#i considered doing some lightning and shade too

[mystery-star]

Drawings - Day 5

No I haven't forgotten Ben!

considering he was really just a quick sketch I love it.

[22ayla21]

Hi, I don't know if this was requested yet, but may I request a Lemon Tart and Mint Lemonade with Sebek Zigvolt? I just love him so much!!!

"Lemon Tart and Mint Lemonade"

Event: "Sweet Stories, Intoxicating Feelings"

Within the walls of Night Raven College, all sorts of things had occurred, but perhaps the most unexpected and stirring was the feeling that had once seized Sebek Zigvolt for a girl from another world.

At first, he hardly noticed her. She flickered somewhere in the periphery of his vision, and that was it. Nothing particularly stood out about her: she knew no magic, had a fragile appearance, and seemed a little lost among the others. But there was something in her eyes… alive. Like a breath of fresh air after a long journey under the scorching sun. Sebek didn't immediately realize that this comparison had sprung into his mind suddenly, as if water had splashed into a well of thoughts he had long considered dry.

Love, as he soon realized, was just as refreshingly bittersweet as a lemon tart. Each encounter with her was like a tease, like an unexpected citrus spark – sharp, sudden, but leaving an aftertaste that he wanted to experience again and again. She would cast fleeting glances at him, smile in response to his usually booming pronouncements, and it… was disconcerting. Or rather, unsettling. Because she wasn't afraid of his harsh tone. She… smiled, as if Sebek were not a thundering master of lightning, but an ordinary boy playing knight.

"You're so serious," she said once, watching his training with a dummy. "Like you're trying to convince the storm itself that you're worthy of its friendship."

Sebek froze, exhaled displeasedly, and replied, as always, too loudly: "Naturally! I must become the greatest knight for the Young Master! It is my destiny!"

"And are you sure the storm needs a knight, and not someone to bring it a mint lemonade in the heat?"

He was taken aback. Mint… lemonade? What nonsense… And yet, an image immediately arose in his imagination: her – like a tall glass raised high, filled with a clear, slightly bubbly drink that you want to touch your lips to, to feel the coolness, the freshness, and that pleasant tartness that makes the heat almost desirable.

Sebek didn't know what to do with this. His life was clearly planned: duty, honor, training, serving Malleus. And now… everything had become more complicated. He began to notice how he would automatically search for her gaze in the dining hall in the mornings. How his steps, against his own will, constantly led him to where she usually sat in the shade of the trees with a book. His thoughts increasingly turned into a noisy swarm of questions for which he had no answers.

Love is a dangerous thing. That's what he had been taught. It blinds, leads astray from the true path. But with her, everything felt different. With her, he wasn't losing his purpose – on the contrary, it was as if he was gaining another one. Love wasn't destroying him; it was adding new shades to his life. He wasn't losing control – he was becoming… more alive.

Sometimes she would bring him real lemon tarts, baked with her own hands. He would grumble that it was "womanish nonsense" and that he "didn't need sweets," but he would eat every last crumb. Because every piece reminded him of her: first the tartness – her sharp but kind remarks, then the sweetness – her warm laughter, and finally, a barely perceptible tang – her ability to remain herself, even among mages, demons, and dragons.

One day she told him: "You know, Sebek, you're like that tart yourself. Loud, sharp, and then – sweet. You just don't let everyone feel it."

He turned red to the tips of his ears, snorted as usual, and left. But later that night, alone, he repeated her words to himself like some kind of spell.

Love, he understood, doesn't necessarily have to be quiet and gentle. It can be ringing, like a drawn blade, bold, like the first sip of citrus, and invigorating, like lemonade after a hot battle.

And if this is weakness, then let the whole world know: Sebek Zigvolt accepts it with pride.

[codgod-archive]

y’know generally i try to limit colour palettes to as few colours as possible to make things more cohesive but despite my best efforts only jay ended up being able to stick to that </3

ANYWAYS here’s the as-of-right-now fully updated designs for these dickheads. these will no doubt undergo even more tweaking as i draw them more but this is a start i guess. also pls open the pictures to look at them properly i worked so hard LOL

some random notes under the cut yaaaay

chip —

he jingles when he walks. somehow he’s still stealthy. i do not know how

kept the platinum ring that bonded him to gillion in the block! because hey he doesn’t really have a reason to take it off (and it’s a nice reminder of how much gill cares about him, and how far their friendship has come since that ice arena)

his tattoos shift and flicker like actual flames, and sometimes (harmless, purely aesthetic) sparks fly off them when he’s excited

i just think smoke coming out of his mouth when he’s angry would be cool :]

chipped teeth from biting rocks and coins all the time :/

he has scars from the red lightning, they’re just mostly contained to his back and shoulders. they’re a similar red to his coat even once they’ve healed

gillion —

the tail sleeve thing is so he can rest it on the ground without damaging his scales, he doesn’t usually wear it when he’s just on the ship because the wood is soft enough that it’s usually fine + it can hinder swimming a bit. it’s mostly meant for places where there’s cobblestone or gravel streets and such. i think his armour would probably have a version that looks similar but covers the whole tail minus the fins, maybe with some armour plating of its own. i didn’t draw it because there wasn’t any room lol

his scars from the lightning are pink mostly because red stood out too much tbh. they softly glow in the dark the same as his coral and the pink parts of his fins

also kept his ring! his hands aren’t really made for jewellery, though, because the webbing means it won’t sit very secure on his finger. so he keeps it on the same chain as the necklace he got from aslana to keep it safe

tried to make him look a bit bulkier and more his age than in my original design? i feel like i was leaning too much into the naivety and. shortness. originally lol. he also has thicker eyebrows now and i’m still trying to decide how i feel about them but i think? i like it? i don’t tend to give many character thin eyebrows so it could’ve been a unique thing for him but alas

i think i made the sword too small but like ignore that

also forgor to include pretzel </3 that’s okay though she can get her own design sheet later. she’s special like that

jay —

i believe in tall jay supremacy

blue magic! i was considering gold but that’d look a bit more like a canary than i wanted for her wings so. blue jay :]

her hair is supposed to look kinda like fire to mimic her dad ! kinda showing that even if she runs from her family and the navy they’ll always be a part of her. and also i just like drawing messy hair

i gave her sturdier gloves just because i feel like it fits her better. also changed up the shirt to more of a button up solely because i don’t like tank tops very much LOL

i did WANT to make her outfit a bit flashier to match the boys better but i couldn’t quite figure out where to Put the flash. maybe that’ll come later, the way the story’s going i might get to design some cool prosthetics for her or something

overall —

because there’s just so many fucking colours i triiied to add at least one or two colours from each of them into the others designs. jay has her necklace with each of their main colours on it, her wings are the same blue as gillions eyes, her jacket and right eye are the same dark blue as destiny’s blade, her hair is the same orange as the lighter part of chips tattoos. chip has a dark green sash under all the belts, the same as the hilt of destiny’s blade. they all use the same shades of black, gold, and brown

the only real exception is gillion doesn’t have anything from the other two because he has Such a specific colour palette and he already had so much going on as-is orz jay was obviously the easiest to do this with because she has both warm and cool colours in her palette by default lol (and i did her design last, so that helps)

[ender1821]

behold. me coping with session 9 SL!shinyduo

— — —

The crackle of a lightning strike hits at the exact same moment Pearl hears a resounding crack from her neck. After she had been shot by Scar, the impact of the arrow led her to stumble down the ravine beside Scar’s base, leaving her at the bottom of the pit.

Well, at least it was quick.

She finds herself lying on the stone ground, a view of a clear blue sky above her.

The only thing she could do was let herself breathe. (Do ghosts even need to breathe? Eh, who knows.)

Her eyes close as she builds a steady rhythm with the rise and fall of her chest, willing for the aching and exhaustion riddled all throughout her body to somehow dissipate.

Aside from the sound of her breaths, she can pick up Scar’s voice off in the distance. It doesn’t sound much like a cheer, or a cry, or anything— but then again, Pearl’s not in a fit state to focus on whatever he’s saying.

Instead, she tries to think back on everything that just unfolded, all the deaths, the hunts…the duel. The zombie that had been creeping towards Scar before Pearl warned him.

She sighs, “I swear, if he dies to a zombie, after all that…”

Now, she wasn’t really expecting a reply.

Especially not a reply from a voice that’s so familiar.

“I know, right? It’d be embarrassing for both of us.”

Pearl’s eyes snap open in an instant, as though the answer gave her a surge of energy, overpowering the waves of numbing pain.

“…Gem?”

She looks…just like she used to, when they were red…together.

Pearl blinks, trying to focus on the figure looming over her. It’s only then, that she notices Gem’s body is slightly translucent, allowing rays of sunlight to pass through.

“Hey, Pearl.” Gem extends a greeting they both know far too well. She crouches down, tilting her head. “Are you going to keep lying on the ground, or…?”

“I might.” Pearl chuckles. “It’s pretty comfy down here, actually.”

“I can imagine.” Gem shifts to sitting cross-legged next to Pearl, which prompts her to try and actually sit upright as well.

Pearl grunts when she finally manages to move, scooting over to Gem. Sitting underneath the shades of a bit of overhang of the earth above, they find themselves situated in a corner of the ravine, now further ruined with scorch marks and splatters of blood on the walls.

Despite the destruction, sunlight casts shadows of sunflowers into the chasm. It must be the ones Scar has around his base.

Silence follows. Pearl tries her best to stare only at the walls around, but she ends up glancing at Gem a few too many times. She hopes Gem is too preoccupied to notice. (Pretty slim chance of that happening, considering the fact that there’s nothing of interest nearby but them.)

Eventually, though, something in Pearl pushes her to speak.

“So,” Pearl starts, “what’s got you wanting to give me a visit? I thought you’d be with Scott and Impulse.”

Gem jerks up at the sudden question, then turns away from Pearl. “I— I dunno, I just… We died pretty close to each other, you’re the first one I saw.”

If Pearl’s head had been a bit more clearer, maybe she would’ve questioned why Gem was so insistent on not facing Pearl when she answered. Instead, she accepts the answer with a nonchalant “Ah, I see.”

“Well, I appreciate the company. And…” Pearl adds, pausing as the following words get caught in her throat for a brief second:

“I’m sorry.”

That seemingly got Gem’s attention, causing her to look at Pearl once again.

Just today, Pearl was met with those same pair of eyes on multiple occasions. For some, they sparkled with a sense of joy. For others, they held a flurry of panic behind them.

At this moment, they were glazed with a whirlwind of emotions Pearl couldn’t even begin to decipher.

Pearl can see Gem obviously struggling to find something to say, or to piece together the thoughts in her head. Either way, Pearl waits.

“When you— when Scar was coming for me, you asked me if I wanted to duel it out with you, with swords.”

Pearl nods.

“Why?”

It’s such a simple question, really. Pearl knows exactly why she did it. Just as she knows why she went into the End earlier in the game to fight the dragon, why she rode a camel with the same person who’s killed her twice, why she couldn’t get a successful ambush when she’d been in the siege against Gem and the Scotts.

What leaves her lips is not the answer. Not a clear one, at least.

(It’s never easy, is it? When Scar and Gem had begun fighting, all Pearl wanted was a moment to think. She didn’t know what to do, she didn’t know why she began shooting, she just didn’t know. She couldn’t decide.)

“You said you didn’t want a bow fight.”

“But a sword fight, Pearl?” Gem pushes on in an instant. “I know you, Pearl, I know you prefer using an axe.”

“I do, yeah.” Pearl doesn’t give away any more than that, choosing to give Gem a noncommittal response.

“So— If Scar hadn’t— If I agreed, you—”

“You probably would’ve kicked my butt.” Pearl admits with a smile.

Gem takes a deep breath. Then, in the quietest voice Pearl has heard all day, Gem asks, “And you would’ve been fine with that?”

(I would’ve been more than fine with it.)

“You would’ve beat me fair and square, I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

“But you—” Gem cuts herself off with a groan, growing more and more frustrated with Pearl’s vague replies. It’s no use when they’re both dancing around the topic, even though all Gem wants is to ask: would you have let me kill you? Could we have stayed friends? What went wrong?

Gem recalls Pearl backing away after one swing of her sword, when she was fighting Scar, she caught a glimpse of Pearl leaving the fight to them. She remembers how Pearl could’ve pulled out her bow, could’ve ended her right there.

(Do I forgive you?)

A breeze blows past the Sunflower Valley, leading the flowers above, along with their shadows, into a gentle dance.

Nearly every question Gem has dies on the tip of her tongue, leaving only one:

“What now?”

Pearl gives it some quick pondering, before stretching her legs out and bracing herself to stand. “I wanna check on Mailbox and Matchbox.”

“Then,” She helps herself up by leaning on a wall. “I wanna see if I can find my Mounders anywhere.”

Lastly, she extends a hand out to Gem. “After that… I think I remember Scott saying something about a spare camel around Etho’s?”

Gem returns the smirk on Pearl’s face with one of her own. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“The Murder Camel rides once more!” Pearl cheers as she pulls Gem up with her.

[riagraie]

Ninjago AU Headcannons

so obviously, this includes OC content. if you don't like OCs, don't read that part/ignore other hc ig?

anyway, this is for my AU of Ninjago, Echoes of the Echoed. The timeline is set to be between Crystalized (s16) and Dragons Rising Season 1. So there shouldn't be any spoilers?

this is just a bunch of random hcs I have for the ninja (and Hanna) in my AU. some of these are adapted from other people, some of them are mine.

Kai

he has naturally straight hair so he uses curlers to put wave in it. by curlers, i mean the ones your grandma uses overnight. he also sleeps in a bonnet

bro wears eyeliner. not a lot, but when asked he will admit to it.

he knows how to cook a meal and is probably the best chef (minus Zane bc Zane is goated) but doesn't like to cook

he is terrified of bugs. any kind of bug, it doesn't matter. he doesn't want to look at them, he doesn't want to be near him, and if he was alone in the monastery and found a spider, the entire thing would be up in flames.

when he gets spooked, sometimes fire will shoot out of his shoulders.

when someone on the team is upset or struggling with smth, he forces them to do self care nights with him

he paints his nails black or red

he's an insomniac, has been since his parents left. it got better around s11 but still struggles with it. when he can't sleep he likes to do blacksmithing. nya and pixal set up a station in the X Cave for him to do it quietly.

Jay

adhd, adhd, adhd, adhd, adhd, adhd-

he doesn't know what his biological mother looks like and he likes to try and imagine it.

the reason his hair curled after s7 is bc of puberty. some people's hair gets curly :/

when he uses his powers his spine will glow blue and have offshoots of the same color that look like lightning. it's sick af

he always carries his yin medallion with him. he might be wearing it, he may be holding it, it may be chillin in his pocket, but it's always on him.

after the events of s15 and then after s16, jay brags about how easy it was for him to grow a beard. it pisses lloyd off.

the eye that he hurt in Skybound(s6) is ever so slightly a lighter shade of blue than his other eye. sometimes it still hurts him and on those days it looks bloodshot and he wears an eye patch.

his favorite kind of art is watercolors.

he's got a wicked spice tollerance

Cole

he forced Zane to teach him how to cook basic things. but, he is a very skilled baker naturally

he's great with kids bc he lets them swing off his arms like monkey bars

cole is black and bc his dad never did, kai taught him how to take care of his hair.

he likes having long hair bc it covers his scar from when he was a ghost.

right after becoming human again, he kept forgetting he wasn't a ghost and kept running into walls and doors

he has seriously considered becoming a streamer

cole is terrified of singing because his mother used to sing him to sleep.

Zane

sometimes he feels what pixal is feeling bc they share a heart

even after nya came back in s16, zane didn't turn on his emotions again until nya convinced him too. he then cried for three hours straight.

he will laugh without hesitation at a dad joke. he will also crack up as he's trying to tell a dad joke

he still has pictures lloyd drew him in s1 until childs play.

he's easily annoyed by people who break traffic laws.

he rarely swears, but swore more when he was pretending to be a pirate in s15.

after figuring out him roleplaying a detective in s12 annoyed Pixal, he downloads and roleplays things for other missions they are on together. like the pirate thing in s15.

he lets kai paint his nails

Nya

unlike kai, her hair is naturally wavy and she used to straighten it from the pilot-s7. then she kinda gave up.

she decided to grow out her hair bc she wanted to look more like her mother, but then hated having hair against her neck all the time and started putting it up.

she can bench press jay and she has a sleeper build

she gets pissed when she sees someone in the arcade getting close to her and jay's high score on the dance machine

she's a light sleeper

she's terrified of snakes

when she's upset about something, she will either beat the shit out of the training equipment (then proceed to fix in in a huff) or just build random things

she's seriously considered building jay a robot dog. but she never went through with it

Lloyd

when he's really happy, sleeping, or meditating, he purrs.

he's got freckles that look like diamonds bc of the dragon scale thing

hes got fangs, his ears are pointed, and when he's pissed or enamored by something his eyes turn red. naturally, his pupils are a bit pointer, aren't as round basically

lloyd knew about his oni form before the events of s16 but never told anyone. he's known about it since s9 when he had a nightmare and woke up to see himself half-shifted in the mirror. he asked mistake about it, she explained, he asked her to not tell anyone, and she didn't. neither did he.

he likes mints because he likes hard candies better, gives him something to fidget with

he's always bustling with energy bc of his element. he can't sit still for the life of him.

he can still control the individual elements of creation as well as water and wind. he found out he could control wind after s5 and he could control water after s15.

when he uses his powers, his eyes glow whatever color they are (red or green) for up to an hour afterwards.

he has super hearing and super smell. he can also partially see in the dark if theres just a little bit of light

he hates ants

he has consistent nightmares. nearly every night. unlike the visions in DR, he doesn't flail for his nightmares, just jolts awake.

he loves photography and has many professional grade cameras. he likes it because he gets to hold memories.

when he's upset at someone, he unconsciously switches to yelling at them in Oni language.

he can understand and read the Harmonizer language but can't speak or write it.

Hanna

she's filthy rich. her parents own a very successful real estate business and a shipping company

she doesn't talk to her parents and doesn't like talking about them

she has an accent bc of being part Harmonizer but she hides it bc it led to a lot of people not understanding her. the closest thing it sounds like irl is a Russian accent.

she sometimes talks in the Harmonizer language, especially if she's frustrated or sleeping.

she can understand and read the Oni language.

after shifting to full harmonizer the first time, the black and gold lines on her skin became visible when human if your close enough to see them

she requires no form of skin care but still joins kai for skin care nights.

she has bad periods and struggles with migraines bc of her powers

she could feel something was off before the crystal king formed in s16. she has a scar on her knuckle from where she punched harumi in the face

she loves sports bikes. she liked going fast and breaking traffic laws. but, safety is her top priority even for herself and never goes out without making sure her and any backpacks are in full gear.

after s15, she had a lot of anxiety attacks

she knew about Lloyd's oni form bc she accidentally walked in on him one day he struggled to mask it.

she is also really good with kids

she heals pretty quickly bc of being part harmonizer, and because of that, most of the wounds she gets scars over.

she hates being in the spotlight

so thats them, let me know what you think. should I do more hcs? let me know ab that too. uhh

hope you enjoyed :D

[leafnighthybridwolfsbane]

Mudwing Headcanons

(Info below the cut)

Heh- This is one of the tribes I forgot to add onto. It's not very bad. Each of these will have a description of things with these characters. Genuinely I really enjoy how big Mudwings are. Make me think of the dragon version of a teddy bear in all honesty.

Tribe Headcanons

A Mudwing's cheek spike can sometimes become a second set of horns. This is sexually dimorphic between males and females. Females tend to have the second set as they are normally protecting the eggs until they hatch.

A Mudwing's nostrils can close up like an icewing's, allowing them to be able to hold their breath for an hour without issue. Though, the sealing of the airway is much stronger than an icewing due to the environment Mudwings live in.

Mudwings have a similar look to crocodiles and alligators, allowing their limbs to move similarly to them. Sometimes being able to flatten their bodies low to the ground. This allows them to get into spaces that are as tall as their heads.

Their ears can be either short, or long and flopping. Those with more flopping ears have a much easier time tracking by smell than other Mudwings.

Mudwings have a second eyelid that allows them to be able to keep debris out of their eyes with the murky waters they tend to live around and hide in.

Their counter shading is due to being close relatives to seawings in the evolutionary line. Typically their backs being a wet bark color to look like logs in swampy waters.

Sex/gender when hatched work very similarly to crocodilians. Sex/gender of the eggs are very dependent on the temperatures their eggs were when they hatched. Though outliers (intersex/tras/nonbinary individuals) to the norms do exist in these groups.

Much like how seawings have powerful tails, a Mudwing's strength is unmatched by most other dragons. As if it has been matched at some point by a distant common ancestor. Though, it is unparalleled by other dragons. Normally taking two dragons or more to hold a Mudwing at full strength back.

On the topic of their strength, Mudwings have the strongest bite force out of all the other dragons. Some even known for similar death rolls seen in crocodilian species. These rolls can easily break a limb if a Mudwing isn’t careful.

A Mudwing hatched from a blood red egg can vary on their resistance to fire and fire breath. The darker and redder the scales, it’s a near impenetrable amount of resistance. Old sandwing firescales, blue fire from a Skywing firescales, or lightning are the only things that can get to the darkest and reddest of Mudwings hatched of these eggs.

Mudwing bigwings are considered the most important and responsible of their troop. They’re responsible for keeping their sibs in line and alive. They’re considered disgraced if a sib dies or goes missing. They are to help their sibs find their ranking or occupation, depending if it’s wartime or not.

On the other talon, while we’re talking about bigwings, if they die, the sibs are granted half a season to mourn. Once the mourning period is over, the second half of the season is to decide whether or not they figure out who’s the most qualified sib to take on the responsibilities or if they’re going to become logs.

Mudwings have a type of orphanage system for “logs” or sibs who couldn’t figure out who would be the next bigwings. They are normally taught by bigwings who had lost sibs. Both groups are considered unfavorable, but these are necessities nonetheless so neither are treated too differently for it. Though, it’s been a process for years

Mudwings have almost a sixth sense that’s a more enhanced sense of smell. Due to their culture of getting with different Mudwings, they have developed specific scents with one primary scent that each sib shares. There is a secondary scent to know if another is a half sibling or cousin, and a third that is their own special scent. Normally these scents will be what the parents’ primary scent were for the individual dragonet’s primary and secondary scents.

Mudwings are highly sensitive to scents as a result of this. Going to places like the Scorpion Den or palaces that are well known for excessive perfume and incense use are avoided by Mudwings. These are considered sensory needs to be considered for diplomatic meetings with the Mudwing tribe.

The Mudwing tribe have tusks coming from their lower jaws, similar to a boar. Bigwings will normally have the biggest tusks as a status symbol in their troop. Sometimes even wearing tusk caps depending on their troop’s rank in the kingdom. Though, to avoid similar fates to the boars, they have special occupations that shave them down.

Mudwings are very untrusting of other tribes, seeing them as potential backstabbers rather than allies. This can cause a two-faced and backstabbing acceptance policy during wars. If other Mudwings are hurt during an alliance, the whole tribe will switch to a completely opposite side. Despite their untrusting nature, they’re actually one of the kindest tribes.

Due to their excessive strength, they have an extremely high metabolism, and extensive activity may mean a Mudwing will need to rest longer. They can eat an assortment of foods, but the type that helps their metabolism is meat. This has caused other tribes to see them as gluttonous hogs.

Lore Headcanons

Mudwings are well known for being a polyamorous tribe. Though, not all get with each other romantically. It's considered very common though. The reason why is because they did not always have as many numbers as they did. Many sibs died and they were all not able to make it through the several wars the Mudwings put themselves into. Though with the population being like it is, it is more of a choice now than out of necessity.

Due to their strict sib societal norms, several civil wars have broken out to get them to be as somewhat accepting as they are. As stated, this has caused their numbers to drop significantly.

The last Mudwing civil war was around some time before the sandwing war. The other tribes had become tired of the internal fighting and decided to join in to help. Seeing how powerful Mudwings were first hand, they decided to go in for their own gains. This was found out and it nearly cost the Mudwings their existence. Though, they made it through despite the odds.

Unlike other tribes, Mudwings will gang up on a Queen and take her out of power in favor for another. Normally it will be a bigwings from another troop. This is so they do not go through another war.

The Mudwing fight pits are the way that they have chosen to take out aggression on the political climate in their tribe. Be it policies on sibs or even just something as simple that a well bred sheep equates to the same amount as three cattle. This has stopped the infighting from breaking out into outright civil war.

Fight pits are not a death sentence though. When they were first implemented, they were used similarly to the Skywing arena. This didn’t fly with the lower classed Mudwings. This ended up being the first overthrowing of a Queen in their history. The Queen and her sibs did end up killed, but the sibs were only by rogue Mudwings.

With the great sense of smell Mudwings have, their greatest exports are perfumes and incense. Most of the time the incense are for religious practices in other tribes, or grieving rituals.

The only tribe Mudwings consider less of a betrayal threat are the rainwings. This is also the only tribe they give their exports out to without an extensive regime for them to follow. Most believe that due to a rainwing’s size, they’re less likely to be able to handle a Mudwing’s strength without 4-5 of them.

Drawing Inspirations

Siberian cats are what I will be using as inspiration of poses and body typing.

I personally believe most Mudwings have patters similarly to crocodilians, with other marsh and swamp creatures being rarer to see.

Crocodilians were a major inspiration for how Mudwing biology works.

With the way that Mudwing society is in the books, I can see them being swingers or polyamorous as a tribe. Though that isn’t every Mudwing. I just wanted to indulge myself in this.

Wings of Fire Headcanon List

Leafwings

Hivewings

Silkwings

[crystalninjaphoenix]

The Clash

Fantasy Masks AU: Chapter Forty-Four

A JSE Fanfic

A relatively shorter chapter this time, but one with quite a lot of action and importance to it :3c I mean... it's still about 5000 words. But you know what I mean. I'll just get right to the summary, shall I? XD The guys, still in the Wyldwood, discuss what to do once the time comes to confront the King. Though, perhaps a confrontation is closer than they think. Closer than they want it to be. Heh heh heh. Enjoy! :D

Previous Part | | From the Start | More AU | Read on AO3: CrystalNinjaPhoenix

Taglist: @brokentimewatch

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fourth day of their return journey dawned cloudy. Not foggy, like the day before, but genuinely cloudy above the canopy of leaves that the Wyldwood formed. Strange... it hadn’t been cloudy at all their whole journey down here. Had they just had great luck with the weather? That was the more likely explanation, but Chase couldn’t help but think it was a bad sign. It felt like the magic of the Wyldwood had been... disrupted somehow.

The others were feeling it, too. They all woke up and started walking silently through the trees. Today, they were in a section that looked autumnal, despite the real season being summer. The leaves were vibrant shades of red, orange, and yellow, the trunks of the trees resembling birch, with their white bark and black stripes. Faint yellow light came from the knots on the wood, as well as some low-hanging fruit that looked like pears had been squashed to a spherical shape. It was all beautiful, but still, they were on edge.

“So... is anyone else worried about the clouds?” Jackie asked after a couple hours.

The others all immediately agreed, a chorus of voices chiming out among Jameson’s speaking in hands. “It was very sunny during my first journey, and very sunny during the first half of this one,” Marvin said. “The sudden clouds are... giving me a bad feeling.”

“Maybe the weather just lined up?” Chase offered the thought he’d had earlier.

“M-maybe...” Jackie frowned.

You know... the King sometimes seemed to bring clouds with him... Jameson muttered.

Chase’s eyes widened as he suddenly remembered what happened at Marvin’s execution. The sudden storm, the coordinated lightning... “Wait a minute. Can the King—the spirit—control the weather?!”

The others all looked at him in shock. “That... th-that would take... th-that would take an... incredible amount of power,” Marvin breathed.

But considering the doorway we saw the King conjure a season ago, we know he already has an incredible amount of power, Jameson said.

“I-I know, but... It’s troubling to hear about,” Marvin said, continuing in that same quiet voice.

Chase swallowed a lump in his throat. If the spirit really could control the weather... had enough power to do that... how in the world was he supposed to defeat him?

Henrik glanced at Chase. “Is it just me, or do you look worried?”

“No, it’s—I’m fine.” Chase shook his head.

The other three were staring at him too. Chase, clearly something is bothering you, Jameson said.

“What is it?” Jackie asked.

“I’m fine,” Chase repeated. “It’s... nothing you have to worry about.”

“Oh, horseshit,” Marvin said. “We’re your friends. If something’s bothering you, we’re going to think about it until you talk about it.”

“Sorry,” Chase mumbled. “I didn’t mean to make you guys worry.”

“It’s not your fault, Chase!” Henrik said. “Friends worry about each other. It is just how things are. We want to know your troubles, you know.”

Jackie nodded. “We really do. Maybe we can help!”

Chase hesitated, then sighed. “Well... I guess it does affect you guys after all. And maybe you’ll have ideas that I don’t. I was just... I... I-I don’t know how I’m going to defeat the King!” That last part burst out of his mouth against his control. “I-I know that if Jameson’s vision is right, I’ll end up fighting him, and somehow defeating him, but—how?! He’s in Jack’s body! Do I just convince him to leave? He’s clearly not going to do that!” He felt tears prickling at the corners of his eyes. “I know I want to help Jack—I know I have to save the kingdom! But—but how?!”

The others stopped walking. They stared at him, silent. “Chase...” Henrik said softly. “Is this... something you have been thinking about for a while?”

Chase nodded quietly.

“Why didn’t you say anything before?” Henrik asked. Chase flinched despite the gentle tone the words were said in. “We could have offered advice, reassurance, anything you needed.”

“I always just assumed we would be talking about that in a strategy meeting of some sort,” Marvin said. “That we would all come up with a plan to defeat the King together.”

“I assumed that too!” Jackie shouted, nodding.

Clearly, assuming got us nowhere, Jameson said. Because I just assumed that Chase was coming up with a plan on his own.

Henrik sighed. “Well, perhaps we all should have established what we were assuming earlier. Then this would not have happened.”

“Sorry,” Chase mumbled.

“It’s not your fault, Chase,” Jackie reassured him. “We all made that mistake.” He straightened, taking a deep breath. “Alright. Well, now that we have that all out in the open, maybe we can think of some plan. The King is a possessive spirit, and there are chants to ward those off and banish them from someone’s body. Simple enough to recite one of those, right?”

“Except... he’s not a traditional spiolash spirit,” Marvin pointed out. “He’s a phantom with unknown, but definitely incredible, power.”

“Perhaps the same principle can work, though,” Henrik said. “There are multiple chants for banishing possessive spirits—spiolash. Perhaps if we combine them? Or... come up with something new?”

It would be worth a shot, Jameson said. And Chase has the Horned Elder One on his side. They’ll surely help when the time comes, right?

Chase bit his lip. “You’re right...” His hand drifted to his belt, where his mask was attached. The antlers had retained their glittering golden sheen. “Maybe... maybe if we combine a banishment chant for spiolash with a prayer for the Elders?”

Henrik frowned. “Well... then the others of you will have to work on that part. Even though I have been living here for a while, I still do not fully understand the intricacies of Elder prayer layout.”

“It’s not that complicated, Schneep,” Jackie said jokingly, nudging his side. “You just invoke the name once, thrice, five, or seven times, say the general category of what you’re praying for, say the name again going down one step in the number of times, get more specific, then repeat the process until you only get to one invocation.”

Henrik rubbed his eyes. “I have no idea what you just said.”

“It’s not that difficult to remember, Henrik,” Marvin said, grinning playfully. “You just go by instincts and gut feelings!”

“Prayers to the Sisters are not as specific as that,” Henrik muttered. “You just send it to the appropriate alserai and they carry it to them.”

“There are a hundred alserai, as you said!” Marvin pointed out. “A way of chanting prayers is much easier than remembering a hundred names!”

“Ahdadadah.” Henrik made a random sound as he waved his hands dismissively. “In any case, my point is that I cannot help you so much with coming up with this new chant.”

Jameson tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. The problem is that banishment chants for possessive spirits also have a very specific structure. They sound almost like poems or songs.

“We can figure something out together,” Jackie said. “We have all day to work on that! Alright... so. What sort of banishment chants do you all know? Growing up, my parents taught me and my siblings one to use. They mostly focused on how to avoid possessive spirits in the first place, but in case one wandered in, we were taught to recite one chant in particular while the possessed person couldn’t see us.”

“That one in particular probably won’t be as much help,” Marvin muttered. “But I know more.”

They talked everything over as they continued to walk through the forest. Chase was really struggling with this. He’d grown up learning Elder prayers and the occasional spiolash banishment chant, but he didn’t really understand what made them so special. He just knew them. This dissecting the words and the patterns they went in was going way too past him. Henrik, Jameson, and Marvin were throwing around phrases that he’d never heard before, like “assonance” and “consonance, like “meter” and “couplet” and “slant rhyme.” But he trusted that they all knew what they were doing. And at least he wasn’t alone in his confusion. Jackie was also clearly lost. But together, the two of them were able to pool their knowledge and occasionally chip in.

By the end of the day, they’d managed to come up with some combination that would hopefully work. Henrik pulled out some vellum and ink and wrote down the final chant, passing it over to Chase. “Read that, try to see if you can memorize it,” Henrik said. “Ah, not out loud, though. Just in case the Horned Elder One gets annoyed by all your prayers.”

Chase smiled slightly. “I don’t think they’ll get annoyed... but I’ll be careful, just in case.” He took the vellum, scanning the words written down. Simple ones, ones that he knew how to read. This... was really their plan, wasn’t it? The vellum felt flimsy, and yet... it was more solid than anything else they had before. It felt good to finally have something, anything, that might help with the spirit.

Eventually, they settled down for the night once again, in an area where the ground was unusually soft, as if there was a layer of thin pillows beneath the mossy surface. Henrik, Marvin, and Jackie volunteered to take watch tonight. The Wyldwood dimmed to near-darkness, lit only by drifting yellow lights and the lavender glow from big-petalled flowers growing in clusters all around. Chase laid his bedroll out at the base of one of the trees, a tree with bark and leaves as black as ink. If he had to be honest, this area was the best place he’d ever seen for outdoor sleeping. It was nice and calm, dark and quiet. Soon... he found himself drifting off...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Wake up!”

Chase suddenly jolted awake to the sound of a hissed shout in his ear and someone shaking him vigorously. He blinked and sat up immediately, almost knocking his forehead against Jackie’s, who was leaning over him. “What’s wrong? What’s happening?” Chase asked, eyes darting around.

“Horses!” Jackie hissed in that same whisper-shout. “Listen!”

They both fell silent... and in that silence, Chase could hear a distant rumble that he immediately recognized as the sound of hoofbeats. He looked towards the sound and saw distant lights, like lanterns. “Damn!” He cursed. “Do you think that’s the King?”

“Probably,” Jackie said. “And if it’s not, I doubt it’s anything good, in any case. We have to go. Now!”

Chase kicked his way out of the bedroll and started packing things up. He could see Marvin shaking Jameson awake as well, and then heard him hastily explaining everything while Jameson stared in wide-eyed shock. Jackie moved on to wake Henrik up in the meantime. And Draco, already awake and fully alert, stared out towards the distant lights, his fur all on end.

Soon, Chase, Jackie, and Marvin were all packed up. Jameson wasn’t far behind. As Henrik finished up his own packing, he asked, “What happened? What time is it? When did you see them?”

“Right as we were switching watches,” Marvin explained. “I woke Jackie up to take the last time slot, and then when I walked over to my bedroll to go to sleep, I noticed Draco standing on the pillow and looking out into the distance. The horses were tricky to spot, but we saw them soon enough.”

Henrik cursed under his breath in Alterdan as he buckled up his pack and stood up, swinging it onto his back. “Are they coming close to us?”

“Slowly,” Jackie said. “I think they’re sweeping this area. But they’re closer than they were a few minutes ago.” Indeed, the rumble of the horse’s hooves is noticeably louder.

If they’re going in a zigzag pattern, then we should be able to evade them by just going straight away from them, Jameson said.

“Yes, that’s pretty obvious,” Marvin said. He pointed at Draco, who was already walking off in that direction. “Let’s go!”

“Remember to be quiet, too, guys!” Chase pointed out. “No running. The people will definitely see that.”

The five of them started hurrying through the forest, going as fast as they could without actually running. There weren’t any bushes or other low undergrowth in the Wyldwood—or at least, not in this area. This section with the dark trees and the soft moss-covered ground was unnaturally barren, the forest floor more like a well-maintained orchard than a real, wild gathering of trees. Good for maneuverability, bad for avoiding attention. There were only so many tree trunks to duck behind.

Though they were going in a straight line while the pack of horses was curving around, things were turning up about even. They weren’t losing the horses, but neither were the horses catching up to them. This made sense, of course, as their walking speed wasn’t going to be nearly as fast as a horse’s canter. But it still put Chase on edge. Like at any moment, they would be discovered. “Marvin,” he whispered. “Is there any magic you have that could speed us up? Maybe—maybe you could make a shortcut with your doorways?”

Marvin nodded. “I could do that.” His hand reached up and grabbed the focus around his neck. The amulet had been giving off a slight white glow the whole time they were in the Wyldwood. “But the glow of the doorway would attract attention. I-I want to save my magic for in case something goes wrong, so I probably couldn’t get us too far.”

Something HAS gone wrong, Jameson said. I say this is the perfect time to use magic!

“Yes, do it!” Jackie added.

“Alright, alright!” Marvin stopped moving, looking around. “The trees are too narrow. I couldn’t draw a doorway wide enough for a person to go through on them. So we’ll have to risk using the ground.” He crouches down, pulling some magic from his focus. “This is going to feel really disorienting to go through.”

“Just hurry!” Chase glanced at the lights that indicated the group of horses. They were definitely getting bigger... closer. 

Marvin nodded. He started tracing a circle on the ground large enough for a person to stand in. Once he was done, the middle fell away, and the circle became a hole. On the other side, they could all see a view of the tree tops as if you were looking up at them from the ground. Even though they were currently looking down, not up. Chase blinked, stunned for a moment. Then he shook his head. “Alright!” he said. “Let’s—”

Swsh-THNK! An arrow embedded itself in a tree next to them.

“Shit!” Jackie cursed.

The lights of the distant horses were no longer wobbling back and forth, but holding in a steady position as they approached. The pounding of the hoofbeats was increasing steadily in volume, and Chase heard a voice shout out something indistinct.

“No time to waste!” Marvin hissed. “All of you go through, I need to be las—”

Swsh-THMP!

Marvin shrieked in pain, clutching his arm. An arrow lodged itself into the upper part of his left arm, close to the shoulder. The magic doorway on the ground abruptly disappeared as Marvin lost concentration.

“No!” Jackie gasped. He drew his swords, and at the same time shoved Chase to the side behind a tree, bumping his body against Chase’s. Henrik hurried over to Marvin’s side and pulled him behind a different tree while Jameson ducked behind a third one. Jackie then ran after Chase, hiding in the same spot, just barely dodging more arrows flying through the air. “Okay, new problem! Marvin, can you make a shield of some sort?”

“Y-yes,” Marvin breathed. He threw some magic forward, which expanded into a tall, glowing green wall, as solid and see-through as glass. Several arrows struck it, bouncing off. Chase could see many more arrows getting lodged in the bark of nearby trees. “W-we shouldn’t... get pinned down, though!” Marvin pulled himself to his feet, grabbing the nearby trunk with his right hand. “Remember, Jameson’s vision? Even if we’re not in the same location, the idea still stands!”

“They’ll no doubt be circling around us soon,” Jackie muttered. 

“We just have to keep going!” Chase said decisively. “This area doesn’t have much cover, we need to reach one with more places to hide!”

“We cannot outrun a squad of warriors on horses!” Henrik protested.

“Can’t stay in place, can’t outrun them, what do we do, then?!” Chase shouted.

Jameson reached back and drew his bow. He’d brought it to practice with during the Wyldwood journey, but hadn’t been able to get much practice in at all—too afraid that he would shoot a creature that wouldn’t take kindly to his archery attempts. But now, he had to risk it. We have to fight, he said, gesturing awkwardly around the bow.

“I-is that wise?!” Henrik squeaked. “We do not know how many of them there are! And the King is with them!”

“Jameson is right, it’s our only chance!” Jackie said. “We have to slow them down!” More arrows thumped against Marvin’s shield. They could now see the riders atop the horses, their helmets reflecting the light of their lanterns. “One minute to prepare! Henrik, toss us that bag with the witchcraft charms Anna gave you. Then cut down the arrow shaft!”

Henrik nodded. He tossed one of his packs forward and Chase lunged for it, looking through the charms. He scrambled to remember what some of these were—oh! Protection against magical attacks! That could help! Those charms were small wooden disks on string bracelets. He put one on and then tossed the other four to his companions. Meanwhile, Henrik took out his small knife and sawed through the shaft of the arrow Marvin had been shot with, getting as close to the wound as he could. Marvin hissed in pain but didn’t struggle, knowing they had to remove the shaft so it wouldn’t get in the way.

“They’re starting to circle!” Jackie reported. 

Chase closed up the pack of charms and slung it over his shoulder. “Alright, Jameson. You and I have to loose arrows as soon as we see one. Aim for the horses, that’ll slow them down the most!”

Jameson nodded, nocking an arrow on his bowstring.

Marvin took a deep breath and pulled some magic from his focus. “Should I take down the wall?”

“Once they start to close in,” Jackie said. “Otherwise it’ll be suspicious.”

Marvin nodded. Next to him, Henrik went rummaging through his bag. Chase heard the clinking of glass against glass, and then he pulled out a round bottle. A potion. He wound his arm back, ready to throw it.

The sound of the horses, the pounding of their hooves like a heartbeat, grew louder, closer. Chase nocked an arrow of his own. He drew back the string and got ready to loose it, adjusting his position. The sound of the hoofbeats surrounded them, thundering across the ground. There wasn’t much cover. They’d need to choose their position carefully. Any moment now.

A large shape came into view, moving incredibly quickly. Chase immediately shot his arrow, and the horse reared back, neighing. He’d managed to land the shot right in the eye. No time to waste! He grabbed another arrow and loosed it, aiming at the rider this time and managing to knock them off balance. Nearby, Jameson was doing the same.

Marvin pulled down the shield he’d conjured and Henrik threw his potion bottle forward. It bounced against the ground once before its contents spilled out, mixing and mingling together. Instantly, there’s a blast of fire. The horses and warriors caught in the blast scream, human and animal sounds indistinguishable from each other as flames cover fur and clothing.

The forest around them groaned. A rumble passed through the earth, and the leaves and trees rustled. Roots burst from the earth, waving wildly, sending clumps of dirt flying to cover the flames as the roots grabbed onto anything nearby—thankfully, only the mounted warriors. “Why do you keep upsetting the forest, Henrik?!” Chase shouted, running to a different tree to hide behind as a warrior charged at him, swinging their sword from up on their horse. The blade sliced through his shirt but barely avoided drawing blood.

“Sorry!” Henrik shouted, also running to avoid an attack. He grabbed another potion bottle, getting ready to throw it as well. At the same time, he pulled free the axe Vsevna gave him, swinging it at a horse and burying it in its side.

Marvin was casting spells left and right, and each one was coming out stronger than he intended. A glowing purple glow surrounded a warrior and threw them off their horse with such speed that a bone cracked from the movement. A bolt of rainbow-colored magic had the width of one of the trees and was bright enough to temporarily blind nearby warriors. He didn’t dare use wizard fire, because if he did, he knew it would be a blaze much stronger than he wanted. The Wyldwood was making his magic stronger. Or... more like it was making it easier to summon a great deal of it.

While the others all tried to dodge and evade, sticking on the sides of the large group gathering as much as they could, Jackie was in the middle of it all. He spun around, dancing around the large horses with no fear of their teeth or hooves. The warriors would try to slash at him with their swords or spears or halberds, but Jackie would deflect each blow with one of his swords while using the other to slash at the horse’s legs, especially their knees. It was amazing to watch—but Chase couldn’t get distracted! He felt like he was barely keeping out of reach of these warriors, anyway!

Henrik threw his second potion. This one smashed against a tree and a blizzard exploded outwards, freezing everything in its wake—including freezing the horses’ hooves to the ground. “Go go go go!” He shouted, gesturing for the group to run to the side. Most of the warriors had been caught in the potion effect, so now was the time to run! 

The group bolted, running as one through the forest, ducking and weaving through the trees. Chase felt the ground beneath his feet start to tilt—were they on a slope? It was going to the side. “This way!” he hissed, changing direction. “There could be a river this way—we could lose them!”

“Huh?!” Marvin stared at him in surprise. “H-how do you know that?!”

No time to answer, the warriors were already catching up! Chase ran faster, glancing over his shoulder to make sure the others were with him. They were, but the horses were beginning to catch up as well! He faced forward again, scanning the distance. Water always gathered where the ground was the lowest... If they kept going this way, maybe they’d find some! Even if it was just a pond, surely they could use that to evade the horses somehow, right?!

The hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood up.

He recognized that feeling. It was—

KRAK! A bolt of lightning shot from the left, passing close enough by the group that Chase could feel the heat coming from it. The bolt tore through the side of a tree, and the forest groaned as if in pain. And then—a doorway opened up in midair, and a horse came galloping through it. Jackie shrieked in surprise and shoved Chase to the side like earlier, while the others scattered. The horse circled around them, slowing down, its rider’s green cape catching the light of the glowing orbs in the air. And then the horse skidded to a stop. Upon its back... was the King.

“E-Elders...” Jackie breathed. “W-we can’t fight him here!”

“How unfortunate,” the King said. “You’re welcome to die quietly, then.” He pointed his seax at the group, and the blade started to glow—

“Run!” Marvin shouted, throwing up a shield. The group all scattered, dodging to the left. Lightning shot forward from the blade, hitting the shield... and immediately shattering it. Marvin staggered from the force of the breaking, but thankfully, no one had been in the way of the blast.

Other warriors hurried forward, closing in around the group. Jameson’s eyes widened in panic. Marvin! Try a doorway again?! 

“You guys will have to defend me!” Marvin said, grabbing his focus—

A whining sound filled the air, buzzing like an insect close to an ear. The King swiped his seax to the side and a length of green lightning whipped around. Most of the group ducked, but Marvin, focusing on his magic, was too slow. The lightning hit him in the side of the face and he screamed in pain, collapsing. Draco yowled and ran over to his side, sniffing at him. “Marvin!” Jackie screamed.

Chase’s eyes darted around. The horses had blocked them in—circled around them like in Jameson’s vision. Had they just delayed the inevitable?! He could see the warriors drawing their bows again—all of them wearing those creepy helmets that blocked out their faces. He fumbled for another arrow from his quiver, hand shaking with fear. Relax! Tension is not good for shooting! Jameson was trying to nock an arrow as well, but he was also shaking, hands so unsteady that he couldn’t even get the arrow to stay in place on the string. Henrik rummaged through his pack for another potion, but he wasn’t going to grab one in time, Chase could tell.

Suddenly, Jackie let out a scream—a bellow, more like, a loud primal call of rage and action. He charged forwards towards the King, who looked mildly surprised but not concerned. The King pointed his seax at Jackie, the blade glowing with another one of those lightning blasts. Chase screamed, certain that he was about to see Jackie fall.

But then, as the lightning shot forward, Jackie crossed his two blades in front of himself. The lightning hit the spot where they meet—it shouldn’t have mattered, as lightning usually traveled easily through metal. But... that’s not what happened here. The others watched as the swords started to glow the same green as the lightning, getting brighter and brighter as more of the lightning... was sucked into them. Like a sponge soaking up water. The warriors all stared, many of them unconsciously lowering the bows that they were going to shoot Jackie with. Even the King couldn’t take his eyes away, absolutely shocked at what he was seeing.

And then the lightning stopped, and the glow of the swords died down. But it didn’t fade. And while everyone was still stunned by what they had seen, Jackie ran forward and swiped both swords against the horse’s side. They made cuts, but nothing really damaging to such a big animal. Nothing too damaging by themselves. But as the blades made contact, lightning burst from the metal, climbing up the side of the horse, which whinnied a shrill scream and reared back. The King clung to its side—and that sealed his fate as the lightning hit him as well. His muscles spasmed, and combined with the force of the horse rearing, he was thrown off the back of it. The horse itself staggered and lost its balance, falling to its side.

Jackie looked back at the others, panting, and ran past the King and his horse.

None of them said anything, just burst into a dead sprint after him, with Henrik grabbing Marvin and awkwardly carrying him as he hurried after Jackie. The warriors just stood there on their horses, as if unsure what to do. Frozen... awaiting orders. 

But soon, the King scrambled to his feet. He glared at the warriors behind him and they all jumped into movement again, pulling arrows from quivers to shoot at the retreating group.

Jameson whistled and pointed forward. There! A glint in the darkness between the trees. Water! It went from side to side, a small creek. “Just get there!” Chase hissed. “Then—”

Marvin gasped, raising his head. “I-I can get us out!”

Jackie stumbled in shock. “A-alright! If you’re sure! Twist around the trees, everyone!”

They did so, dodging and weaving around the tree trunks, barely ducking to avoid the arrows. The water grew closer, closer—

“J-jump in!” Marvin shouted.

Chase looked at him, confused, but no time to question it! He pulled out in front, running into the water. Jackie was right behind him, and the other three behind him. Marvin reached down into the water, and it started to glow, swirling around them, then shooting upwards in a fountain—

The King shrieked angrily. “Fine, run like cowards! I’ll see you back at your precious camp!”

—And then there was a lurching feeling. Chase felt like he was falling, and then had suddenly been flipped upside down, leaving him sick and his head spinning. He fell to his knees, and immediately noticed the water... or lack thereof. They were no longer standing knee-deep in that stream they’d found. Instead, they were in a different section of the forest. They were surrounded by tall grass, soft and swaying slightly, all of it glowing gently in the same way the moon in the night sky did. The trees around them curved and bent, exaggerated silhouettes as though they were sculpted instead of grown.

Jackie looked around. “Wh-what? Where... h-how?”

“Marvin!” Henrik hurried to Marvin’s side, kneeling next to where he was laying on the ground. Draco was also nearby, shaking his fur dry before nudging Marvin’s shoulder with his nose. “A-are you alright? You were—the lightning—i-it hit you in the—”

“That... did not... f-feel good.” Marvin raised his head. An angry red mark slashed across his face, a burn from the King’s lightning attack.

“H-how are you?” Henrik asked. He reached out to press his hand against Marvin’s neck, checking his pulse and breathing. Marvin stiffened, but didn’t push him away. “Taking lightning to the face will definitely h-have effects!”

“It would’ve... if not for that... magical protection charm, I think.” Marvin raised one hand, showing the charm he’d tied around his wrist.

“E-even so, I would like to keep an eye on you,” Henrik said, concerned.

“That makes sense.”

Jameson looked around. Where are we? What did you do to get us here?

“Created a magical doorway in the water,” Marvin mumbled. “Using the actual water as the surface. It’s normally... pretty difficult. But I-I felt like I could, with how my magic has been... stronger while in the woods.” He shook his head. “H-hopefully... we’re closer to the edge of the Wyldwood, now.” Then he looked at Jackie. “That was... really amazing. With the swords.”

“Hah... I’m just glad it worked.” Jackie grinned. “I’m lucky I remembered that King Sam told me they could absorb various energies.”

Chase swallowed a lump in his throat. There was a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach. “The... th-the spirit...” His hands were shaking. “He said... he’d see us at c-camp...”

Henrik looked over at him, wide-eyed. “There... th-there’s... i-it’s not possible. H-he cannot know where we are s-staying...”

But the others all look similarly nervous. “We... w-we have to get back fast.” Marvin staggered to his feet.

“No time to spare,” Jackie agreed. “I know it’s still early in the morning, before the sunrise, but let’s hurry.”

“Hold on, we need to rest and heal!” Henrik protested.

Jameson looked troubled. He shook his head. I think we need to risk waiting until the night. If the King gets there first... He trailed off.

Henrik looked unhappy about it, but he nodded. “A-alright... we will risk it. But if any of you start walking strangely or limping, I will make us stop for a quick doctor’s check.”

“I think we’re all okay with that,” Jackie said. The others nodded.

Marvin cast a spell to find out which way was north, and using that, they all started heading back due east. If the King knew where their camp was... he might not, but if there was the slightest chance... they had to get there first. They had to warn them. Otherwise, disaster would strike.

[starrvlight]

should i make a web toon??

chat should I make a webtoon?? I already have some story written out, it's kinda lie sbg?? It's not like taken from SBG I promise 😭 but it's the same genre??and I have not ppl to edit my art / anyone to help out with the comic CONSIDERING IM A MINOR (13-15)??I also don't consider myself good a drawing:p But I'll tell u about it and lmk if I should try to make it a comic??:D

it's about these kids (12-13) I KNOW IT'S YOUNG BUT WHATS A LIL TRAUMA GONNA DO?? And like (I'm still figuring this out 😔(ok nvm I'm just going to copy and paste I have a 2 starts so far starts so far))

starter one: (2nd one I made + still working on)

They use walkie talkies the communicate *FIFI RUNNING THRU THE HALLS OF HER SCHOOL* Hey- I'm Fiona or fifi- whatever u wanna call me. For the past few months I've been having this recurring dream, or simalar to that.. Cut to fifi panting, crying and bleeding a lot from the side of she stomach, running in a hellish realm from a multiple runners going to some massive treehouse and she climbs a ladder and axel rolls up the ladder, and fifi pressing a button and collapse shaking

Cut back to Fifi, running into her class "your late miss Weech." Fifi looks up "sorry Mr mordini" she mumbles

starter 2: (og one)

Fifi was looking thru her dad's stuff and saw some "fun" looking horror game that was shoved way way way in the back1-2 (axel and fifi) people are playing a game, then the game glitches and the game like sucks them in.they were playing some horror game where you had necklaces/ bracelets/earrings rings that they found then they had some type of power (but didn't know||powers:, water,fire,air,earth,flying, manipulate gravity,super speed, instant healing, able to shield Able to manipulate blood, shrink/grow is size, teleport abe to see into the future by a.little bit, lightning yk?) and so they kinda just walked around for a bit and then saw something glowing..it was a crimson shade of red..like blood.. axel grabbed it and looked at it then hesitantly but it on, then continued walking it was really dare,, they came across this neighborhood/ghost town and a whole bunch of houses were like decaying and they walked in, hoping to find stuff,they ended up finding some water, a backpack and a couple flashlights +batteries.. and a ring that had a dark green gem..then l of a sudden they hear EXTREMELY loud screeching and they remember it from the game they the began to run out the house but screeching got louder and louder to they ran the opposite way, but there was no way out so they had to kill the creature (it's a black creature that's completely black and has like a really open mouth andna head that's tilted back, a massive eye on their chest and in the same pllace on their back, really tall massive claws, they r called runners/screechers, then there are other ones that can fly at really high speeds r called flyers) they didn't know how so they just ran and ran, until axel fel...Fifi pulled axel and help him up..but it was too late and the monster lunged at them then the crouchd and covered themselves, then hears some running and then a loud screach,. They looks up and say a trio, one has black, really curly hair, one has a bit with bleached hair and one with browns hair and some hair dye, the one with h dyed hair has black goop on her hand she shirt, then the one with curly blkack hair ran to them

And I drew both comics a bit both have I think 3 panels :p

AND SORRY FOR RANDOM NAMES IN IT I CAN POST THE CHARACTER INTRODUCTION STUFF IF U WANT MORE INFO

ANDDD ANOTHING THINK IM WITTEWLIWLY DRAWING IN IBISPAINT 🤨 LIKE??

[rillils]

written for round 5 @stuckybingo, square I5 - Looking after each other wordcount: 1411 pairing: Steve/Bucky additional tags: fluff, kidfic, general silliness, slice of life, dorks in love, dorks in love + their baby

Steve never believed in sunscreen, no matter how many times he got the hide scorched off of him. Used to just sit there and let the sun fry his skin, seemingly content to suffer through all the pretty stages of a sunburn, the blistering and the peeling, the stinging and the itching.

The serum just gave his stubborn ass one more excuse to walk outside in all his dumb, unprotected glory.

“You know it’ll have healed by tomorrow anyway,” he would shrug in the face of Bucky’s reasonable worry. But oh, how he’d hiss and cuss through gritted teeth, Later That Same Day, when Bucky inevitably wound up spreading cool aloe over his poor, neon-bright shoulders, the shade of them a hot raw pink that’d probably get them both sued by Mattel sooner or later.

“Fuck. Fuck. I always forget how bad it gets. How do I always forget how bad it gets.”

And it would take a herculean effort for Bucky to refrain from saying ‘I told you so’, but refrain he would; he’d simply smooth his aloe-covered fingers down to the small of Steve’s back, where the tan line made his creamy-pale asscheeks stand out like two (somewhat flabbergasted) halves of a moon, and he’d lean over to whisper-kiss a fond, “Dumbass”, against the crown of Steve’s head.

* It was fatherhood that flipped that particular switch for Steve.

Already within the first few weeks of her life, Sarah Barnes-Rogers managed a colossal feat which several people, including her very own namesake, had been fruitlessly attempting for no less than a century: knock some sense into her father.

That summer, they brought their five-month-old baby to the beach for the first time, and suddenly Steve’s baseline shifted from a glaring zero, to at least three separate bottles of sunscreen tucked in his backpack at all times – and he wielded them as dramatically and determinedly as King Arthur pulling his sword from the Stone.

“Never thought I’d see the day,” Bucky teased while Steve re-applied lotion on their daughter, and then himself, for the third time in one morning, the delicate scent of coconut wrapped around them like a gentle cloud.

“Protection is important,” retorted his husband, always 101% ready to rise to the challenge, even when it was ridiculous degrees outside and the average human felt distinctly like warm ice cream oozing, slow and tragic, towards an indecorous end on a sizzle-hot curb. Sarah wriggled excitedly in his lap, her pudgy little body slippery like a newborn dolphin.

“Important for you, too? Really? I thought you were gonna heal by tomorrow anyway.”

Steve glared at him, mouth pouting with growing intensity within the neatly groomed frame of his beard.

“We lead by example,” he said petulantly, and since he couldn’t exactly stomp away – at least not with all the dramatic flair required by such indignity as Bucky was willfully subjecting him to – he settled for looking away instead, fixing the hat over Sarah’s ears to keep his hands occupied. Stubborn, mulish smartass. Bucky was sure he’d never loved him quite so ardently as he did in that moment.

He leaned between their loungers and smacked the loudest kiss on Steve’s coconut-scented cheek, not bothering (oh, not too much) to hide his smug grin. “Good.”

*

Now, all things considered, it’s no wonder that Sarah’s grown to be such a sunscreen enthusiast.

The second they hit the beach, she wants nothing better than for Papa to help her get coated in the stuff, from head to wiggly toe; and once the procedure is complete, she’ll scuttle off at lightning speed, drop to the ground, and – to Bucky’s endless horror – roll about until she’s got every bit of her greased-up self nice and caked in sand. Sand which they'll still find sprinkled in every corner, crease and crinkle of every towel, bag and piece of clothing they own for a couple of months at least, but what is parenthood if not self-sacrifice?

Before she gets to that, though, Sarah has her own self-appointed job to do.

She plucks the bottle from Steve’s hand and, as per their private ritual, manhandles him into lying on his belly, announcing with her sweet, recently tooth-gapped smile, “I’ll do your back!”

Steve always indulges her with a smile of his own, and lets her climb onto the small of his back, ready to surrender himself to Sarah’s loving, if somewhat fierce ministrations.

For once, though, she doesn’t simply smear the lotion around with her usual excitement. On the contrary, she holds the bottle up and squeezes it meticulously, her brow scrunched up in concentration as she works with slow, strangely deliberate moves.

It’s only after a minute or so that Bucky really sees what she’s trying to do; and by then, her masterpiece is all but complete. The sight of it makes his heart clench with unexpected fondness.

“Daddy! Daddy, can you take a picture? I wanna show Papa, please!”

He takes one look at her hopeful little face, at the blond curls falling over her eyes, the sun-kissed freckles already crowding the bridge of her nose so early in the summer, and there’s no way in hell he’d ever even dream of saying no.

“’Course, baby,” he says, reaching for his phone with no further ado.

“Show me what?” Steve pipes up, twisting his neck to try and peek over his shoulder. “What’re you guys doing back there?”

“Nuh-uh,” Bucky tuts, pushing Steve’s head back down to rest atop his crossed arms, “you stay put for a second, doll. Can’t ruin this shot. Alright, here we go.” The camera clicks softly, once. “Hm. Nope.” Twice. “Eh– almost.” Thrice. “Ha! There. Perfect.”

He helps Sarah down from her perch on Steve’s back, very, very careful not to smudge her precious work, then hands her the smartphone. “Go ahead, baby, show Papa what a good job you did.”

In her eagerness, Sarah all but shoves the phone right in Steve’s face, with a squeal of “Pa! Look, look!”, watching him expectantly.

It’s there, on the screen, that Steve finally gets to see it. A message just for him, spanning almost his entire back, spelling, in Sarah’s wonky six-year-old handwriting, “I LOVE YOU PA ♥”, big squiggly heart included.

Steve doesn’t breathe for three whole seconds; and when he starts again, it’s with a soft, awestruck, “Oh.”

And it might be the stark light, or the warm breeze, or the scent of ocean salt in the air, but when he props himself up on his elbows to look at their daughter, his eyes have a familiar, watery shine to them. One of his strong arms wraps around Sarah’s middle and pulls her in, and he plants a kiss on her forehead, smiling all the while. “Love you too, munchkin. It’s beautiful, thank you so much.”

“Yah!”

Satisfied with the feedback, Sarah can finally run off to fulfill her destiny as a pocket-size sand monster. Steve gazes adoringly after her, then lifts his big, gleaming puppy eyes on Bucky, looking about as lovestruck as Bucky’s ever seen him in the last ninety-five years or so.

“Buck,” he says, soft and just, just on the cusp of choked up. How anyone ever thought they could teach this guy not to wear his heart on his sleeve, Bucky’ll never understand.

“Yeah, big guy. I know. I know,” he soothes, hovering close to place a sympathetic kiss on the swell of Steve’s bicep. “Listen, I’m gonna ask a dumb question here.”

Steve blinks up at him, curious.

“Do you maybe want me to fix your back for you, so you don’t actually burn to a crisp?”

And see, the truth is, he already knows the answer. He knows it with even greater certainty when Steve sinks his face in the crook of his own elbow, half laughing, half groaning, and a hundred percent utterly defeated.

Of course not. Of course he’s gonna lie directly in the nearest sunbeam, and let himself bake there until the words are branded onto his skin, pale white on Barbie-box pink, no matter how short-lived they’ll be.

“Yep. Called it.” He gives Steve’s bicep a gentle pat-pat, knowing that in about ten hours, even that will make Steve hiss with unrepentant, self-inflicted pain - and possibly loving him just that wee bit more for this tiniest of derring-do’s. “I’ll make sure to grab some more aloe on our way home.”

[oacest]

what's the triumvirate's album ranking

aha excellent question thank u!!

trill's:

BHN supremacy, no contest, no tea no shade no pink lemonade. i listen to it every single day for the good of my health

DM bc it has whatever on it, which is my second fave oasis song (i kinda consider DM and morning glory to be basically one two-part album, since they have the same vibe and were written concurrently, so im only ranking one above the other on this technicality)

morning glory

SOTSOG bc gas panic & sunday morning call & who feels love

heathen chemistry bc hindu times & songbird

DBTT bc importance of being idle & ggtia

DOYS. don't listen to it at all ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (but i do ADORE this alternate version of waiting for the rapture)

jackie's:

DM - i guess, but it switches between that and morning glory depending on the day. like trill, they're just a matching set to me. but its a no-skip album obv, its liam at his most baby, its got all those pure Early Career associations, and its got slide away

morning glory

SOTSOG - i am a sotsog truther and defender forever i cant get enough of this album. gas panic and go let it out are masterpieces

BHN - i mean, classic.

DBTT - this album is so underrated. and it has importance of being idle soooo

DOYS - speaking of underrated?! i hate to even rate it THIS low but its gotta be done. you can taste early High Flying Birds in this album, noel was clearly so ready to experiment with the formula and it shows, in such a good way. high horse lady is my favorite. shock of the lightning also rules

heathen chemistry - this album is kind of a wet fart for me lol. i basically never listen to it. hindu times is a perfect opener tho

bal's list specifically for day drinking on back country roads:

WTSMG - shouting along for the entirety with a brief tolerant pause for Cast No Shadow (meh)

DM - I mean. cmon.

DBTT - I fuckin LOVE this album, I get needlessly defensive over people who slag off gem and andy's tracks, i would die for ggtia, lyla's a banger, i think mucky fingers is fuckin fun, let there be love is the last time noel and liam sang together!! if you're a full album bitch like myself, this is one of their most solid works start to finish.

BHN - incredibly there was a time (aka one month into this whole thing) when my favorite track on this album was the reprise. now, obviously, i love it in all its overly-long glory and the BHN gigs are actually my favorite era to watch. I also think this album is the most interesting oasis album.

SOTSOG - this is too low on the list given how much I enjoy the album for its highlights -- Fuckin In The Bushes, Go Let It Out, Gas Panic, Roll It Over. this album also has some of my favorite b-sides

DOYS - ditto. Bag It Up, Falling Down, I'M OUTTA TIME!!!!!!! pity their relationship was in the midst of an ugly downward spiral and it got in the way of recording, I do think this album could've been something spectacular. as it is, it's merely very good.

HC - EH. MEH. maybe they shouldn't be head over heels in love with each other if it produces such deeply mid music?? the fact noel still regularly sings Little by Little is a source of deep frustration to me. he's got so many others he could give time to... why. fuckin WHY. this album is the absolute oasis nadir, it oozes complacency. liam was at his sluttiest in these gigs and for WHAT, it's like putting a rodeo cowboy on a carousel.

[worokapi]

after god art style study --part 1

first off disclaimer I don't really know if there's a supposed professional/appropriate method of studying artist's art styles so please don't expect this to be polished or like a tutorial in any way this is just me spending a lot of time admiring eno sumi's art

thoughts overall

eno's art has a pretty semi-realism leaning anime art style. it's not conventionally cute, the level of detail is what you'd see in a seinen manga. thumbs up it works out just right

because this is manga with what looks like a monthly to biweekly release schedule yeah I too would want to be paid $$$$ as my full time job if I were drawing with that crunch deadline so shortcuts and corner cutting are taken to make the job easier. I particularly want to study some of the shortcuts in addition to the way she stylizes certain things in her art style.

I used to have a very cutesy/baby-faced anime art style and had really wanted to move more away from that to something more mature-looking. studying how an artist stylizes something is a cool way to figure out how you want to depict something in your style too. obviously still do take life studies and all... there is nuance between understanding how an artist builds on top of fundamentals versus copying plainly what is depicted. I know how to draw noses but I couldn't figure out or visualize how it'd best look in my artwork.

I dooooo still have to learn how to draw old people like old-old people aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

clip studio paint and tools -------

I previously identified in an older post eno most likely works with clip studio paint.. eno has posted here about CELSYS which is the company that owns CSP.

more csp stuff:

background black swirls is 黒うず from ベタ部分に使うブラシ

you guys like the default crack brush? me too the triangle shape is very noticable

some of the other cracks in the scene looks like its from 瓦礫を描くブラシセットおまけ付き

lightning brush from lightning brushes

this is a very good water brush set

3d models -------

I personally cannot really discern perfectly if 3d models were ever used for posing the characters- if there was use of 3d character models then thank god they weren't directly traced over bc 3d does not translate to 2d well when it's directly traced over and that type of jarring uncanny proportions is what I'm used to seeing when that happens.

however, sometimes it is kinda noticable when the anatomy looks a little bit wonky or rushed. I don't blame it that much for comic making standards

[tokinaga are you okay you look kinda rough]

[ch.32 has a bunch of can models]

3d models are most often used for the backgrounds in After God or for smaller, repetitive objects. they're integrated pretty seamlessly in my opinion, but also in my opinion I have to consider my bar is below the ground because I read webtoons time to time and the number of poorly or lazily implemented 3d background assets makes me sad

[tokinagas apartment] [2]

I remember in my blog read through I had google translate catch she mentioned she used home design 3d or something something to make the house models. unfortunately I don't know where the exact mention was (i dont speak or read japanese bummer) so take it with a grain of salt

noses -------

nosesss!!

they are more detailed than the typical "single dot/line" anime nose, I really appreciate that. the variety within the main characters isn't very wide, but I digress. if it's easy to draw then it's easy to draw and it's nice to feel no pressure drawing what you want to draw

the most common nose drawn is a line for the bridge and two lines indicating the nostrils. the two nostril lines may vary in direction depending on if you're viewing the face, differing angles from above or face from below

frequently, in addition to that, the tip of the nose is also defined.

sometimes the bridge is given some additional depth with some hatching instead of a singular line.

sometimes, only the nostrils are drawn. shading may be used to define the nose shape instead of using lineart.

sometimes instead of a line for the nose bridge, a "triangle" shine shape is drawn. usually it shows up on smaller images.

very rarely does it ever end up being drawn as a single line (either for the nose bridge OR the bottom of the nose).

the diversity of noses typically shows up the most on the older aged characters. or the non-japanese characters.

chin-up profiles -------

honestly i don't see really actual bottoms of the chins drawn that often and when I do it's rather rare or simplified

---

cont in part two

[lakka-arts]

HI heres a list of really great mcsm artists (personal recs)

mainly made for my friend @glitxhy-b0yy!!! :D who is a FANTASTIC artist themselves and has some great content on there!!

also partially as a self indulgent post to compliment my friends so lets go!! (yes this does mean that my opinions are going to be bias asf dont come for me--)

this is not a COMPLETE list but its just the artists that i can come up with off the top of my head-- might add more later!

polarized-here

polar's artworks is what i like to describe as comforting as it consists of neat lineart and cell shading with glowing effects! they're probably most commonly known for their admin!jesse au, which is a fucking BADASS au with the coolest concept artwork that i've seen?? like hands down, stunning with a stunning execution of it. polar's artwork are like,,, holy shit man. they're such a cool person :)

terracomets

rusty is a phenomenal artist AND writer who has an au series that i cannot recommend enough called Misfit Mania!! He has a BUNCH of great character designs, including ocs and other medias too! i consider him a jack of all trades bc no matter what fandom, no matter what kind of character it is, rusty always succeeds at great portrayal of them :DD his fav character is axel and as a result, he's got a bunch of fantastic axel artwork on his blog!! :)

mcs-art-etc/lukasdoodles

lukasdoodles has genuinely one of the most unique art styles that i have ever that is both adorable AND menacing /pos at times. their artwork consists of colorful lineart, and INSANELY detailed clothings, like oh my god. they're also INSANELY creative when it comes to it as well, putting in so many ruffles, and belts, and!!! so much more!! not only that but they have a bunch of blaze rods drawings on their blog!! including gill, who i think is one of the underrated characters in mcsm! they also do some animation every now and then, which is always so cool to see!!

zonerz

zonerz is one of those dual part artist and dual part writers with their great artwork and writing! they're really good at putting together lore and is super in-depth when it comes down to the nitty gritty! their armor drawings are really well done and i admire the attention to details with every single one of their drawings!!

zoomire

fel is one of the coolest fucking people i have ever met and #1 cassie rose fan. their artstyle reminds me of traditional paintings that you would find in a museum, like it is so refined and their character anatomy is ON POINT with how they draw muscles and scars so realistically. their aiden design is also one of the most dazzling to me bc of how they incorporate lightning into his scars. ALSO a huge aidrose fan if not THE president of the goddamn ship. they have so many character analysis on them both together and separately and they're always written SO WELL WITH SO MUCH RESPECT TO THE SOURCE MATERIAL.

a lost crow

crow has a bunch of fantastic mcsm content but one of their most fascinating ones is their command!lukas au, which has a whole story to go alongside it but i won't spoil it ;) and their individual jesse au where every single jesse has their own personality traits and they're so unique and well written!! absolutely love both au to bits!

acraftedmistake

acraftedmistake's art is unique in the sense that it is purely traditional and takes great advantage of paper texture as well as textures from markers and pens to make its presence known! to add to that, they do a bunch of mcsm work themed around horror! i do need to put a warning that they sometimes involve gore though it is very artistically done!! phenomenal artist!!

zhezhy

Zhenya has enough content to the point where i can make an entire POST this long to talk about her and the absolutely stunning drawings she makes about mcsm, particularly about the old order of the stone. she excels at drawing ivor, harper, and soren the most, though she has dwelved into other characters that haven't had the most light shed on them. my absolute favorite thing about her artwork is her artstyle because it is this GORGEOUS sketchy style where both the colors and the lines express themselves SO WELL and SO EFFECTIVELY! i can go raving mad about it honestly

offeathersandcube/novatheastropirate

Nova's artwork, i would like to define it, is filled with love and care. Her lineart and coloring patterns are colorful and light, as if they were drawn for the illustration for a book series, filled with so much delight. Nova's specialty is how she both writes and draws Ellegaard with so much appreciation for her character and through her portrayal of her. It's nothing short of dedication and heart. Nova's other works are also great as well and they do a lot to show Nova's artistic talent.

[annawayne]

Hello Anna <3 I hope you are doing well 🌻

Can you answer questions for the artist game 2, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 29 :)

I like your art and I want to you talk more about your art. 🥐🥐🥐

Oh, hello-hello!

Thank you so much for these kind words and for your interest! And, haha, I see that you've read the previous post, too 🥐🥐🥐

2 most popular piece?

It's ironic how one of the most popular pieces is the one I don't like :D But this is it!

Another popular one, is this one, but in this case, I still love this art (sometimes I wonder if I'll be able to create something like this ever again...)

7 easiest thing for you to draw?

It's a very interesting question! Let's say, on the stage of the rendering, it's, how ironically it wouldn't sound, but backgrounds! I know that usually it's considered like the least thing you would name as "easiest", but somehow, it works for me...

9 whats something you always come back to when drawing?

Hm, very good question. I think, it's this simple thought that everything, in reality, doesn't have an end: drawing, no matter how good you are, is about constant studying, and this is also the beauty in it. I always try to keep it in mind, but when I start drawing, every single time I recall this idea, and, at some point, to be honest, it's also reassuring.

10 how do you deal with artblock?

You know, I must tell you that I have never had an art block. Demotivation and discouragement? Yes, and not because I can't draw what I imagined, but primarily because of the reach since I wish my arts would be seen more, but other than that - even if I had some small moments when I felt like something wasn't going the way I would like to - I felt upset and sometimes disappointed, but never to the point of artblock. So, in my case, the answer will be a bit different: when I have such moments, I just step away from it and let these feelings not interfere into my art process. Drawing or writing with such low emotions which whisper to you how "you're failing to match your imagination" (which, in fact, are nothing but lies) is a huge emotional turmoil and also, some kind of torture, so instead of forcing myself into it, I just let these emotions live and die as quickly as they appear. During this time while I'm away from drawing/writing, I try to distract myself with something usual like reading, for example. So, yes, that's it!

11 do you listen to anything while drawing?

Yes! I usually listen to lectures/discussions, this kind of content, or to the music - when it comes to it, I try to find the matching pieces of songs to the vibe of the drawing, so it also helps me to set the mood :3

For example, for this art, I was listening on repeat Eric Satie, and I hope it gave the mood to this art the one I hoped to achieve

12 describe your process while drawing

Thank you for this question! It all starts with the idea itself, usually it just pops up out of nowhere, or some official art happens, and the image of what to draw strikes me very clearly. Sometimes, I can have some ideas, and they float around, until the moment I realize how I want the art to look like. After that, I gather some pose references, and start sketching. How much the sketching stage takes, it depends on the art itself: sometimes, I can sketch it for 20 minutes, sometimes - for hours. When the sketch is ready, I do the flat colours: just basic shades to understand the palette, and after that - the general colorization of the art (the group with different layers such as Brightness/Contrast, Gradients, Solid Colours, Hue/Saturation etc), which changes through the process. And then, rendering! Now, I have the scheme: firstly, skin rendering + hair, in between - background, step by step; clothes; additional details; the general work with lightning; shades/volumes; final touches, and here we are!

13 talk about a wip you like!

Currently, I'm working on JeanPiku and AruAni double date, and while I think it's quite good piece, there are two WIPs I'll be working on after that, and I must tell you that this solo question made me *wheezing* because I'm both excited and a bit scared to work on them :D One of this WIPs is related to Ancient Greece mythology (sorry for not sharing details, since I want to keep it as a small surprise), and another one based on this official Annie art from brave order with pipa, and, off course, Armin too :3 I really hope I'll do justice to these ideas, and you'll like them!

16 how do you motivate yourself to draw?

AruAni (and JeanPiku) motivate me to draw! :D

But on more serious note (my first answer is still serious), it's as simple as it is - I can't simply not to draw. The drawing itself motivates me because it allows to tell the stories, to live through so many emotions and many scenarios. And, honestly, for me, it's more than enough.

29 do you use a lot of references while drawing?

I use reference for the poses - that's yes, my must have, since I try to make it quite "humanly fluid", and even if I study anatomy, I prefer to have references to always double check. As for composition and colour palette- no, it's always my free flight of imagination :D So, basically, I use references for characters and for some specific details, like furniture or flowers, for example.

Thank you a lot for all these questions! It was really interesting to answer, and it helped me to distract myself from everything, thank you so much, and have a good one :3

[maskednihilism]

@ice-and-lightning || bopped for Madame Brughel Poisson and slightly talked about in dms! || For Gua!

Sometimes, girls just wanna have fun. And that's exactly what Sampo planned to do. With music on blast, body washed down and taped down, he was busy glueing his eyebrows down. In front of a mirror he watched himself slowly change into the party girl who didn't let anyone bring her down. Be it man or a woman, she was here for fun.

But she was a romantic too. The music of choice was a song most would consider too old. For the girl, it wasn't. As trendy as she could be, she could appreciate the classics too. And she did. As she did her eyebrows, she sang along to the song.

“Fill my heart with song, and let me sing for ever more~”

She's so caught up in herself she doesn't notice tiny footsteps coming up the stairs. Creeping up with a cat right behind them.

“You are all I long for, all I worship and adore~♪”

Tiny hands grab at the slightly open door. Pushing it ever more to gaze with big wide eyes. 

Her eyebrows are drawn on with a delicate touch. In the same shade of blue as her natural hair was. Emerald eyes stare at her own beauty. Yet they shift over just a tiny bit as they notice movement.

“In other words, please be true. In other words I love yo—AH!”

The thief jumps back once his eyes meet with a familiar green shade. Through the mirror, he spots him. Little Gua staring at his form, or lack thereof. Quickly he scrambles over, grabbing for the bed sheet to cover himself. Now, Sampo did have some underwear on. But as they were lady ones, he felt the need to cover himself as such.

So the sheet is thrown over and wrapped up around his chest as he now makes his eyes look over at Gua. Face half painted, half not. “G-Gua! What are you doing here?!”

[silver-d-nastja]

Chapter 1142 reaction

[proceed for full-on spoilers]

Aww a snek! A snek that means the end of the world - my favorite type of snek. I’m sorry for the children that Ragnarök has hit them already. But it doesn’t look like this is the real thing. It’s probably Sommers’s doing or a beast from Loki’s level. I hope we get to see the real one from the Harley soon, too! I don’t care if it’s the Red Line or a real serpent. Also would love to see Oda’s take on Nidhogg. And is it just me or does the creature look off somehow? I don’t remember Oda shading creatures this way. This might indicate they’re not real, but I’ll have to go back and check if this actually is special or I didn’t notice before. [edit: checked in some places and it has occurred before but it’s rare. e.g. the Gorosei and some other villains/creatures were shaded normally but the Tobiroppo got a cover page in this style. dunno if there’s a deeper meaning] What the kids say strikes me as weird: “The serpent that’ll end the weak.” Apparently, they’re taught the old mythology, and yet they’re being raised to be weak. Hm. Anyway, I’m glad Oda’s pun works in English, too. Ah, Ange says the snek’s from the Underworld too.

Hilarious design again. This doesn’t seem to be a devil fruit, so I’m guessing he’s from a different race. But is it one that was named before or a new one? Anyway, his hammer is cool. Using a claw hammer as a weapon is smart and based. Yoooo Saul joins in! What a beautiful panel.

Yeah I see. Tusk is a former giant warrior pirate and Saul was a marine, so they fortunately still know how to fight, but fuck dem kids I guess.

Robin and Chopper just chilling in Saul’s hair is so cute I’m gonna explode. No I actually have tears in my eyes T-T and they both look so good! It looks like Saul’s beard is part of Robin’s fit xD

Oh shit, the snek was just a distraction. Looks like Mr. Wolf encountered the God’s knights. No, actually, it looks like this is what happens automatically if you try to interfere with the children’s course. That’s crazy. And Blade sounds Heimdall’s horn. Oh well, and now the others are falling asleep too. I want to know who’s power that is.

Oh hi, Loki! :3 bro didn’t even give them time to follow his request, what a dick. I like that it looks like the lightning didn’t come from the hammer itself but got summoned from the clouds. That goes so hard. (And reminds me of Enel T-T) How much trouble is Luffy gonna get for this? Everything is pointing towards the giants being Nika’s allies at all times, but depending on what Loki does, freeing him might be considered a worse crime than Big Mom’s. Loki, don’t ruin this for my King.

SAVAGE. (I hope everything’s ok at home)

(don’t say it. don’t say it. don’t sa-) PUSSY. Sorry. Couldn’t hold it in. Kid-me would have loved this task so much. Ange is such a sweetie. I really like her. (no I’m not biased ‘cause I’m a linguist)

*used pic from unofficial translation due to better formatting [might fix later]

Yooooooooooooo THIS is how you start Ragnarök. Amazing. And look - there’s a Nidhogg! :3 and his bud the eagle, and Fenrir, and Daugr, and… fake-Loki and fake-Nika! What’s that cute bear doing there? Or is that supposed to be the squirrel Ratatoskr? The ghosts are cute :3 The one on the left is looking dapper with his lil’ hat. The personified storm looks so cursed wtf. I think Zeus will fight it. And WOW

I guess not everything’s okay at home :’) It made me laugh but it’s so sad. Oh, it’s the Kirin’s power! Yeah, should have figured that out sooner. But how real are those projections? Being able to simply conjure everything into existence just because someone dreamt of it sounds very op. In a sense, he seems like an anti-Nika.

Who hurt you? What. He sounds like the guy to hit his wife or slaves and say he’s doing it because he loves them. Did Sommers even participate in the abduction or did he just sit on his ass like a bum? I’m sure we’re gonna see him in action soon enough but right now he looks lazy or superfluous.

details corner:

love the reversed color scheme of the teachers in this panel. this was planned. but I’ll see if it stays similar in the colored version.

kinda love how the flames are colored.

I just need everyone to take a moment and appreciate this entire page and how Oda uses contrast to depict the flash. *had to use the unofficial again

is Killingham’s devil fruit the reason he falls asleep mid-sentence? x)

Loki saying he’s still strong despite the last sea stone cuff confirms he is a devil fruit user himself but it also reminds me of Luffy’s training arc in Wano where he didn’t allow his shackles to hold him back.

speculation corner:

we got an older woman! x) this might for real be a Big Mom teaser

having a Qilin among the nobles, an awakened at that, feels so backward. In mythology, it’s known for being the embodiment of purity, a creature so harmless it doesn’t even bend the plants it stands on, and who announces the arrival of good leaders. I can’t wait to see what Oda is cooking with this. Will he be a contradiction, representing how even the purest creature isn’t safe from corruption, or is there good in him? There’s a legend tied to the Qilin announcing the birth of Confucius. It described him as “a king without a throne” and, I gotta say, sounds like Luffy. Maybe it’s supposed to say that we’re nearing the end of the story, or that Luffy will be recognized as their savior by the rest of the world. More questions: Will Killingham’s powers only stop if you beat him or will someone find another cool way? What happens if HE falls asleep? Could someone like Luffy come here and negate it with Haki? Will this lead to a great Usopp-moment as with Perona and Sugar?

nightmare-Loki plus nightmare-Nika/Luffy makes me think they both will have to prove those depictions are false or are going to fight their mirror image before their eyes.

by the way, where is Colon? He’s suspiciously nowhere to be seen. We last saw him accompanying the straw hats to the party, then he disappeared. It’s possible he went after Ripley and will befriend Franky next, but, since he was introduced as a troublemaker, my guess is that he snuck off to follow Luffy. It surely is convenient that he skips school, so he won’t be kidnapped unless he tries to play the hero there.

If Loki combines both Loki and Thor in one character, his role in the battle for Elbaf might be fighting another Jörmungandr, or he’s going to be the one who destroys the Red Line and unites the oceans. Dorry and Brogy said the (presumably) is the only thing they can’t destroy with their combo attack, so everyone assumes Luffy will do it for them. But now with Loki in the picture, it makes more sense to give him this task as a stand-in for Thor. He’s much bigger than them, so his attack (maybe combined with someone) might do the trick. Perhaps that’s what the gigantic sword in Elbaf is for. Thor dies from the snake’s poison right after his victory, but Oda doesn’t follow other stories beat by beat, so Loki would probably just survive ‘cause it’s One Piece, or he’s saved by Chopper. By the way, the lightning Loki summoned overlaps with the sword. Hm, hm, curious. (imagine its main purpose is to be a lightning rod)

another small thing I wanna mention: this scene looks like from the Harley BUT there the lightning comes from the ship that resembles the Ark Maxim. I don’t know if this is supposed to be misleading, because I highly doubt this is what just happened (yeah I’m holding my Enel-pilled brain back rn), but when I entertained the possibility of that ship being Uranus and Loki controlling Uranus, I had dismiss that too because Ragnir’s power looks laughable compared to what we got to see from the Mother Flame for example. I don’t just wanna say “maybe it’s inaccurate because it’s just from a child’s imagination”, while possible, that’d be boring to think about. Instead, I propose that it represents several things in one picture: at least Loki starting Ragnarök and Enel coming down with the ark, and maybe ALSO Uranus.

I think Ragnarök can go two ways. In the literal sense that everything goes to shit for real, Elbaf burns down, and they have to evacuate the island, and the giants won’t have a home until the new world order sets in. Or in a metaphorical sense that it only represents the beginning of the end for the rest of the story but with a typical One Piece happy ending where Elbaf is saved. I think there are enough ways in which Elbaf can be saved if that’s Oda’s intention. The holy knights will be a pain in the ass to deal with and hurt many people, but there are probably ways to counter or negate their powers. That’s where Usopp comes in. Facing his greatest fears is what he does for a living, so Killingham’s shenanigans might not affect him. (Robin and Brook overcame a similar situation in Wano so I doubt we’re going to explore the straw hats regarding this power. Maybe the monster trio but they’re busy elsewhere(I think all of their nightmares involve dead friends btw)) And I think seeing how Usopp handles the situation would inspire the people around him, like on Elbaf, and they’ll come up with a plan. This would make Usopp the hero of Elbaf like in his dreams. Metaphorically, by realizing his dream, he would defeat the nightmare world. But I think the kids will play a major role in his success. Since the projections are born from their minds, they might be able to affect them if waking up isn’t enough. The Harley proposed children’s imagination as a major theme for Elbaf, and Oda like putting a kid into an arc who ends up helping the straw hats. This could be a Bonney-moment like on Egghead, though not for one “child of the arc” but a group of children like on Punk Hazard. Speaking of Bonney, imagine how rad it’d be if she transformed into her Nika form and punched nightmare-Nika. I can’t say much about the Loki-problem yet because we still don’t know his motivations and if he’s truly evil, but there are many people who could hold back the fire. Jimbe with his waterbending, Brook’s ice-powers, Nami can let it rain, Vegapunk could have something that helps, the giants and Gaban could chop off branches that have to be sacrificed, etc. As much as I’d like to see the “bad” scenario play out, One Piece has always been about (feel)good endings and saving a country, so I think the other scenario is more likely. Egghead was an exception, but on the other hand, it wasn’t a country or people in the first place. Also, saving Elbaf means we get to see Gaban sooner A- No matter how it ends, what goes down in Elbaf might be a small-scale version of what’s going to happen to the rest of the world. I’ll try to keep track of that.

simp corner:

oh hello good Sir *puts strand of hair behind ear*

Break next week!

Okay, seems like everything is going to shit already. Final Saga, I remember. Damn, I had so little to say during the chapter and too much after. I can’t wait for the Loki flashback. It’ll probably take a while, but I’m so excited about it. And I think it’s funny that Shanks befriended the giants first, protects them like all of his friends, leaves for one minute, and then Luffy comes along and everything goes to shit. Thanks for reading my yappings and wish you a nice day<3

*I wish I'd know a way to scale down images somehow so they're not full-screen every time, but ig I have to live with this *I read the not official release of the chapter first to gather first impressions and have time to think on it, then I reread the official translation and edit if needed. I'm not posting these before the official release to avoid spoilers and mistranslations.

[quibbs126]

May I request a fan kid? If so, I'd like to request a Twizzly Gummy x Parfait.

This is a bit of a long time coming, but here you are, this is Twizzle Blast Cookie

I’ll be honest, for ages I have had no clue what to do for this one, but today I watched the new Helluva Boss episode and have been listening to the song from it, and it basically just gave me a brain blast of inspiration, as I thought this was the perfect fit for the song. I like Twizzle Blast, but I do admit that I was just running with a concept, and maybe didn’t think too much on it

Anyways, so I don’t actually have a basis for her name. I just made up the name Twizzle Blast, because it was kind of like Twizzly Gummy. It’s probably not her real name and just her stage name, but I have no clue what she actually is. As stated before, part of the reason it took so long was because I had no clue how to mix Twizzlers and parfaits. So uh, yeah, she’s just…something

To be honest, she takes a lot of influence from Helluva Boss/Hazbin Hotel characters, though I’d say she’s closest to Queen Bee (or I suppose more accurately, “Cotton Candy”), though not so much in design. She’s supposed to be a pop star, and that was basically the basis for her design. I mostly looked at Parfait, Helluva Boos characters, and some Vocaloid characters for her design

After making those little side hair bits, I was considering giving her a headset instead, but I didn’t go for that. Maybe I’ll put that in on a later date

I don’t think I intended her hair to look the way it does, with it supposed to originally be more white like Parfait’s with those Twizzlers mixed in. I don’t think it looks necessarily bad though, but I do think she looks a bit meaner than she’s supposed to be. Also, that’s her natural hair color

Edit: actually, I’m considering that it’s not exactly her natural hair color. Like, originally her pink was a lighter shade and maybe no stripes. And probably not as sharp. But still, her hair’s relatively similar to her natural one

Anyways, so let’s get into Twizzle herself

So like I said, she’s a pop star, like Parfait. Though again, she’s more like the characters from Helluva Boss in terms of the sort of setting she sings in, with a lot of neon lights and probably poles she spins around. She’s not as raunchy as them though, she’s still relatively family friendly. I imagine she performs in the future setting Twizzly’s from

But one notable trait is that her concerts can tend to be…dangerous. The balls on her belt are bombs that she throws out, and if something disturbs her concert, like monsters breaking in (or possibly the police), she will still keep singing while throwing her explosives to get rid of them. She’s very fond of “music fights”, by which I mean she fights while still singing, sometimes while competing with other bands (she’ll let them retaliate). If she were in the game, she’d definitely be Bomber class

Also she probably has some lightning elements like Twizzly as well, though hers is white. I think I meant to put in the sketches, but I didn’t end up doing that. She does have it though

But despite her extreme nature of performing, she’s generally a nice person, similar to Queen Bee

Uh yeah, I think that’s all I have on her. Hope you enjoy her!