#basilisks are so hard to draw

[sandsofsolstice]

sketches from [last night, since this post will be scheduled for the morning]

[erythristicbones]

making dragons gods in my lore was a terrible mistake bc i cannot draw a dragon i like to save my life. i got a free pass with EOTA bc i was like "oh these two dragons in particular are like the Highest Gods from which all others spawned. They're meant to be ethereal and hard to comprehend like biblical angels" so i didn't have to think about drawing them

but also now i have 3 separate other stories that each feature a specific dragon as being integral to the plot and i just! can't design them!! literally i haven't liked a single one that ive tried

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Justice for Barty Crouch Jr: Part 1/2

(Part 2)

This is a bit of a weird theory, and I'll confess, some of the evidence is not all that conclusive. But I didn't see anyone mention anything about this anywhere else...

When I reread the books recently, I noticed I really liked Mad-Eye Moody in Goblet of Fire. Moody in the fourth book is actually one of my favorite characters, he makes the top 10. But then I reached Order of the Phoenix and realized (again) that I hate Moody's guts.

The only conclusion I could draw was that I really liked Barty Crouch Jr. because, Moody in book 4, wasn't really Moody. So, I went back to Goblet of Fire to try and find out who Barty is, how his behavior as Moody, differed from the real deal in the later books, and why I liked him when I didn't like the real Moody.

And let's just say, I came to some interesting conclusions...

This post ended up being pretty long, so I've divided it up into two. But my thesis is:

Barty was a Death eater, but he didn't torture the Longbottoms.

He didn't want Harry to be hurt during the Tornoment and actually cared about him.

And I can prove it!

Reasons for Doubt

When reviewing all the scenes of Barty Jr, it was made clear pretty quickly that Barty wasn't really trying to fool anyone. Actually, he seemed to be actively sabotaging himself.

“Maybe someone’s hoping Potter is going to die for it,” said Moody, with the merest trace of a growl. An extremely tense silence followed these words. Ludo Bagman, who was looking very anxious indeed, bounced nervously up and down on his feet and said, “Moody, old man ... what a thing to say!” “We all know Professor Moody considers the morning wasted if he hasn’t discovered six plots to murder him before lunchtime,” said Karkaroff loudly. “Apparently he is now teaching his students to fear assassination too. An odd quality in a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dumbledore, but no doubt you had your reasons.”

(Goblet of Fire, page 279)

From the very beginning, Barty is outright telling everyone what happened. And exactly how:

“Because they hoodwinked a very powerful magical object!” said Moody. “It would have needed an exceptionally strong Confundus Charm to bamboozle that goblet into forgetting that only three schools compete in the tournament. ... I’m guessing they submitted Potter’s name under a fourth school, to make sure he was the only one in his category. ...” “You seem to have given this a great deal of thought, Moody,” said Karkaroff coldly, “and a very ingenious theory it is — though of course, I heard you recently got it into your head that one of your birthday presents contained a cunningly disguised basilisk egg, and smashed it to pieces before realizing it was a carriage clock. So you’ll understand if we don’t take you entirely seriously. ...”

(Goblet of Fire, pages 279-280)

He goes as far as to explain how he got Harry into the tournament. To the point even Karkaroff thinks it's strange Moody would bother putting so much thought into it. And he's right, it is super strange.

Barty shouldn't be explaining that to the people he is supposedly trying to deceive. It's so incredibly revealing and counterproductive. And it's not that Barty is stupid, he shows he is both intelligent and competent to a degree it's clear that if he really wanted to not be discovered he wouldn't be (he transfigured his father's corpse to a bone and buried it in the forest when he didn't wish to be found out, clearly, he can get away with murder when he wants to). So why all of this? Why try so hard to tell them exactly what's going on? Why is he showing his hand?

It won't be out of character for Moody to not mention all of it. He could not go into as much detail easily. But, he chooses to go into detail about the very method he used to get Harry chosen for the tournament. Like he's trying to get himself caught.

“So . . . whoever conjured the Dark Mark . . .” said Hermione slowly, “were they doing it to show support for the Death Eaters, or to scare them away?” “Your guess is as good as ours, Hermione,” said Mr. Weasley. “But I’ll tell you this . . . it was only the Death Eaters who ever knew how to conjure it. I’d be very surprised if the person who did it hadn’t been a Death Eater once, even if they’re not now. . . .

(Goblet of Fire, page 143)

This is an earlier note from Hermione, and I agree with her 100%. The goal of Barty when casting the Dark Mark isn't clear. We know he is a marked Death Eater, but so are Regulus and Snape. We know not all Death Eaters agreed with everything they did, and some of them had regrets. And it's kind of interesting this idea that Barty cast the Dark Mark to scare the attackers off was planted this early in the book.

“What — what are you doing?” said Professor McGonagall, her eyes following the bouncing ferret’s progress through the air. “Teaching,” said Moody. “Teach — Moody, is that a student?” shrieked Professor McGonagall, the books spilling out of her arms. “Yep,” said Moody.

(Goblet of Fire, page 206)

I wanted to add this scene just because of the "yep" as his response to McGonagall, but this entire conversation, actually is noteworthy. Why? Well, the mannerism.

Moody whom we meet in book 5 and onwards doesn't speak or act like this. The mannerisms and speech patterns we see in this conversation are 100% Barty Crouch Jr. And this isn't the only scene in which his own mannerisms peek through because he isn't putting much effort into his act.

Here are some examples of how Moody talks in book 5, for comparison:

“Well, congratulations,” said Moody, still glaring at Ron with his normal eye, “authority figures always attract trouble, but I suppose Dumbledore thinks you can withstand most major jinxes or he wouldn’t have appointed you. . . .”

(Order of the Pheonix, page 169)

“Yeah, well,” said Moody, “there’s something funny about the Potter kid, we all know that.” “Dumbledore seemed worried about Harry when I spoke to him this morning,” whispered Mrs. Weasley. “ ’Course he’s worried,” growled Moody. “The boy’s seeing things from inside You-Know-Who’s snake. . . . Obviously, Potter doesn’t realize what that means, but if You-Know-Who’s possessing him —”

(Order of the Pheonix, page 491)

He's more gruff, more blunt, more paranoid. He isn't as gentle with Harry and Ron as Barty was (I'll showcase some of these moments later). And he shows full faith in Dumbledore's decisions. Something, Barty doesn't do even when pretending to be Moody.

Some Background

I want to talk about Barty's trial and Azkaban sentence for a bit, along with his relationship with his father as it explains a lot about him as a character...

and a boy in his late teens, who looked nothing short of petrified. He was shivering, his straw-colored hair all over his face, his freckled skin milk-white. The wispy little witch beside Crouch began to rock backward and forward in her seat, whimpering into her handkerchief. Crouch stood up. He looked down upon the four in front of him, and there was pure hatred in his face. “You have been brought here before the Council of Magical Law,” he said clearly, “so that we may pass judgment on you, for a crime so heinous —” “Father,” said the boy with the straw-colored hair. “Father . . . please . . .” “— that we have rarely heard the like of it within this court,” said Crouch, speaking more loudly, drowning out his son’s voice. “We have heard the evidence against you. The four of you stand accused of capturing an Auror — Frank Longbottom — and subjecting him to the Cruciatus Curse, believing him to have knowledge of the present whereabouts of your exiled master, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named —” “Father, I didn’t!” shrieked the boy in chains below. “I didn’t, I swear it, Father, don’t send me back to the dementors —”

(Goblet of Fire, page 594)

Does this look like a hardened Death Eater who was happy to torture the Longbottoms and proud to serve his lord?

No, this is a terrified nineteen-year-old kid who was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people.

Barty continues and calls:

“Mother!” screamed the boy below, and the wispy little witch beside Crouch began to sob, rocking backward and forward. “Mother, stop him, Mother, I didn’t do it, it wasn’t me!”

...

“No! Mother, no! I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it, I didn’t know! Don’t send me there, don’t let him!”

(Goblet of Fire, page 595)

Barty calls this as Bellatrix and the Lestranges are completely calm, taking credit for torturing the Longbottoms. Shouting at Crouch Sr, that Voldemort would return. Barty isn't doing that, he isn't the fanatic Death Eaters, he's a scared boy:

But the boy was trying to fight off the dementors, even though Harry could see their cold, draining power starting to affect him. The crowd was jeering, some of them on their feet, as the woman swept out of the dungeon, and the boy continued to struggle. “I’m your son!” he screamed up at Crouch. “I’m your son!” “You are no son of mine!” bellowed Mr. Crouch, his eyes bulging suddenly. “I have no son!” The wispy witch beside him gave a great gasp and slumped in her seat. She had fainted. Crouch appeared not to have noticed. “Take them away!” Crouch roared at the dementors, spit flying from his mouth. “Take them away, and may they rot there!” “Father! Father, I wasn’t involved! No! No! Father, please!”

(Goblet of Fire, page 596)

Barty keeps swearing he wasn't involved and that he didn't do it. that it wasn't him. Compared to how calm the three Lestranges are — it's clear something's up.

I think Barty is telling the truth here. I think he really didn't torture the Longbottoms.

Barty was still acting as a scared boy, just like in his trial, even in front of only dementors and Death Eaters, when there was no need to act. He is described by Sirius when he arrived in Azkaban:

I saw the dementors bringing him in, watched them through the bars in my cell door. He can’t have been more than nineteen. They took him into a cell near mine. He was screaming for his mother by nightfall. He went quiet after a few days, though . . . they all went quiet in the end . . . except when they shrieked in their sleep. . . .

(Goblet of Fire, page 528)

Barty was young and scared and kept to the same behavior even with no audience to convince — which means it wasn't a lie. It wasn't an act. He really didn't do it.

Sirius talks a little bit about Braty's childhood, his relationship with Crouch Sr and the events leading up to his trial:

“Crouch’s own son was caught with a group of Death Eaters who’d managed to talk their way out of Azkaban. Apparently they were trying to find Voldemort and return him to power.”

...

“Nasty little shock for old Barty, I’d imagine. Should have spent a bit more time at home with his family, shouldn’t he? Ought to have left the office early once in a while . . . gotten to know his own son.” He began to wolf down large pieces of bread. “Was his son a Death Eater?” said Harry. “No idea,” said Sirius, still stuffing down bread. “I was in Azkaban myself when he was brought in. This is mostly stuff I’ve found out since I got out. The boy was definitely caught in the company of people I’d bet my life were Death Eaters — but he might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like the house-elf.”

...

“...Crouch’s fatherly affection stretched just far enough to give his son a trial, and by all accounts, it wasn’t much more than an excuse for Crouch to show how much he hated the boy . . . then he sent him straight to Azkaban.”

(Goblet of Fire, page 528)

Barty, at the time of his trial and sentence, wasn't even for sure a Death Eater. He wasn't actually caught doing anything, he was caught with Death Eaters who escaped an Azkaban sentence, which means Death Eaters other than the Lestranges. This means he wasn't even caught on the scene of the Longbottoms torture, but somewhere else and unrelated. It proves even more that Barty was innocent regarding the torture of Frank and Alice.

We know he was a Death Eater because he could cast the Dark Mark. But, I think he wasn't involved in torturing the Longbottoms or anyone, for that matter. I don't think he had it in him before Azkaban and years of torment by his father.

The other thing of note is Crouch's treatment of his son. He was an absent father, caring more for his ministry position than his family. And we see later in GoF that Barty despises his father. I think he disliked him even before being kept under the imperious curse for years. I think that's what pushed Barty to become a Death Eater, it was something to spite his father. To create a distance between them.

His murder of his father during GoF is probably the only murder he wanted a part of. Actually, his father is the only person we know he killed. He didn't get the chance to kill the real Moody, and he never killed anyone else.

Once the boy [Barty Jr] had died, people started feeling a bit more sympathetic toward the son and started asking how a nice young lad from a good family had gone so badly astray. The conclusion was that his father never cared much for him

(Goblet of Fire, page 529)

More from Sirius that strengthens my former point. Barty joined the Death Eaters, in large to go against his father.

This vendetta against his father is the main reason I believe Barty chooses this plan to aid Voldemort. Well, there are some other reasons, but using the tournament is a good way for him to mess with his father's reputation. That same reputation that was more important to him than his own son.

As a Teacher and Mentor

A lot of fans like to say Remus Lupin was the best DADA teacher Harry had, I'd actually argue it was Moody (aka Barty). I'm saying that because Barty-as-Moody was the one who taught Harry many of the techniques and approaches he keeps going back to in the books.

The constant vigilance that saves him multiple times is from Barty, not the real Moody.

His resistance to the imperious curse.

When Harry quotes Moody in his head under certain situations for the advice he was given, it's not advice from the real Moody but from Barty:

He raised the cup to his lips and then, just as suddenly, lowered it. One of the horrible painted kittens behind Umbridge had great round blue eyes just like Mad-Eye Moody’s magical one, and it had just occurred to Harry what Mad-Eye would say if he ever heard that Harry had drunk anything offered by a known enemy

(Order of the Phoenix, page 630)

This above quote is based on Barty's advice in GoF, not the real Moody.

Barty made Harry think of becoming an auror. He was the one who convinced him he could become one:

“You ever thought of a career as an Auror, Potter?” “No,” said Harry, taken aback. “You want to consider it,” said Moody, nodding and looking at Harry thoughtfully. “Yes, indeed . . . and incidentally . . . I’m guessing you weren’t just taking that egg for a walk tonight?” “Er — no,” said Harry, grinning. “I’ve been working out the clue.” Moody winked at him, his magical eye going haywire again. “Nothing like a nighttime stroll to give you ideas, Potter. . . . See you in the morning. . . .”

(Goblet of Fire, pages 477-478)

Barty did more for Harry's self-esteem than any other teacher.

“Now, that’s more like it!” growled Moody’s voice, and suddenly, Harry felt the empty, echoing feeling in his head disappear. He remembered exactly what was happening, and the pain in his knees seemed to double. “Look at that, you lot ... Potter fought! He fought it, and he damn near beat it! We’ll try that again, Potter, and the rest of you, pay attention — watch his eyes, that’s where you see it — very good, Potter, very good indeed! They’ll have trouble controlling you!”

(Goblet of Fire, page 232)

In the above scene, Barty is delighted by Harry's resistance of the imperious. He is so proud and fond. I already mentioned and will continue showing how Barty did very little acting when he pretended to be Moody, as such, I don't think he's pretending here either. I think he actually is delighted.

And, I mean, think about it, why would a servant loyal to Voldemort teach Harry Potter how to resist the imperius? Why would he keep practicing with him throughout the year to make sure he was good at it? Why make sure Harry knows people would want to control him and he should make it hard for them?

The only conclusion I can come to is that he is trying to help Harry from a limited position. Why and How will be discussed later.

Neville was standing alone, halfway up the passage, staring at the stone wall opposite him with the same horrified, wide-eyed look he had worn when Moody had demonstrated the Cruciatus Curse. “Neville?” Hermione said gently. “Neville, what — ?” But an odd clunking noise sounded behind them, and they turned to see Professor Moody limping toward them. All four of them fell silent, watching him apprehensively, but when he spoke, it was in a much lower and gentler growl than they had yet heard. “It’s all right, sonny,” he said to Neville. “Why don’t you come up to my office? Come on . . . we can have a cup of tea. ...” Neville looked even more frightened at the prospect of tea with Moody. He neither moved nor spoke. Moody turned his magical eye upon Harry. “You all right, are you, Potter?” “Yes,” said Harry, almost defiantly. Moody’s blue eye quivered slightly in its socket as it surveyed Harry. Then he said, “You’ve got to know. It seems harsh, maybe, but you’ve got to know. No point pretending ... well ... come on, Longbottom, I’ve got some books that might interest you.”

(Goblet of Fire, page 219)

And he wasn't only the best DADA teacher for Harry, he was the best teacher for Neville too. He actually helped the son of the Longbottoms he was sent to Azkaban for torturing.

Just, he is the only adult attempting to build up Neville's confidence in himself and his abilities. He encourages Neville's love of Herbology and doesn't ridicule him like most other adults in Neville's life.

Also in the above quote, he clearly wants to tell Harry more. "but you’ve got to know", he says. He is trying to prepare Harry for what's to come. Why would he do that if he wants him dead?

As a Defender of Harry

To continue off Barty actually steps up to defend Harry a lot throughout the book. Even at times, he won't necessarily have to. I mean, the real Moody was never this protective of Harry. Sure, he kept him safe, but he didn't really care for Harry's feelings and self-esteem. Barty did.

“Yeah, that’s Harry Potter,” said a growling voice from behind them. Professor Karkaroff spun around. Mad-Eye Moody was standing there, leaning heavily on his staff, his magical eye glaring unblinkingly at the Durmstrang headmaster. The color drained from Karkaroff’s face as Harry watched. A terrible look of mingled fury and fear came over him

(Goblet of Fire, page 258)

He's scaring Karkaroff and the Durmstrang students away from Harry. The moment before this quote had the Durmstrang students and Karkaroff noticing Harry for the first time as they were leaving the Great Hall on the day they arrived at Hogwarts. They all freeze and stare at Harry, knowing his story and probably about to ask him questions, it's not like Karkaroff would've done anything in the Great Hall. But Moody (Barty) steps in to fend off Harry's discomfort! Hes not even in actual physical danger! Just discomfort!

Harry hesitated. He’d been afraid of this — but he hadn’t told Cedric, and he certainly wasn’t going to tell Moody, that Hagrid had broken the rules. “It’s all right,” said Moody, sitting down and stretching out his wooden leg with a groan. “Cheating’s a traditional part of the Tri-wizard Tournament and always has been.” “I didn’t cheat,” said Harry sharply. “It was — a sort of accident that I found out.” Moody grinned. “I wasn’t accusing you, laddie. I’ve been telling Dumbledore from the start, he can be as high-minded as he likes, but you can bet old Karkaroff and Maxime won’t be. They’ll have told their champions everything they can. They want to win. They want to beat Dumbledore. They’d like to prove he’s only human.”

(Goblet of Fire, pages 343-344)

Moody is glad Harry knows about the dragons, and that could be explained by wanting him to win so he could get to the graveyard (that plan had so many problems in it that I'll get to later) but that isn't the only thing he reveals here. He calls out Dumbledore and his attitude. He shows his dislike towards Dumbledore and his moral flexibility regarding cheating - two things the real Moody will never say. And he would definitely not phrase them like this. This whole conversation — that's all Barty.

Barty, who is actually encouraging Harry and belittling Dumbledore.

That sentence about proving Dumbledore's human, I think Barty shares that feeling. He agrees with the other headmasters on that. Even if he hates Karkaroff's guts.

Because he actually does hate all the Death Eaters that got away genuinely, but not for the same reasons as, let's say, Bellatrix. Bellatrix dislikes them for their lack of loyalty to their lord; Barty hates them out of envy.

Barty was sent to Azkaban for his mark even if he never tortured or killed anyone. And these other Death Eaters, ones he might know killed or tortured, got out scott-free. He was fought alongside them and still sent to the dementors instead of being let go. And he is bitter.

Also, important to remember, that a year in Azkaban and then twelve years under the Imperius curse didn't leave him unscathed. He is not mentally or emotionally well or anything close to it when we meet him in the books.

“Well, I’m not going to tell you,” said Moody gruffly. “I don’t show favoritism, me. I’m just going to give you some good, general advice. And the first bit is — play to your strengths.” “I haven’t got any,” said Harry, before he could stop himself. “Excuse me,” growled Moody, “you’ve got strengths if I say you’ve got them. Think now. What are you best at?”

(Goblet of Fire, page 344)

I love this scene. Like, this is the first ever time an adult with authority, a teacher, tells Harry how great he is. I talked about the fact Harry is clever and magically powerful but has really low self-esteem. And Barty actually argues with him. Bart (as Moody) makes him believe he could become something. That he has things he is good at.

One of this book's antagonists is the first person to tell Harry he has strengths. That's just all levels of messed up.

It shows Barty Crouch Jr actually does more for Harry's emotional well-being than any other professor he had. More than McGonagall, more than Lupin. Actually, the only adult who tries to help Harry with more care than Barty, is Sirius Black, Harry's godfather. It's just insane that Barty, a Death Eater, actually understood Harry and went out of his way to help with his insecurities and make him comfortable more than Molly Weasley did.

Now, let's talk about the Farret Incident because it's interesting too. both regarding his defense of Harry and his hatred of the Death Eaters that got away.

“I don’t think so!” roared Moody, pointing his wand at the ferret again — it flew ten feet into the air, fell with a smack to the floor, and then bounced upward once more. “I don’t like people who attack when their opponent’s back’s turned,” growled Moody as the ferret bounced higher and higher, squealing in pain. “Stinking, cowardly, scummy thing to do. ...”

(Goblet of Fire, page 205)

Barty steps in to defend Harry because he does it a lot. It's why I placed this moment in this section. One would expect someone who wants Harry to die to not mind if he was cursed a bit, it's not like Draco was about to kill him, but no, he defends him even when no one sees him there.

But specifically in this incident, I want to mention how personal he gets about this. Barty's disdain towards the Death Eaters that escaped Azkaban is very real and very dangerous to Draco. He's furious they didn't need to spend a year in hell on earth only to then be enslaved by a curse for 12 years by their father who kept them like a dirty secret in the basement.

As I mentioned above, I don't think Barty is mentally sound, but I think he genuinely cares about Harry and didn't torture the Longbottoms.

In the next post, I go through the final scene of Barty in the book, and explain the whole plan Barty had.

Part 2 >>

[sorensolsikke]

it's pretty hard to accept as a kind of spiritual otherkin, but my mental view of my dragonkin's look is strongly affected by the media i was exposed to when i was a child, and my dragon fan phase was emerging.

so this is how i look. i drew this reference sheet recently, giving it many thoughts.

but the longer i look, the more similarities i find.

my scales are definitely blue with white belly because of saphira from the eragon movie – and books that i read as soon as i knew how to read. not even talking about the form of her neck and ratios of her body. i wanted to be like saphira more than anything, tho i hated her feathery wings in the movie (which was crap anyways. don't tell that to my five year old self tho.)

the form/colour of my wings, the narrowness of my face, my thorns and especially, the thorn under my chin seem to come from drago from bakugan (which series had been playing on cartoon network when i was very little, and needless to say, was my absolute favourite as a kid.) drago had been the comfort character through the first half of my life. i have so many drawings of him from kindergarten btw.

i was way too small when my favourite movie was the chamber of secrets (any harry potter movie is terrifying when you watch it as a three years old tbh.) anyways, the basilisk was my very first obsession. i got its teeth and form of mouth, i am just not good at drawing it. also, the lump of it's neck under the chin. this is the only harry potter part that i like. would have been even better if the basilisk were to survive.

lastly, the general outlook of myself was mostly formed by the book dragonology and the httyd books. i read through those again and again, like it was my religion. i am sure these gave me my round scales and and spikes.

i know definitely that since i can remember, i looked exactly like this. and somehow, i am still not certain if i were to watch other movies and read other books, i could have looked different, and that messes up my mind. sometimes i question myself with so unnecessary questions: was i really born like this? if not, why did i create this image? am i just a very enthusiastic fan? and even tho i know the answers don't even matter to me, the doubt still is my loyal company. something something i am just a gallery of all the things i have ever loved and shit

[schocoa]

(L to R: Atax, Potchly, Rimeru, Sisyphus, Alice, Basilisk) I plan on adding the fellas as I draw more of them but! I did figure I should do a lineup of the crew I've drawn so far, since a couple have been finished since last time. I am gunna have to do a piece with them all chillin to show them off better (ya know, not posing for the camera n stuff)

I thought I finished more, but I misremembered me finishing a bunch of sketches as I usually finish rendering before moving to the next one but for the Xariel picrew I needed to finish the non-combatant uniforms, so I did the crew first then took their uniform sketch for the picrew, meaning I really only did 2 renders since last time but did an additional 3 sketches. I only got another 1-2 sketches to do, but it's 7 crew that still need to be drawn. (or redrawn in most of their cases)

crew left to be drawn: Tes the Engineer, Talis the Botanist, Apogee the Logistics Officer (and Bas's sibling), Avarian the Hunter, Mortis a Soldier (the last soldier to draw), Leandre a Doctor, and Cobber a Commando (they are shadowing Atax as they're pretty new to space-faring). The last 2 are the ones not being redrawn, just drawn for the first time.

I'm also planning on reworking how I'm doing their refs cuz trying to draw 2 full bodies per ref is making it hard to do (and not get burnt out). I also stopped drawing the helmet cuz the lineup pose is more of their posing for the camera for their military professional pic kinda thing and the helmet is additional work for no reason as theres rarely a difference between em and theyre still a work in progress.

I will say watching Starfishface's stuff about webcomics has been a catalyst to keep working on these guys cuz I was taking a break after feeling a lil burnt out and their stuff has had my brain goin

[room-surprise]

Delicious in Dungeon Anime Season 1, Episode 2 Review

Spoilers for season 1, episode 2 below the cut! There may also be mild manga spoilers so proceed with caution.

This episode was great! I think it was a big improvement on the first. Honestly no real complaints... I do kind of wish both Marcille and Chilchuck could have had stand-alone episodes dedicated to their character development, to allow for a deeper focus, but I understand why they didn't do it, and the pacing was still excellent. I do still sometimes feel like the show is in fast-forward at times, because with 3 meals in one episode, it feels like the characters finish eating, and we jump cut to them saying that they're hungry again, without anything to help really impress upon viewers that time has passed. Makes it feel a bit like we're reading a collection of short 4-panel gag comics instead of a continuing story… which, early Dungeon Meshi DOES have that as part of it's format, but it changes with time, as we get into longer individual stories.

During the Basilisk/Doni and FIonil section, I really do miss some of the dry humor from the manga. ("Hurry, he's getting cold!" "Move him closer to the fire!") The hilarity of slowly preparing a meal while someone is dying of poison has unfortunately been lost, which makes Doni and Fionil much less memorable characters…. But it benefits the other 2 stories in the ep to have more time so I think it was the right choice to make. It also gives people something to go back and read the manga for, since it's a little different! If you're reading this and you're an anime only, consider reading the manga while you watch the anime! I promise it's worth it. I'm excited about next week because I think they'll devote the entire episode to Laios and the living armors, which is me and my spouse's favorite early DM storyline, and the part where we both said "Oh, I LOVE this manga..." and got really invested. It's 2 chapters in the manga so it could be an entire episode…. which also would make sense, if that's why they needed to crunch 3 chapters into episode 2. Just like the first episode, animation was fantastic, and as usual the weakest points are when characters are just walking or talking and not doing much. Everything more dynamic is just bouncy and adorable and full of life. Very rarely is anything animated in a dull or flat way. They're doing their best to use "move a drawing around" or "zoom on a drawing" for comic effect and I think it's working well so far. There's some great animal animation in this episode, the bat flying around and the basilisk chasing Marcille in particular. Translation was better this time around, no dumb modern or game references in the dub ("newbs" "as if" etc.) … But there are differences between the subtitles and the dub script that change how easy it is to understand what's happening. When Senshi tells Chilchuck to cut up the giant bat, the subtitles make it hard to understand what he's telling him to do, and the dub makes it a lot clearer. In the subs when Senshi calls Chilchuck a half-foot child, the subtitles say "I'm not a child" and the dub says "I hate it when people call me 'kid'"… The latter is more interesting for keeping the mystery going for things that happen later in the story. If the show continues like this, I think the English dub may be the more satisfying way to watch it (even though the Japanese performances are great), mostly because the subs are very literal and sometimes miss things that the English dub somehow manages to include. And for some reason Netflix isn't including translation of Japanese signs on-screen during the subtitles, but they DO provide them when you watch the English dub. A lot of Dungeon Meshi's humor is sometimes in those background signs so completely missing out on them sucks. Anyway those are my thoughts for this episode! See you next week Meshiheads.

[fandomsandflyingstingrays]

Stepping Stones: Chapter 4

The first order of business upon their return to the Owl House is names.

Alador, Perry, Harvey, and Gilbert left to assess the state of their houses, but their children remained, and Vee’s siblings were understandably confused when they race out the door calling her a name they’d never heard. An explanation followed on the concept of roman numerals, and while One, Two, and Three weren’t very taken with them— understandably— Four tried on the name Ivy and decided that she liked it. 

One and Three went with homonyms, Wynne and Rhee, respectively; but Two took a while to decide. They went through words for two in Spanish, Italian, French, through all the vaguely plausible names they could think of, before Luz suggested Gemini— meaning “twin”— and it stuck.

With that debate settled, they headed inside, and now Luz and her friends sit at the kitchen table listening to the basilisks exchange stories as Raine cooks dinner under King’s barked orders and Camila, Eda, Lilith, and Hooty sort through the rest of the food. Luz’s chest aches as she watches the faces of Vee’s siblings as Vee talks about Camila, the envy in their eyes rolling a lump into her throat. It isn’t guilt, not anymore— she just wishes she could have opened the portal sooner, could have taken these kids away from Belos years ago and gotten them a home with all the love they could ask for. When the adults come in to eat and Camila catches her eye, Luz realizes she’s thinking the exact same thing. 

“As soon as I was returned to normal, I knew I had to go back for O— Wynne and Gemini,” Rhee says, concluding their story of the last few months. 

“I had the same idea,” Ivy adds. “We met up halfway to the Conformatorium. We figured we’d get the others and then try to find Vee and then… well, we didn’t really have a plan.”

“We still don’t,” Gemini points out. She glances hopefully at Camila. “Unless… we could stay with you?”

Camila opens her mouth and closes it, and the pain in Luz’s heart expands, because she knows that what she wants to say and what she has to are two different things. 

“I’m sorry,” Camila says, shaking her head. “But I just don’t have the means to take care of you all. I could do it for Luz’s friends, for a few months, but I was scraping to get by. I couldn’t give all of you the home you deserve.”

“Well,” Eda says slowly, “maybe I can.”

Vee’s siblings all turn to her. 

She gives them a small grin. “The Owl House isn’t usually this full,” she tells them. “With Luz staying in the Human Realm, it’s going to feel pretty empty. I’d be happy to have some company.”

The silence at the table is as loud as a scream before Amity turns to Camila. “You’re not really still holding her to that.”

“Of course not!” Camila cries. “Mija, please—“

“Wait— you’re going to stay in the Human Realm? Forever?” Willow demands. “Is this still about the Collector?”

“Wait, what about the Collector?” Edric asks.

“Luz is the one who introduced Belos to him,” Amity tells him. “She thought he was just a human at the time.”

Luz draws in a breath, now a little desperate to get a word in edgewise, but Hunter cuts her off with a growl.

“How many times do we have to go over this?” he demands. “Belos would have found the Collector even if you didn’t help him, it was his whole mission!”

“And if you hadn’t come here,” Eda adds, “there would have been no one to learn the Titan’s magic and use it to defeat him—“

“I know,�� Luz blurts.

For a second, she’s grateful for the silence, and then her heart starts hammering so hard under everyone’s attention she wonders if she’ll be able to say anything at all. She takes several deep breaths— and feels Amity take her hand.

“When King’s dad asked me to take his powers,” Luz says, looking down, “I almost didn’t. I just thought— what if I mess up again? Who am I to have all this power? But then I thought, well, I can’t change the mistake I made. But I can stop it from getting worse. Hiding myself away… it wouldn’t fix anything. I know that now.”

Amity squeezes her hand, and Luz feels another hand on her shoulder. She looks up to find Lilith smiling at her. 

“You’re a much wiser witch than I was at your age,” she says. “And do you really think you’re the only one here who has to live with a mistake? I helped Belos meet the Collector too, Luz. Before that, I helped him recruit people to the covens. And before that, I cursed my sister to further my own ambitions. I’ve considered more times than I can count just stepping away before I can do any more damage. But that would just be a waste, wouldn’t it?”

“Isolation is tempting,” Eda agrees, glancing at Raine. “But it isn’t the right answer.”

“I know. I know that now.” Luz takes a deep breath and turns to her mom. “Mamá… is it okay for me to keep coming here?”

“Luz.” Camila reaches across the table and gently takes her hands, waiting for Luz to look at her before she speaks. “If you didn’t come back to visit, I would throw you through that portal myself.”

Luz lets out a watery laugh.

“When I asked you to stay with me… I was so scared, Luz. I had no idea where you were and what you were facing, no idea if you’d ever come home. If you wanted to. But this place isn’t… well, okay, it is as dangerous as I imagined. But you’ve flourished here anyway, and you found a family, and friends. I would never take you from that.”

Luz lets go of her hand to wipe her eyes. “Thanks, Mom.” 

Camila sighs. “But, Luz… I still want you with me. I missed you so much while you were away—“

“Me too,” Luz says quickly. “And even though I’ll be visiting the Isles all the time, it’s not the right place for me to stay right now. I still need to finish school. People would wonder if I just disappeared.”

“We-ell,” Vee says slowly. 

“I’m not making you pretend to be me again!”

Vee smiles. “Oh, good. I’m not sure I was up for that.”

Camila puts a hand on her shoulder. “You’re welcome to stay with me too, mija. Six kids I don’t have the resources for, but I’d be happy to take you in.” She looks at Hunter. “You too, Hunter. Three will be a stretch, but I’m sure we can make it work.”

Hunter’s eyes light up, but his face is still. “I’d like that to start, but… I don’t really think I’d fit in for very long. I’ve seen Luz’s homework. It’s incomprehensible. Anyone in her school would spot me as a witch a mile away.”

Luz bites her lip and nods.

“It’s not so hard,” Vee assures him. “I spent most of the summer studying it in case I had to go to school as Luz. I could help you out.”

“Thanks, but… now that I have Flapjack’s power, I’d like to try to learn more magic, if I could.” Hunter glances at Darius. “Do you think I could enroll in Hexside without a guardian?”

Eda laughs out loud. “Kid, you have more guardians than you’ll know what to do with.”

A smile spreads over Hunter’s face as he turns to Camila. “Is it okay if I stay with you until then?”

“Of course!” She crosses the table to hug him, and his eyes well with tears. Seeming to sense it, she holds him tighter for a long moment before ruffling his hair and stepping back, turning to look at Vee.

“What about you, Vee?”

“I’d like to stay with you,” she says immediately. Glancing at her siblings, she adds, “I promise I’ll visit you all the time, but I still feel more at home in the Human Realm. Is that okay?”

“Anything is okay,” Wynne promises, wrapping an arm around her. “As long as you’re happy.”

“We’ll need to figure out what to do with putting you through school,” Camila says thoughtfully. “I wouldn’t have time to homeschool, but you’d need at least a birth certificate to enroll in Gravesfield High…”

Eda waves a hand. “Oh, I can easily arrange that. Would you like some adoption papers while I’m at it?”

Vee and Camila look at each other. Camila smiles. Vee bursts into tears. 

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Eda says, standing up. “Come on, you two, I’ll need your help to make it look authentic. Wynne, Gemini, Rhee, Ivy— why don’t you four come too? I can give you a tour, and you can pick where you want to sleep.”

Camila and the basilisks follow her out, and Raine, Darius, Lilith, and King start to clean up dinner. Amity tugs on Luz’s hand, and Luz glances at her to find her face serious. “Luz,” she says. “Can we talk?”

A pang of anxiety courses through Luz’s stomach, but she nods. “Of course.”

To her surprise, Willow, Gus, and Hunter all stand as well, and she follows them out of the kitchen, trying to reassure herself with the feeling of Amity’s hand in hers. When they get outside, Amity turns and takes her other hand. 

“Luz,” she says, “we’re worried about you.”

“I promise, I’m not going to stay in the Human Realm—“

“It’s not just that,” Willow interrupts. “We were aware when the Collector was puppeting us, you know. He made us say horrible things, and you believed them.”

“You believed I was going to attack you,” Amity says, “more than you believed I would misquote Azura.”

“You would never misquote Azura.”

“Luz!”

“Okay, okay.” Luz smiles, but it fades quickly. “It’s not that I believed any of you would say any of that, not really. It’s just… I believed I deserved to hear it. I did separate you from your families. I did take you out of your lives. I couldn’t save Flapjack, I didn’t know how to save the people you loved, so it made sense to me that you’d be mad about it.”

“Here’s the thing, Luz.” Amity sits down, lowering Luz with her, and the others follow. “Even if you didn’t know how to save anyone, even if we’d never found a way back home— I would still be glad I met you. My life before you was a disaster. I was horrible, to myself and everyone around me. On purpose. If Willow and Gus can forgive me for that, why would we ever be mad at you for things that weren’t even your fault?”

“If you hadn’t come to the Isles, I would never have gotten Amity back as a friend,” Willow confirms. “I probably wouldn’t have gotten out of the Abomination track. I might never have known how strong I could be.”

“And I would have kept helping Belos— on purpose, not by accident,” Hunter says quietly. “Until he drained my magic on the Day of Unity, or until I figured out what he was doing and became just another failed attempt.” 

There’s a long silence as Luz chokes back her tears, basking in the warmth in her chest after months of frost, until Gus shrugs and says, “without you, I would never have seen a giraffe.”

The moment breaks as they all laugh, crawling together into one knot, and Luz cries openly, the relief too much for her to hold inside. When they finally pull back, Amity wipes away one tear and kisses away the other, then moves to whisper in Luz’s ear.

“I love you.”

Luz gasps as she pulls back, heat sweeping through her face— and then she throws her arms around her, burying her face in her shoulder.

“I love you, too.”

They stay like that for another long moment before a yell comes from inside. “Luz!” Vee calls. “Come see!”

Amity pulls back, cheeks flushed, grinning at Luz as she pulls her to her feet, and the two of them race back through the door with Willow, Gus, and Hunter close behind to find Vee in the living room waving a pile of papers. Luz scurries over and snatches them from her hands, her eyes zeroing in on two words.

Vee Noceda.

Vee Noceda!

“I have a sister, I have a sister!” she sings, grabbing Vee’s hands and twirling her in a circle as Vee laughs and laughs, tears streaming freely down her face, until Camila swoops in and gathers them both into her arms. “My precious daughters, my wonderful daughters,” she murmurs, kissing both their heads. 

Luz looks up from the tangle of their limbs to find Willow nudging a red-faced Amity as Gus laughs; to see the basilisks looking around the room with grins on their faces; to see Eda and her father in close conversation with Hunter, showing him what appears to be a tiny palistrom seed. It’s a perfect picture, and Luz closes her eyes, trying to etch it into her mind. At the beginning of all this, she would have called it her happy ending, but she knows better now.

This is just a very exciting beginning.

[thatfreak03]

(Sorry for any spelling, grammar, drawing, or other mistakes)

I made more fan art for @tunafishprincess' The Wolf House AU.

In this AU, Camila Noceda is Empress Llorona, ruler of The Boiling Isles. Camila wants to kill all humans as revenge for them killing her half-witch/half-basilisk husband and their daughter, Vee.

I wonder if Camila in this AU sees ghosts of her family, like how Philip in the original show saw ghosts of Caleb and his grimwalkers.

If so, does she acknowledge them? Does she try to talk to them? If so, what does she say? How do they feel about her plan to kill all humans?

Sorry if it's hard to read the speech bubbles.

Also, sorry I couldn't make Vee look more ghost like.

I hope you still like it.

[crescentblossom66]

Bond of the Beasts Chapter 17 (End of the first arc)

The moon slowly replaced the sun, its meager light, shining through the window in the kitchen, failing to illuminate the dark room. Contradictory to what one would expect, the kitchen wasn't devoid of people, not even now that it was nearing midnight, but every persons present, young or old, were so deep in thought that they paid it no mind that they were sitting in the dark. The only noises to be heard were a light tapping coming from the seasoned basilisk who hid an expression of anger and worry behind his eyes, and the light grinding of teeth coming from the wereowl to his right whose gaze showed a deep seated rage that overwhelmed the anxiety he felt.

The younger members of the household looked equally as distressed, the werewolf girl was acting much like the other werebeast, her ears twitching under her hood and her sharper nails scratching up the wood of the table. The changeling's colors once again switched to purple, now with a hint of red mixed in, not even she was save from the ire the group felt for the their enemies, the hunters. She looked over to her sister almost as if hoping that she could come up with something, anything that could help them safe the heart of the household.

Everyone flinched and got torn out of their thoughts by an exasperated and irritated grunt. “Arrg, I can't take this anymore! I'm going over there and beat the stuffing out of those jerks!” Mu leapt out of her chair, balled her hands to fists and was about to march to the door, yet a firm clawed hand stopped her. The golden eyes of the young girl showed betrayal as the one that hindered her was no other than the one she had assumed shared her opinion the most. The Conductor glared at her, his brow furrowed, his scowl even deeper than normal. “Let me go, old man!”

His hold on her arm only got firmer. “I understand that yer blood is boilin', lassie, trust me, so is mine. We cannae simply go over there though, they're expectin' us ta show up.” The child contemplated the words of her elder and shook her arm free with a huff, yet she sat back down, crossing her arms.

“What ARE we gonna do then?! We can't just sit here and do nothing!”

The basilisk took a deep breath, his tapping stopping briefly. “We can't leave Cookie there though, but we can't just go there. We need some kind of plan to attack them. Going by their large numbers, we'd need to distract them and draw them away from Cookie, but the chances are high that they'd harm her if we don't think things through.” He took a deep sigh. “It's simply hard to predict what they're going to do once we arrive.” The DJ could hear the young girl in red growl again, baring her teeth, but staying quiet before bursting out in anger yet again.

“Hattie, can't you do something with your fancy overpowered magic?!” The girl in question jolted, fumbling with the hem of her shirt a bit under the harsh gaze of the werewolf girl.

“I-I'm trying to think of something, but so far, I'm can't find a solution. I can't turn us invisible, that spell is too hard for me, and I also can't brainwash the guards...-”

She was interrupted again by the young girl slamming her fist on the table. “Tell me something you CAN do, stop being useless, you have freaking magic for Pete's sake!” Her outburst was followed by tears streaming down the blonde girl's face, she tried to hide them by turning away.

The DJ reached out for the hand of the lightly sobbing girl. “We'll find a way, darling, don't worry.” The strained smile that the older man forced onto his face at least caused Mu to nod and calm down slightly.

Bow put a hand on the shoulder of her sister, trying to reassure her that they all knew that she was trying her best, that they wouldn't expect her to conjure up a miracle. Bow's colors changed back to normal, as the girl tried her hardest to do what her new mentor had taught her, controlling her emotions to be brave and supportive. “Don't worry, Hattie, I'm sure that we can find a way, we just all need to think about this together.”

The wereowl's forced his anger back, trying to keep a level head for once. “Alright, we know that they're expectin' us, so a sneak attack is out fer good.”

“If only I could change myself into one of the hunters, I could at least get more information.” Bow lamented, sighing at her own lack of skill.

The DJ shook his head, placing a hand on her shoulder. “It's fine, darling. You're trying your best, we'll just have to find another way. I don't want to send a child into the heart of their base anyway.” It didn't really make Bow feel any better about herself, but she still appreciated the kindness. “The best way would be to separate them into groups and distract them to get Cookie to safety. The problem is...we lack the manpower for that.”

“We just have ta brute force our way then, no other option.” The wereowl lowered his head. “I ain't lettin' Cookie die, over me dead body.” He shook his head, a gloomy yet resolved look on his face.

“No offense to your fighting abilities, Conductor, but there's just too many enemies and it's not full moon. You'd be shot dead before you get anywhere near Cookie transformed, never even mind fighting them in your normal state. You and me can't take them all on.” The DJ sighed.

“Hang on, I'm going too, we'd have a way better chance with me going and fighting, I'm fast and I can kick their behinds!” Mu snapped out of her melancholic state upon realizing that she was excluded from the plan.

Both men gave her a serious look, understanding where the young werewolf was coming from, yet disapproving of her plan. “It's too dangerous, darling, we can't risk you, Bow and Hattie getting into that mess.”

“Fer once in me life, I agree with the dancin' eyesore. Ye ain't goin' lassie, donnae want ta endanger ye.”

“Oh no, gramps, I'll come along whether you want me to or not! If you don't take me with you, I'll sneak out and follow regardless!” The young werewolf glared at her mentor who glared back at having his authority be challenged by the girl.

“I agree with Mu, I think we should all go. I understand that you are worried that Mu, Bow and I get hurt, but what if you die? There's a high chance if you go alone.” Bow flinched at the word 'die' and had a hard time keeping her skin from changing to purple again. “We'd be...all alone again.” Hattie lowered her head, even Mu decided to calm down slightly after seeing that Conductor's glare softened a bit. “I could use my magic to make a loud noise outside the restaurant, that should flush out a few of the hunters to check up on the surroundings. We could go and lose them in the forest while another group sneaks inside the hideout to confront their leader...The only issue is that a few might stay behind and that we don't have a way to secure Cookie's safety.”

The silence that followed was interrupted by a deep sigh from the DJ. “There really is no easy way for us to get to Cookie without endangering her, is there?” He sighed.

The old wereowl growled, and got up in one swift motion. He wasn't just going to let Cookie die by being idle! “Grooves, ye stay here with the lassies. I'll go by me lonesome. Yer in charge if I donnae return.” The little werewolf girl looked up at him with surprise.

“Hey! We just said that even you and Grooves going is going to end poorly, you can't be serious, gra-” She spread her arms out in front of the Conductor to stop him which only resulted in him picked her up by her shirt and placing her down behind himself, causing her to fall to the floor with a thud as she lost her footing, not expecting him to do that. “Are you serious! You call me out when I want to head over there to save her, but when you want to just storm out into enemy territory it's alright? What kind of hypocrisy is that?!” She got up and balled her hands to fist. He mumbled something quietly, just enough for Bow, who was the closest to the door to hear. “I ain't a young lass, I ain't got much ta lose in life.” Bow was about to question what he meant, but was pushed aside as the DJ came out from behind the table, grabbing the smaller man by his shoulder.

“Don't be absurd! You'll only get killed, darling! Don't be an idiot!” His hand got flung back as the blonde man simply swiped it off and headed to the door.

“I'll show these bastards what their dealin' with! Now they'll have ta deal with an angry wereowl!” When he was about to open the door, a purple wall of energy made him unable to get the door handle. When he turned he could see the vampire's eerie piercing yellow eyes in the dark of the hallway upstairs.

“And they shall get the wereowl, their leader at least will.”

-

It was a hastily put together plan, but considering the few people they had and that they were greatly outnumbered and didn't have much time, it was the best they could come up with.

“Hope you're ready, kid, you and I'll have to fight a lot of hunters. Now you can show that you figured out how to conjure up a nice shield.” The vampire, looked down the young sorceress who just nodded her head, determined to be of use this time.

“Don't forget about me! I'll mess these bad guys up good.” The red hooded girl looked particularly vicious baring her sharp canines even if they were still quite far away from the HQ.

Bow looked equally as determined, her gaze fixed on the path ahead, her hands balled to fists. “We'll make sure that these hunters will be away from you, you just have to hurry and get it done.” She looked up at the DJ who would help set up the initial distraction, he nodded solemnly.

With heavy steps, the wereowl was walking ahead of all of them before the vampire stopped him. “I kinda need you in the back for this plan, fossil. You'll go around that morbid eatery turned hunter club.”

The man in question scoffed, wanting to protest, but then realized something. “A pincer attack, eh? Nae a bad idea, blood sucker. What made ye actually give a damn 'bout the woman that is too nice fer her own good? Finally feelin' guilt?”

“You're really irritating, you know that?-” Snatcher rolled his eyes. “-I simply realized that finding another witch might be harder than I thought at first.” It was clear that the older man wasn't buying that, but he only scoffed.

“This plan o' yers better be a good one. If ye get any of the lassies harmed, I'll break all yer undead bones and grind 'em inta dust.” Slowing his steps down, the wereowl soon was behind the others and split off after as the purple haired man intended.

They soon reached the guarded restaurant, Bow- and Hat Kid peeked through the bushes at the edge of the treeline with Mu hiding right behind them and the other two men with them bending down to not draw attention to them. The building was pretty massive, standing right at the entrance of the town, which was actually a blessing as that meant that their little stunt wouldn't draw too much attention. Not that it mattered all that much as the citizens of the town would go to the hunters anyway if they needed defense from werebeasts, so at the worst, they had a mild panic to worry about. For a restaurant, the building looked a bit unspectacular, the red paint on the walls was slowly being chipped away by time and weather and the neon sign that read “La Santa Trota” in a less than illegible fond, was flickering on and off. It was strange to imagine that this horribly rundown restaurant served the best food in a twenty mile radius, all due to Cookie's incredible culinary skills.

“That's quite a lot of guards.” Hat Kid whispered, keeping watch on the armed men outside. In the distance, she could see the Conductor sneak around toward the back of the restaurant. She readied a spell to conjure up a small thundercloud that would emit one lightning bolt and a loud thunder to get the attention of the initial hunters that were around the entrance.

“Alright, just run back to the car once you have their attention. I won't be able to focus my magic on making their weapons malfunction forever, or the rest of us will be in trouble.” Snatcher explained, looking over at Bow and DJ Grooves who were preparing to start the plan, walking away around 200 meters (220 yards) to the right, while the other three went as low to the ground as possible. A loud growl and a bright flashing light made the hunters turn their heads to the treeline. As they were already expecting the werebeasts, the men quickly hollered for reinforcements from the inside that swiftly came.

Around 20 men started to dash into the forest. “Werebeasts are trying to hide in forest, Hunters will give chase!” The moment they made direct visual contact with the two creatures that tried to run away from them, one of them raised his gun with sleeping darts, aiming at the fleeing basilisk, only to realize that his gun refused to fire, thanks to a strange purple energy near the trigger. “What is this? Hunter can't shoot weapon!”

In the meantime, Hattie, Muriel and Snatcher made their way toward the front door, several hunters came their way, firing bullets, the first was stopped by Mu who took the initiative and charged at the first hunter she could see while growling and scratching. Of course the other men didn't stand idly by and aimed and attacked, finding the same issue that their comrades already encountered. Hattie focused her magic, creating a fireballs to attack the hunters, aiming at legs and arms. “Take this!” The attacks, though a bit unsteady and unfocused still due to Hattie's inexperience, proved to be enough to cause the first few hunters to get burned, making them drop their weapons. Hattie's euphoria over a spell cast right was short lived when a hunter shrugged off the burn that had inflicted his arm and grabbed her with the uninjured one, lifting her off the ground.

“Girl can't cast magic if girl is unable to move.” The girl struggled in the strong men's grip, trying to break free, while being to unfocused to use any spell in that situation. With his energy concentrated on the energy walls on the weapons of the hunters that were still in hot pursuit of Bow and DJ Grooves, Snatcher hardly had the energy to use much of his magic to fight. Both him and Hat Kid were relieved when Mu once again decided to show her wrath for the magical beast hunters, biting the man right were he got burned previously. It caused the hunter to drop the young sorceress who then got up and focused her energy once again, this time on a strong wind that caused their adversaries to lose consciousness as they hit the wall.

As the three continued on carefully, they came to door in the back. Hattie prepared her magic, ready for the door to open and the hunters to ambush them. Mu bared her teeth, about to just kick the the door open when the purple haired man pushed her to the side. With great caution and a near silent creak, he pushed the door handle down and cracked the door open. Only to immediately be hit by something flying toward him before he could even remotely grasp the situation. “Do you like my anti magic dart, vampire?” Now it made sense why he seemingly lost all power. The tall man grit his teeth, trying to think of a solution to their now imminent problem. With him down for the count magic wise, they'd have trouble fighting and the room was full of Mafia members that could now use their weapons, Cookie was tied to a chair, likely as a hostage. The red haired woman looked both ashamed and worried, most certainly blaming only herself for the grave circumstances. The situation was truly dire.

-

Her lungs were on fire and she begged her legs not to trip over any root or stone as she and the basilisk ran for their lives. She could do it, it wasn't far now and the men couldn't use their guns now. They were nearly at the shiny, now a bit stained and dirty red car that was owned by the DJ, when a loud shot rang out, the dart with paralyzing agent embedding itself in the tree right next to Bow. The girl shrieked in horror, increasing her speed, focusing on the car to have a goal and not be overwhelmed by her fear. With the very same goal in mind, the DJ ran, keeping an eye on the girl that he pulled forward by her hand and guided in front of himself after noticing the shot, wondering why, oh why he hadn't changed his shoes. Running in his stylish plateau shoes was cumbersome and risky, but he had completely forgotten to change them and was now paying the price. They could make it, just a bit more and they'd be safe! He'd just get in the car and floor it, driving away at the speed of ligh-...

His eyes widened when Bow tripped and he stopped. “Bow!” He pulled her back to her feet, but there was no longer any time to run away. The changeling girl was scared as the hunters approached, her thoughts immediately circling back to the labs, the horrible smell of disinfectant, the fluorescent lights, the sting of syringes that pricked her skin...Her breathing rapidly turned into frantic panting. The closer the men came the worse she was shaking..until a familiar phrase she heard recently came back into her mind. 'Control that fear, don't let it dominate you, acknowledge it, but don't let it run rampant.' The purple that usually dominated her skin tone when scared turned back to normal, as she turned to the basilisk to focus on his emotions as she had done with Empress, and once again her skin turned to a reflective surface. It gave her an idea. She looked down at herself until the DJ was reflected on her skin. “Grooves, pull your glaces down, I'll close my eyes!”

Seeing that the group of hunters wasn't focused on him, he quickly understood what she was trying to do after he got startled by her sudden order. He slowly pulled down his star-shaped shades that were more like a visor around his eyes, normally protecting those he looked at from their deadliness. The piercing green, reptilian eyes reflected upon Bow's mirroring skin, causing the men to stop. Their mouths were wide open as were their eyes. The split second that it took for them to realize what was happening, and the time that was needed for the basilisk's magic to take effect, leaving them in that state. The ferocious and dangerous hunters, now reduced to immobile statues one would find in a park. Their bodies turned to stone, their weapons the only things that retained their previous material.

“You can open your eyes again, darling.” Bow looked at the hunters that had nearly reached her, every single one of them rendered harmless by the horrifying eyes of the basilisk that were so much unlike the man himself who was rather pleasant. When she turned, Bow got embraced and almost crushed in his hug. “That was an amazing idea, darling! That's what I call dazzling teamwork!” Bow smiled, proud of her achievement, but it wasn't for long as she recalled that her sister and the others could still be in danger.

-

The vampire girt his teeth, he should have seen something like this coming. An anti magic dart...what more could these demented labs come up with?! He had to come up with something and pronto! The leader of the hunters laughed rather obnoxiously, clearly taunting the four magical beings in the room. “It's rather cumbersome when you can't rely on your magic, eh, vampire? Thank you for following my invitation to your own demise.” The man in the red jacket, smirked as he pulled out to dual revolvers pointing them at the three.

Cookie, who was bound to the chair lifted her head, she had been crying before and looked absolutely miserable even her voice was quiet and shaky. “I'm sorry. You should have never come to try and safe me. I failed all of you...”

“Nonsense! We'll find a way out of this! You helped me when no one else did, I couldn't never abandon you!” Mu exclaimed in anger that the witch could even think such terrible things. She was about to storm at the leader of the hunters, not realizing in her wrath that he had pointed both guns at her. She only realized when a shot got fired and she snapped her eyes shut. The werewolf girl expected an intense amount of pain, but...oddly she felt nothing. Was she dead? She opened her eyes only to find a shield around her.

“No you won't, I won't let you hurt more people!” It was Hattie! All the practice for the shield spell paid of in a glorious fashion as it enveloped her, Snatcher, Cookie and Mu.

Riccardo was rather impressed and looked taken aback by the sudden protective shields around his enemies. It wasn't for long however as he quickly pulled out another anti magic dart, but before he could aim at Hattie, something grabbed him by the arm rather violently. Thanks to his lightning fast reactions, he managed to pull his other weapon around and shot whoever it was who had attacked him. His smugness was replaced by boiling anger when he saw what he had shot, a wereowl! He could recognize him as such even untransformed. “You'll regret making an enemy of me, wereowl!”

The Conductor pulled his hand to the area the bullet hit for a brief moment. It had hit right under his chest, a normal human would have been crippled by such a shot, but he shrugged the pain off. Not giving his opponent the satisfaction. “Let's see who'll regret makin' an enemy of whom, laddie.” He charged at the man, who was only a tad taller than him, taking a shot that was aimed at his heart to the lung instead. It hurt like hell, he couldn't deny that, but he wasn't about to let that brainless, moronic peck neck go. Not after he kidnapped Cookie.

As the two short men were tussling, the vampire, tried hard to aid Mu who had to fight against the remaining hunters that were now trying to attack the Conductor to help their leader. He was still too weak, so he only had one idea. He focused his tiny amount of magic to make a small cut to Cookie's rope, hoping that she had more luck in helping than him. With her arms now free, the first thing she did was make sure that the hunters couldn't use their rifles, turning them into pool noodles instead. The second thing she did was glue the hunters together so they could no longer fight. It cost her all her energy as she had been afflicted with the anti magic serum too. Her focus was now on the fight between Conductor and the boss of the hunters. She hoped that the Conductor could handle this by himeself.

The wereowl had managed to disarm the other man, who countered by punching him right in the face. “Is that all ye got, lad? A wee punch nae stronger when me granny's?” he wiped the blood of his face as the punch connected with his lip, making it bleed. With an angry yell, Riccardo channeled all his rage into a fierce blow...that never reached its destination as his opponent easily caught his fist, holding him by the wrist. The man in red panted in rage, his face turning more and more red the longer he looked at the purple eyes of the wereowl. He didn't need to hear the words that a member of his most hated magical beast species told him. He already knew it in that moment. “Ye lost, lad. It's over.”

-

The group of five made their way out of the restaurant. Hattie used her magic to make a rope, which she barely was able to do. It was used to tie up the leader of the hunters who was oddly quiet as the vampire, now with a bit more of his magic back, made the man float next to him. She shuffled behind the group, feeling tired. The normally not so observant werewolf noticed and stopped making faces to taunt the captive man, she slowed down her pace to match Hattie's. “Uh...I wanted to say thanks...You really saved my hide back there.” She looked away embarrassed, not liking to admit that the young sorcerer had been really nice, especially after her own behavior toward the girl was rather rude.

“It's okay, I only did what was right.” Mu grabbed Hattie's hand to lead her forward, pulling her along like she did with Bow.

“Come on, we won! Don't fall asleep, we have to celebrate!” They walked by the wounded wereowl who was being supported by Cookie.

“They didnae harm ye, did they? I swear I'll tear them up if they have.” He glared but winced when she continued to use her magic to heal him.

“I'm fine, sweetie, you don't have to worry about me. You only got hurt because of me, especially after you tried to stop me...I'm sor-”

“Don't ye DARE tell me yer sorry! Yer safe, that's all that matters ta me! Ow!” A particularly strong wave of pain caused him to yelp as she removed the bullet near his lung. Cookie looked a bit relieved when he didn't choke. It was truly lucky that he was a werebeast, a normal human would have never survived a shot in the lung. Still not feeling happy with the results of the day, she looked rather down, but felt an odd sense of calmness when the man next to her placed an arm around her shoulder for comfort. “Everyone makes mistakes, lass. Ye meant well.” The soft tone in which the normally so rough man had told her that, caused her to blush slightly.

“Thank you, Conductor, truly.”

“Are you all done with the sappy stuff now? I'm getting a headache listening to that nonsense.” The vampire rolled his eyes and finally spotted Bow and the DJ rushing down to meet them.

“You did it!” Bow nearly tackled both Mu and Hattie to the ground, crying a little from worry and happiness. “I'm so glad you're safe. I was worried.” She hugged both of them, with Mu trying to escape the awkward hug and Hattie being too tired to respond with anything other than a small smile.

“So yer still alive, eh, Grooves? Bummer.” The wereowl gave a snarky smirk at the basilisk who only gave one of his signature friendly smiles in return.

The DJ was happy to see Cookie back safe and sound. “So are you, although, you added another few ugly scars to your appearance, darling. Very unsightly.” The wereowl growled in response. “Good to see you back, Cookie, I'm sure that you're tired after your harrowing, unwilling stay at your workplace.” She nodded with a sigh.

Mu turned to walk backwards, looking at Conductor and Cookie. “What's gonna happen to that place anyway? Are we going to enslave the rest of the hunters?” She looked almost too excited at that idea.

Cookie shook her head slowly. “No, sweetie, I'll take over as the head chef. With their leader out of commission, they're like headless chicken, just flailing about. I'm sure I can teach them that not all magical creatures are bad.”

The girl stumbled and crashed into Hattie who would have fallen had Bow not held her hand and kept her steady. “WHAT!? You want to keep these guys around! The same men that chased us all down!” The look of betrayal was etched into her face.

“We're not better than them if we take revenge for them hurting us. The goal is to coexist with regular humans, not try to harm them.” Cookie knew it would be hard for the girl to understand. Maybe she wouldn't understand at all, given how much the hunters took away from her.

Bow noticed that her friend started to cry, but not from sadness, more from her anger. She went to hold her hand as well as Hattie's, giving Mu a smile which wasn't reciprocated. Instead she could only hear a soft mumble, “I will not forgive them. I'll NEVER forgive them...”

The DJ went to his car to drive it back while the others walked the way in silence. They had won the battle, but it still felt like the war was never ending.

[b-theshittyhuman]

Had an idea for a my WIP fanfic

The fanfic's called "Muggle Studies" (totally original name, ik) it's a muggle!reader-insert, and I'm working bit by bit as I read the books (this whole fanfiction exists to get me to read them).

Anyway, I'm planning on going book by book and later on introducing Y/N's younger sister who would be a lot more careless (Thinking of making her blind to have a more literal representation of her naivety) and I have this one scene in my head for the Deathly Hallows.

So I'm going to write it for you today!

Sister will be referred to as S/N for now. If you have ideas for her name, feel free to comment.

Warning: mentions of blood and violence

Advice and Criticism are always welcome.

The floorboards creaked beneath the weight of his foot. The open door letting the cold creep into the house.

The stench of blood clogging up her throat. Hard wooden draws from the kitchen pressing against her back, their metal handles shaping her posture with a freezing touch.

S/N clutched her left arm, or at least what was left of it. She couldn't get over the novel feeling, it was gone, she knew it was, but it was like her mind still thought it was there. The only source of heat in the room being the kettle, harshly dropped at her side after she used it to cauterize the wound.

'Why is this guy here? It doesn't make sense, he's a wizard, his attention should be elsewhere... unless...'

That's why you gave her the glove, you knew they'd find out you're a muggle, you knew they'd find out where your family was. You knew they'd attack.

But how can she use it when her arm was severed, sprawled out at her side, blood pooling around it. The basilisk eye attached to the glove, faded, dead. A single strand of unicorn hair wrapped around it loosely.

'Come out, come out, wherever you are~' He calls out. S/N could hear his grip on his wand tighten.

'Think! Think!! Think!!!'

But how can she when her satchel is strangling... her...

That's it! The bag has Essence of Dittany... or at least an untested attempt at the recipe found in one of your stolen potions books.

No matter, it'll work... hopefully.

He wonders around, walking as slowly as possible, making each step as loud as he can to enjoy the fear she radiates.

The sound of a draw opening alerts him to the kitchen. 'I enjoyed our little game-' the scent of fresh blood entering his nose- 'But I think you should be joining your be parents. So how about you come out, and we can end this without much trouble.'

H/C hair peaks out from the kitchen counter, as S/N slowly rises. Eyes closed, blood seeping from her left like tears.

'Glad you see it my way.' With a smile he raises his wand. 'AVADA-'

S/N opens her eyes, putting her new eye on full display. A bright, vibrant yellow, stolen from the glove you made after your second year.

She breaths a sigh of relief to the sound of a body collapsing to the ground, as the eye fades to grey once more.

[lumilasi]

(OUTDATED DESIGNS)

Finally finished all of these. I used Kaspian's old ref file to just redraw his outfit and hair, so the pose/anatomy looks a bit wonk compared to his siblings.

Their full info below:

Names: Kravchenko siblings Sebastian, Kaspian, and Janus

Nicknames:

Sebastian: Bass, Seb, Basti

Kaspian: Kas, Rattles (this one is mainly used by Hanabi to annoy him)

Janus: Jan, vampire boy (his brothers & Hanabi, jokingly)

Ages: 31 (sebastian) 26 (Janus & Kaspian)

Height: 185 cm (Sebastian) 171 cm (Kaspian) 168 cm (Janus)

Brothers & Children of late demon hunters and descendants of a Soul Eater, who were taken in by a fellow hunter Vincent after their parents died and the boys were infected by a mysterious demonic power.

Role: Honorary sons of Vincent & Haname, help with training the protagonists.

Family: adoptive father figure Vincent, honorary mother Haname, honorary little sister Hanabi

Love Interest: Only Sebastian has one (currently) the shapeshifting feline and Haname's familiar, Quinn

Friends: Ayame, a snow woman guardian spirit of their family, Erena Mizuka, a head priestess/water woman of a nearby temple. Shou Morikawa, Vincent's latest protege.

Powers:

General: their demonic powers has made them all generally stronger, faster, and more durable than an average human would be. Their reptilian type also grants them some generic shapeshift abilities related to their type; claws, horns, wings, snake fangs etc.

Hunter training: all three are versatile with Hunter weaponry, from magic firing pistols to enchanted blades. They all also know many different useful spells and curses to exorcise demonic/hostile spirits. They all of course are trained in close combat too. Each brother does have a specific area they excel at, though.

Sebastian: He is the best at close combat and is the strongest and most durable. His Wyvern-type grants him the special ability to control an element, which typically would be fire. However, just like with Janus, their Soul Eater heritage had an effect on this, making him use lightning instead. (Because the ancestor was element-type Soul Eater, whose element happened to be storm) Sebastian has really fine-tuned his electricity abilities, where he can use them both in small- and large scale. From lightning bolts to being able to have an effect on one's nerve system signals.

Kaspian: Kaspian is the most flexible out of the three and has a very acrobatic fighting style. His Basilisk-type ability allows him to paralyze people with his gaze. He's also the most skilled shapeshifter and is actually able to shapeshift even his clothes, for a disguise or just if he feels like it.

Janus: Janus is the fastest out of them, and also smartest so he tends to utilize long-range weapons and stealth the most when fighting. His special ability is not connected to his Aura shape at all however, but comes from their bloodline that Reverence activated; he is able to draw life force out from other Reverence-infected beings, as sort of a mutated version of Soul eating/reversal of Reverence power itself. He is also the only human demon/infected who can infect others.

WEAKNESSES:

Sebastian: He's very hard-headed sometimes, and overprotective over his younger siblings to a point he doesn't always trust even his closest friends with their safety, leading to a lot of arguing. Because of his lightning element, his brain is actually a bit overactive and causes him to struggle with aggression issues and difficulty to focus, because he constantly feels like he's on high alert and sensing too much stuff at once.

Kaspian: He's reckless and doesn't always think before he acts, getting himself injured needlessly. His Basilisk power is somewhat hard to control, where he sometimes might risk paralyzing an ally/friend, and if he charges it too much he can accidentally cause a stroke.

Janus: Janus is not exactly the most social and struggles to just talking to people, often preferring to ignore them entirely. His health has always been pretty bad, and even now he tends to get sick easily. He's pretty afraid of his Life Essence-Draining powers, so much so that he might hesitate to use it even when he really needs to. He's not good with close combat either, not liking getting up and personal with his opponent as he finds it too dangerous.

(Generally, their demonic powers are weaker against light magic.)

PERSONALITY:

Sebastian: He seems like a pretty chill and relaxed young man most of the time, not getting bothered over small slights or insults. He tries to always be kind to people weaker than him, especially if they seem scared of him at first. In truth, this is learned behavior as his element powers cause him to be constantly on the edge, and if he's on a bad mood he can get quite aggressive and harsh.

He is very protective over his siblings though, and does not tolerate any sort of bullying towards them. He's generally calm and polite, but always gives people the feeling he's just seconds away from becoming absolutely unhinged and doing something insane (and scary) which to be fair, they are absolutely right about.

Kaspian: Kaspian is very outgoing and flamboyant, enjoying being the center of attention. He is very dramatic and often gets called a "theater kid" due to his antics.

While he can be a bit frustrating to people sometimes, he's a very reliable friend and brother, putting any petty issues aside to help/protect those he cares for. Kaspian is also capable of taking things seriously when he needs to, contrary to what some may believe. He is a very fun friend to have, you'll never be bored around him

Janus: Janus is the "gifted" child of the family, having always been incredibly intelligent for his age. He picks up on new things very quickly and is capable of processing a lot of information at once.

While smart, he really struggles with socializing and tends to be very awkward around strangers, typically wanting to avoid them altogether. He's also quite emotional and gets easily frustrated with himself when failing at something. Even though Seb and Kas tend to annoy him a lot, he loves his siblings dearly as they help keep him grounded if he starts panicking.

FUN FACTS:

People often think Janus is younger than he is, given his youthful appearance. This does annoy him occasionally, but ultimately he doesn't care about appearances enough to try and look older

Janus' strength tends to surprise people, as he doesn't look like the kind of person who could kick both of his brothers out of his room with ease, but he very much is capable of that.

Sebastian is a good singer and often hums songs from their homeland, and when asked for the lyrics, tends to claim they're something really fucked up - which tends to be true too sometimes, but not always.

Sebastian and Quinn are both sometimes jokingly called "blonde menaces to society" by Kaspian, given they're both seemingly chill people who can actually be quite dangerous/scary if they want to be.

Kaspian often complains that Quinn - Sebastian's bf - has no style, and tries to get the cat to let him design something for him. Quinn always refuses and doesn't really care about his complaints.

Kaspian's glasses aren't for vision as he sees fine; they are enchanted and help him manage his Basilisk gaze ability.

Their clothes are typically made by Kaspian with Haname's help, as he is an excellent tailor.

Kaspian is Aro/Ace, Sebastian is Bi, and Janus is Demiromantic pan

They all generally combine the local style with their homeland clothing. Only Janus tends to stick mostly to outfits mainly inspired by their homeland.

Their human-based special skills are; Kaspian's tailoring/designer skills, Sebastian's singing voice and generally good musical ear, and Janus' vast knowledge about different topics.

Kaspian has the most outfits, the main theme connecting them all being he prefers greens and blues.

Janus has a shit ton of books in his room, in 3 different languages since he speaks and reads 3 fluently. (His native, Vincent's native, and Haname's native. Basically this world's equivalents of Polish, English and Japanese)

Sebastian stores a lot of their parents old tools and Hunter notes, and is often seen reading them.

BG STORY

The three brothers were sons of a fairly competent demon hunters in their home country. Kaspian and Janus were born with albinism, and tended to get weird looks from locals occasionally. Janus was also quite sickly, which was the main reason both of their parents retired from hunting, to look after their young children properly. Sebastian looked after his little siblings a lot as well, and grew very protective over them, especially Janus.

Then, one day around the twins' seventh birthday, a snake Reverence demon ended up attacking their family, killing their parents and infecting the 3 children with its power. Sebastian manages to kill the snake, moments before a fellow Demon Hunter who'd been after this creature finds them.

This man, Vincent McCormac takes pity on the freshly orphaned kids, and sets out to find a way to undo the curse put on them, realizing the kids probably would not survive on their own now that people saw them as demons. He also continues to train Sebastian like his parents had, and the twins join these sessions eventually.

After roughly year and a half of not much progress in undoing their curses, and with Sebastian's struggles with his element-induced anger issues worsening, the four eventually made their way abroad across the seas, to the land they currently live in.

They’d heard rumors that this country was much more experienced with things like demon curses and magic and potentially the source of the boys' infection, so Vincent decided to take the risk and travel far away with the boys in hopes for a solution.

After a while of them arriving there, Vincent met a local witch named Haname Hikari, who wanted to help the boys learn to control their powers better at least. The two eventually end up falling in love, and the boys stay with Vincent at her house, becoming her new family and big brother figures for their baby girl, Hanabi. Sebastian also develops a romantic relationship with the feline shapeshifter that appears in their home after a while, a bakeneko Vincent names "Quinn." This relationship seems to help him learn to handle his difficult temper better, as Quinn has a calming effect on him.

[themetaisfutile]

How many character deaths have the players had? How did they die? How did the players feel?

Shockingly few amongst the TMiF players. At least, deaths that stuck, anyway.

CptTritium: I have lost 2 player characters. One didn’t die, he was a halfing sorcerer in CoS, we were level 8. He technically didn’t die, he was turned to stone by a basilisk and he’s still a statue in Ravenloft. And then, Rose was DMing, and I had a middle-aged fighter whose wife left him for a half-elf and took the kids. He was trying to find himself and become a cool dad, and the party before the session adopted him as Dadrigard. He opened a door in Mines of Phandelver and got stabbed in the chest and died super hard. Died without seeing his kids again and it was beautifully tragic; I wasn’t upset but the rest of the group was sad.

RosexKnight:  I’ve had 2? Characters die and stay dead. Like, did not come back into the game. Aranvir, who was killed and raised a vampire, then allowed a moment of clarity as Hestara pushed the sword through his heart and he joined the endless cycle of Barovian suffering. Made us feel super sad! And Ayano, in the Planes’ End game; we got some cool homebrew powers and buffs that let us bond to other characters. They could cast from each others’ locations, for example. Ayano didn’t have a lot of bonds with the party specifically, so I was like what if her bond is the whole party and this is like a get out of jail free card, but your soul is taken out of the reincarnation cycle. We were up against an undead dragon and a lich, and our rolls were just bad.

Ry: Two characters

ZenAquaria: The sole character death I’ve had did not stick, because she’s too cute. Spooks, in the first CoS run, the group went up to the coffinmaker’s attic to find the bones with Hania. Spooks was the only one who can fly, and Hania could misty-step.It was the two of them vs 6 vampire spawn, and the rest of the party didn’t know until Hania misty-stepped back out to tell them to hurry upstairs. Unfortunately, Spooks did not survive that encounter; our centaur paladin could not get up there fast enough. When that happened, I made sure to inflict the pain on everybody else by drawing it! I did a sequence for that, of little Spooks in the Barovian afterlife and how cold and lonely it is there.

[grapecaseschoices]

For the oc ask meme: dusk | enemy | winter | wildfire | ocean. 👀

Ty for the ask @galpal95 ! And so so sorry for the delay.

Dusk: Lala Sandoval [infamous] - It is faded but still eye drawing reds, oranges. It is the unusual but maybe expected streaks of dark, navy blue. It is soft haze - of the sun, the clouds, the mood. It feels like it is both time to wind down and filled with excitement. You could stay in, you could go out. You could sit on the porch and watch your side of the world fall asleep, calm and feel safe and untouchable. You could go out and start the night life, start an adventure-- the world being your oyster. It is the sun and the stars visible to you at once. It feels special, it feels comfortable, it feels magical, it feels... quiet. It is dusk. I feel that is Lala too: chill but daring. Unbothered yet mischievous. As comfortable in their sweats as they are in fishnets and black lipstick. Understanding and perceptive and patient and bold.

Enemy: Erkan Yasar [Exile; but Andy's in general, especially OG Andy] - "Tell you you're the greatest. But once you turn they hate us."

I considered Anouck, my Fallen Lights MC, and a couple of OCs for personal projects -- but I wanted to do someone I've spoken about. And in that case, it can't be anyone BUT Andy [especially this version who is willing to make the kingdom that danced at his suffering burn to the ground. And then some.]

Calm, shrewd, vindictive, amused, angry, violent, Erkan Andrew Yasar.

Winter: Emile Ryan [KOTSAM] - Picture a widespread ground of thick white snow that goes as far as the eyes can see, only marred by an iced over lake, a leafless and stark tree full of icicles, and the occasional blow of sharp wind.

At first glance it feels bleak, but in truth that bleakness is really the suffocating unease you feel. It is dangerous out there. But if you're lucky you might find a cabin that seems like an oasis at first ... do you dare approach to make certain?

Emile is a Bitch. And not only a Bitch but That Bitch. They are exceedingly cunning and occasionally cruel. They are as indifferent and unbothered as a stark, snowy landscape. But if you're LUCKY you might find solace and comfort. Warmth, even. If you're treasured enough.

Wildfire: Is a bit hard for me. I feel none of mine are fully wildfire. At least not the ones I talk about regularly. [Not even Erkan]. I had Rene Casimir here before. I considered Kendis. And their temper and anger would definitely fit here, but I try not to structure Kendis solely around their anger. Aleena's anger and sense of betrayal fits here, she's also a jerk -- but I think she may have a lowkey softer side than I expected [so something like lava or volcano would be better]. I considered Hiyam but IDK.

I'm LEANING toward Reuben Casseus. He is one of my sidesteps. And honestly the only reason he isn't a complete murdering antisocial is because I want the Chentega polyam and I dont have the heart for it sindhdhd. But Reuben is SO angry. And he is definitely striking quite a few things off his path. It also doesn't help that he is too honest for his own good.

Ocean: Tristan Terrell [disenchanted] - Seemingly still at times, vast. Deep and filled with unknown -- so much unknown. Can be tumultuous and dangerous. Can be rocking and soothing. Tristan is reserved, MatureTM, far too numb, and a basilisk with gray eyes. Ocean seems fitting.

Plus xe is going to be this trope: "... a character who's competent, collected, and has their life thoroughly together, and also has one specific thing that's deeply wrong with them." @/prokopetz

[ben-books]

November 26 — Character #Inspo

Benjamin Linus from LOST

The namesake. Not really, but when I went with a Latino faceclaim, Buchanan didn't seem to fit and Benjamin was calling...

I love Ben, I think he's such a complex and interesting character whose circumstances push him to some crazy extremes. My Ben definitely draws on the manipulation, the lies, and the always questioning of the motives that comes along with LOST Ben. And like LOST Ben, I am ready to throw my Ben in many Situations(tm) where he is not in as much control as he thought and things go off the rails.

Kabru from Dungeon Meshi

The BLUEPRINT! I was heavy into Dungeon Meshi when I had the character idea for Ben, and this little freak's fingerprints are all over him. He's a "human expert", always watching everyone, always making assumptions, and always changing his behavior based on who he's around. Plus, he might just be derangely obsessed with a white boy who is off living his own life.

Raphaniel Charlock from The Ravening War (Dimension 20)

Definitely an obscure and niche pull when you're bringing in the radish head. Manipulation and scheming are a recurring theme here, which shines through in Raphaniel. What I really liked about this character is that it was always hard to pin down what his exact motivations were. Plus, his descent into madness was both gut wrenching and absolutely hilarious. Will Ben go through something similar? Only time will tell!

Double Trouble from She-Ra: Princess of Power

Ben has to spend his life pretending to be someone else, but deep down is the basilisk Three he was born as. They are a much more carefree, fun-loving, and sassy counterpart and they are inspired deeply by Double Trouble. We got to see a glimpse of them in the SATO AU, where Ben did not have the baggage of Books hanging over him. I'd be interested to explore them more through AUs, flashbacks, and the way their influence shines through, even in Ben. Because he was introduced through the SATO AU, he feels he has more freedom to "act out" from his Order persona, so I'm excited to explore that.

Plus, we love the lizard aesthetic. Ben definitely has the sideways eyelids and long tongue.

Scar from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

ONE OF THESE THINGS IS NOT LIKE THE OTHERS. In a character lineup of schemers and liars--steadfast, morally righteous Scar does not seem to fit. But I think there's some really interesting parallels when it comes to the things that both Scar and Ben are fighting against and how they go about their mission. Scar's life was ruined by alchemy, whose powers were then forced upon him by his brother, which he then used to destroy other alchemists. Ben is doing something similar, "gifted" with certain abilities that don't make him a mundus, but using those abilities to take down magic and Magicks. Both are pursuing revenge disguised as righteous duty and both will most likely come to a heads in their path of destruction.

FMA was one of my first mangas and I had a favorite character can you tell.

[doxiedreg]

Meant to draw today but in the morning I was too sleepy tired after having another poor night's sleep and in the afternoon I went to see my mom and when I got back I was too fucking tired sooooo

Guess I'm gonna try to crunch out some refs the coming days and also do a bunch of chores while hopefully not burning out

Probably going to prioritise the 3 most important ones which are: new human thorn ref, new snowdevil ref with updated design and a better ref for his doggy form

After that I hope to complete Edward's cursed form ref (which is basically 85 percent done but needs better formatting), new Thorn behemoth/beast form (which is at maybe 1 percent because I'm still not happy with any of the sketches I made for it so..unlikely) and new Rechor basilisk form (at maybe 5 percent because I like the concept I have for it but the face is giving me trouble so again unlikely)

Nice bonuses would be finishing a ref for my friend (at about 90 percent done so doable), moonie gang (70 percent done and needs lots of cleanup still so ech) and Tumblr villain ref which is literally at 99 percent done but I got caught up in lore that I need to figure out

Would also probably be great if I cleaned up my toyhouse bios with the new world building but writing stuff down outside of infodumps (in a coherent manner) is hard and said infodumps are hard to track down because I typically do them on discord so aaaaaaaaa suffering

Wish my brain would get it's shit together a bit please that would be nice

[gleviachain]

1st Art of 2023, 100 First Artworks and a Look Back (Number 95)

95. Basilisk Eternal

The second hard hitter of 2021 and probably the second best upload of that year, maybe even the best. I had high hopes for this piece, and I think I nailed it. My goal was to make the artwork depicting an incredibly intense fight scene in the vein of Doom Eternal video game cover art, I wanted to make that super over-the-top action scene as best as I could. Needless to say, it's naturally one of my favorites, along with Marching Mountains (number 91), and to this day I can't say which one I like more. This one is more action-oriented and has more different characters, but the mountain town is centered around the landscape and the bigger picture, this is an extremely tough choice, I don't think I can do this. One day I marvel at the sight of building and scale of Marching Mountains, the other day I'm floored by the intensity of action and the character design in this homage to Doom art. It's difficult, perplexing, and all kinds of confusion mixed with sadness all circling and bleeding into the mind and soul resulting in a heartbreakingly indefinite impasse, an utterly devastating inability to choose. I love them both, they're both great in their own right, and they both have certain flaws. That was inevitable, but there are some imperfections. Some of the background bad guys could have been better detailed, same with the background itself, it's mostly barren and needs more everything - shading, details, lighting. Also some other tweaks, like folds, skin, stone etc. would be welcomed. And that's pretty much it in terms of any major criticism. I would like to add that I had a great fun while coming up with characters to this. One of my favorites would have to be the red two-faced henchman in the lower left corner as there is an inspiration behind him. A Philips CD-i beat 'em up game Mutant Rampage: Bodyslam and one of its bosses, Gaulo Vinet, you can see him in a cutscene (4:99-5:10, video below).

I was impressed by his design, it was genuinely good and thought about that boss while making that henchman in my Basilisk piece. I added a snake around his claw, I think that made him one of the most eye-catching villain. I certainly like him, and the inspiration behind it. By the way, I recommend you to watch the rest of the cutscenes, it's quite interesting to see some of the characters and animated sequences. Mutant Rampage: Bodyslam is a pretty intriguing game, I think you already know that it's from the makers of The Legend of Zelda CD-i games, the people behind The Wand of Gamelon and Faces of Evil and their ridiculous animations appearing in a multitude of YouTube Poops and parodies. Coming back to the piece, I dug out this early, never-seen-before lineart.

You can see the character with an axe, crazy hair and a cape in the upper left corner didn't make the cut. It was problematic for a few reasons. 1. I didn't have a big idea for it particularly, I simply put a few things I would normally consider interesting, but the end effect was poor, uninspired, unsatisfactory and just dull. Back to the drawing board. 2. Its perspective and proportions would drive me insane, and they probably would have been horrible in the end. And they would take too much time. 3. The hair is blocking the background, I wanted the latter to be quite visible. 4. It was one of the last background characters thought up, and I may be wrong on this, but attacking with an another sharp weapon seemed cliche and became a little boring at this point. It had to be something different to keep this piece fresh, so I ended up with this robot-golem-saucer thing, not the finest creation, but serviceable. Also, the shotgun was supposed to have a some kind of bayonet, and interesting idea but failed to implement it well.

Like the shotgun here. I think it looks more realistic, maybe could have used more details and certainly more lighting, but I didn't want to go overboard. As they say, less is more. I'm a little disappointed those crazy red barrel lines from the original didn't make it, but the rendition is fine. Also his skin and webbed parts aren't as shiny as they had been in 2021. In general, I think this remake is rather alright.

If you want to look at more of my artworks check out my Instagram (instagram.com/gleviachain/).