idec about getting credit lol. I explain this every so often, and the initial typed explanation is in a screenshot of some instagram DMs, so this is all from memory with the hopes of preserving this au in a place I can actually access again the next time Im discussing ML with an irl and wanna reference what i'd change lol. If you're reading this still i genuinely like actually cannot fathom why but thanks i guess?

[bad268]

Farm (Nate Hardy X Reader)

Fandom: RPF

Requested: Day 31 of Writing Inktober prompts instead of drawing!

Warnings: none.

Pronouns: They/Them

W.C. 300

As always, my requests are OPEN

MASTERLIST // HITLIST

Writing Inktober 2022 Materlist

~~

“Where are we going again? A farm?” I asked as Nate and I got situated in our seats on the plane. We were on our way to Louisiana with Sam, and Colby for a Hell Week video, and in true Sam and Colby fashion, they did not tell us much. Sam and Colby were sitting in front of us, and Amanda was picking us up in Louisiana. Nate was pulling out some headphones as I pulled out a throw blanket from my backpack. “Are some dead cows coming back for revenge or something?

“No,” he laughed, putting his headphones in his lap as he turned to look at me with a blank expression, “it’s Myrtle’s Plantation, not a farm.”

“Last I checked a plantation is a farm,” I pointed out with a chuckle as I spread the blanket across both of our laps, “And 2, I like the idea of cows roaming that farm.”

“It’s not a farm!” Sam laughed from the seats in front of us. Colby, Nate, and I started laughing as well as fellow passengers looked at us weirdly. I just hid underneath the blanket and leaned into Nate more to avoid the stares of onlookers. Nate laughed more at my action and put his arm around my shoulder to comfort me.

“Y’know what, Sam,” Nate starts, “they’re right. It is just a haunted farm.”

“Okay, keep calling it a farm, and we’ll see who gets haunted,” Colby added. Instead of retaliating, Nate just shook his head with a scoff and moved to pull the blanket from my face.

“Watch a movie with me?” He offered, handing one of the earbuds to me. With a nod, I took it as he played the movie on his phone, and the flight attendants began going over the safety lecture.

~~~~~

© BAD268 2022. DO NOT REPOST WITHOUT PERMISSION.

[metaphorthejesterdraws]

Oct 23 | Celestial

(inktober)

akA LETS TRY TO DRAW 8 CHARACTERS WHILE VERY UNMOTIVATED

it didnt really turn out how i wanted (again, didnt have many refs for this one because tryna avoid spoilers for the game cause i aint done), i had to resize jodariel like 3 seperate times, definitely do not have a solid idea of how to draw the reader, and the lightings kinda off and so are the proportions but whatever at this point i'll get there eventually

according to clip studio paint it took me almost 5 hours lol

[the---hermit]

19|10|2022

Today I decided to rest again. I should start planning my thesis presentation for my graduation, but I also need some rest. So today I really tried to treat myself by reading a lot and just doing what I felt like doing. I am having ups and downs with my anxiety, I thunk it's mainly due to all the stress accumulated in these past months, but hopefully a bit of rest will help.

Productive things I did today:

read a lot (both physical book and audiobook)

did a couple of inktober doodles since in these past days I haven't really done that

practiced Irish on duolingo

Self care things I did today:

took the day off and relaxed

read first thing in the morning

payed attention to drinking enough water (if I am not at my desk with my glass of water in front of me I tend to drink less, so I am doing my best to drink a lot even on my days off)

made myself banana pancakes (I wanted to do this for weeks and it was amazing)

continued watching the second season of Deadend Paranormal Park

Tranquil's studying challenge// day 6

Do you find yourself procrastinating? What are you procrastinating right now? Be honest haha

I just talked about procrastination in a ask I was sent. I personally do not find myself procrastinating because it triggers my anxiety. Don't get me wrong, sometimes it can happen, but I usually avoid it, especially if we are talking about difficult and challenging tasks. Having that weight on my mind drains me and as I was mentioning it triggers my anxiety terribly. So my philosophy in life is to do everything as soon as I can. The more challenging the task the quicker I want to get it out of my to do list. Clearly I am a human being so there's things in life I procrastinate, at the moment the thing that I have been procrastinated the longest has been coming out to my family. That is something I want t get off my personal to do list, and even though I know it will probably be fine once I do it, I have yet to find the courge to do it.

📖: Bunny by Mona Awad, The Wolf And The Woodsman by Ava Reid

[helluva-world-innit]

Gah. This took such a long time and I'm not especially proud of it, but it's done and I have Inktober shit to catch up on so.

Okay, so this is my concept of Greed Ring. The main color here is yellow/gold but it really embraces all the colors of the Rings as it tries to be an embodiment of all of them (the extra green is a nod to US American money since, let's face it, that's where I'm from and that's where capitalism really has a lot of freedom to move. Also, the audacity of Mammon annoys Leviathan). A real melting pot of Hell, if you can believe it. A Vegas meets Mardi Gras meets shady carnival realm of exploitative entertainment and temptation. So, parties, casinos, bars/clubs, theatres, and restaurants. Money is king here. Mammon is ruler of this domain, naturally, but is rarely seen within it since he leaves most of his torturing to the demons he appoints as his Jesters, masters of various performance arts and professional drainers of wallets. "Jester" is an actual title in my rewrite. It's a job that allows Hellborn demons of any class to rise to minor royalty status and yes, Fizz is one of these Jesters. He's the first imp to be appointed to the position in over a century during the events of It's A Helluva World. He, Blitz, and Barbie were all being trained to be Jesters from a young age, but only Fizz impressed Mammon enough to be appointed. Unfortunately, it came at a terrible price.

That's the role of the mini circuses around the Ring: as training grounds for new Jesters for Mammon's ranks. One of the few appearances the Ringmaster of Greed makes to his domain is his tour of the Ring every three years to observe and select new Jesters. Sometimes, he doesn't pick anyone. Others, he might pick someone from every carnival. The criteria is known only to him and is deeply arbitrary to anyone else. There is a lot of gang activity in Greed Ring, as to be expected, but the majority of these gangs are under Mammon's rule as well. Any who try to avoid giving him a cut of their profit or taking over the Ring "mysteriously" disappear, never to be heard from or seen again.

Between constant advertisement and unchecked capitalism, most denizens think nothing of it. One less gang means one less group to shake you down for protection. The Sinners who opt to stay in Greed whisper of a being who lurks beneath the ever-sprawling dumps surrounding the Ring, however. Since they are regulated to only the slums, Sinners are the ones who encounter it the most. Trash scavengers have come back to their tent cities with tales that there is almost a living quality to the rancid garbage piled high and it is said that if you go wandering about in it alone, you will see it shift closer out of the corner of your eye. Some even claim they could hear a muffled voice muttering "Mine. Mine. Mine,". Many don't return from the dumps at all. It is said that whatever makes the garbage move and mutters claims them for its own.

The majority of the Ring is bright with a veneer of good humor and not taking anything seriously, which is the downfall of those who don't learn to see through the illusion quickly. Even Mammon puts on a good show of being a jolly and buffoonish ruler, but his mean streak is obvious to anyone who knows him personally and he is endlessly calculating and underhanded with how he acquires wealth. Most of this wealth is either horded or offered to Belphagor for new tech developments to make Greed the top Soul earner in Hell, something that sticks painfully in the craw of Leviathan who hates Mammon's style of tormenting Sinners. Belphagor, ironically, finds it all very funny.

Notable characters from this Ring are Fizzarolli, Barbie, Blitz, their parents: Buckzo and Beatriz, Moxxie, Crimson, and Sir Pentious. The Overseers of this Ring are The Hoarder a.k.a. Le Roi des Ordures/of Refuse/Rubbish (depends on who you ask) and Buddy. Also planning on doing a map view of this Ring later so I can paint a better picture of where everything is in relation to each other.

Up Next (though not for a whiiiile): Envy Ring!

[aidsyouinthinking]

Inktober Dodge

Metamorphosis… of a kind

Avoid or evade, some can’t do the former Like a moth wandering towards the warmer; Singed alerted, twisting to turn the corner. Late; and stricken by grief: action mourner.

But butterflies are forged by a hot iron press. Its pattern- a tapestry of its eventual success. Moth: a painting yet a canvas; self-oppressed. Shake the soot: intra-perceptually-digressed. But to lose life and wing, over a fired etching, in hopes to soar and sing- can be very fetching: To dodge, and dodge, and dodge, again. Can strain and wain ever more than a flame So take to that gust, avoid the pond: Something superfluous, perhaps abscond? Build your meadow, not your hell. And maybe, just maybe, all is well. ------------------------------------- I really like the allegory of this one, it's a bit verbose tho, I'd probably come up with more ideas and shorten the ones there, but idk... Thanks for reading :)

[cheerstotheelites-if]

Want to share one of last year's Inktober prompt, because hey why not since I got like… two laying around and left the 3rd unfinished and never continued the rest after. Woopsies.

Not Cheers main or side cast used for the prompt (I have 300+ characters, I gotta use the rest that doesn't involved making another IF somehow), but I hope you'll like this trio of siblings all the same.

Short prompts. Won't take long to read, so I'll just ctrl+c/ctrl+v them in a single post.

TW: Horror aspects, mild religious themes, gore, blood

Inktober 1 - Lantern

   There is always a saying in the Blight family that’s been passed down the many generations.

  Don’t follow a gray lantern, for Death will come to retrieve it and you.

    Legends say that one of the three aspects of Death carries the lantern as a sign of your impending death. A reminder of your last few days to come to terms, or to tell the news to your family so they can prepare your funeral. A merciful and depressing way to know that your time is up, worse than hearing it from a doctor in their office.

   No one has really seen this so-called “gray lantern”, and most just chalk it up as the madness side effect of the family necromancy magic from an ancestor in the past. The minority fear for the day when they’ll actually see the gray lantern, and have formed a superstition around it, which is to avoid looking at them. 

   Cynthia is one of those non-believers in the family.

   She never was a believer of the lantern or the many death superstitions in her family, despite being a person who dips her toes in the river of Death every waking day. Bullshit, she often calls it. Disbelief in the lantern is one of the many few things her and her older brothers can agree on.

   It’s one of those late night jobs again. Another exorcism needed for some spirit that haunts a local cathedral in a nearby small city. The cathedral itself is decades old, with paint peeling off and some pews that require to be varnished again. The altar at the middle front is made of marble, covered in cracks that were fixed in the past,and the huge, wooden, holy symbol behind it needs to be replaced with how rotten the wood has become (holes—so many of them). Cynthia adjusts the glasses on her face as she looks around, examining more of the innards of the church, frowning when she sees a cracked glass stained window. The window itself depicts the god of order Malkiel with arms out and rays of shining light behind him, worshippers kneeling by his feet and praying to him in reverence.

   Malkiel, always the one for loyalty in his disciples and nothing else.

   Cynthia looks away before she decides to make the crack on the window even bigger.

   Walking even deeper inside, the silence continues to deafen her ears. 

   Nothing. 

   There’s nothing.

   No sign of an unrestful soul roaming the halls or lingering in rooms.

   “By the gods…” Cynthia mutters and pinches the bridge of her nose in clear frustration. Did she just get herself into some hoax? She can already hear her Familiar scolding her for even taking this job without asking for extra details first.

   And like a thundercrack, the atmosphere shifts in an instant.

   Colder. Suffocating. Overwhelming.

   There's someone else.

   She has to turn around. She has to know. She needs to see.

   Her body refuses, instincts yelling at her to freeze and stay still.

   There is a danger here.

   An audible breath can be heard, closer than to Cynthia's liking.

   Her eyes stay casted down as a shadow slowly looms over her, engulfing her into its darkness. A lump in her throat now, hands forced to stay still from their trembling.

   It stops. Its presence edging too closely to Cynthia's personal space.

   Move.

   She needs to move.

   She needs to run.

   Run, Cynthia.

   Run!

   One step, then another. Her feet break free from its spell and Cynthia makes a mad dash to the nearest door. She can't look back. She refuses to now, despite morbid curiosity telling her that she needs to. Whatever that thing was, she rather not know.

   It dashes after her in shrieks and skittering, thrashing wildly with its steps. It yells and cries with such conviction in a chorus of many but remain as one—"A SINNER FOR OUR SINS. A SINNER'S SACRIFICE TO APPEASE OUR LORD."

   A hard left, nearly slipping on her feet from the old carpet that lay in the middle of the winding hallways. It lets out a shriek when it slammed into the wall, and scrambles to get back up and anew its chase. Why didn't she just run to the front door? Cynthia curses at herself for her own stupidity, but instincts tell her to run and stay away from whatever thing is possessing this cathedral. Logic be damned, she needs to get away, and that turns out to be dragging herself to her own—.

   Light.

   There is light up ahead, peeking through a crack from a barely opened door of an office.

   Someone else must be here. One of the priests or nuns of this damned cathedral perhaps can help her.

   Malkiel must be watching. How merciful of him, despite her disdain earlier.

   Etiquette and manners discarded for urgency, Cynthia bursts into the room. Hope vanished in an instant, blood running cold under her skin. 

   Empty. 

   The office is empty.

   She has mistaken the light of someone living, to an oil lantern that hangs in the middle of the room.

   The shrieks and cries grow louder from behind her.

   "Malkiel, you cruel man." Cynthia huffs out a laugh of disbelief.

   The lantern only grows brighter.

   Detective Anatole steps out of his car, staring up at the old cathedral with a grim look on his face. The station has received a missing person's report from Merripen, Cynthia's Familiar. He said that Cynthia should've been home at around 2 am from a job as discussed, and it was unlike her to not follow through.

   Of course, the detective knows of this.

   Cynthia is his younger sister after all.

   Letting out a breath through his nose, he shuts the door, and walks over to the police officers guarding the perimeter. He flashes his badge without a word, and is let through.

   He passes by the other forensic officers who are taking nearby evidence from what remains—mud trails, muddy shoe marks, disheveled carpet, fallen display tables—of a chase from the night before. Gray eyes scan around the area, searching for a lost restless soul that belongs to his sister.

   There was none, and he grows more anxious at the thought the farther he walks into the cathedral. Yellow tape is what comes next, a fellow colleague standing before it with a grim look on her face.

   "Detective Delarosa," Anatole greets as he walks up to her side.

  Luciella looks up at him upon hearing his voice, her grim look vanishing to one of professionalism. "Detective Blight." She greets back with a curt nod.

   They both look back at the crime scene before them. The office is surprisingly neat despite the clear body that lays covered in a white sheet in the center of the room. A shaky inhale comes from the burgundy haired detective, before he forces himself to look away. He knows very well whose body lays there.

   "You don't have to do this, Ant." Luciella tells him, voice low in sympathy.

   A forced laugh comes from his lips, as he looks back at the scene. "I have to. It's my job, and my sister deserves justice."

   Luciella says no more, only following Anatole inside the office with a small sigh.

   The two search the room, looking for anything suspicious or anything that can lead to who the murderer is. Anatole could only silently plead for his sister's soul to come out of hiding as they continue to search.

   Nothing. There was nothing.

   The white sheet was lifted from the cadaver's body, and Anatole can hear his own breath hitch at its state.

   It is mangled, covered in slash marks with caked blood, and gray eyes that are frozen wide. Some joints are dislocated, and a few limbs are torn in places. The abdomen is sliced open, a few organs spilling out onto the carpet below it, staining it in deep red.

   "Gods above…" Luciella mutters in horror.

   "Indeed." Anatole agrees, letting out another shaky breath and looks up at the ceiling to regain his composure.

   There hangs a lantern, glass shattered and flickering out a light of gray.

   A movement in the corner of his eye had Anatole turning his head almost immediately, earning him a noise of concern from Luciella.

There stands a figure, clad in light, black armor and a metal helm with a hood over it covering their head. A black cloak is draped over their shoulders, flowing down into a cape, and a scythe hanging from their back.

   That damned warning of his long dead parents comes into his mind almost immediately, his eyes widening in realization.

   Don't follow a gray lantern

   The figure lifts a finger, putting it where their mouth supposedly is under their helmet as they reach behind to grab their scythe.

   For Death will come to retrieve it and you.

~•~•~

Inktober 2 - Shatter

  What does it take for one to shatter their sense of self?

  Melpomene has seen it happen, watched it even.

  The Blights were never the luckiest of Magi, blessed with the death goddess’s gifts and power. A hellish one that is. It acts more of a curse than anything good. Who would want to be tormented by the restless every waking day? Wake up and see a wallowing soul in your corner trying to get your attention. You can hear them, feel them, listen to them wail on for hours, and hours with no end. Now, imagine that in an infested city full of them. There are those who are angry, yelling and shouting about the injustice they received in their past life while holding a form so mangled and disfigured. Twisted heads. Bones poking out from skin. Spilling organs. Torn limbs that hang from only a few muscle strings, exposing the innards underneath.

   It won’t be long until they snap underneath it all.

   Casimir is one of those many unlucky fews in the family.

   Paranoia and a panic disorder terrorizes him in his every waking day, leaving him a trembling and panicked mess.

   He’s the eldest of the Blight’s main branch children, next would be his younger brother Anatole, then the youngest Cynthia. She too would be stricken with a panic disorder, though not as bad as Casimir’s. Anatole is the only sane one amongst his siblings, if you want to call it that.

   Casimir wasn’t like this before.

   Many assume it was the family madness finally catching up to him.

   Melpomene knows it’s just more than that.

   She didn’t come into Casimir’s room one night to see him huddled in a corner, trembling in fear, and crying his eyes out until blood came out just to call it madness. 

   There is more.

   There has to be more.

   It’s morning again.

   Out in the garden of the Blight estate.

   Melpomene stands beside Casimir, his long, spindly fingers fiddling with the ends of the shawl wrapped around his hunched form. Casimir was never the one for good posture, always preferring to appear smaller than his height grants him to. His burgundy hair is unruly now, no more is it tied back into a neat half ponytail. Gray eyes, wide and alert, darting around in a diligent, anxious manner. The wiry glasses on his face are bent in an odd angle, one of the lenses cracked in the middle.

   He refuses to get new ones.

   Keeps the spirits away, he told her when she asked.

   “Mel,” the Familiar looks up at her Magus, who now focuses on a bed of spider lilies, “do you still believe what I’ve told you on that night?”

  How could she forget that night?

  Him on his knees, blood tears running down his cool beige face, hands tightly gripping at the skirt of her dress. 

   Then there’s the mutterings.

  Something incoherent. Something understandable. Something beyond mortal comprehension.

   “Nothing but pawns of blood and flesh in their sick game.” Casimir utters to her on that fateful night. “We were made just for a game no one can win. Not you. Not me. Not any other being on this damned planet. We will rot here for all eternity while we rest our fate on a damned child, forced to relive every hell brought upon us, over, and over, and over, and over—”

   Melpomene lets in a breath, looking now at the current Casimir beside her in the garden.

   “Of course.” Was all she said to him, hand reaching over to gently hold his own.

   Has her sense of self shattered as well for indulging in whatever horrors her Magus has fallen to?

   Perhaps. She’s not sure, and she rather not know.

   If he’s going to the abyss of his own making, then she too will follow.

[thedawnofcrime]

I am inevitably going to miss today’s Inktober. Not for lack of trying, but for booty bustin’ beats :(

I had to go do the Macarena in front of over 100 people, and I’m afraid that wasn’t avoidable.

I’ll be back on it again tomorrow!

My arms are so smooth now

[bryan360]

Here’s my note before I’ll get started….

(DON’T YOU EVER COPY FROM MINE OR MY FRIEND’S WORK, CHARACTERS, AND STUFF IF ONE OF YOU ARE IMPOSTERS WHO HAD HABITS OF PLAGIARISM! I WILL BLOCK YOU FROM MY BLOG IF I SEE YOUR POST WITH MINE OR MY FRIEND’S ORIGINAL WORK BEING EDITED ALL OVER! I’LL EVEN SHARE IT ONTO MY BLOG SO IF EVERYONE WILL SEE THAT YOU TRYING TO COPY MINE OR MY FRIEND’S THINGS FOR NO GOOD REASON WHATSOEVER! That will be all….I mean it.)

🎃Inktober of 2022 - Day 14: 👻 Ghosts

🇵🇷Me: Have you guys watch 👻👧 Disney’s The Ghost and Molly McGee show? I’m sure have since it premiered back in October last year. It was a pretty good show like other Disney’s other modern shows like 👨‍🌾Big City Greens or 🐸Amphibia; which I had also give a thumbs up about….still hoping to catch up with 🦉The Owl House. Though originally for this Inktober post, I would’ve like of showing being a Ghostbuster style cosplay for my characters while trying to capture Slimer. So instead, I got this idea from the season finale I’ve check on lately. However if you haven't seen it to avoid spoilers, then you might wanted to go back watching episodes via Disney+ or on other media sites. What that being said, I think it looks fine to be a part of my Inktober postings list. Hope you’ll enjoy this, sorry yet again that I’m running a bit late.

Previous Inktober Posts of 2022:

Day 1: ⚫️⚪️Cartoons - Link Here

Day 2: 🎃Pumpkins - Link Here

Day 3: 👨‍⚕️Doctor - Link Here

Day 4: 💀Death - Link Here

Day 5: 🐱Cat - Link Here

Day 6: 🦇Bats - Link Here

Day 7: 😈Devil - Link Here

Day 8: 🌳Forest - Link Here

Day 9: 🧙‍♀️Witch - Link Here

Day 10: 🔪Murder - Link Here

Day 11: 🔴🐻Red - Link Here

Day 12: 🧸🪆Playtime - Link Here

Day 13: 🥚Eggs - Link Here

Tagged: @murumokirby360 @carmenramcat @alexander1301

[kajira-kreations]

Say whaaaa?! Voltron art after such a long time!!!

Yes, that's right! I lied about taking the year off of cons, but VoltCon is one that I CANNOT miss!

I have quite a few VLD art back in the day that I really needed to get rid of!

The few times that I actually do commissions is whenever I'm at cons. It's a place where I thrive better. These are probably the only Inktober pieces that I'm actually contributing for the month cuz they're commissions.

It's just so nice to draw the Paladins again after such a long time. Despite trainwreck of the series finale, my overall thoughts is actually mixed...the show truly changed me as an artist; helped me how to draw more male characters, avoiding the "same-face syndrome" (almost! LOL). If you look at some of my works carefully you might find some VLD inspired bits.

[skymaiden32]

The Sound of Silence

Thundertober/Inktober 2022 Day 21: Hanger

Thunderbird Two’s hanger was quiet. Too quiet…

Continuity: TAG

Tagging: @dragonoffantasyandreality @thundergeek59 @janetm74 @katblu42 @liseylou (Please ask if you would like to be alerted when I update or write new stories)

Prompt list

------

Virgil grinned as he stood back from his lady, placing his hands firmly on his hips as he admired his handiwork. She was good as new, a fresh coat of forest green paint shining against her hull. He sighed, content. Painting and his Thunderbird… He could think of no better way to spend his time. 

The hanger wasn’t just his happy place though, it also just so happened to be everyone else’s. There was normally someone else here when things were slow on the rescue front. Whoever was here would turn out to be very lucky, as he planned on saving them from having to eat the lunch Grandma was threatening to cook all morning, and heading to the mainland to grab some take-out. 

His first stop was Thunderbird One, where he was certain he would find his older brother. He’d mentioned working on his ship today. “Hey Scott, do you wanna go out and grab some pizza with me?” He asked, rounding the corner, only to be met with empty space. He hummed. Oh well, he guessed he could ask Gordon, Alan or Kayo.

Thunderbird Shadow’s space was just as empty as One’s. “Kayo? You here?” His sister nowhere in sight, Virgil moved on once more, towards Thunderbird Four’s regular tank. “Gords?” Once again, his calls were left unanswered. Virgil grimaced. He didn’t think the hangers had ever been so devoid of life. At the very least, MAX would be here…

“One more try…” He muttered, walking toward Thunderbird Three’s silo. The red spaceship loomed overhead the closer he got. How ironic that the largest Thunderbird, at least on Earth, belonged to their youngest member. Virgil hummed at the thought. Upon further inflection, it suited Alan. Speaking of his brother, he better try and call him. “Al? Wanna grab something to eat?” No answer. 

He sighed. The lack of activity had him on edge, and he got more and more uncomfortable as he double checked each and every part of the large cavern. “Guys? This isn’t funny, you know…”

Virgil was just about ready to give up and face Grandma’s cooking when he was poked from behind. He jumped in shock, screaming as he swivelled to see someone in a sea monster mask. He gasped again as the culprit laughed at his expense. He knew that laugh far too well… “Gordon! Are you kidding me?!” Gordon just kept laughing. “It’s not as funny as you think it is, I was really spooked for a second!”

“I take it my Halloween costume for this year is a success?” Gordon eventually calmed down, wiping a tear from his eye. “Sorry Virg. It was Scott’s idea…”

“Scott?” Virgil frowned. “Sorry Gordo, I don’t believe that for a second…”

“Well, you better believe it, brother dearest.” Scott appeared from behind Gordon. At Virgil’s incredulous look, he raised an eyebrow. “What, I’m not allowed to plan pranks for you guys?”

Virgil huffed. “Well, I was gonna get some pizza to avoid lunch smelling of feet, but I guess if you don’t want it…” He smirked. Gordon and Scott immediately stopped giggling.

“Hey…”

Virgil was already halfway to the door. “I’m sorry, I can’t hear you two over the sound of Grandma burning the chicken!”

“Virgil, come on…” Gordon whined from behind him, but his pleads fell on deaf ears as Virgil left the hanger, to the sweet sound of silence…

[flowerbarrel-art]

~ Alan Becker, AvA, AvM

~ AvA Enthusiasts’ Sticktober, Day 6, Substitute Prompt, “Ruler”

I’ve been wanting to write something about how Purple might’ve met King.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Purple stared in a daze at the ceiling, trying to sort through the last things he remembered before waking up.

He’d heard the horrible, grating shriek of one of the Ghasts, then a burst of heat. The fireball had struck the ground where he’d just been standing.

He’d barely managed to run in time to avoid getting hit directly, but the ground had crumbled, dropping him into a pit.

A painful thought had come him as he lay there watching and hearing flames crackle around and above him.

Sticks were data, and as long as computers existed, they could live forever.

In this game called Minecraft, if Sticks were killed, they’d respawn in their bed like nothing had happened.

But Sticks outside of Minecraft weren’t so lucky. There were no respawn points. They could live forever, but only if nothing happened to them.

If Dad had been here…would he have just…come back?

Purple felt his eyes burning, and a horrible pain in his chest.

“Are you awake?”

Purple jolted out of his thoughts and shot up in the orange bed. He looked around frantically to see he was in a small room, the walls made of oak wood and the floor of dark oak.

There were several windows in the room, and through the nearest one, Purple could see the full moon rising, its soft glow comforting.

“Lie down. You shouldn’t move yet.”

“W-who…a-are y-you?” Purple stammered, shrinking back and watching the tall orange Stick uneasily. He noticed he was wearing a golden crown.

“Call me King,” he said. “You haven’t been to the Nether before, have you?”

“N-no…” Purple whispered. “Did you save me? How did you beat that thing?”

“A Ghast,” King said. “Did you not know about them?”

“I did, I was just…looking for something,” Purple muttered.

“What could you possibly have gone there for?” King asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Endermen,” Purple said. “I need Eyes of Ender.”

“You were in the wrong place,” King said. “There are lots of Endermen in the Warped Forest. But if you need Eyes of Ender, I have more than enough to activate an End Portal. I also know where one is.”

“You’ll just…give them to me?”Purple asked, gripping the blankets tightly.

“I will,” King said, “but in return, I need your help.”

“I don’t know what I could do,” Purple mumbled.

“You need to learn more about this world, it’s true,” King said, “but you can help me. There is also something I need from Minecraft.”

“What is it?” Purple questioned.

“…you need to get more rest,” King said firmly. “If you want to stay, I may tell you. But while you’re recovering, I’ll tell you about Minecraft.”

Purple stared at him.

“Really?”

“You won’t make it on your own like this,” King said, frowning. “You need help if you really want to get to The End. You’re not nearly strong enough right now.”

Purple clenched his fists.

“Is something wrong?”

“No,” Purple muttered. “Just thinking.”

“Go to sleep,” King sighed. “You’re safe here. We’ll talk later.”

King turned to leave.

“Wait!” Purple exclaimed. “I’ll help you. You saved my life.”

“Very well,” King said, turning. “But you don’t have to this instant. Again, you need rest. I will visit you later.”

“Thank you, King,” Purple said. “I…I’ll do all I can to help you.”

King nodded once, then left.

Purple settled under the covers and closed his eyes, and was soon fast asleep.