#i got a lot of the details and general shape right on the left one but its a lillll offf anatomy wise and with small details

[synthetic-sonata]

so fun fact abt me. i know how to draw reshiram w/o reference bc i drew it a lot as a kid so.... reshiram with and without reference

( left is without right is with. )

[heavenlymorals]

Details I've noticed about Arthur Morgan Part 2 cuz you guys seem to be devouring the first one 👍🏼 :

- Him and Dutch share the same sense of humor- dry, sarcastic, and usually at another's expense.

- However, both Arthur and Dutch get really annoyed whenever they direct that same humor to eachother.

-When Dutch and Arthur quick draw, they both turn their bodies to make them a smaller target. They are the only ones in the gang that do this in idle animation.

- Arthur's journal is filled with many half done, not fully rendered drawings. Some pages have one small drawing on them and are then skipped over. Other drawings are just shapes and strokes that represent the schema of an animal or person. It's very realistic to an actual sketchbook and not the Pinterest dream sketchbook.

- Arthur, prior to Hosea's death and Micah overturning his position as Dutch's right hand man, is always there whenever a big decision is being there and is asked for feedback too. Arthur isn't just a member of the VDL gang, he's a leader of it too and people seem to forget that.

- Arthur is very emotionally tough and when I mean very, I mean VERY. He doesn't cry when Sean dies, someone he considered like a little brother. He doesn't cry when Lenny dies, someone he probably saw as a son. He doesn't cry when Hosea dies, someone he saw as a father figure. Of course, they were all in high stress situations that could've stopped an emotional reaction, but even later when he can process things, he doesn't cry.

- There is one time in the game where we see Arthur tear up from emotional pain and that is when he speaks to the nun about his life and what he could've had. Still though, he doesn't cry. It says a lot about him.

- In the final journal entry, though, we see a splotch next to the entry on the empty left page that looks like a tear drop. Take that as you will.

- Arthur's hand writing becomes much more spaced out, messy, and words will be scribbled out more often the sicker he gets. Shakey hands.

- He's very witty and quick with insults, like fascinatingly quick.

- He is pretty intelligent but does allow others to dumb him down like Hosea- as the gang's strongman, this could be so the people they work with would put more emphasis on Arthur's strength so he can be more intimidating.

- The picture that Jack gives Arthur has the male figure wearing a black gambler hat like Arthur and John didn't wear a hat in chapter two. Jack probably saw Arthur as his father figure during that point, not John.

- Does want Jack to learn responsibility ("About time you started to earn your keep" "You got to stick at things, Jack") , but he's very kind, patient, and reasonable considering how young the kid was.

- He doesn't let women carry their luggage if he can do it for them (Mary, the nun)

- He's casually mean or teasing to the younger men and generally polite to the women but he will go off on them in the same way if they anger him enough.

- I wish he was a real person

- I'd like to drink a beer with him

- For I love him ❤️

[c0sm1c-c01nc1dence]

Red

✧ Pairing: Hunter x human!reader ✧

✧ Content/warnings: Soulmate AU, takes place during season 3, use of the word ‘damn’ once, the title is bland and I’m sorry, Hunter and the reader are both dorks, first post on here!! ✧

The “rules” for soulmates, as it were, were pretty straightforward. You see everything in the color of your soulmates eyes. Once you make eye contact with them you can see in full, proper colors. Seems simple enough, doesn’t it? Well, not for you, it wasn’t.

You, for the past sixteen or so years of your life, had been seeing nothing but red. Different shades, thank god, but red nonetheless. And to be frank, you were getting pretty damn fed up with it. The thing is that no one naturally has red eyes. And you would know; you’ve googled it maybe a thousand times already.

So you were fairly certain you didn’t have a soulmate, and this was all some cruel joke from the universe. But life marches on, so there’s no time to dwell on that, is there?

───── ───── ───── ─────

Another day at Gravesfield’s high school, bland as ever. At least until you caught a glance at your friend Luz. Rather, former friend. She’d been acting weird ever since she came back from that ‘reality check’ camp. And not standard Luz weird, no— she’d been avoiding you since then. Acting like she didn’t know you at all whenever you approached her, not to mention her sudden lack of interest in anything she used to like. The Good Witch Azura books, most notably.

So, needless to say, you were a bit surprised at her new look. Curly hair, a new scar over her eyebrow, and a general air of seasonal depression about her. Even though your recent interactions hadn’t gone so smoothly, you couldn’t help but ask. You were still allowed to care about her.

“Luz?” You called out from down the school hallway. She turned her head in your direction, and you could practically see the stars in her eyes when she saw you. She ran towards you, almost tackling you in a hug. Stumbling backwards, you hesitantly returned the gesture. “Good to see you too?” You awkwardly pat her back, unsure of what to do at the moment.

“Y/N, I am so glad to see you! Oh, you have no idea how much I’ve missed you.” She backed away and wiped a small tear from her eye.

“We saw each other yesterday, though?” You chuckled, still perplexed by this whole situation. “Seriously, what’s going on? You’re kinda acting like you just came back from war right now.” Her face fell slightly, but her smile quickly returned.

“Meet me at my house once school’s done, ok? I have… a lot to tell you.” You nodded, and watched her just walk away casually after that interaction.

“Cool. Good talk, I guess?”

───── ───── ───── ─────

“So, if I’m following,” You began, now in the Noceda family’s living room. “You didn’t go to summer camp, but instead spent several months in a fantasy world, and the Luz I’ve been interacting with is actually a shape-shifting basilisk.” You pointed to Vee, who nodded shyly. “And in this fantasy world you became a witch, made a bunch of new friends, and got a girlfriend.” You left out the details involving Belos and the Collector, deciding that you didn’t need to recap whatever nonsense was going on there.

“Yeah, actually. You’re handling this surprisingly well.” Luz noted.

“I think I’m still in shock, to be honest.” You laugh a bit in disbelief. You couldn’t begin to comprehend what she’d been through during those months, and you kind of didn’t want to. “So, more importantly, do I get to meet these new people?” You questioned, and her face brightened.

“Of course! They’re upstairs, so let me go get them and I’ll be right back.” You waited downstairs with Vee, exchanging basic small talk. She apologized for the whole ‘impersonating one of your few friends’ thing, which was nice of her. Eventually Luz came back, new friends and girlfriend following behind her.

“Alright! Everyone this is Y/N.” You gave a polite wave, quickly scanning over the group. “Y/N, this is Willow, Gus, Amity, and Hunter.” You got a proper look at all of them as she said their names, your eyes landing on the blond last. Wait a minute, blond?!

As it would turn out, when you made eye contact with Hunter you could suddenly see a lot more colors. He clearly noticed this as well, as a light blush was present on his cheeks and ears. You could feel some heat rise to your own face as well.

“Y/N, is everything okay?” Luz asked, noticing your stunned silence.

“I, uh…” you stumbled over your words like an idiot, still staring at him. Saving what little dignity you had left, your phone dinged from your pocket. Checking the notification, you gave an awkward smile and held it up to the group. “Oh! You know what, that’s my dad. He probably wants me home for dinner!” You put your phone back in your pocket, and began approaching the door. “I’ll see you guys later, okay, bye!”

You got the words out as quickly as you could, and bolted as soon as the door was open. You ran back to your house, face still flushed from embarrassment and being generally flustered, leaving a room full of witches (and one human) awfully confused.

“Hunter, what was that about?” Willow asked, as he still stared at the spot where you once were.

“Um- good question.”

───── ───── ───── ─────

Later that day, Hunter knocked on the door to Luz’s bedroom.

“Come in.” She said idly, distracted by whatever she had been playing on her Switch. He entered her room, hands anxiously fidgeting at his sides. There wasn’t a particularly easy way to say this, so he just bit the bullet.

“So, you know the whole thing with your soulmate, and how you’ll only see in their eye color until you make eye contact?”

“Yeah?” She encouraged, curiosity evident in her tone.

“Well, it’s possible that maybe, perhaps, Y/Nismysoulmate.”

“What?!” She immediately paused her game, and whipped around to face him. “Really?! Tell me everything!” She sat on the ground and patted the spot next to her, encouraging him to sit down. He did so, face red from having to explain the whole ordeal.

“There’s nothing to tell! I used to only see e/c, I looked at them, now I can see every color, and they— I always thought your hair was black, by the way— and they just ran away!” As Luz sat and processed this information, Hunter continued thinking out loud. “Did they not like me or something? Is it because I’m from the Boiling Isles?” He questioned, grabbing the pointed tips of his ears. Cutting his rambling short, Luz spoke up.

“No, I don’t think so. They were always interested in fantasy like I was. Maybe they were just a bit overwhelmed?” She suggested. He sighed.

“I guess that could have been it.” He said, though the anxiety was still clear on his face.

“Hey, how about I try to get them to come over this weekend? You guys can talk about it then.” He nodded, and watched her grab her phone to message you. Titan, he hoped she was right about this.

───── ───── ───── ─────

A few days had gone by since the whole incident with Hunter. You had been avoiding him since then, though you honestly weren’t sure why. If you had to, though, you’d say it was probably out of shock. I mean, you were convinced you didn’t have a soulmate for years. And now this incredibly good-looking boy comes in from another realm, and he’s supposedly perfect for you? It’s absurd!

Though it was also worry. How would a relationship between the two of you even work out? He’d have to go home eventually, and you probably couldn’t come with him. Maybe he wouldn’t even like you after the way you left the other day, and he’d reject you before you even had a chance. That’d put a quick and easy end to all this.

You’d been really sick of the color red these past couple days. You usually were, but now it was for an entirely different reason.

Though you couldn’t avoid your problems forever, despite your best efforts. Luz had invited you over for a board game night to celebrate the two of you reuniting. And, well… who were you to say no?

───── ───── ───── ─────

The day finally came, and it had been going relatively well so far. No one else seemed to know what had happened or why you left that first time you came over. Though you and Hunter had been carefully dancing around each other the whole time. It seemed neither of you were equipped to talk about your feelings at the moment. But were you really ever?

Eventually you saw him slip out the front door. With a sigh, you decided to finally face the problem. No use in stalling any more than you already have. After telling Luz that you were going outside for a moment, you stepped out and saw Hunter sitting on the steps leading to the front door. He turned around at the noise, and immediately turned back the other way when he saw it was you. Wordlessly, you sat down next to him. After a moment, he finally broke the silence.

“You look really nice.” You glanced at him, and saw the pink dusting his face. You smiled at the way his blush would spill out onto his ears.

“Thanks, but I’m not really wearing anything special.”

“I know,” He continued, finally meeting your eyes. “I just mean, like- you look nice. You’re really cute.”

“Oh.” You said, quite simply, now blushing a bit as well. You looked at the ground beneath you, pondering how exactly to go about this. “So, this whole ‘soulmate’ thing, huh?”

“Yeah.” Was all he managed. His hands toyed with his pants, still a bit nervous about this whole ordeal. Unable to find the words he wanted, Hunter just looked out at the surrounding neighborhood for a bit. Eventually, though, he said the one thing that was on his mind at the moment. “So… what do we do now?”

“Well, if I may suggest something scandalous?” His blush deepened at your words, but quickly faded as he watched you intertwine your hand with his own.

“Wow, and we’re not even married yet.” He joked. You put your free hand up defensively.

“I know, I know! What can I say, I like to live on the edge.” He laughed, and you silently basked in the sound. You set your eyes on the sky above you, a handful of stars already visible in the late evening’s light. Maybe red isn’t half bad after all.

[ihavetoomanyocsdealwithit]

Stone Heart AU: Scar pt I

As much as Yuu tried, she still ended up in trouble in trouble sometimes. Be it with Ace and Deuce, or just running late from acting as Crowley’s unofficial gopher, it was something. The punishments usually weren't that bad though, sometimes even relaxing.  

Like right now, it was a little bit of a trip down memory lane as she scrubbed the statues down on Main Street. It was odd, having the dreams that she did that painted the Great 7 in shadows instead of light, but it felt...right. Balanced.  

A story about a maid who would be going to a ball was the current dream cycle, though she didn’t get the feeling this one was going to relate to any upcoming overblots. While they didn’t happen as often, she occasionally just dreamt of things like this. While there was a lot to ruminate over, like the stepmother and Professor Trien, right now it was just a catchy little song sung by the fairy stuck in her head.  

“Put it together-” The King of Beasts statue wasn’t in bad shape at least, “and what do you got-” Just had to get the moss out of his eye, “Bippity Boppity Boo!” 

The eye blazed green, cracking open with a clap of thunder!  

Yuu fell, catching herself with her hands. Shit! Did she break it? Damnit, she couldn’t afford- 

Wait. It looked fine. Just a wet statue.  

“Maybe I just need to finish this up.” She muttered. “Lack of sleep must be getting to me.”  

The atmosphere had changed, the tension of a storm about to break open. As she finished the King of Beasts, she clocked her progress and ran, feeling like eyes followed her until she turned the corner.  

Malleus must be in a mood, she thinks, watching the dark clouds forming and the green smoke that seems to be spilling out the fence of Ramshackle. It isn’t the right shade of green though, more muted and not as...saturated? The gate creeks ominously and it doesn’t take her long to notice the figure sitting on the porch of Ramshackle.  

He is hunched over, a shawl tossed over his head that was once bright with color and design, now faded to grays, browns and darker reds like blood. His left eye is as green as the Diasomnia mage crystals, clear and unclouded, and the right faded as the green smoke around him. A gnarled staff is gripped in his hands, a gourd tied to the top with a handful of what might be rib bones along with some sort of dried fruit she thinks.  

This isn’t a harmless man, her instincts can say that much, but...he doesn’t feel like a threat. He could be. He’s choosing not to.  

“How can I help you?” Yuu asks, getting a bit closer. “I don’t think I’ve seen you before. Are you a teacher here?”  

He chuckles, making the pointed beard shake, but it’s not cruel. “I suppose that depends on you. I think you are in need of a teacher. And I am in need of a place to stay.” 

“What do I need to learn?”  

“Magic.”  

“Ha!” Yuu can’t help it, barking a laugh. “You are mistaken. I have no magic of my own.” 

“No, cub, you have magic, just not Wonderland magic. You have the Old magic, older even than General Lilia, the same as I. These teachers cannot help you, but I can.”  

He removes the shawl’s hood from his face, revealing a pair of brown lion ears and a mane that puts Yuu’s hair to shame. Even braided in parts to keep it out of his face, the long black hair stretches all the way down to his curved spine. A tail thumps against the dusty steps,  

“Afterall, you freed me, didn’t you?”  

It takes some explaining, a quick meal shared on her dining room table that feels even more rundown than usual with actual royalty sitting down. Thank the Seven that Grim was asleep beforehand, his new Spelldrive practices tiring him out in the evenings.  

“So, are the others...the same? Petrified?”  

“Yes, though you aren’t ready to free us all just yet. I was an accident, correct?” 

She flinches, nodding. “I mean, I guess? Sometimes I have dreams. Alternate tellings of the stories around here it feels like, or added details? Most of the time they follow an Overblot, but this one just felt like a non-threatening one. I don’t have these as often.”  

“Precognition is a dangerous magic, especially with no guiding tools.” 

“I dont know if-” 

“You dreamt of mine, did you not? Leona Kingscholar? The Phantom still was a part of me, drawn from my form and magic.”  

Yuu blinked, shrugging. “I mean, it didn’t stop it.” 

“No, but you were more prepared. You were willing and ready to accept Leona’s trauma and show compassion because you witnessed me make the exact follies and look at how that ended.” he huffed, taking a sip from his water. 

She hadn’t considered that really. It just felt natural, to show them kindness after all of it. But they were alike. Really alike. And the actions Leona had taken paralleled his perfectly.  

“Do you think if somebody had done so with you, you would have listened?” 

“Oh cub!” He laughed, and this one felt harsher. “I would not have. I was far too hardened. But Leona...he will be better.”  

“Well, I better try and at least get a bed ready for you.” She said, taking both of their dishes. “What do I call you though? King of Beasts is a bit of a mouthful.”  

He tilts his head, as if considering. She gets the dishes loaded and leftovers put away before he finally answers.  

“Taka. My Mother’s Son.” he says. “That’s who I wish to be now.”  

Yuu smiles, sticking out her hand.  

“Nice to meet you, Professor Taka! I look forward to learning from you.”  

For just a moment, he sees Simba, and Nuka and Kovu and Vitani. He sees Shenzi, Banzai and Ed. He sees naive and friendly and believes in him, for as little he has to offer, and still finds him worthy.  

He shakes her hand and hangs his stone heart to air out.  

[xannador]

Thank you!

A big thank you to everyone who got a copy of Mostly (h)Armless! I think that for an obscure little fancomic it did really well! About 30 copies have gone where none can ever take them away again. I've also finally received my own version and I am happy about the quality.

I've now unpublished it but turns out you can never entirely take a book off the store once published. You can't edit it to be something else either. (which is what I had hoped to do, I have a bunch of unpublished original comics lying around). So it's just kinda going to sit there for all eternity, unavailable for sale. I sincerely hope it won't give me problems later on.

Anyway, if anyone is curious about one day printing their own comics, here are a few things I have noticed that I will definitely remember for my future printing endeavors:

Most glow and blending effects like Lighten, Color dodge, Hard Light, Linear dodge (add), etc don't look that nice in print despite looking awesome in digital.

Make your line art thick enough.

soft shading looks bad, cell shading looks good. (But it's better to fully fill shapes with a contrasting color rather than doing fancy lighting.)

Consider shading in black rather than color. (optional)

Details and soft lines are usually lost and a waste of time (Mostly in case of a colored book. Black and white may be different)

Keep panels spaced far enough apart.

Draw big panels. Small panels aren't as nice to look at and the eyes are naturally drawn to the larger panels.

Gradients don't look very nice either. Unless they have a light color.

Vintage comic textures and effects actually looks nicer in print than digital (which surprised me).

In dark scenes, rim lights are essential to make the character pop out. M(h)A would've looked like ass if I hadn't added those.

Stay away from the borders of your page, especially the left and right ones. Not just for the text but for the drawings too.

Keep track of which side of your page will be closest to the spine, keep a distance from that side especially. Because your book will be folded and part of the page will be hidden (the thicker your book, the more will be lost).

fancy panel compositions are cooler in digital...

contrast contrast contrast...

Don't be afraid to use pure black a lot.

Don't be afraid to use white a lot.

The 3D shake effect is also not that cool on print. But looks gorgeous on digital.

To myself… keep the font size consistent…

If text is outside a text bubble, it should have a high contrast stroke

Text should always be high contrast in general.

Motion blur is really cool in digital but not so much on print.

Keep black silhouettes black, avoid adding any kind of subtle glow or texture.

Text bubbles can have color but they should be light (again high contrast) watch out for saturated green or blue or red. Test in greyscale. Contrast should be more than 70%.

Line art should not be colored. Keep it black for print.

Hard borders are better than soft borders. On everything.

white panel borders are better than black panel borders.

But white borders with a black stroke are probably the best (cause more contrast).

Again light colors are better than dark colors. To do dark scenes it might be better to just use black and contrast with a lighter color.

Line art perfection is not that interesting, especially in regards to hard surface shapes like robots. (Might be personal taste though. I enjoyed looking at robots with messier line art more than those where I did perfect brush strokes.)

Beware dark blue and purple...

Compositions and colors of both the left and right page should always fit together. I think I did that pretty well here at least.

If possible make your total amount of comic pages devisable by 4. (so 24 pages total, or 28, or 96, you get the idea) not including the cover and back. Or else add a little extra drawing to fill the remaining pages.

I think that's about everything I can see based on my own print. I'm sure that a fair few of the things that I found looking worse in print than digital could be resolved by just being... better at converting your files. There's the whole CMYK color mode thing but in my personal experience that has been such a pain to work with, and each time my prints looked worse attempting to convert the file rather than had I just left it in RBG and let the printer do the guessing work for me.

So if you're like me and you're hopeless at this technical mumbo jumbo printing stuff, I think just avoiding the things I mentioned while drawing should get you well under way to having a nice print. The most important thing to remember is that digital and physical media are two entirely different beasts and if you are interested in getting your comics printed it's easier to adapt your workflow to that from the start rather than going back and altering. A lot of the mistakes I made here are rookie ones and I should have known better. But it's very easy to get lost in the process once you've started. I hope to improve my next print significantly. Once I can make RBG look good, I might try CMYK again.... Maybe. Potentially. No.

Hope these tips can be of service to somebody. They'll be a useful archive for myself in any case. If anyone wants me to elaborate more on a specific point, I'm happy to explain.

[itsonlybaby]

𐙚ᣟ݂﹒𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 - 𝐣. 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐡𝐲﹒

◜♡﹒﹒𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭﹒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭﹒𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

playlist !

John Murphy - Modern AU

꒰ ୨୧ ꒱ ⸝⸝ in which you and your friends plan on throwing murphy a surprise birthday party, what will happen when the guest of honor is late to his own birthday? ﹒ 　 ⊹ 　⤷ cw: kiss scene, sfw

"What's the theme gonna be?" I ask, excitedly.

Octavia, Bellamy, Clarke, and Lincoln sat next to and across from me in the university lounge. Jasper and Monty were in their respective classes but we'd text them the details after the discussion.

The discussion in question is Murphy's birthday party. Well, it was a secret birthday party.

Murphy hadn't been fond of birthday parties, or secret ones, or anything happy in general. It took a while for him to even come out of his shell around us. His snarky comments always bring a smile to my face.

"I didn't know you needed one for a birthday party," Lincoln stated, Bellamy nodding in agreement while I rolled my eyes.

Lincoln and Bellamy only seemed to be here for Octavia and Clarke, the rest of the friend group besides me didn't really know him- it's not that they didn't care for him perse; it's just he's only with us when we're all together. Nobody really gets to sit down and talk with him one-on-one.

"He doesn't even like parties, let alone surprise parties," Clarke spoke up from beside Bellamy. "Let's just get him a present from all of us and leave it at that."

Clarke has always tried to get the group to do what 'benefits' us most, or at least that's what she says when she gets called out on occasion.

But nobody is perfect.

What she had said struck something in me, we'd always thrown parties for everyone in the group so what made Murphy so different? Just because he isn't as social with everyone? I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw Bellamy agreeing with her.

"C'mon guys, were his friends, why do I have to constantly remind you all of that?" I stood up abruptly, catching everyone's attention and the eyes of passersby.

"She is right, it'll be fun Clarke," Octavia added, if I could count on anyone it'd be Octavia to have my back. I smiled when I saw Clarke's small smile, signaling she agreed. If Clarke was going then Bellamy was too. Same with Lincoln and Octavia. Jasper and Monty wouldn't pass up a good time with friends, Monty could even bring Harper!

"Alright! My place, tomorrow night at 6! Don't forget presents!" I say, a little to enthusiastic. I was already picturing the bright smile on Murphy's face, imagining how happy I'd be making him.

I grabbed my bag from the side of the beanbag and made a B-line to the parking lot after noticing the time. I hoped Murphy wasn't mad at me for being late. Murphy had a car, I didn't, he also had a license, I didn't. So he offered (I pleaded) to take me home after classes since we lived in the same apartment complex. It made things easier, I got to have small talks with him, and he... well he got a friend.

Opening the glass doors I saw Murphy's car, I was surprised he'd waited 40 minutes for me.

Opening the passenger door I tossed my bag behind me into the backseat, it landed on a pile of random clothes- thankfully only his. Murphy's car was decorated in my things, hair ties on the shift gear, lipgloss in the change holder, a car freshener I got him in the shape of a bow, he protested it made him look girly but he never tried to give the things I left back.

"You're lucky I waited." Murphy started the car up. "What were you even doing? I know your schedule so don't try and lie." He finished, pulling out of the parking space. He knows my schedule?

Looking over at him I examined his face, like I do every time I'm in the car with him. It's like I can never get enough like I want his face engraved into my brain. His not-so-slicked-back hair, his dark blue eyes, his prominent nose. The imperfections he saw I didn't. Even with his tough guy act I could tell, there were some things he wished he could change. Though I wouldn't change them for the world.

A cough from Murphy snapped me out of my trance, he must've noticed my staring. I shook my head and brushed a strand of hair out of my face.

"Just talking with the others at the lounge." I tried not to reveal too many details about the conversations prior.

Looking out the window, unable to see the frown on Murphy's face, "Of course, cause who wouldn't wanna spend 40 minutes in a university lounge." The stop light turned green and I felt the car pick up speed.

"You should really try talking to some of them more, and I mean like really talking. Like how we are now!" I say, turning back to look at him, realizing how... sad? he looked. I wished everyone could see what I saw in Murphy.

"Yeah, well, I only talk to them for you, so." His hand turned on the radio once he was finished speaking, the sound of Frank Ocean 'Ivy' filling the car shortly after, soon filling the silence. It was my favorite song that I had introduced him to, and ever since then, it's been his favorite too.

He only talks to them for me? As in he only talks to them for me? or for me? I had wanted to ask more questions but I decided to take the hint and leave the topic alone for now.

The song had started to get to me, "I feel a song coming on!" I say, turning up the radio. Murphy knew what this meant, as it wasn't his first rodeo.

"You better not! I will leave you on this highway!" Empty threats he was spewing.

"I thought that I was dreaming when you said you loved me!" I sang loudly, with no care in the world. Unbeknownst to me, Murphy was admiring me from the driver's seat, how I was so effortlessly beautiful to him. A smile found its way onto his lips, a rare occurrence to most, but a common one with you.

"The start of nothin'..." He grumbled through a smile.

"Had no chance to prepare, I couldn't see you comin'!" We both sang along, his smile growing bigger with every lyric.

It was amazing to see him like this, without his usual frown. His smile was beautiful, and I wish I had the guts to tell him.

Pulling into a parking space near our complex I leaned into the backseat to grab my bag. The sudden dread that the moment before would be cut short. Murphy seemed to feel it too as his smile returned to his normal scowl.

"Murphy?" I look at him before opening the door, catching his attention quickly.

"Yeah?"

"Come over tomorrow, at 6ish. And happy early birthday!" I hoped that didn't reveal too much about the party happening tomorrow. And with that I hopped out of the car and made my way into the complex, leaving Murphy with his thoughts, of me.

I had already gotten his present a week prior, it was a build-a-bear plushie. A big green frog, dressed in an outfit similar to what Murphy wears, but the best part is the voice message when you press his hand. It, well I, say, "yu laik ai raunon" meaning, you are my person, its trigdasleng. Few people know the made-up language, Murphy included. I just hope he likes it. It's also my way of saying, I like you.

It's been 30 minutes past six. Everyone was growing doubt Murphy would even come, but I had faith. I was staring out the window when I overheard Octavia and Lincoln talking.

"Why would you tell him? It's supposed to be a surprise Lincoln." Octavia whispered, crossing her arms in disapproval.

It was obvious now why he didn't show, but if he knew we were all coming why not just make an appearance?

Staring back out the window I saw Murphy's car pull up, joy flowed through me but was slowly dispercing the longer he sat there, unmoving. Why wasn't he getting out?

I made my way to the door with the plushie in hand.

"I'll be back guys," I state, not turning back to get their answers.

"Alright!" Jasper and Monty yell, too busy mixing together concoctions of drinks and making Bellamy taste them.

Coming up to his car I see his head resting on the steering wheel, I knock on the door and I see his eyes peek out to see me, he still made no motion to move.

I sigh and walk to the passenger side door and get in.

"Murphy?" I ask, putting a hand on his shoulder, making him sit up to face me.

"What." He blankly stated. I'd be lying if I said I didn't get a little hurt over his tone, but I pushed on for him.

"What's wrong?"

"Why are you here, y/n?" It was a genuine question, a dumb one, but genuine.

"What do you m-" He cut me off.

"Why are you here, acting like you care." His words stung, but it's now or never.

"I'm here for you, I'm here because I love you, Johnathan." I hadn't meant to say the last part with full confidence, and the look on his face turned into one of shock, the previous emotions long forgotten with my newfound confession.

Moments of silence passed and I took that as a sign to leave, I began opening the door but was stopped by his hand, it sent a chill down my spine.

"Did you mean that?" Murphy questioned, staring into my eyes, looking for any signs of deception or regret.

"I meant every part.." My voice wavered, becoming fully aware of the situation and how vulnerable I felt under his strong gaze and grip.

Before I even knew it his lips were on mine, the kiss was passionate and loving, full of months pent up with love, like it's what our lifelong goal was, to be here, in this car, with each other. No other care in the world.

I pulled away for air and fully examined him, the dusty pink that lined his cheeks, if I could take a picture of this I would.

"I love you too, but what is that?" He asked, pointing to the frog in my lap. I had completely forgotten about his present!

"Its for you!" I excitedly say, shoving the frog practically into his face

Murphy took it into his big hands and examined it all over, with a goofy grin on his face. He discovered the button and pressed it, my voice filling the air for a few seconds. He took a minute to translate the sentence in his head, but when he did he had the biggest smile as he kissed me again, and again, and again...

"Shall we go to the party, birthday boy?" I say in between little kisses.

"We could stay here, in the backseat." He replied, suggestively, I giggled at this

"Don't tempt me."

◜♡﹒﹒𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭﹒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭﹒𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

[ratwithhands]

1 - Diantha security detail comic

2 + 3 - Emmet's UDF uniform vs Kalosian Guard uniform

4 - Lore/Background comic

Hooo boy ok so this idea has been simmering on the backburner for a while now. So Legends Z-A had its trailer released a few days back and I figured I'd make something around it. I know logically it's going to be a game set in the past but I found myself wanting to work on something more futuristic/sci-fi which is why we have our little Cyber Emmet here.

There's a lot of different things to mention so I'm just gonna break them down by the images.

1:

Diantha is attending a conference/ceremony where she will be discussing the plans for the urbanization of Kalos with the assistance of neighbouring tech giant and long time trade partner Unova. As a sign of goodwill, the Unovan Defense Force sent several people to either work as security or to help organize and prepare the ceremony. Among the list of people is Emmet, who was recently "working with" the UDF, and who is going to serve as Diantha's bodyguard for the event

Emmet's uniform was made by a mix of Unovan and Kalosian designers. It's meant to mimic the shapes while still keeping aspects of his Unovan uniform (mainly the collar, cuffs, and silver trim). He is carrying a handgun from his UDF uniform, however due to the public nature of the event, he is using his charge pistol instead of his wired pistol. He's also using a different face shield, using a silver one as opposed to his black one, since it better matches the uniform he's wearing for the event

Diantha's fur coat still has the angel wing shape. This isn't lore relevant I just couldn't fit the full thing onto the panel but it's definitely there

2 + 3:

Emmet uses a wired pistol (left side holster) and a charge pistol (right side holster). Both are standard issue firearms used by the UDF, however charge pistols are more common thanks to them being easy to hold and carry. A wired pistol connects to a battery pack of some kind to fire at a greater speed, whereas a charge pistol will generate its own power but take longer to fire and load. Emmet's wired pistol connects to the battery network that powers his body, allowing him to take advantage of his fast reflexes by using his faster weapon

Emmet doesn't get anything to wear for his Unovan uniform! Part of the contract he signed for his cybernetics states that he can't cover the prostheses unless it could lead to a breach in confidentiality (such as going to a foreign region or appearing in public outside of work reasons) since he's meant to effectively advertise the quality and construction of the body built for him. Of course he refuses to go outside completely naked to fight so the UDF got him a cropped version of his coat and shoes so he can have some more cover

The face shield is meant more for form than function. Technically the only purpose they serve is to cover his face when he's out on patrol, though it can also act as a screen to show him information about what he's seeing (kind of like an AR headset). He could technically get the screen function though cornea implants but he's not doing that + he wants the anonymity provided by the shield

Sections of the body can split open or be removed. The front abdominal panel can do both due to the different processing mechanisms inside needing easy access for repair/maintenance. Limbs can be swapped for different prostheses provided they have a compatible socket

The sockets in Emmet's back can be used to power other weapons/devices if he has a compatible cable. Emmet was given a bag of different attachments and cables to hook into his back so he can power a range of things from phones to laser rifles

He has removable skin. Any shot of him with the black body is the body without skin. In situations where he could possibly have skin showing or he is required to wear something that shows more skin, he'll have material rolled over the sections of his body that will be visible so they look more normal

4:

Emmet got run over by a train ♥ long story short is that he went to rescue a passenger who had fallen off the platform and miscalculated how much time he had before the train pulled in. Once he got stabilized in the hospital afterwards, he only has around 30% of his original body intact, along with some sections they were able to somewhat repair but required new hardware being installed in order to return their function. Anything under the waist and a large portion of his arms were crushed beyond repair and as such, he's been connected to different machine to mimic the functions of his organs

The UDF (in a rather scummy play) contacted Emmet for business, asking him to sign a contract that would ensure he would live by letting them test their confidential new tech on him. He is the only ethical candidate they have for testing such prostheses so to get him to agree, they offer to cover the cost of everything relating to his health and work, as well as paying him a salary for the trouble. Since the only other options are "die slowly" or "lose all self sufficiency and go bankrupt living in hospital", he agrees, and so begins his second job as a living experiment and tool for the UDF

I think that's the most I've written for one post yikes. This isn't even everything but I'll cut it here because my hands are not pleased with me typing.

I still have a lot to think about for this concept, mostly what kind of work Emmet will do while overseas in Kalos and whether something dangerous enough will happen to warrant him using his body for what it was made for. That might be funny, only two settings and they're "I love macarons :)" and bloodshed.

Anyways hope you guys enjoyed this dump, feel free to ask on anything (it helps me write too ^^). See you later and have a nice day!

[maniculum]

Bestiaryposting Results: Dirubael

This entry happens to be pretty clear on what the animal looks like, so there's a strong similarity between the different depictions this week -- the main difference is how each artist interprets what the hell is going on with these horns.

If you're not sure what this is about, you can find an explanation and the rest of the series so far at https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

The entry people are working from this week can be found here:

And if you want to join in for next week, that creature's entry can be found here:

And now, art in chronological order as it was posted:

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) has designed an antelope-like creature that almost passes as normal if you're just scrolling past... and then you look at it properly and see that it has horned eyestalks. That is wild and I love it. (Fencing with those horns must be a challenge since its eyes are also moving around, but I assume it's adapted for that kind of thing.) More commentary to be found in the linked post.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) went more of a rhinocerous direction, resulting in this nifty-looking creature. The thick, sturdy build here plus the tusks probably make this one pretty formidable in a fight even if it didn't have long, mobile horns. Dangerous beast. Also take a moment to admire that background, and consider clicking on the linked post for more details on inspiration & sources. (And thank you for providing alt text.)

@pomrania (link to post here) has another creative interpretation of what these mobile horns might actually be -- they're actually clusters of quills that can tense up into horn-like structures when the creature needs them. I think that's quite clever, and I really like the choice to show it fencing on the left there.

@ectocs (link to post here) has something that looks kind of like a boar and kind of like an ungulate... I'm getting "dog", too, mostly from the legs, but that might just be because that's the type of quadruped I spend the most time around. Solid Nonspecific Mammal either way. Anyway, the stand-out here is the interpretation of its mobile horns -- they're a set of mantis-like forelimbs, which happen to rest against the sides of its head to give the appearance of horns. I like this interpretation a lot. Check out the linked post for more information, sketches, and (I enjoy this) a recreation of this creature in Spore.

@citrvsdrake (link to post here) has also given us a very solid Nonspecific Mammal that's a kind of of boar / buffalo / horse blend. This one has traditional horns, but the way they are positioned communicates quite clearly that they are mobile. Fairly threatening expression, too, so let's scroll away quickly. (Welcome, Citrvsdrake!)

@wendievergreen (link to post here) notes that their interpretation has ended up going in the direction of "necromantic experiment", which... yeah, it definitely does look like that. We've got a few different animals blended together for the shape of its body, then a boar's skull with some additional spikes for the horns, and a spiky, exposed spine down its back. Honestly, if your necromancers aren't making stuff like this, what are they even doing with their time?

@cheapsweets (link to post here) has joined a general consensus of "boar-like creature with long legs like a horse", which really is a sound interpretation of the text. Traditional horns, and the linked post talks a bit about the difficulty of such an anatomical feature (as well as other things, go check it out). That's a pretty good boar's head, in my opinion. Also impressed by the fact that CheapSweets is doing this with a brush pen.

All right, to the Aberdeen Bestiary:

As I'm sure is completely obvious from this picture, this creature is the Yale.

(Unrelated to the U.S. university as far as I know -- I checked, and the university appears to be named after Iâl in Wales, while the creature's name probably comes from the Hebrew word for "ibex". Though according to Wikipedia, the university does feature some decorative yales in various places, presumably as an obscure pun in a "canting arms" sort of way.)

This is another one of those mythical creatures that didn't quite make it into the modern consciousness -- an ibex that fences with its horns is maybe a bit too low-key to compete with manticores and dragons for attention.

Also, I have to note that I think it's interesting how the medieval artist decided "jaws of a boar" didn't include tusks. The only visual indication I see here is maybe those jowls?

[catsacrossthemultiverse]

I made this sideblog to share my art and then. didn't use it. so im doing that now!!

my friends and I have an ongoing trend of taking games that i'm interested in and fusing our OCs with the cast of characters, trying to make the lore align in a way where both stories get to show through!! I think it's both fun and great for thinking. And I get to draw all my silly critters in situations!!! And new outfits, and behaviors, with new story!! and references to things I like!!!

So.. here's a few of the things I drew!! Current hyperfixation game is In Stars and Time!! We decided to call the AU "In Claws and Time" because most of the characters are silly fluffy critters instead of humans!!! I'll explain a little bit about the characters and why I made the changes I did too :3 SPOILERS FOR IN STARS AND TIME WARNING!!! This includes twohats!! I don't remember exactly which acts have what lore, but just to be safe, if you're avoiding spoilers and haven't played the game all the way through, don't read!!

We've got our Loop design!! They're a little bit less energetic than Loop in the actual game, smoother lines n slightly less exaggeration, because Scribble (who's taking Siffrin's role) has a lot less energy in general. Still keeps the fun sarcasm charm, but with less of an "OMG!! Helloooo~~ Hi Stardust!!" way. More laidback I suppose. Sorry if i'm no good at explaining!! ^^'

Speaking of Scribble, here's the actual design for Scribble themself!! The king would call them Dark one instead of Bright one, because their species has a lot more focus on being darkly colored (I will probably elaborate on that more in the future, but Scribble and a couple of other characters are actually part of an original species I made up, my friends called them the Paradoxes and it stuck!!! I wrapped the Paradoxes into the lore of the Island and stuff, species rules and traits have been edited to mesh with ISaT lore better, and have nicer designs for style purposes. If you're curious about them, please ask!!! I love talking about these guys).

We also have replacements for the Change God!!! The original story with me and my friends' OCs and such had 3 gods. Dune (the little cat in the middle), Umbra (the little dog on the left), and Adair (the little deer on the right)!! They're triplets, and they have a whole bunch of little mythology stories prepared by me and Wyvern (One of my friends) that explain how their world came to be!!! In ICaT, they take the Change God's role, deities that don't really do much, but are still worshipped for being the higher beings, and occasionally giving a little bit of help!! The little symbols on their collars, while in the image don't stay consistent, they'll be changed to be little teardrop shapes, each with different detailing, showing the versatility of even a simple shape like a teardrop. Umbra with a little water drop, Dune with a cut gem, and Adair with a leaf.

We have characters matched up with various characters in ISaT that don't have designs drawn yet too!!

A few matchups we have that haven't been drawn are:

Tiger as Isabeau Windy as Mirabelle Leaverc as Odile Cauli/Cauliflower as Bonnie Creature as The King Phantom as the Head Housemaiden Masquerade as Claude (Mira's roommate) Petunia and Lizard as that one girl and her dog And many more!!!

There's a lot of characters!! And a lot of matchups!!! and even more to be made!!!

We'll also have silly little extra cutscenes, even more lore than there is in the original ISaT!!! To tell people more about our characters. All of this is incredibly self indulgent, it's just for fun!!! Expect a lot of canon divergence from both stories

I don't know if I'll be going anywhere with this, but it's fun to share regardless!!! I just want to get the ideas out there really

[system-architect]

no one tagged me in it but i rlly wanted to do a character tag meme like ive seen ppl on my dash doing so,,, :"") here's the one that's been going around, for plex!

personally obsessed with the fact that his ingame visage is extremely babied boy and then when i draw him it reveals the fact like oh this is a very tired, awkwardly built, angular guy who's nearing 30. ok anyways, stuff below the cut!

-- B A S I C S

Name: Plex (fully titled: Infotechnist Plex)

Nicknames: (none. his handle on various console software is pl3x tho)

Age: 28

Birthday: 63 Scion 1308

Race: Asura

Gender: trans dude of some kind, he/him

Orientation: gay

Profession: he is an Inquest Technician very literally! minus the wiki bit mentioning magic since the stock npc is an ele lmao. ingame he's an engi, but as a character he has no combat skills whatsoever other than basic required training on how to use a firearm (which he hopes to never have to use)

-- P H Y S I C A L A S P E C T S

Hair: white (technically very very platinum blonde, natural)

Eyes: they're technically black with permanent yellow nightshine going on in his pupils. or irises. whatever the yellow dots are. don't worry about it.

Skin: albino (w/ light cream-tan stripe markings)

Tattoos/Scars: he's got a Y-shaped scar across his chest, and a couple of metal ports embedded on the right (viewer's left) side of his chest near his sternum, which have scarring around them

-- F A M I L Y

This section of the report has been obscured from view by the Inquest Legal Bureau at the behest of Redactor Trejj. Please contact your krewe's Overseer to initiate the proper clearance check measures if you believe this was in error. If you do not believe that it was in error, and instead that your ability to access this report whatsoever was unintended, please close the report at your earliest convenience and report to your facility's Inquisitor to be disciplined for reading this far.

-- S K I L L S

Abilities: Adept programmer with an eye for detail, and a photographic memory for numbers/strings of code specifically. Excels at combining complex pieces of information.

Hobbies: Gaming, movies/animations/shows, putting together model kits. Gets in a lot of arguments on programming and golemancy forums.

-- T R A I T S

Most positive generally helpful traits: Hard working (....usually), fast + thorough at things he puts his mind to, prefers to stay out of other people's business, good at keeping secrets, relatively open minded, has a pretty big capacity for empathy (even if he doesn't always show/use it)

Most negative generally unhelpful traits: Has a big mouth/isn't able to suppress his opinions about certain things, picky/fussy/whiny, socially awkward, tends to make interactions tense quickly, deep insecurity that bleeds over into how he acts around others, wants to 'win' things constantly, easily gets an inflated ego from said 'wins' that leads him to bite off more than he can chew after that

-- L I K E S

Colors: black LOL. also yellow (matches him!)

Smells: fresh coffee, cool rain on concrete, lemon, pine, canned air

Textures: leather and suede, soft fabrics (but not 'plush')

Drinks: coffee of course... also novelty flavor energy drinks even though they make his stomach feel like it's caving in on itself every time

-- O T H E R D E T A I L S

Smokes: lord no he'd start coughing on it

Drinks: his alcohol tolerance is about -2 so this is also a no. the man's veins and stomach lining are made of like.. tissue paper

Drugs: what do u think

Been arrested: no.. aside from being in the inquest (Which Is In Itself Literally Not A Crime) he's a fairly law abiding mild-mannered citizen lmfao. i mean he probably torrents things under a vpn but that's very low on the list of concerns for the peacemakers,

[42wv]

Blaidd Cosplay project I worked on during May 2022

Elden Ring was the hype, I wanted to be a good turtle. I originally wanted to get this cosplay ready by Otakuthon 2022, but I never did finish it. I do want to finish this cosplay one day!

Now let ramble about my progress on it! :readmore:

When it comes to video game cosplay, I take the easier route and rip models from the game, then modify them for cosplay. I 3D modelled a few Kamen Rider suits before and all that was a pain in general. For my sanity's sake, I plan to model as little as possible for future cosplays.

Lucky, the in-game model was well made, so I didn't have to make a lot of modifications. I had to separate some pieces, subdivide and give it some volume.

The head was given a lot of holes, so it would be lighter to wear. I had to separate the teeth and the gums because I will paint them individually.

I let my 3D printer work. Meanwhile....

Eyeballs! Molded with moldable plastic pellets. The iris part of the eye hollows inwards for a bit of that 3D look. The whole thing then got covered in 2-part epoxy to fill the cavity and make the eye shiny.

There's usually a few steps involved when it comes to painting. That is priming and then taking your time to paint something with the medium of your choice. Well, I skipped all that and decided to draw on the eye with sharpie and markers. Results were... satisfactory enough.

Time to work on the gummy teethies! I've been saving up for years on an airbrush set and I got really excited to try them for the first time.

FDM 3D prints don't come out perfect usually, so I brushed some XTC-3D (fancier 2-part epoxy) on them, and let it cure first.

With a bit of filler primer and airbrushing magic...

Teeth! Dentists in the Lands Between will make a KILLING if they ever move there.

Pretty happy with the process! I didn't bother to shade the gums because we won't see a lot of that anyway.

Did I ever tell you sewing is my least favorite part of cosplay? My specialty is more on props and armor. This image should've been flipped upside-down!

I tried to sew gloves using a free-to-use pattern I found on the internet (forgot where I got them). First one was too tight, second on was better, but still feel weird to wear. I will get these right one day!!

I bought some FUR! I shopped for a WHOLE hour at the fabric store for the right faux fur, and none of them felt like a match to Blaidd's fur. His fur was darker (than the fur in the picture, left side), with a hint of blue.

I tried to dye the fur a little bit to darken it, but not too much because I didn't want the white part of the fur to turn too dark. I used a dye for synthetic fibers. Right side of the image the the fur after soaking in hot dye solution for a few minutes (still wet)

Results? I there was only a subtle difference between then non-dyed and dyed furs! I either didn't let it bathe in the solution long enough, or I did not put enough dye in the solution.

ANYWAY I decided to just used the furs as is and airbrush the details at the end.

Now for the cloak? I was planning on tying some crochet threads together, then separate the ends with a fur brush, resulting in some fluffy ends the add on to the cape.

However, after re-examining Blaidd's cloak, I'm considering on scrapping this process because I feel like there's better materials to give out the look I want.

After assembling the mouth parts/eyes/nose, adding the lips with black moldable plastic and adding the hinge (to make the mouth movable), it's off to furring the head!

With the help of masking tape and sharpie, I went to pattern the fur. I then cut the appropriate shapes to sew.

I knew I had to cut the fabrics a bit bigger to make things fit and all, so I did that. My mistake? I realized after finishing the snout part, that I've cut the shapes TOO BIG! It did not fit the print!

So that's another thing I have to redo. Sewing is my passion (sarcasm).

This concludes part 1 of my Blaidd cosplay journal. Will there be a part 2? I don't know. It started snowing a few days ago and Winter is generally not a good time for cosplay-making. I'll have to see about this when Spring/Summer comes!

[ezdotjpg]

Comic Paneling Process

to answer a question from @pluviatrix​, here’s a post detailing how I approach paneling!

The unhelpful answer is that it really depends on what kind of scene I’m trying to fit onto a page, because the energy and mood will dictate the kinds of shapes and layouts I gravitate towards. I usually start out with a short script, which for the last two bonus links updates looked like this:

Writing the script helps me visualize what needs to happen and gives me a good idea of how many pages it might take. There’s a few rules of thumb that I use to start:

angled panels = intensity. So do irregular panel shapes, but the more irregular the panels are the harder it is to balance other panels on the page, so that’s something to keep in mind

Lots of small, close together panels = fast-paced action, especially if the panels are angled. Larger, spaced out panels = a slower paced, even maybe a slow motion feel.

5 panels per page is the sweet spot. Sometimes it can be less if a moment is really important and I want to emphasize it, but I try not to have any more than 8, because any more and it starts to get overcrowded.

leave room for text bubbles!!!!!!! they need more room than you think!!!!!!!

Your goal is to lead the eye around. Because I make comics in english, that means that everything should be designed around zig-zagging from left to right, down, left to right. The eye will naturally do that, but helping it out leads to pages that feel smoother. If I’m going to break that form, I have to find a way to force the eye to go where I want it to go. 

That last one is the most important. There’s a few ways you can create this zig-zag: with the text boxes, with the poses, or with the panels themselves. Ideally it would be all 3. So for a basic 5 panel example:

option 1 is less visually clear than option 2, because the first two rows of panels don’t lead your eye smoothly. Generally speaking, whatever you choose for your first row of panels, the second row needs to contrast, unless you’re creating an even grid intentionally. Here’s an example of a page where I break the rules a little, but I make up for it by guiding the eye around:

Once again generally speaking putting two smaller panels next to one taller panel can be somewhat confusing as to which order you should read the panels in, but I tried to mitigate that with making those two small panels a pulled out shot and then a close-up of the same subject. Then, the use of that big text bubble coming from the horn forces the eye up to the top of the taller panel, which then draws ur eye down because of those two silver lizalfos at the bottom. The lizalfos in those two angled panels are posed facing the ways I want to lead the reader’s eye, and so is Beetle. And here are some notes on how I approached this action-heavy page: 

That middle row is all angles with things swinging in and out of frame to suggest quick, sudden movement. That close up of Loft is wedged in the middle like it’s chipping off the next panel, with Loft looking direct into the events of the next panel to communicate that he’s anticipated the Lizalfos’ movements. And to finish off, here’s what this most recent update looked like in sketch:

I start out making the panels themselves first and just treat it like a graphic design problem, trying to make sure it all feels balanced on the page. And then I fill them in and adjust as needed.

 And that’s about all I’ve got! I hope this was helpful lol and if anyone has like specific questions abt stuff feel free to shoot them my way! Of course, everything that I say here has an exception, and there are plenty of instances where you can break these ‘rules’ in service of the story you’re telling. That’s actually my biggest piece of advice- your panels are a part of the story! They’re another tool in ur arsenal to set the mood and feeling, so you should utilize them!

[roobiedo]

Happy Pride Month and (very belated) Solarpunk Aesthetic Week! I wanted to redesign my longtime OCs, so I decided to give them a thematic twist!

Self-indulgent details about their designs under the cut:

⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻

From left to right:

Mia Based on the romantic/cottagecore style, and incorporating aspects of Eastern/Central European folk dresses, such as the Czech kroj. Her vest is made from recycled overalls and excess fabric from her apron. Her natural motif is fungi -- her bow and earrings are amanita mushrooms (if you squint, her skirt looks like one too), and the frills on her collar + sleeves are chanterelles!

Clyde He's a bohemian kinda guy, so I kept his silhouette relaxed and unstructured + harem pants + accessories. The exception is his jacket, a union of 3 different garments made to loosely resemble traditional Indian clothing like the achkan. His natural motif is the sun - hence the warm tones, which is contrasted with splashes of teal, the colour of his aura (its a fictional superpower thing).

Glace His style is more preppy/academia - turtlenecks and sweaters are his type, so I gave him 3! Sewn together in a visible mending-esque style (inspired by tumblr solarpunks and their fashion projects)! His palette is taken from the mlm flag, and there's subtle elements of a Korean hanbok - his collar, sleeve shape, sash and tassel. Rips in his pants are covered by cloud patches (his motif), all dyed to match the aesthetic!

Simmer Her thing is streetwear with a cultural twist - her top combines a bomber jacket and a Chinese qipao/cheongsam. Her detachable sleeves are extended via sewn-on zippers (useful as her powers generate a lot of heat)! Her motif is the phoenix, with patterns on her shirt and collar, hand-decorated using the batik method. Her hair streaks are inspired by stripes on a tiger - Malaysia's national animal.

Axis She's all about the y2k aesthetic, with translucent tights and a hoodie stylishly revamped to form a super crop top + a figure-hugging bodysuit. Her design is inspired by indigenous Andean fashion, such as the Ecuadorian pollera, which her skirt might be repurposed from. Her motif is butterflies, as seen in her earrings, the shape of her bodysuit, and the wing-like curves of her skirt.

Piper Initially wanted a punk-ish vibe for him but he might be a bit too cute now oops! His jacket is a mashup of 3 different pieces, and his jeans are a patchwork of denim. He's got iconic looks from French fashion (beret and scarf), as well as some African designs (the vertical pattern I referenced looked like plant cells, but also like binary code? I thought it was so on theme)! His motif is obviously plants of all types!

⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻

Thank you for checking this out (especially if you got this far)!!! ♡♡♡

[auxiliarydetective]

And now... the second big event! My drawing program says this took me only 12 hours instead of 17 but that's not counting the whole day I spent researching and the hour-long rambles in the Discord server that got me to place 6 on the leaderboard.

Introducing...

Sanctitas Livia! Former Crown Princess of the Bellona Empire!

If you know me, you know I love Antiquity so much that I go to university for it, so eventually, I had to create an OC that was very Roman. Aurelia was the warmup, but Livia is really the most Roman OC I have ever created. And of course she's also a One Piece OC.

Look at that glorious lorica segmentata! The shin guards, the caligae, the lorica manica, the layers beneath that you can't even see!

Join me below the cut for a journey through the drawing progress and into artistic madness.

Alrighty, here we go.

Time for rambles

But we're doing it a little differently this time. Instead of me just telling you my thoughts, I'll take you on the journey I went on to finish this piece and explain my thoughts along the way.

Day 1 - The Research

I really don't have a lot to say here, I just did a lot of research. One of the sources that helped the most for this was this YouTube video here which explains the lorica segmentata (aka your stereotypical legionary armor) in detail and this one where a historian (I believe) messes with talks to a bunch of re-enactors.

At the end of the day, I ended up with this:

The reference images on the left are ones I googled and sadly didn't keep the sources for. The base is this one by Bases-Xs (that I would later edit and slightly frankendoll) and the images on the right are made with HeroForge and the Tiefling Maker, my most beloved picrew.

You can see that, on the left, I've got references for a centurion helmet - yes, centurions had those kinds of headdresses, the ones you usually see are incorrect - the lorica segmentata, various versions of the lorica manica (aka that arm brace thingy) and the complete legionary fit.

With this as a base to work with, I went to bed. The next day would be my birthday and I had invited a fellow historian and artist over to bounce ideas off of because I was dreading how to make the lorica segmentata, which is very square in shape, work on a female body with curves.

But that was an issue for another day.

Day 2 - Fortuna Minervaque me adiuvent.

That Latin sentence means "May Fortuna and Minerva help me" and it's exactly what this day's motto would turn out to be. My historian friend got sick and couldn't come, so I was left to face the armor issue on my own.

And so it begins.

As you can see, I started the drawing process with my sanity fully intact. I didn't just want wings glued to the head, I wanted feathered ears! Kinda like elf ears, pointing upwards, but like if elf ears if they grew feathers, y'know. Eventually, I figured it out.

So, I had one ear. The second one took some experimenting, but I did it. Then, I needed to capture Livia's essence.

Perfect.

A little snack for dinner later...

That little braid was more complicated to draw than you would think. You see, the feathered ears and braid - and face markings that you'll see later - are very important to Livia's species, an original species that I put into the world of One Piece. They don't have a name yet but I'm having a blast with them. Maybe I'll make a post about them one day.

One little crisis and about an hour later, we had a tunic and our first deviation from historical accuracy.

Well, technically, the first deviation would've been the feathered ears and giving this armor to a woman but... y'know.

The thing about the Roman tunica is that it was very wide, in fact it was almost as wide as it was long. All that excess fabric would pile up under the armor and at the armpits - and I didn't want that for Livia. So I decided to give her more tailored sleeves and to tie the tunica beneath the bust and at the waist instead of at the hip and give it less volume in general to avoid the fabric piling up.

You can also see a sneaky new reference at the bottom right there. It's a screenshot from the first video I linked above and would be vital for helping me figure out the armor issue.

What you can see here is a thick scarf around the neck to avoid the armor plates cutting into your throat as well as some generous padding. Like they say in the video, this padding is more experimental history since none of this sort of padding has been preserved. Logically, since organic materials don't usually last as long as, for example, metal does. But padding would be really practical if you're wearing armor since armor is heavy and you don't really want it cutting into you. Your tunic won't do much to protect you there. Also, it smooths out the curves, which is very practical for this very specific situation we're dealing with there.

However, I was still ecstatic about having to figure out the armor.

See, the lorica segmentata is a genius piece of equipment, but it's really only genius for men since it's optimal for a square body type. I had to figure out a way to make it work for Livia without creating critical weak spots and without inviting people to stab her in the boobs.

Generally, having boobs isn't very optimal for armor. You have to find a way to make the armor fit around them, still leave a bit of breathing room, and for goodness' sake don't make boob plates because those are horrible in case of an impact. You generally want a shape that deflects blows and, additionally, I had to deal with the layering of the lorica segmentata without creating a gap where someone could stab her in the tits.

Eventually, I came up with this:

This design is based off the Corbridge A type lorica segmentata, the same one shown in the video that I got the screenshots from. Generally, this type of armor consists of four parts - the two shoulder parts and the two torso parts. You wouldn't usually be able to take it apart like this since those top two plates here would belong to the shoulder parts and would actually be the ones where you link the shoulders to the torso. You can see the hook and eyes just above the bust.

Once you have your two halves - the shoulder and torso pieced together for both left and right - you'd lace them together and buckle them up at the top - which I also drew in here. As you can see, I stopped the armor above the belly button so that Livia would still be able to bend. The two bottom plates also aren't laced, which is something that I copied directly from the authentic historical armor and I assume is for ease of movement while bending and turning.

And this was where I left it for the day. I was exhausted, I had lost all of my braincells on the way, but damn was I proud.

Day 3 - Perserverance is a virtue, right?

Clearly, the events of the last day were still affecting me since I forgot to have breakfast that morning. So, I "fixed it" with an early lunch and got right back to it.

As you can see, I had lots of fun, or rather my drawing program did. The reason why I kept adding more reference images is because the shoulder pieces are actually a lot more complicated than just "Haha lace iron halfpipes together". I had to really get a feel for how they worked before I could get around to drawing them, and the ever-important video came in clutch.

As you can see, there's hinges on the two inner shoulder pieces. There are also hinges at the back, so the two innermost shoulder pieces are actually three plates each. This is for maximum ease of movement. You'd think that this kind of armor would be restrictive, but you can actually raise your arms pretty high with this. Makes sense since the legionaries still had to throw their pila/javelins and fight. You can also see a weak point of the armor here - look at how open those shoulders are! You're not stabbing into flesh when you stab in there, but it's definitely a weak point because you could easily slide between the plates here.

Next in line was the lorica manica aka the arm brace.

This one wasn't really difficult in construction, it just took a lot of perserverance and energy to draw all those little plates. If you remember, I had two references for the lorica manica, one where the foremost plates were on the bottom and one where they were on top. I decided to go for the latter version because the former is just stupid. Go back to look at that reference and tell me you couldn't jsut easily shove a sword in there! So, lower plates on top to leave no room for the sword to go in-between. Also smaller plates for better bending and coverage, and of course they're laced.

You can hardly see it but there's also lacing at the top. The way I imagine it, though I don't know for sure, is that the arm piece would probably be attached to the leather straps holding the shoulder pieces together. That way it stays in place and won't fall off.

And if you're wondering why she only wears one arm brace - the other arm gets a big-ass shield.

Then I got myself some references for the sandals aka caligae, cooked up some shin guards (which would only be worn by officers), added the belt, and...

Yeah, the lineart was done. Here's the bigger image so you can see the insane state of my references:

At this point, I was tired and everything hurt. So, I decided to call it quits for the day.

I wish I could say that this is day 4 but then this happened:

Yeah, I got back to my tablet, fixed some wonky lines and...

I actually finished it. So yeah. Time for some design details.

I forgot her piercings in the lineart so I added them in

Fancy face markings <3

Whether Roman soldiers' tunics were red is actually something I put a lot of research into. It's a common myth and it has some footing but in the end it's not really likely that they were that uniform. Still, I kept the red because Livia is a (former) crown princess and the crown prince/princess's signature color is red

The armor would historically been made of iron but Livia's would most likely be a special kind of steel. The hinges, decorations on her belt, and shin guards are made of brass.

The laurel wreath is part of Livia's personal emblem as well as her empire's crest.

I kinda love how the circular engraving under the first decorative piece on the middle of the shin guard looks like a bird staring at you. It was an accident but I kept it <3

Very important! Foot wraps under the sandals so you don't get blisters.

So yeah, that's it <3

Stay tuned for a special little treat tomorrow

Taglist: @starcrossedjedis @oneirataxia-girl @daughter-of-melpomene @bravelittleflower @box-of-bats - let me know if you’d like to be added or removed!

One Piece Taglist: @supermarine-silvally

[bosskie]

Evolution of Molluck

This post is dedicated to analysing changes Molluck has gone thru and how he became the Glukkon he is now. I just felt like gathering my thoughts and observations related to him since they are pretty much scattered around right now, and I haven't even mentioned them all, but I also wanna write about them in more detail... So, let's talk about this endearing Gentlegluk!

This is a huge post, as you can assume, since I could just keep talking about Molluck... So, I also just share my thought about Molluck 'n' stuff related to him in general. I also discovered new things while working on this post... Man, Molluck is so fascinating...

I hope that my 'unnecessary expertise' on him can give you something:

------------------------------

Table of Contents

Appearance

RuptureFarms 'n' Essence

Anatomy

Voice

Personality

Other

------------------------------

Appearance

Despite of the redesign, Molluck has kept his certain recognizable features: His trusty cigar, glowing eye(s), sharp pinstripe suit, and similar shoes.

His facial features have remained quite similar too:

But there are still lots of changes which can also make him unrecognizable.

His colours have changed significantly. He has now pale skin and dark gray suit instead of his previous darker brown-ish skin and purple suit with a red shirt (or whatever that is). His eyes are red instead of yellowish orange, and he has better/more teeth now. In general, his features have become more refined and delicate. But I would also like to say that it's interesting how 'human-like' his current teeth seem now. It makes me wonder if Glukkons eat also something else than mere meat since their teeth look clearly like omnivore teeth now. Mudokons instead seem to have herbivore teeth. I just really have been wondering what does Molluck eat... Other than some luxury meat stuff I mean.

His suit has also a different shape now. OWI probably wanted to make it describe better his business trait, since "Molluck was inspired by [Lorne's] encounters with smiling, ruthless Wall Street brokers and NYC's gangster-business types who thrived in moral gray zones" (Lorne Lanning on X | 15.8.2024). Everything can be business! "Don't take it personally when he sells your guts for fertilizer - it's only business", said the manual of Abe's Oddysee about Molluck. But Glukkons got more personalized suits 'n' looks since Abe's Exoddus, so it could also relate to storytelling OWI wanted to do for Abe's Oddysee because all the Gluks in AO look very similar. (But it might also be just due to limited time and budget.)

Before I continue about Molluck's suit, I wanna point out that not only did his suit change from the early Soulstorm concept, his head is also a bit different in the final version. His final head looks once more more refined and delicate. It seems that his eyes might even be a bit bigger than they were in that concept art piece.

It's really interesting that OWI changed the side of his suit clip. The early Soulstorm concept had the same side as the previous Mollucks, which is also the same side as men's clothing has. But he isn't the only Gluk in Soulstorm whose suit fastening side on the left: Morguer also has his buttons on the left. The other two have their buttons on the right, as you could assume. I have been wondering if it really means something, that is it like a sign of something... I have only made a joke that it tells you about the Gluk's preference, which means 'a win' in my case... But I really wonder why the side of their suit fastening differs... I just don't feel like it was changed just because "it looked better". But the design of Molluck's suit clip was also changed to the final version since the earlier Soulstorm concept seems quite similar to the previous versions.

But his medal in Soulstorm also got more refined shape later on. It's surprisingly difficult to find online good versions of those concept art pieces with his medal visible, and even odder is that one earlier medal concept piece ended up to both 'Oddworld: Abe's Origins' and 'Oddworld: Soulstorm - the Art of the Videogame' books... I would have assumed the artbook to have the newest one but nope. But, at least there you can find a good quality version of that. But his 'neckthing' has changed earlier too. It seems that the earliest version was like a necklace and then it was changed into a collar-like necklace. His current 'neckthing' is like a bolo tie which is more related to his career than those previous Magog Cartel necklaces. His current bolo tie doesn't really have less authority though since it's an award for his success: a gold medal of Stockgluk Guild which denotes his position as a keeper of livestock.

In NnT, Molluck did lose his suit pocket he had in AO, but he got something better in return in Soulstorm: It seems that those 'arm holes' of his suit were a later addition. It has been confirmed that those holes do exist that the Glukkons can now use their hands, well, as hands. Too bad that we don't see that 'hand action' in Soulstorm. But I'm still glad to see that Glukkons ain't anymore as helpless as they used to be. Though yeah, they do are still quite limited physically, but Molluck has been proven to be deadly even with such limitations. Don't mess with him!

Related to anatomical things: In Abe's Oddysee, you could clearly see Molluck's elbows thru his suit, which was changed in New 'n' Tasty. Therefore, Molluck's backside in Soulstorm is similar to one in NnT. Frankly, I have been wondering what OWI thought when those elbows were visible... I cannot personally watch that opening cutscene 'normally' after I noticed that detail because they look like odd buttocks to me... I just laugh like everytime I see that cutscene because of that. (Though, I do laugh at it in all the cutscene in AO in general, but yeah... Meat grinder would probably call me if that Molluck knew it. (Y)) I wonder if the other creatures in Oddworld thought the same before it was changed... Yeah, using the finest silk ain't always the best option for a suit.

Soulstorm Molluck model is a reworked New 'n' Tasty model and it can be noticed for instance from some details. For example, Soulstorm Molluck has some of the same pimples as the NnT one:

I personally like those lil pimples he still has! But he certainly looks better having them less than previously.

I feel like these photos show some other similarities and changes too, obvious stuff that I don't need to explain. But I assume that Soulstorm Molluck has still the same body as the NnT one since in the Soulstorm artbook his bare shoulders can be seen and there seems to be no change. (There was obviously no need to do changes since we don't see him naked in Soulstorm... A pity.)

Hot or Not According to OWI

Originally, Molluck was described to have "boyish good look" and "charm", but in Soulstorm, he is described to be "uglier than before" with his lost eye and broken "disgusting teeth", making him seem scarier too. So, original Molluck had better looks according to OWI.

From boyish good looks 'n' charm to ugly 'n' scary. (Y) These are subjective opinions though, but the way OWI presents his looks has changed. But OWI has called Glukkons the ugliest species in Oddworld during the release of Soulstorm anyway, so he is kinda just another ugly Glukkon according to OWI. He is still kinda unique compared to the other Glukkons since he is the only one with glowing eye(s).

So, it's basically up to you if Molluck is still "attractive by Glukkon standards" since OWI seems to have changed the way they talk about Molluck's looks. (If you ask me, Molluck is my whole beauty standard!)

Oh, and yeah, I almost forgot that Lorne has called Soulstorm Molluck a "crazy-looking smart monster" in this video. So yeah, that's how Lorne sees Molluck. (Y) He doesn't seem to talk about him in a positive way there anyway, but it's totally understandable, I see the narrative. But I still see him in a different way... So, the message got corrupted on its way to my brain or something. (Just joking. I love that 'crazy' Gluk!) Also, I have said this earlier, but it seems that Lorne has forgotten or doesn't realize that Molluck does have one stereotypical feature that is related to highly intelligent characters: large head. Molluck has the biggest head/brain of all the Glukkons in Soulstorm and I bet that it's not a coincidence.

RuptureFarms 'n' Essence

Originally, RuptureFarms seems to have had burgers as one of its products. These are some logo designs and RuptureFarms marketing tactics:

Glukkon Burgers, I'm lovin' it. (Y) What. These are just quite interesting concepts... They make it seem like those burgers are made from Glukkons, not that they were made by Glukkons, in general at least... Frankly, I would still be interest in tasting some Glukkon meat, even they are my favourite Oddworld species... (I still eat octopuses even they are my favourite creatures on Earth, so it's the same... I eat them with love! It's quite rare meat here though.) Those logo designs also kinda evoke a question if Glukkons practice any cannibalism... Just wondering.

I wonder if the Munch's Oddysee PlayStation 2 tech demo has a reference to this. The part where the Sligs march with a looming hamburger on the background just reminds me of this.

There also happened another kind of development but between Abe's Oddysee and New 'n' Tasty: RuptureFarms is cleaner and lighter now.

Man, it's long since I touched NnT... I still feel like I cannot really stand playing it but I wanted to take some screenshot to show the difference. And this comes from a person who played all the main Oddworld games for the first time in the same year. I personally feel like Molluck is somewhat ruined in NnT, has less personality and soul than in AO, but I appreciate the model though. (Y) But more about this later.

But I have been joking that RuptureFarms is cleaner now because there are 299 Mudokons instead of 99! Molluck figured out how many Mudokons it takes to clean up the Farm. (Y) But I gotta say that I really prefer this bloodier and darker Farm. I'm really glad that Molluck got back to more like his original self in Soulstorm where he basically embraces butcher theme. Just look at his blimp:

There he is, with a meat cleaver 'n' hook! There's even like a circular saw on the background, which reminds me of the limited edition cover of New 'n' Tasty though... But it doesn't still remove the fact that NnT Molluck seems softer than AO Molluck, no matter how pitch shifted his voice is there. My point was just that Soulstorm Molluck feels more similar to AO Molluck than NnT Molluck. SS Molluck and AO Molluck feel like the same character while NnT Molluck just feels like something is off...

When I look at these, that SS Molluck and AO Molluck have the same energy and expression while that NnT Molluck more like just looks at the Slig without frowning like the other Mollucks, but his mouth's expression is also different. (Molluck is so cute also when he looks angry!) So, I tend to think that SS Molluck's personality is more like from AO Molluck, but his appearance is derived from NnT Molluck. More about the personality change later on.

Though yeah, I also gotta mention that RuptureFarms brand is slightly different in Soulstorm, which can be seen from Molluck's blimp:

I think that the interesting thing here is why "brand" is well, "brand"... Is this the same Molluck who knows that his products are disgusting? I mean, in Abe's Oddysee, he knows it:

I hope that you can see what I see, that AO Molluck and SS Molluck are surprisingly similar. (That text was removed in NnT. A pity... I love that text!)

Anatomy

After getting into meat here, let's look at Molluck's meat, I mean, his anatomy, since it has gone thru some changes too:

How much moolah I need to get that sculpture, even just to rent it... There ain't any radical changes here but they are still interesting, at least for me. That early concept art Molluck also got an interesting tattoo there.

In the early concept art, his body is shorter and his pectoral muscles seem more like ribs. In Abe's Oddysee, his body seems to be longer and he seems more muscular in general. In New 'n' Tasty, Molluck's body looks, yet again, longer but also more refined, which makes his body parts more distinct; earlier his pectoral muscles and ribs seemed to be like smashed together. NnT model also seem to have less muscular arms than AO one. His hands have also gone thru some slight changes, but my own personal favourite is that hand on the top right and I use that as my reference for my Molluck stuff. (Those hands are just like the most beautiful hands, okay... I love those long sharp nails too...) Oh, and yeah, his single toe nails have some lil changes too, mainly related to its size though. (I prefer that NnT model one here.) So, yeah, when it comes to my Molluck anatomy, I have mixed my favourite stuff but also done my own refinement. But my basis is also that NnT model, like it's for the Soulstorm model too.

I have seen that people mainly laugh at Molluck's body, or if they do shipping, like self-ship stuff, they alter his body to have 'human-like' body proportions, or at least change 'that one fact'... Yes, I do laugh at Molluck's elbow ass in AO, but he is clothed there and I wouldn't laugh at his bare body. I personally love his body as it is, and I feel like I would even like it much less if it had more 'normal' proportions. Yeah, I might have an odd taste, but his body is just, uh... exquisite, the whole Gluk is! Like, I only find his lil legs as dainty and beautiful. I just prefer his body just as it is here, without any additions to his anatomy, you know, I don't miss that thing. One person on the official Oddworld Discord served did a great image of that though; I love that. (Y) But yeah, frankly, he doesn't need it. (That Gluk just makes me go crazy... I cannot hide it; I only want him... No one else has made me feel like he does... OWI, can I marry Molluck? I wanna give him all my love... I only just wish that he could still enjoy making love, since it's about love for me, and I only wish him to feel good.)

I love that little big Molluck! His 'odd' body proportions are a part of him and I feel like he would lose a part of himself if they were altered significantly. It's also one reason why he is so adorable to me... Oh, and I'm not here to judge anyone, just sharing my observations and thoughts. Just like your Molluck stuff like you want! But frankly, I feel like I like/love/prefer Molluck in a different way than the others in general... I have just seen no one like me... Maybe they are just silent but still.

Voice

Even Lorne Lanning has always been Molluck's voice actor, his voice is different in each game. But the most interesting example of this is New 'n' Tasty:

In cutscenes, Molluck has quite pitch shifted voice which makes him feel more soulless and having less personality. He doesn't even do his lovely murmur 'n' 'giggling anymore in the opening cutscene when Abe introduces him, just some generic growling... I just love that AO Molluck's giggling. (Y) But what's the interesting thing here is that the emergency boardroom meeting announcements given by a Glukkon sound mainly very close to Soulstorm Molluck...

I recorded those announcements from the game and there are some Sligs screaming stuff on the background due to that... But you can hear the stuff still. When I tried to record these, the first two came only once while the other two multiple times, so some of them are rarer than others. I have been able to catch four unique announcements by a Glukkon, and I hope that I have them all...

The first one is the most interesting one, and I don't think that I have even heard it before... But those first three ones really sound like Soulstorm Molluck in my opinion... That fourth one actually reminds me of Dripik but I still wanted to include it here.

I'm not totally sure if those all are made by Molluck, but my point is that that Glukkon voice sounds like Soulstorm Molluck! Why the odd he couldn't have that voice in NnT cutscenes... He has just way too much pitch shift there... In Soulstorm, I'm only glad that they gave him some pitch shift! That earlier a bit higher Molluck voice just makes me laugh... It just doesn't sound good enough. So yeah, I dig that final Molluck voice, love actually. (Y) You can still hear the 'unnatural' pitch shift though, especially when he breathes, but it's alright.

I gotta say that while recording those announcements, I started to think this question: Did Molluck use the Glukkon executives as 'a meat shield' since he didn't come to the meeting? I mean, Molluck did probably understand/know how dangerous Abe could be, so he made a plan where he tricked Abe to use his power to the executives and after that ordered the Sligs to capture Abe. This really makes sense to me... Yeah, he probably tried to use the other Gluks to save his ass, but the Mudokons' 'supernatural powers' ruined it all. It really sounds like him; he is described to be cruel, a ruthless back-stabber after all. Also yeah, Molluck knowing about Abe's powers could explain all the security orbs around the Farm that prevent Abe from chanting...

And if that's the case, the first announcement is certainly by Molluck! See, he asks all the executive Gluks to report to the boardroom, and then the Slig asks if he is also coming to the meeting. He certainly doesn't wanna answer the truth, because it would make the other Gluks doubtful. So, if I hear right, he answers the Slig "Shut your piehole!", because the Slig is about to ruin his plan. Man, I only now started to think about this more... I have never even seen anyone talking about this. But welp, I'm probably 'the biggest Molluck enthusiast on Earth'... Someone gotta take care of Molluck too! But before I completely change the topic, I wanna say that the second announcement gotta be Molluck too because it sounds exactly like the first one. I'm not sure about the third one, but it does sound like him still.

Therefore, I gotta give some props for NnT for helping me to discover this Molluck's plan I have ignored all this time... Man, why it feels like NnT Molluck has more personality in that one announcement than in any NnT cutscene... Like, that's the actual Molluck for me! I'm glad that I finally found him in NnT too. (Y)

I don't feel like it's necessary to put any direct voice comparison stuff here since well... I'm mainly just pointing out interesting stuff here and you can do that comparison by yourself if you wish. So, um, yeah, I'm just like a guide here.

Personality

I have said earlier that New 'n' Tasty Molluck seems 'softer' than Abe's Oddysee Molluck, but I cannot still deny that NnT Molluck feels more like some 'generic evil Gluk' and it's mainly due to his too low pitch shift voice... But otherwise NnT Molluck seems 'softer' than AO Molluck, and with softer I mean like less cruel or something.

One example of this is the ending cutscene. In Abe's Oddysee, Molluck says "Kill 'im!" when he orders the Slig to pull the lever, while in New 'n' Tasty, Molluck says "Get toast!". Why Molluck had to be 'more child-friendly', or how I should describe that change... I like Molluck brutal. (Y) But if you also just compare those two cutscenes, you can see the quality difference here, which really affects my way to see these two Mollucks... NnT doesn't even show how Molluck's clothing gets burned, just changes the camera... AO one just has more details, like look at that smoke that comes out from Molluck's mouth when he shouts too! (That detail is not in NnT either.) It's a pity that we don't have those cutscenes in high quality... Oh, and I did forget to mention earlier that NnT Molluck doesn't laugh with the other Glukkons like AO Molluck does after revealing his Mudokon Pops plan. It's an interesting change... He just seems to be pleased with the Gluks liking his plan.

I feel like I have already explained those differences that much that I'm unsure of how to describe the personality change any better after all... It's just something I see and feel, and therefore, it's not easy to explain. But yeah, I do see that Soulstorm Molluck has a soft side because he just feels friendly... But he still has the same brutal and ruthless side as he has in AO. He do is always ready to throw someone under the bus and cut 'people' (or what the odd you should use in Oddworld...) out from his life, when he doesn't need them. So, I bet that he barely has empathy and is egoistic like Gluks do are in general, but I still feel like that deep inside of him he is also able to love and care... He just needs to be like that in order to survive; it's also how he gained his position. Saying "life is a game" would fit this. His mother doesn't even seem to truly love him, since I bet that she loves him just for him being successful and is ready to abandon him after failing her. Molluck's life is just about working hard and getting rich, living and dreaming of luxury life. He was bred to work for Magog Cartel. I just wish that he could get to feel true love too...

I'm not justifying Molluck's doings, or trying to make him seem innocent, but just trying to paint the bigger picture. He is even afraid of his investors... I just feel bad for him since I see that he could also be kind... This is just how I see him. I just wish that I could hold him tight... Worker Glukkons are basically just 'higher slaves'. Molluck's main priority is to keep his investors and the Cartel happy. But I'm not denying that Molluck probably does actually enjoy being brutal, but it's interesting that he produces products that he sees as disgusting... Does he produce them because his investors wish that? But yeah, the way Lorne descibes those Magog Cartel investors here doesn't sound pleasant indeed... But I really hope that OWI is able to show them like he says there! Frankly though, I'm a bit afraid of the next Oddworld thing since I wish that nothing brutal happens to Molluck... Like, I don't wish to see him die... I bet that you can understand this since he is just so dear to me... But even if it happens, I'm okay with it; it's just his story and I accept it. I can still keep him loved and create an alternative story where Molluck has a happy ending.

Oh, and yeah, Lorne has also explained some stuff about the Glukkons at that annual board meeting, like who they were, which I did ask. You can find the answer here, if you are interested. I'm totally changing the subject here... But like I said, I ended up painting the big picture of Molluck's life here, for whom and with whom he worked. I just wonder the whole Glukkon staff at RuptureFarms since there seems to have been also other Gluks working there... For example, that cancelled Oddworld movie would have contained a Glukkon named Mr. Ryce who was responsible for the security at the Farm. Interestingly, New 'n' Tasty mentions him too... But if you read the script of the movie, you can see Molluck's usual behaviour... He ordered him to be fed to the Wyenas. I wonder if 'Wyenas' are hyena-like creatures in Oddworld. But I'm just really interested to know what like Molluck's life was at the Farm, like even just his average day...

Other

Here's some smaller stuff I feel like mentioning:

Age

Originally, Molluck was described to be 40-something, but Lorne has said Soulstorm Molluck is 50-something, when I asked him how old Molluck is 'n' other stuff like that. I just wanted to be sure about it since frankly, Molluck doesn't seem like 40-something, and he seems to had been close to retiring... Poor Molluck... (I just genuinely feel bad for Molluck, okay.) This is again like something unrelated, but I just wanna say that I have been wondering if smoking is the reason why the average Glukkon lifespan is 65 years... But according to the lifespan, Molluck has lived 80-90 % of his life. Can he be considered old? I personally don't know...

Retirement

Previously, it seems that Molluck's retirement plan was to buy a house in Lake Como after he could afford it, and then leave RuptureFarms behind. But Soulstorm suggests that he actually wants to retire on a luxury air yacht. It's an interesting change, but fits Glukkons in general.

Scarring

I have been wondering if Molluck's scarring is something that's only present in Soulstorm, because 'the previous Molluck' doesn't seem to have any scars after 'the disaster'... Those are only concepts though but still, I would assume him have some scars if he was planned to have them back then.

But I have also been thinking if he got scars just like that to look more evil... I mean, that kind of eye scar seems a somewhat stereotypical villain scar. And his red eye(s) highlight this theme here even more. So yeah, I bet that OWI did aim to make Molluck look intimidating, sinister, and evil. But yeah, like I wrote earlier, this message did 'corrupt' inside my brain, so all I see is just the cutest creature I know! That message's error rate gets just greater the more time passes... I mean, I just keep loving this Gluk more and more. He makes my heart burst...

Oh, and I can say that I do have several nicknames for him... They are mainly just some Finnish nonsense derived from his name though... Möllykkä, Möllyskä, Mällökki, Mälökki, Mällöskä, Mollukka, Molluska, and so on... (If Molluck's name was written in Finnish like its pronounced in English, it would be "Mälök".) Yeah, I love my language's versatility. (Y) I also tend to call him 'Mussukka' which, yes, sounds kinda like his name, but it's also an actual word in Finnish. (Some of those nicknames I mentioned are also actual words in Finnish though.) I love Molluck's name too, by the way!

This whole post is becoming some nonsense at this point... So, better end this post now...

---------------

Thank you for your time and interest! I hope that this post gave you something, was worth reading. I'm always glad to talk about Molluck. And yeah, this seems to be my longest Molluck post so far, at least when it comes to writing... And here ain't even all I could write about him! I just cannot get enough of this Gluk... He just feels like "the one" for me, and I love him with my whole heart... Molluck! <3

Oh, and my goal here is not to make you also love Molluck. I more like just wanna share my thoughts about him, like how I see him and what observations I have made. What I post on my blog is just my narrative. You can think whatever you want about Molluck, even hate him with your whole heart. I'm still always interested to hear how people see him, even if he was hated, I can get it. Love is not about loving only someone's positive sides, so I do also see his negative sides, but he is still just such an adorable entity... I just think that he is a lovable character.

This whole blog was established to spread Molluck love, so I'm just doing my job! And "I love this job", like that one Slig said. (Y) Oh, and it seems that I got a message from Molluck:

I just had to... It's just funny how I can make good enough Molluck impersonation. It's very useful for creating some Molluck stuff. (Y) I still think that he wouldn't shout at me like that, so I only made that for shits and giggles. His way to talk can be harsh though, but he doesn't always mean to be harsh. (Also yeah, I love that grumpy face!)

I still feel like I might have forgotten something, but it's probably the best to continue the talk in other posts...

(All the thing I'm doing for this Gluk who ain't even 'real'... But our brains see no difference between loving a real person and a fictional character, so gotta blame my brain! I mean, sometimes I just laugh at my Molluck thing, even he means the world to me... Man, how many times I have even repeated that I love him? Not enough apparently. I just feel like I love him so much that I cannot even express it... Again, you can think whatever about this, I don't mind; I'm used to be seen as a weirdo. I also got other things in my life and am able to do them successfully, but Molluck is like always on my mind. (Y))

[acciocriativity]

Worth the pain - Part of the Soulmate series

Pairing: soulmate! Harry Potter x soulmate! reader

Genre: hurt/comfort

Warnings: mentions of insecurities, a lot of physical pain and Cedric's death; Umbridge

WC: 4,3 k

Harry Potter Masterlist

Flower Shower - George Weasley - part of the Soulmate series

There was only a single thing Umbridge couldn't taint with her evil reign, and she did not appreciate that one bit.

Our class was full of students with brand-new soulmate marks, with a few yet to complete 15 years and get theirs. Of course, we couldn't talk about it during class as much as every other topic, but the glow, the giddiness, the small smile on the lucky one's face must have been too much for her. It was getting to much for me.

In the middle of our useless lesson, when everyone was quiet reading or pretending to do so, she suddenly stood up and cleared her throat.

"I see that some of you now have your soulmate mark, so I offer you a generous advice", she said with her forced happy smile.

Silence.

I bet not a single soul here believes she has something useful to say.

"I bet she doesn't even have one", I hear a small whisper behind me.

I straightened my back.

There were venom in those words, like she doesn't deserve a soulmate being the evil witch she truly is.

But then, why don't I have one?

I throw that thought under the others, much sadder ones. It was not place nor time for this.

"Something as useless as a soulmate mark should not get in the way of your studies. Your OWLS are coming, and I won't tolerate a poor performance in this class, is that understood?"

Again, silence.

"Good, you may keep with your reading", she said, and started to walk through our tables.

Right after Umbridge passed by my side, a note slid inside my unrolled parchment, and I knew it was from the girl, who was quietly working by my side.

This was one of the few classes I had with her, as a Ravenclaw. Still, we were on the same year, and we have known each other since the first DADA class.

As soon as we got out, she tapped my shoulder and waited by the corridor, where her other fellow Gryffindor friends were waiting.

"What was in the note?", I asked her.

"An invitation", a known voice spoke behind me.

"What kind of invitation?", I turned to speak to him, Harry Potter.

In all honesty, he wasn't as impressive as people made him to be all those years back. His presence wasn't particularly striking nor intimidating. What he did in those few years, that was quite impressive, yes.

As I looked at him at that moment, I concluded again that there was no way he was lying about Cedric. He carried that pain in his eyes, even when he was smiling, like now.

"The details are in there, but if you don't wish to participate, give it back to me at dinner", Hermione whispered to me.

Trouble.

When it wasn't with this trio? The interesting part however, it was the first time I was ever included, and it was intriguing to say the least.

They were unapproachable together, it was easy to just talk to Hermione or even Ron occasionally, but I've never seen Harry alone.

"Alright, I'm going to consider it", I said with a small smile and left them there.

A secret chamber and a secret reunion. I was curious, and I couldn't lie to myself, it was flattering to be included in their group.

Still, the amount of trouble this simple invitation could cause...

When dinner time came, and I didn't give it back, they knew my answer. So when I went to the 7th floor, Hermione was already waiting for me, alone, in the corridor.

"Sign your name here", she gave me a paper and a feather ready to be used.

We trained in pairs that night, one attacking and the other blocking. Sometimes I wasn't fast enough, still, when I laid in bed hours later, I barely felt my arms, legs and feet, the dull pain was numbing.

Did Umbridge do such a good job that I forgot how to make such simple spells? Am I that out of shape?

It was an odd kind of pain, sometimes it was too much I couldn't stand, other times, I could barely feel it, like it was about to disappear any moment.

It wasn't the first time I felt that way, but it was the first time it was that bad.

I thought it would be better soon, if I could just get a good night of sleep... Of course, I couldn't, for days I couldn't.

Is this some sort of sick prank?

I thought about it in the middle of the night. The answer was a headache. That specific spot on the right side of my temple kept me awake.

It reminded me of my birthday, only a few days ago. I also couldn't sleep that day, too excited to receive my soulmate mark. I didn't even notice the sunrise, wide awake and disappointed, because the only thing I received was a dull pain in my wrist.

The letter my mother sent was still between my books. She was so excited to hear about my soulmate mark and my thoughts of who it could be. I didn't dare to send an answer.

Suddenly the room was too heavy for me, too dark and too cold. I needed to get out of there, and so I did.

I tiptoed to the empty Common Room, and I felt like the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw was judging me from across the room. Yeah, she had it worse, didn't even meet her soulmate and her daughter was murdered, everyone knew that. Her story was what everyone wanted to avoid at all costs, and I was getting too close for comfort.

I eyed the main door for a moment. I already broke so many rules tonight, what was the problem in breaking one more just for today? As I saw Rowena's statue one more time, I made up my mind and quietly got out.

It was stupid to stay still in the corridor, but it was what I did for a bit.

Where could I go? The monitors could catch me anywhere, or the nosy paintings could snitch on me anytime.

I got chills as I walked carefully through the cold corridors. The windows were all open, and I was thankful to live so high up for the first time ever since I arrived at Hogwarts, because then I felt something else than self-pity and pure pain.

They warned me tonight, this room just ever appeared to one who truly needed it, and it wasn't wise to search for it, as it wouldn't be there anymore. It changed locations. Still, I couldn't go back to bed and endure the pain alone again. I couldn't. I needed some comfort for once, was that to much too ask?

As I turned left to reach the stairs, a strange woody door appeared in the wall and I held in a squeal. I looked around, my breath the only thing I could listen to. So I got in and the warmth made some tears appear in the corner of my eyes.

It was perfect inside.

The room wasn't big. There was a lit fireplace in the corner and two big red chairs in a safe distance from it. The rest of the room was heavily decorated with brown bookcases, a comfy cream carpet and many paintings in a gold frame. I looked through each of them. Some were families in a bunch of different places, others were mountains and other pretty landscapes, places I didn't even know existed. It was so perfect, it looked like real photographs.

This time, I didn't feel the need to hold in and cried, free and with no shame of myself. It was good, it felt relieving. I could express myself in there and no one would ever know. I didn't feel weak or less than, so I took my time.

It wasn't just the soulmate thing, it wasn't just the hell we had to deal with because of Umbridge, it wasn't just the potential threat of Voldemort, it wasn't just the loneliness. I was every single reason that I felt it was too little to cry about, and I held in, because that's what good kids do.

There wasn't a clock in there, nor a window. How does time even work in this place? I didn't know. I didn't know how much time I spent on the floor. But I got up. And I grabbed a book. And I read. Because that's the only thing that could distract me from the happy family on the walls.

Then, the door cracked open and my heart stopped.

This is it. I was caught. I'll be punished and then expelled and my pa-

There was nothing, like some sort of wind just opened the door. Then I saw the tip of a shoe. Then hands and then Harry.

I didn't say a thing, and neither did he. He looked at me as shocked as I looked at him.

Harry's the first one to move. He closed the door and cleaned his throat, an awkward chuckle leaving his lips.

"Do you mind if I stay? Also, can you not tell anyone about this?", he said in a low tone and raised that cape higher.

I nodded.

"Take a sit, maybe there was an extra chair for a reason", I whispered.

I regretted saying anything. If he didn't notice my puffy eyes, then he realized that I've been crying at that moment.

But he didn't comment anything on it and took up on the offer. As he walked closer, the room started to change slightly. The mainly red, cream and brown decoration faltered to a light blue on the walls and black wood instead of brown. I noticed some of the paintings also changed too.

"Did you know that this could happen?", I asked, still focused on the new paintings.

"No, I also didn't expect anyone else in here today", he whispered back, and I felt his eyes on me.

It took me a moment to understand. He could only get in if he's intentions matched mines, like the secret reunion. Only if he also needed some comfort and didn't have a place to go. He knew, and I knew we weren't okay.

"I'm sorry there's not a lot of entertainment for you, just books", I said with the page I was in still opened in my lap.

"This is enough, you can... keep reading, I wouldn't interrupt you", he said and gestured for me to keep going.

"Sure?"

He hummed.

I thought it would be so awkward. My first instinct in any situation like this would be just leave or make conversation. Still, I didn't do any of those, hoping to just focus on the book at hand. I also couldn't do that.

It was calming to be in this position, just beside him in silence, appreciating the feeling of comfort, as it wasn't easy to have it these days and for him, it must have been impossible since forever. It was almost comforting to know someone felt the same, even if the reasons were different, and not have to explain it.

I still tried to read, even though my mind was running with completely different thoughts.

"Thank you for inviting me", I took the courage to whisper to him.

My eyes were focused on the book, but I could see him finally move in his seat and look at me.

"It must have been a big risk to ask me, since I'm not really close to any of you", I kept going, since he didn't answer me.

I started to feel a bit nervous and self-conscious of my ridiculous pajamas as his eyes were focused on me.

"You were only one of the few who believed it", he said, and looked over to the fireplace again.

He didn't explain, and it wasn't needed.

"They believed, at least the majority of people I've seen, but they were too scared to admit that to themselves", I let it slip without thinking, and I caught his eyes again.

I've seen how much he suffered with this, and I've been meaning to say that for many months now, but never got the chance.

I saw a small smile on his lips. "Thanks, it's good to hear that I'm not the crazy one for once".

"But being honest, I don't understand how you are not crazy yet, I respect you for not going completely insane at this point", I said, and he chuckled.

I never felt that good in my life. It was the type of laughter that made his eyes so little it almost disappear, and I felt my heart melt at the sight.

He relaxed more after this, and we talked about more happy topics, and we laughed for I don't know how long. Time could stop and circle forever, but that wouldn't be possible.

But we had to leave when he suddenly remembered he had to go back, so he could wake up Ron, or he would be late for class. Not because he had to sleep, or he would be in trouble if he was the one late, no, because he had this habit of waking Ron up every day.

"That's sweet, you are very sweet Harry", I said and he was clearly caught off guard.

He looked down to the cape and maybe was the fire, but I saw a tint of red on his cheeks.

"I can drop you off if you want", he said when he was already by the door, cape on his shoulder.

I couldn't stop staring at his half invisible body. I didn't comment anything before, but it was so intriguing how that was even possible or how he had it in the first place.

"I don't want to bother", I said and smiled.

It's quite crazy how we went from acquaintances that would only nod to each other to friends that would stop to talk. Some hours and a hard situation really brings people together.

"You wouldn't, I promise", he said, and gave one side of the cape to me.

It was nerve racking to walk so slow and quiet to make sure we wouldn't be caught. Or maybe it was the fact he was so close to me all of a sudden. Or the little whispers he would say from time to time close to my ear. Whatever it was, I was glad it ended, because I couldn't take it anymore.

He left me in front of the door, waved and left, as promised. So why the fuck did I get so sad?

I felt heartbroken as I went to my room, like that comfort was ripped away, even though I was fine when we left. I wasn't the type to dwell on negative feelings, still, I couldn't just let it go. It was like a piece of my heart stayed behind with him.

This is because you didn't find your soulmate yet. This is just loneliness. This is going to pass.

It was what I repeated myself to sleep that night.

First thing in the morning, I wake up feeling hands shaking me.

"Oh my, are you okay? You scared me", a voice said beside me, and I struggled to open my eyes.

"Wha-"

"You started to scream out of nowhere", my roommate huffed and took a step back, helping me get up. "I didn't know you had nightmares."

"I don't, I don't eve-"

I stopped myself. The sunlight was intense through the curtains, which meant...

"What time is it?", I got up, and it took me some seconds to realize I didn't feel any pain, like the other times too.

She was already dressed up, I noticed next. The other girls were already out as I took in my surroundings.

The lack of sleep was affecting me more than I thought.

I didn't wait for an answer and ran to get my uniform and straight to the bathroom.

I spent the whole day waiting for the pain to return, and then the next one, and the one after that. It was unsettling. I knew it was bound to happen again at some point. I barely enjoyed the changes in my new-made friendships, since I now became a bit closer to Hermione and Ron too, as we spent more time talking in-between classes.

But besides that, I still had those weird intense emotions to figure it out. For everytime I felt heartbroken when Harry was away from me, I felt complete when he was near.

But why? Why now? Why suddenly?

Like now, he wasn't in the Gryffindor Common Room and I felt scared, lonely and... defeated?

"Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?", Hermione's voice brought me back to reality.

She held my arm with care and pulled me away to an emptier and quieter part of the Common Room.

"I do not want to be indelicate, but you're the only one I'm yet to ask, and you do n—"

"You can just ask, I won't take offend, Hermione", I whispered, but it was enough to cut her rambling.

She took a deep breath and leaned in.

"Have you had a different experience with your soulmate mark, like, something uncommon or unheard of?", she analyzed my face while speaking.

"Did you?"

I was hopeful, I couldn't deny it.

Maybe it was that I didn't have a soulmate then, maybe it was an error? Errors can happen, right?

"A friend of mine, the soulmate mark didn't appear, but I can't find anything in any book about it", she leaned back and huffed. "You know, everyone has one, even if a soulmate dies before the other, it appears, so it has to be-"

She was talking to herself more than talking to me at this point. It could almost see her brain working overtime.

"So, what happened to your soulmate mark?", she changed the topic so fast it caught me off guard.

"I don't have one, apparently, the only thing I earned after my birthday was pain."

"What do you mean, pain? Like back pain? Haven't you went to see Mrs. Pomfrey? She'd know how to help you", she patted my arm. "Let's go, I want to see you beat Ron on Wizard Chess."

"I'm not that sure anymore, it's going to be a hard game", I said as we walked back to the sofas.

"It's nice to see that my fame speaks for itself, but I wish you the best of luck", Ron said to me as the board was set.

"It's too early to brag, the results may be surprising", I said as I smiled after taking my seat.

I was indeed a hard game since the start. I lost track of my surroundings a good while ago, the only thing in my head was the next 5 moves Ron could possibly be planning.

Then it hit me. The burning pain on my wrist.

I took a deep breath to conceal the screaming I almost let out. I felt tears flooding my eyes.

"Hey, what happened? I know it is a har—"

"Shut it, Ron."

I heard them, but I couldn't move. My back straight and my head low. I clenched my hands, both hands.

"Hey, is this the pain you talked about?", Hermione kneeled in front of me, her hands on my knees. "Come on, help me carry her to the Hospital Wing."

I couldn't focus on what was going on. It was different this time, it was so much more intense, and I was sure it had to be on my skin this time. It wasn't just a ghost pain anymore.

They helped me stand up, and then it was too much. My legs couldn't hold me up and my eyes were too heavy.

I heard them before I could see them.

"... her?", it was Ron's voice.

"We'll wait for you in the Common Room", Hermione said, and I heard their steps walk away.

The door closed.

I opened my eyes and blinked twice, slowly. The curtains were around the bed, and it was too dark to see anything.

Then I heard his steps closer, it had to be him. My heart pick up the pace, it was a common thing these past few days.

I saw the light on the tip of his wand first and his face later. I expected at least a smile, but his expression was so stoic.

"What's wrong?", I whispered, my throat too dry to speak louder. "What happened?"

I tried to find his eyes, but he wasn't looking at me, so I got up with some effort and gave him some space to seat on the bed with me, but he kept standing by the side of the bed.

"Harry, what wa-"

"I'm sorry", he cut me off.

He took my hand and lift my sleeve, I couldn't see it clearly, but there was a fading scar there. Still, that was the last thing on my mind when his hand was touching me so tenderly.

He caressed the fading scar, his touch light on my skin, as if he was scared to hurt me.

"It doesn't hurt."

It was true. I only felt tingles on my wrist, the pain has been washed away somehow, like it always does.

"They said you fainted."

"It's not you-"

"It is, it's my fault", he released my hand and lift his own sleeve.

The letters were hard to read for me at that moment, but it was clear what it was and, specially, who had caused it.

My heart dropped. It was pretty bad, no, it was worse than that. There was a bit of dry blood on some of the letters.

"Still stings too much?", I held his hand without thinking twice, but I didn't dare to touch it.

"Hermione made me have a healing potion this time", I heard a smile while he spoke, but I didn't look it up to him.

"Have you heard of a connection like this before?", I held his hand tighter.

I wouldn't dare to call a soulmate mark or something like that yet, nonetheless, if it was one, what a fucking cruel soulmate mark to have.

"Hermione found some information about it, but we didn't think it was the case, because you never made me feel pain", he said, and his hands were loose around mine, but he didn't try to let go yet.

"I know what are you thinking, Harry. It's not your fault that's our soulmate mark and I don't blame you"

He said nothing.

I knew it wasn't enough for him to change his mind and he would keep blaming himself the rest of the night at best. But not on my watch.

I held him in my arms. My head against his chest and arms around his waist. He stood still for a while, his breathing uneven, until he was hugging me back.

It wasn't the ideal position, but it was perfect at the moment, and we stayed like that for a good while.

I thought the Room of Requirement was comforting, and it was because it reminded me of him, without me even realizing that. I felt like I arrived at a home I've never known. He fit right, like he was supposed to be in this position, with me, right now.

The door suddenly cracked open. The light revealing Mrs. Pomfrey. He moved away from me and I caught a glimpse of red on his cheeks.

"Potter, go to your Common Room", she said, and her firm voice echoed through the empty walls.

"Meet me later at the Gryffindor Common Room, please?", he whispered, his eyes were shining and I could never say no.

I nodded, and he left, fast enough to not get scolded even more.

"Mrs. Pomfrey, may I ask a question?", I asked as she came to evaluate me.

"What is it, child?"

"What do you know about felling pain as a soulmate mark? Someone must have been through it before."

"Someone did, a student. It was painful for her, a Quidditch player was her soulmate, poor girl was always here with him, side by side", she looked over at some beds to the right, as if she could envision them there.

I took a deep breath.

So I have the chosen one, the trouble magnet one and the Quidditch player as my soulmate, all at once.

"But that's a common misconception", she said, and that caught my attention again. "Can you turn your wrist?", she kept going with the little evaluation, and I only nodded. "She didn't feel only pain, but every single emotion her soulmate also felt after finding him."

"Every emotion? But I've never..."

"You are alright, go to your room and rest for the rest of the night", she cut me off, and I left as soon as possible.

I couldn't possibly feel everything, could I? So how do I now if it's my emotion or his?

I started to get anxious as I got closer and closer to the Gryffindor Common Room.

So that's me or him? Why would he be anxious to see me?

As soon as I got to the corridor, I felt a big rush of excitement, anxiety and... worry? But I wasn't worried, no. I just wanted to go up there and hug Harry until he barely could breathe.

So that's it? That's how it feels?

I remember how sometimes my emotions got out of hand these past few days. I was so worried, so confused, which I was, but maybe, we both were.

Does he know how much I care about him then?

As I was about to give the new passcode to the Fat Lady, the door opened and a second later, two arms held me in a big hug.

"I couldn't wait", he whispered, and I got goosebumps.

"Do you feel my love for you?", I whispered back, my face hidden on his shoulder.

He's silent for a moment, and I'm not sure if he even heard it.

"It's the best feeling in the world", his arms held me tighter, and I could feel some tears dropping on my clothes.

"Every single time in pain was worth it because now I get to hold you, don't blame yourself, never, understand? ", I said, and pecked his left cheek.

I didn't comment on my wet shirt, nor on his teary eyes after he released me. The only thing that mattered for me that night and for the rest of them, was to remind Harry Potter he was worthy.