#i realized i have free will and ms paint

[hauntedsidebl0g]

i was bored

[cosmos-fudge]

idk if this makes sense tbh :,]

click so anything in it is legible T_T

under the cut is a version with just the less hard to read text

[ratspider]

i hate that thing i do where i prioritize drawing/painting/sculpture above like every other form of art. like if i fill a sketchbook that's more of an accomplishment than this cool hat i made. maybe the equivalent to that is crafting an entire outfit down to making the pattern myself. or filling a box with Stuff I Sewed. idk, i think drawing is just valued so so so much online and i watch all those sketchbook tours and i'm like Wow! these people are so motivated and these sketchbooks are so cool and filled with personality and just. so dense with creativity and I Wish I Could Do That but i already do. i just don't do the 'one sketchbook a month' thing. i have The Yearning but not the drive to draw that much and i need to just value what i'm already doing that's easy for me to do right now.

[thilsiktonix]

your art is lowkey so cute and id love to see edgar and p03 together in your artstyle (if you want to of course ^_^)

ok so by. the time I realized I was going a bit too crazy on what I said would be an "ms paint doodle", I was already in too deep... ;;;;

when I first saw the ask it was 3 hours old, now it's 6 hours, I can't believe I spent 3 hours on MS paint xDD

anyways I still hope you enjoy :3c !!!! I had a bit too much fun on this one

p.s., I'm probably going to only draw solo - Edgar requests from here on. you're still totally free to send in whatever Edgar-related requests you have but I'll probably just do smaller stuff for the rest of these :)

[tennessoui]

please please tell us how Obi-Wan finds out he has a "campaign manager" 🙏

im SO glad you asked currently the plan is that one of the doors anakin knocks on is either quinlan vos or satine kryze and so when anakin is like do you care about local politics/do you know who obi-wan kenobi is and would you vote for him in the upcoming election, they're like 'boy, do i know who obi-wan kenobi is'

and they're like 'wait i didn't realize obi-wan was hiring for his campaign re-election?' and anakin is like 'wait people get paid for this shit? i've been doing it for free'

and they're like 'wait. you've been canvassing for obi-wan kenobi?'

and anakin is like (lying) 'yeah im getting into politics for my university class here's my flyer of information as to why you should vote for obi-wan kenobi'

and its clearly made in ms paint and features a picture of a sweaty obi-wan kenobi post hot yoga class that is just him in sweaty leggings and a thin shirt looking very handsome and then him during a council debate looking even more handsome with his sleeves rolled up and glasses on and hair dishevelled and quinlan or satine is like....'wait are you the reason obi-wan has been recognized in the grocery store three times in the last week???'

and anakin is like maybe idk i guess?

and they're like stay right here actually i need to. make a call.

and they have a call and then obi-wan either comes tearing into the house or his campaign sends anakin an email requesting his presence at the city council's office where obi-wan gives him a please cease and desist order

and anakin says no absolutely not and then the feud begins

and yes, obi-wan has been asked to autograph the flyer anakin made with the hot yoga pictures. anakin prints 100 more.

[stanchett]

Hi, don’t mind me, I’m just here, on my knees, quietly begging for chapter 3 of Nervous...

And here it is, just for you anon!! I hope you enjoy it :)

HUGE shoutout to my new pals @zephyr-is-tired and @pro-weems-places for editing this chapter as well as the last!! Thank you so so much <3

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 AO3 link

Nervous, Chapter 3

2.2k+ words

Bolting from Larissa’s office, you power-walked until you reached the courtyard of the school, your only company a handful of students with a free period who were chatting away at the fountain. You lowered yourself from shaky legs onto a bench, dropping your head into your hands with a sigh. “This woman will be the death of me,” you whispered to yourself, cheeks heating beneath your palms. 

“Hey Ms. Y/L/N… Are you okay?” The gentle voice came from one of your students, the frightened young girl, Margo, you remembered, from yesterday. Your head popped up in surprise, a gentle smile easing over your features. She sat down across from you, placing her things on the table.

“Oh yes, I’m alright. Just a little stressed about the day is all. Nothing to worry yourself with,” you revealed simply, dismissing any concern with a wave of your hand. You were certainly stressed, but weren’t ready to share why with anyone, particularly not a student. 

“Alright, I just thought I’d ask. By the way, do you have a sec? I wanted to ask you something.” She looked down with a frown; it seemed she had a lot on her mind as well. “Do you think I could see you after class a little later? I had some trouble on our last exam and was wondering if we could go over it together. I know I mix up a lot of dates. They all sort of blend together for me.” She let out an anxious laugh at her own words, rubbing the back of her neck. You felt bad for her, but you were more eager to help. 

“Of course, you can always come to me with any questions you have. You’ll have to excuse me though, I’m a bit scatter-brained today. Let me find a spot to write it down-” You cut yourself off, realizing you almost mirrored the words Larissa had spoken earlier, and shuffled through your bag to find your day planner and take note of your upcoming meeting. 

When you failed to find it, you emptied the contents of your bag onto the table before you. Several books cascaded from the canvas tote, none of them the one you were in search of. “That’s weird, I must’ve left it at home…” You almost felt lost without the small book. You were so used to planning everything out on its pages. You settled for inputting a reminder on your phone, hoping that would do the trick.

“Alright Margo, I’ll see you after class!” You were thrilled to have your first opportunity to help one of your students, pride swelling in your chest. The young girl hopped up from her spot across from you, a look of relief painting her expression. 

“Thank you SO much Ms. Y/L/N, I really appreciate it!!” 

She jogged back over to rejoin her friends in conversation, leaving you alone with your thoughts once more. You checked your watch and groaned internally upon realizing you still had an hour and a half before your class began. Scooping your books and papers back into your bag, you got up to head to your classroom, grateful it would be empty this early. Your head felt much clearer now given the fresh air, and you walked leisurely down the halls of the prestigious school. 

—-------

Back in her office, Larissa typed away at her laptop, the seemingly endless stream of emails starting to grate on her last nerve. Deciding to take a break, she shut its screen, standing from her desk with a short stretch, raising her arms above her head. She strode to the window, placing her hands on her hips in thought whilst gazing out into the distance. She wondered how long it would take you to notice that something so vital to your day-to-day life was missing from your possession. Taking a step back toward her desk, she picked up the small book, running a hand over its smooth cover. She wasn’t normally the nosy type, but occasionally her curiosity got the better of her. Especially when it came to someone as intriguing as you. She found your nervousness in her presence adorable, and could only imagine the look on your face upon finding out she had read the contents of something so personal.

She opened the cover carefully, as though the book would fall apart in her fingers. Flipping through its filled pages, she admired your handwriting, surprisingly delicate for someone who was so clumsy. She came to a halt on the layout for the present week, reading all of your little notes before coming to rest on today’s date. Scrawled in perfect cursive was Larissa’s own name with a small heart in punctuation, ‘8am sharp’ in parentheses beside it. The principal smiled to herself, shutting the book and placing it in the top drawer of her desk, satisfied with what she had found inside. With that, Larissa sat at her desk once again, now excitedly typing out a short email to send your way.

—-------

You were just wrapping up your first class of the day when you felt your phone vibrate in your pocket. After quickly noting the homework assignment on the whiteboard, you capped your marker and headed toward your desk, your students’ chattering rising in volume as the bell rang out. You pulled your phone from your pocket, rolling your eyes at the red “1” notification hanging above your email app. 

Cracking open your laptop, you opened a browser window to view its contents. Your heart skipped a beat, your eyes reading over the message’s sender a few times before being interrupted by someone clearing their throat at your desk. It was Margo. You had almost completely forgotten about meeting with her to discuss her exam results. 

“Ms. Y/L/N? If you’re busy I can come back later…” Your head snapped up at her words. You briefly shook it  in reply. 

“No that’s alright, let’s begin!” came your response, refusing to let her believe you were anything but eager to address her work. 

You leafed through the exams in a folder on your desk, a handful of them still ungraded to be returned at the start of the next class. Pulling hers from the stack, you shut the folder and placed it on top. A defeated sigh sounded next to you. 

“I got a C? But I studied the textbook for days beforehand…” Her sagging shoulders broke your heart. You wanted to do everything you could to help her. Just then, an idea struck you. You reached behind your desk and grabbed a plain sheet of printer paper and a pen sitting nearby. 

“I’ll show you what used to help me memorize all the names and dates. Think of this like a study guide.” You drew a horizontal line across the width of the paper, making small vertical marks evenly across it to form a timeline. Copying the dates from Margo’s test before you, you put them all down in numerical order. “Fill out the names, study it that way, and I’ll allow you to retake the exam in a few days. Sometimes the visualization helps in absorbing the information.” 

Margo smiled from ear to ear, “Really Ms. Y/L/N? You’ll let me give it another shot?” You nodded reassuringly in response. “Thank you so much! I know I’ll do better this time!” She snatched the sheet and practically skipped out of the room.

You brought your attention back to your computer screen. Holding your breath, you opened Larissa’s message and your eyes grew wide for a moment. You cursed under your breath as you read the message over a few times, hoping beyond hope that this was just another one of your dreams. 

Ms. Y/L/N,

It appears you left something in my office upon departing in such a hurry after our last meeting. If you have the time, please see me before the end of the day to pick it up. And do try to keep better track of your belongings, Darling. 

Regards,

Larissa Weems

You felt a sense of humiliation seep into your bones. You knew she thought you scatter-brained, but now you were sure it was glaringly obvious to her.

Wait a second... Your eyes caught on the last word of her message. 

“Darling.”

Your cheeks tinged pink at the pet name. If you didn’t know better, you would think she was toying with you. Had she caught on to your crush? Panic settled over you. Regardless, you couldn’t face her again today. You had only just processed your meeting that morning. Hands shaking, you typed out a reply against your better judgment. 

Principal Weems,

I’ll have to stop by your office in the morning as this afternoon won’t work for me. Thank you for hanging onto it for me. See you then. 

Sincerely,

Y/N 

You wondered what the item could be, shutting your laptop and sliding it into your bag with the rest of your things. Darling. The word echoed in your mind; you could practically hear it in her voice. You got up to leave for lunch, dreading the confrontation tomorrow morning would bring. 

—-------

You sat alone in the teacher’s lounge, grateful to finally have some relative peace and quiet, aside from the low hum of the refrigerator in the corner of the room or the occasional gurgling of coffee dripping through its percolator. 

Sandwich in hand, you turned to the bookmarked page of your current novel, shifting your thoughts away from Larissa and that damned email. She didn’t respond to your reply, so you hoped it was acceptable to her. 

Darling. 

The word was branded in your brain as if she pressed it in herself with a searing iron stamp. 

You were just delving back into the story when you heard voices outside the door. One of them was unmistakable. Larissa. There was a lull in the conversation for a moment, then both parties erupted in laughter. Even in your short time at the school, you had never heard the principal laugh. It was loud and boisterous; such a contrast from her elegant speaking voice and accompanying demeanor. It made you fall even further for her. Maybe, one day you could be the one to make her laugh. 

Just as the thought crossed your mind, a set of heels clicked against the wood of the floor, and you almost looked around for a place to hide before realizing what a ridiculous notion that was. The door swung open and in walked Larissa, ever the image of confidence and regality. 

You looked up from your book, and given her lack of a reaction to you, you guessed she didn’t notice you were already in the room. Perhaps you could pretend to be invisible and she wouldn’t notice you at all. You did, however, take the opportunity to ogle at her openly, your eyes roving over her body as she walked in the direction of the coffeemaker. 

You watched her long digits take a paper cup from the stack, holding it carefully while she poured the hot beverage into it. You sank your teeth into your bottom lip, eyes falling to her perfect behind and you thanked god for whoever it was that designed the dress she was wearing. 

“If I didn’t know better, I would think you were staring at me.” 

Her words shook you from your trance, thrusting you back into reality as your face turned beet-red. How did she know…?

Larissa stalked toward you, around the large, oval-shaped table, staring you down in return the whole way. Coming to a stop on your left, she noticed the book in your now faintly-trembling hand. 

“And what have we here?” She placed her cup on the table, flattening her palm against its smooth surface as she leaned down to be eye-level with you in your seated position. 

She looked past you though, feigning interest in your choice of reading material. Her face was inches from yours, but you dared not turn your head. You quickly found yourself overwhelmed at the scent of her perfume, its sweet notes invading your nose and making you dizzy. You couldn’t handle her closeness, and feared you might faint right where you sat. 

Taking in the title atop the page, she hummed to herself, a deep yet gentle rumbling in her throat beside your ear. You tried to swallow your nerves but everything she did made it more difficult to seem normal in her presence. 

“The Price of Salt… Quite an enjoyable read, if I do say so myself. Highsmith was certainly an interesting character, wasn’t she?” She turned her gaze to you after posing the question, her eyes holding an innocent expression. 

You chanced meeting them with your own, your gaze accidentally landing on her red lips on their journey upward. You desperately willed back a whimper, practically forcing your throat to close to avoid it. Your faces were only inches apart. 

Realizing it might be seen as rude to not answer her question, you nodded in reply, quickly adding, “Yes, she was. I-I really enjoy her writing,” before Larissa rose from her lowered position beside you. Your eyes followed her upward as she removed her cup from the table and took a step back, smirking in your direction before turning toward the door. 

“Enjoy your break Ms. Y/L/N, I’ll be seeing you!” she said upon leaving the lounge, tossing a short wave with a twirl of her fingers over her shoulder. 

Once the door shut behind her, the book fell from your grasp, and you dropped your head into your crossed arms in front of you with an exasperated sigh. 

What was this woman doing to you?

tags: @alder-saan @enchantressb @larissaoftarthweems @weemssapphic @brienneswife @readingtheentrails @sapphire-moment @idontlikepexple @alienstookourstars

[poppysmc]

Deconstructed: Chapter 7

The painting has driven Morgan crazy these past few days. She can't quite get it. The watercolour is challenging to work with… yet something about the colours, the transparency, the layers, the softness and the brush strokes attracted her. Morgan sighed. It was morning once again, and I barely got a wink of sleep. 

This woman has taken over her thoughts. May it be her dreams and waking moments. Morgan busies herself with tidying up her things. Nothing is worse than a stiff brush; what a waste of money.

Morgan was exhausted. These past few days have been hectic. She had just finished her plates and had been running on 5 mugs of coffee that night. She may or may not have drunk the watercolour water once or twice…again. Tastes strangely of something savoury. It made her stomach churn unpleasantly. 

Morgan takes the quickest shower of her life. It's too early to let Steve lecture her on punctuality. She can only take so much before she explodes. Morgan quickly looks around, smiling softly at her half-finished painting. Oil would be nice, too. Maybe next paycheck.

It was past morning rush in the cafe, and Morgan sulked. Her gaze fixed steadily on the door, hoping the woman would come in again. This time, she would really ask for her name. But she did not come. 

Sam patted her on the back. "I am beginning to think this woman is a figment of your imagination." Sam teased. Morgan's eyes have been fixed on the door for the past few hours. Willing someone to come in.

Morgan lets out a deep sigh, forcing herself to turn away from the door. "It's not that- I… I'm just checking if the lunch hour is over."

Sam smiled at her knowingly. "I know you. You've been talking my ear off about this woman."

Morgan sighed. "I can't believe I didn't get her name."

Sam chuckled.

As soon as her shift ended, Morgan quickly changed out of her uniform and waved to Sam as she exited the coffee shop. She must arrive on time, not when it's free seating. She should get her spot in her Anthro class. 

Morgan frowned at the contents of the letter. Poppy seemed so sad, and Morgan wished she could reach out and comfort her, but the best she could do was write a flimsy letter.

To the mysterious Poppy, keeper of my sketchbook.

Lately, you've been down. I want to know how to cheer you up. How can I help? Sometimes, we cannot help but put ourselves on a pedestal. I cannot pretend to know what you're facing, Poppy. I can only offer my support. I want you to know that someone out here is rooting for you. 

I have barely gotten enough sleep these days. Between school and work, I barely have enough time to complete what has consumed my thoughts for the past few days. That is to say, you also consume my thoughts. Your letters are something I look forward to. 

So… What's your favourite colour? I realize… You've told me a lot, but I do not know the simplest things about you. I hope you don't mind. 

PS I attached a drawing of my cat to cheer you up. I do miss him despite him being a spawn of hell.

- Morgan

Morgan attached a quick drawing of her cat, the orange devil, back on the farm. She folds the letter over and slips it inside the desk compartment. It's such a pity that the weekend has ended, and now she has to focus in class. No time at all this week to focus on the drawing she's making. 

Morgan stood up after class and approached her professor. "Hey, Ms Kingsley. Do you know who sits on my desk in your other classes? Poppy?"

Kingsley looked at her. "I don't have a Poppy in my class. Not that I remember." Kingsley smiled apologetically.

Morgan chuckled at Poppy's audacity, using a fake name. But she'd let her. After all, this is an innocent letter exchange. It was fun having someone to talk to. Someone who cannot judge her at first sight.

She found herself looking forward to Anthro class. Early as can be sitting in her seat, just to swipe her hand under the desk and light up at Poppy's letter. Morgan hoped no one noticed how she smiled when she read the letter.

Morgan shakes her head. Shaking off the thoughts of the woman on the other side of the letters. What was she like? 

Dearest Artist, Morgan,

There is a hole in my heart that could never be filled. I'm sorry to burden you with my personal feelings. But as such… are the burdens of an only child. Just your letters are enough to brighten up my day… So thank you for not being tired of me yet.

Colour… What an interesting question. You could have asked about anything, but you chose this super hard one, heh. 

I couldn't live without pink. I can imagine you rolling your eyes at the girliness of the colour, but it calms me. It reminds me of sunsets when the sky is coloured pink and blue. Always reminds me of good times when I was free to play under the sun.

Your cat is adorable. I cannot accept that this angelic-looking creature would be equated to a devil you so warmly call it. Thank you, though; it made me smile. I love animals as well… I used to dream of owning my own shelter one day. This is what I hope won't be an unrealized passion of mine. I am determined to make it come true.

It's only fair to ask you a question as well. What's your favourite song?

Poppy

Morgan smiled when she got the letter. Morgan smoothed over the paper and put it in her bag. Morgan couldn't help but conjure an image of who this Poppy is. Morgan is sure she isn't like the spoiled and arrogant kids in Belvoire well as much as she's seen.

Ms Kingsley's research was fascinating. A hierarchy in school is a recipe for disaster, but. She digress. She hoped Poppy was unlike the entitled kids in Belvoir. She seemed kind.

Dearest Poppy,

I am sorry to hear that… I wish in whatever capacity I can bridge the gap in your heart. I, too, have grown fond of our exchanges. I hope you don't get tired of me. Your letters have become an integral part of my day. Dare I say the most exciting part of it. You can always tell me anything that burdens you. People say I'm a good listener. Well… reader in your case.

I won't judge your favourite colour! You got me wrong on that one. It's nice that you love the sunset. I myself am a lover of the sunrise. I love the blues in the sky as it grows brighter. I am ashamed to say that I stare at it for too long as the blues become lighter, and I also become late for class on maybe one or two or… a lot of occasions. I can imagine you as an animal lover… well, you're kind enough to write back to a complete stranger. I wouldn't assume otherwise.

Favourite song, huh? So you want to get to know me really deeply, haha. Right now, it's "You make loving fun." Something about it is that I can feel the magic. I've never been in love, but I can imagine…. I've seen the movies and heard the songs… By far, it's my favourite way to describe what love is supposed to feel like.

For my next question, what is your favourite drink? I bet I can make it. I am awesome that way.

With endless fascination,

Morgan

Poppy smiled at the neat way Morgan wrote her letters. It starts off stiff, then becomes loopy as Morgan is excited to write something. She must admit, there is a growing pile of letters and sketches in one of her drawers. Poppy's eyes softened at the song. She'll for sure find the song and listen to it later. Poppy quickly pockets the letter as her friends approached, not wanting to be in the middle of another teasing session.

Veronica raised her eyebrows at the way Poppy pocketed something so fast. She did not comment and just handed her her drink from one of the coffee shops near campus, "Pour Decisions." Their signature drink that Poppy loved. They said some alumni made it when they were working there, and that's become the signature drink since then.

It's a witty name and nice coffee. Poppy only came in once or twice since she came to Belvoire. She couldn't find herself coming in when the barista she wished to see wasn't there. The barista never seems to be there. Poppy couldn't believe she didn't get her name.

[feanorcurufinwe]

alterhuman journal - #1 - "common" theriotypes

I've decided I'm gonna start typing out my thoughts when it comes to being alterhuman because I still feel like there are a lot of things I still haven't figured out yet. :'D this is just the most convenient and quickest way I get to jot down thoughts and feelings. Feel free to read, no pressure to interact but a like is appreciated!

A huge problem I have with the therian community in recent times is the emphasis on "common" and "uncommon" theriotypes, like being a wolf/cat/dog vs any other animal. It really upsets me because I'm sure it makes a lot of people insecure about their theriotypes, including myself. :(

As of lately I've been feeling a drift between myself and my maned wolf theriotype. I get a feeling that it doesn't fit anymore, or that it never fit in the first place and I just didn't want to be "like everyone else". I knew I had a canine theriotype, but of course I didn't want to go to the gray wolf immediately because "everyone is a wolf", right?

It also got me thinking about how my theriotypes are even a thing. Like, how did I end up this way? I've been reflecting on it a lot recently and I think I'm starting to create a better picture of why I am the way that I am.

I think I experience therianthropy in the spiritual AND psychological way for different species. I believe my deer theriotype to be spiritual, 100%. I was a deer in one of my past lives; to me, that's what makes it make sense. But I believe my canine theriotype is different, I think it may be psychological?

I believe it stems from when I was young, with unrestricted access to the internet, lol. I didn't have many friends as a kid and spent most of my summers alone, at home. I took comfort in YouTube, watching artists animate their OCs and write stories of wolves and cats and dogs. I would draw my own on MS Paint with a mouse. It's all I really had, since I didn't have much in the way of toys either. The toys I did have were of course also animals.

Basically, I think I kinda imprinted on animals? I rarely was interested in media that had human characters as a kid. I only cared about humanoid characters if they were anthros, or an elf or something. Perhaps it stems from how other humans treated me as a child? I'm not sure. But I know from a very young age that I just couldn't relate to humans the way I would with animals in media. A lot of talk on why wolf/canine theriotypes are so common comes down to the media, and I do agree. Canines have been a close human companion for a long time, and I believe humans and canines share more similarities than people realize.

I don't really know where else to go with this entry, but that's what's been going through my head lately in regards to therianthropy. I'm still trying to find my canine theriotype, but for now I usually tell people "wolf", even if it isn't entirely accurate (yet). Don't be afraid to let your identity flow and ebb, otherwise you're just chaining yourself to the past.

[inkspindle]

This post got a lot longer than intended (oops), so feel free to just skim the pretty pictures, or skip to the bits you find most interesting!

I got bored, and wanted to try something out, just to see how it looked. The goal was: Make a visually appealing pixel-object out of very limited colors, which is both clear in visual, and shaded to give a lil depth. While this isn't a tutorial on making old-school pixel art, I'd love to see if this inspires anybody else to give it a try!

Shrunk a public domain photo down for the silhouette of my base here (https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=173260&picture=tree) and just kinda riffed on it. Tried to "capture" the way it looked (to me) as best I could, while staying true to the original photo.

In order to tempt people into scrolling past the read-more, here is the final image I settled on after taking several passes at it. (Be warned, this is a VERY LONG post!)

(And what it looks like at normal size)

Normally, when I do pixel art, I prefer not to do the thing where you shrink a picture down, and make it more pixellated. But... I've realized there's a bunch of different ways to emphasize those same pixels. So I decided to experiment.

First-off, my initial goal: The background would be the lightest color, and I would then use a darkest color and two mid-tone colors to re-create the entire image. I couldn't work with any other shades, as it would help me simplify the shapes I'm looking at a little better. So I started by blocking in the deepest shadows I could find, and then sculpting them into more satisfying shapes.

While it "worked," I didn't like the end-result. It wasn't terrible, it just didn't look the way that I wanted it to.

The next attempt was to make all my existing shadows the darkest color in my palette, then "fill in" between them with a nice mid-tone. Something to soften the shadows up a bit, and make it look a little more cohesive.

This also didn't quite give the effect I wanted. The shadows are a lovely shape, but I probably added too many of them. I wanted the "focus" on the bits of the tree that were fully highlighted, but it still didn't look right.

While it broke my initial "rule," I tried combining the first picture and the last one, to see what a "happy medium" looked like. The end-result... looked almost identical to the photo that I started with. (Colors notwithstanding.) While the visual effect was a bit more pleasing to the eye, that definitely defeated the purpose of the exercise. So...I started over completely.

SKIP DOWN TO THE TL;DR TO AVOID THE VIDEO GAME HISTORY RANT.

(Certain things have been heavily oversimplified, to make for a shorter explanation!)

Fun lil video-game history fact: Early visuals in video games started with "off" and "on." A lot of the modern limited-palette pixel art you see is directly inspired by the fact that the earliest screens we had to work with could only show visuals in binary; Parts of the screen were "on" (the lighter color) or "off" (the darker color) and we hadn't gotten to the point we could display a crisp white or black, yet. This meant that you might have a green background with darker green artwork. Later on, they were able to add a mid-tone shade or two for sake of depth and detail.

After we went through our early MS Paint era of video game visuals (complete with blinding use of primary colors), people stretched what early processors (CPU/video card/RAM/low-res displays) could handle to the limits. That harsh limitation on what an early computer could display without frying itself, and what it could display at all, led to some extremely clever uses of color-choice, dithering, and cross-hatching, to trick the eye into filling in with colors and shapes where early video game artists couldn't add them.

See, when we talk about "8-bit" games, we're talking about (oversimplified, mind you) the amount of colors and pixels a computer is capable of displaying, both overall, and in a given section of the screen at a time. Individual tiles and character-sprites for old games had a set amount of pixels per "square," and within those "squares," you were only allowed to display a certain amount of colors. Each separate "square" then had to be designed individually.

Some while after we figured out how to display more than "off" and "on," we developed computers that could handle showing a lovely range of different colors. But then we had a new issue; Within a single "square" (8x8, 16x16, etc) of the screen, you could have white, black, and up to 1-2 other colors. The computer couldn't handle displaying anything else; No midtone shades inbetween, no nothing.

So early video game artists compensated for this by sticking to that old method of "chunking" out the visuals on the screen into tiles, which matched that resolution. You wouldn't notice that your computer could only show 2 gray tones in the same square, if that square happened to be a stone wall. The square next to it could then be two different shades of green, and it would make a lovely piece of grass, or a tree, with shading even!

There was a period inbetween where we had such limited colors to work with, people had purple trees, orange grass, and red skies. It created a wild visual effect, and had all the right contrast (see artwork term: "Value") to allow the eye to see the detail needed for games in which visuals were really important, like early point-and-click adventures.

Eventually, artists stretched the limits further. While that resolution was slow to evolve, people began to create complex backgrounds with visible perspective, that blurred the lines between each "square" on the screen. If you wanted to create a diagonal edge, or overlap two objects over eachother, you had to use a set of colors that could apply to both objects you wanted to create.

So!!! FOR THOSE WHO SCROLLED DOWN, tl;dr-

I wanted to see if I could re-create this tree with only 3-4 total colors (+background) in a way that an early computer could have rendered on-screen. That means white/black + 2 colors per "square." Since I didn't like how harsh a pure black looked while I worked on it, I skipped using it. We're going to pretend an old computer could handle these specific shades of pink and purple (spoiler; they absolutely could not)...but the visual effect being used is true to the idea.

A first-attempt was made. I allowed myself one extra mid-tone, just for the sake of smoothing things out. I then decided on 8x8 pixel squares. You can visually see where one stops and the next starts. It had a fun visual effect, and it was much closer to what I was originally going for...but the artists that came before me made nuch nicer artwork with much worse tech, and I could do better. So I took a second pass at it.

THIS was much closer to what I'd been going for. While you can still guess where each square begins/ends, all the extra dithering and more organically-shaped lines helps to blur the edges of each square, without straying outside of them.

If you got all the way down here, you're amazing. I hope this entertained somebody, and that others will like the end-result as much as I do. :)

[the-oc-lass]

Nimona OC - Charlotte Swiftheart/Corova

Hi, hello, remember that "something in the works..." post I made a few days ago? Well, the works have set it free and here it is. My own drawing of Ms. Charlotte Swiftheart/Corova.

Original Post about Charlotte

Here she is! I used a lot of colors from Ambrosius, specifically from this picture:

I wanted to make it clear that they were related yet also not clear? Obviously no one knew until they were told (though I'm sure people were suspicious since they are supposed to look kind of alike), and they didn't know, but honestly some people look alike when they aren't related, so maybe it was just one of those things where no one assumed until the halfblood thing became public. Anyway, I'm semi confident that their skin tones are similar, I used a lot of Ambrosius's features as reference when I was drawing Charlotte's face, and her hair is a similar shade as his (and there are strands that are this lighter, almost bleached blond that Am has going on). I gave her a few details that aren't as noticable, so I'll point them out really quickly. So the bracelet on her right (left side of the drawing) wrist is blue and gold. Blue is kind of her color, and gold is, of course, Ambrosius's. It was obviously a gift from one of the children at the sanctuary, probably before she reunited with Ambrosius and Ballister. The ribbon she's using to tie her braid off is Nimona pink (no further comment). She's also wearing a gold ring on her left (right side of the drawing) middle finger. Probably was something left from when she was at the Institute, maybe a gift from Ambrosius or Ballister, and she could never bring herself to get rid of it even if it could've gotten her some much needed money.

Oh, and the whole golden plating looking background with the black brick splashed over it kind of just represents her? She's got that golden blood but it's overshadowed by the commoner part of her. Tainted, I guess. And then the little spray painted KB symbol is obviously for her band of vigilantes and do-gooders.

Close-Up and Symbolic(?) Overlay below the cut:

Close-Up:

I was absolutely delighted when I realized that Ambrosius has little freckles and now I don't even know if you can see the freckles I gave Charlotte. I'm going to throw something (you can kind of see them if you zoom in, but not as clearly as they looked on my drawing software).

Symbolic/Artistic Overlay thing:

I think that these are things that Charlotte has unfortunately internalized since she left the Institute. They define who she is not only to the kingdom, but to herself as well. "She was a mistake, the result of an affair." "She's a stain on the family legacy." "Nothing more than a bastard." "A Gloreth forsaken halfblood."

Lovely tagged people:

@ammonitetheseaserpent @perfectkittystranger @xxlunadrawsstuffxx @floxu

[barbwritesstuff]

The recent polls made me realize you had a new game out, so I immediately downloaded it, and when I tell you the Noise I made when I saw our grandmother's expression XD It definitely made my night. Throughout the whole game I was giggling at the little faces. The game was short, but extremely charming. I like the take of shorter lived fey and have always loved the idea of fey in little flowers and riding bees and the like. The mental image is adorable! Zion was probably my favorite, but I also really wanted to reconcile the twins :(

Me with my MS Paint Sprites:

BUT! I have commissioned and artist to bring these characters alive and they're doing an AMAZING job. Once they're finished I'm going to release Fairy Tale for free on itch.io.

Or, at least, that's what I'm going to try to do. It's all a bit uncertain right now. I've never done this before.

This ask was actually awesome because I didn't know I had followers that didn't know about my weird two week long visual novel making hyperfocus I went through in late December/early January. I thought I talked about it so much everyone was sick of hearing about it! But, tumblr is a hard place to share information, so I get it.

If you want more information on me and what I'm doing, you can follow my KoFi page. Also, I have a brand new website!

barbaratruelove.com

So, that's also a thing.

[axvwriter]

Tsum-Tsums Design Observations

So I looked through the Tsums fandom page for the tsum mobile game. I did this as I wanted to look at all the different type of tsums to see what the general rules are for how tsums look.

There does seem to be some rough guidelines, some ignored for stylistic choice. Some of the rules that sometimes aren't followed, I can't really tell why. Perhaps it's just the artist behind the design.

Like one common rule seems to be that eyes are just dots. The exception is sometimes stylistic like when it's a major part of the character's design like Pleakly from Lilo and Stitch or like Perry the Platypus from Phineas and Ferb. Part of Perry's look when not an agent is to look in opposite directions which is a bit difficult to show with no whites of the eyes, the sclera. Some that I don't understand is Timon from Lion King. I don't think the sclera is that big of a major identifying detail about Timon and the Pumba tsum has the usual dot eyes.

There is at least one tsum that has normal eyes, The White Queen from Alice in Wonderland (Live-action Tim Burton directed one). It just feels cursed compared to all the other tsums. There's also Mushu from Mulan who has cartoony eyes going on which seems weird as his eyes weren't drawn like that in the movie. That just seems like a random design detail randomly thrown onto him. It's like the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoons eye shape. Which works for the Cars tsums and for Goofy since the originals have similar shapes. So the exception to dot eyes seems to be if the original has an iconic look associated to that part, though sometimes it's broken for no clear reason? I can only guess artistic choice.

Another common rule seems to be that tsums don't have mouths. The only ones that break that exception and make sense to me are ones with beaks, Pacman, and that one dog from the Coco movie. I haven't seen the movie (though I do intend to watch it some day) but I recall from the trailers it always has its tongue sticking out. So that tsum having a tongue makes sense.

If the character has buck-teeth then they're given mouths. Or if they're like Jack Skellington and Oogie Boogie, both from The Nightmare Before Christmas, then that also makes sense as they do have unique mouths as well. The ones that don't really make sense to me is when there's a random smile? Judy Hopps, Zootopia, has a smile while Nick Wilde, also from Zootopia, has no mouth. I don't usually think of smiling as a unique character identification trait unless it's perhaps that the character can only smile.

Another common rule seems to be a round dot for the nose. Yet this is rather flexible, usually changing for animals. Some characters get a bit more shape to their noses. Though I have noticed that if the original design of a character has a sharp-pointed nose, that's rounded out. At least, that's the case for Pinocchio. Of course some have no noses like the fish tsums.

Hair and other details seem rather free. Just make it look like felt. They can have hats, glasses, earrings, and they do have ears. Usually very small and tiny unless the character's original design doesn't have usual human ears. Heck they even take into account if the character has hearing aids. Carl from Up had what I thought was a dark hole on his ear, but then I realized that wasn't depth design but a hearing aid since his other ear doesn't match. A few rare tsums will even hold an item. Like Maleficient from Sleeping Beauty holds a small staff.

The main major rules seem to be that they must look like they're made of felt and have a round pill-shape.

Oh and have a photo of some of the most unusual tsums I spotted and put together in ms paint.

The top left is the Pixar Lamp. I know Yzma's, from Emperor's New Groove, eyelashes are a big detail, but couldn't they still work with dot eyes? I don't know what's going on with Sully, Monster's Inc, as he looks a bit badly patch-worked? Interesting that the Mirror of Darkness from Snow White has a tsum. That basically breaks the common shape. The crab from Moana is the biggest violation of breaking the usual shapes. That red guy on the top right is Sebastian from The Little Mermaid. Need I say more?

The pink one is one of the little oysters from Alice in Wonderland (animated) movie. The one with the regular human eyes is The White Queen from Alice in Wonderland (live-action) movie.

I might redraw some of these in what I view as the rough guidelines from tsums just to see if I can understand the reasoning of why they're so different.

Have a screenshot of the most botched tsum.

This is supposed to be Wall-E. Wall-E isn't yellow. Like they didn't even try to get the details on his body, like perhaps the top part of his square body could be what's seen behind his head-eyes. I would think brown for a main color, not emoji yellow. Just isn't right.

[isekai-crow]

Doctor Elise Ep 3-4

I cannot express enough how fun of a potato chip this show is. I had a fever this week and this was a great lil show to watch that didnt require me to think.

As a self proclaimed shonen bro whose not normally into shojos, I enjoyed the manga, and the anime is doing a good job despite not being one of the "big names". It might also be my love of medical dramas from the early 2000s peaking in. I can turn my brain off to watch it and just have fun by going "WTF w h y", and poking fun at how broken some aspects of this world are while still thoroughly enjoying it.

It's definitely the kind of show that probably won't hold up to scrutiny for the world building, so. Just. Don't think too hard about the specifics of what's happening! Then the power fantasy pieces won't break through your suspension of disbelief! Because IV bags did not exist during the Crimean War in the 1800s which seems to be where this fantasy setting is taking place.

But I'm gonna go and point out all the broken bits below because its so much fun (not bashing at all!).

Also my favorite boy shows up! Doctor Graham!! We love a boy whose not there to be a rival or love interest, and respects the Lady and they get to be bros!

Look at this silver haired ponce of a bishonen, he's delightful, ascot and all!

He's voiced by Hosoya, Yoshimasa - Rainer Braun from Attack on Titan, Nezumi from NO.6, WOLFWOOD FROM THE NEW TRIGUN STAMPEDE!! Tokoyami from BNHA, and Sousuke from Free!

DAMN THEY PICKED A GOOD VOICE FOR MY BOY.

More spoilers/screen shots below the cut!

Elise shows up for work as Rose at the No Cultural Touchstone For Mother Teresa Hospital, the genius young doctor Graham is supposed to take care of her but he's busy and assumes like everyone else that a young well-off lady will run from the sight of blood soon enough, and so sticks her in the HOSPICE WARD.

HHMMMM I WONDER WHY ALL THESE PEOPLE ARE ON THEIR DEATH BEDS???? COULD IT PERHAPS BE... UH... SANITARY REASON?? SHOULD HOSPITALS BE SANITARY??? NAHHHH THE DIRTY ROTTING BANDAGES ON THE FLOOR AREN'T MAKING THINGS WORSE, NO WAAAAAAAAY.

These poor overworked shift nurses seem to have no idea what they're doing, but thankfully we have a returner with concepts of modern day sanitation who cleans the place up!

She then finds a dude with bed sores and realizes no one knows what SEPSIS IS, and is like. Get me a scalpel, it's my first day, I've never held a scalpel in my read:this life, I'M DOIN' A SURGERY TODAY. I'VE GOT GALAXY BRAIN TO HELP ME.

I love these shots they're great.

SHE PROCEEDS TO CUT INTO THE DUDES BACK LIKE SHE'S DRAWING FREE FORM SELECTION ON MS PAINT AND THEN JUST HITS CTRL-X DELETE.

That's not A tissue, that's HIS (necrotic) tissue! I sure hope this dude has pain killers or is drunk off his ass with vodka because DAMN.

All the other in-patients are so happy she's here, they feel better already with her bright and happy personality! Normally this would feel really creepy and sexist, but this juuuuuust squeaked by as not coming off that way.

Jump cut to the King! Only 12 people in this world know what diabetes is! How is Elise going to get away with having known about it?? Probably more hand waving!!

Now, we either get a time skip, or she's literally been working all night, but Dr. Graham walks in on her dozing, thinks he's got the wrong place, and proceeds to scold her for performing surgery without permission. But then he takes her on rounds and we're in a medicial show!!!!

IS THAT A FUCKING IV BAG?

IT IS!!!! THOSE WEREN'T INVENTED UNTIL THE LATE 1800s!! At least its a glass bottle, and not a plastic bag like I initially assumed?? But I guess the Crimean War was in the 1850s and this type of open glass bottle IV was from the 1900s so... Wooo Fantasy Europe!! -waves hand rapidly to shoo you on-

This man is having a time trying to figure out what the fuck. But he's pretty.

It takes him a bit to come to terms with her abilities but then he's just so happy to have another Doctor Bro who Actually Cares that he's behind her with full support! Which yay! But also becomes a tool of sorts, to kind of hand wave away the concept of sexism in the medical field to the point where it doesn't seem to exist. Which is also what makes this such a light show, because it doesn't even try to handle said topics, it just erases them completely with regards to medicine.

Equal numbers of men and women as doctors! The women aren't relegated to nurses! Yay! No critical thinking needed here.

My favorite part of this though, is that they DO tease at it. When Elise makes a different call from the doctor she's following in Ye Olde ER, he kind of stutters and is flabbergasted and panicked, while the female doctor is immediately like, I GOTCHU SIS, and steps in to help her as she proceeds to STAB A DUDE IN THE CHEST WITH A SYRINGE.

She's so pretty with blood on her face.

We're in episode 4 by this point, and its the "Festival Episode" common to many isekai romance manhwas, but of course, Elise is a doctor and so she's working the ER instead of attending.

However this is the episode that proves there is magic in the world, and WE GET A SECOND VA FOR THE PRINCE. He transforms into "Lord Ron". We also get a glimpse of his tragic back story!

His bodyguard gets a knife pulled on him and THEN A GUN. New Technology Discovered: Guns! I should hope they had those figured out before IV tech, but you think they'd know about general sanitation being important as well.

Dude's been shot in the SPLEEN!!! OW MY SPLEEN! They don't have a splenectomy in Fantasy Europe, oh no!

Elise puts up such a persuasive argument, and the dude is dying, so they might as well let her try to save him. And look, the prince Lord Ron has field surgery experience and offers to help!

SUDDENLY THERE IS ELECTRICITY. WHAT WERE THOSE OIL LAMPS IN THE GRIMEY DEATH WARD???

MS PAINT SCALPEL FTW!! It's not bad for the limited time they likely had to anime each episode, and the fact that they're putting more emphasis on the conversations. For comparison, this scene in the manga ↓

Surgery is a success! Yay! Elise is asked to write up a report abotu the surgery as it will be the first ever recorded splenectomy.

and then. Blushing Prince is Adorable, even in disguise. Love us some blushing boys.

But by far the most accurate part of this show so far...

Even in a Fantasy Europe Hospital the doctors have shitty handwriting lmfao

[xyl4-4444]

Do you have any art advice?

Sorry for the VERY belated reply but..

Yes of course I have some (general) advice, that have helped me as an artist.

Buckle up, because it's going to be a long post.

Start a Sketchbook. If it's your first ever try at dipping your fingers into these, you can turn an average notebook into one to overcome your fear of ruining a 30zł costing sketchbook in the future. If you're afraid of ruining your first page of your sketchbook, then just draw what the year is. Trust me when I say this, this has been my go-to when filling up the first page EVER SINCE I STARTED IT BACK IN 2019. Once you'll have 10+ sketchbooks finished, you can look back at your first and current sketchbook and see how your skills have changed over time.

Sign up to Pinterest and start making boards for thing like: Art inspo, references,etc. I created mine back in mid-2020 and I've gotta say, this has been one of my sources of inspo ever since. Of course, Pinterest is not just an art inspo-exclusive site, as there are things like cooking tutorials, room decor ideas, Hell.. even MEMES are here..

Don't be afraid to try out other blending modes other than Multiply, Add or Overlay. These three aforementioned blending modes are surely neat and all, but there are more blending modes out there (thought the full amount of those depends on the art program you're using, I use FireAlpaca btw). There are such layer modes like: Difference, Hard Light, Darken, Screen, Exclusion, Luminosity to name a few. So go out, experiment with them in your art, mix-and-match then and see what you'll get.

Use references. Look, I know that the "JuSt PrAcTiCe" advice is NOT ENOUGH to help an artist, and I get that (That's why I've listed my first tip as "Go grab a sketchbook"), however there's a little catch... Let's say... you wanna draw something for example... Hands - the most tedious part of the human body that a lot of artists are struggling to draw correctly. You try to draw it on paper.. and suddenly - You've just realized, that the hand you drew, didn't come out as you expected. So what do you do in this situation? Well you go search up 'hand references' of course. You can do that with other things like: backgrounds, computers, skateboards, weird deep-sea animals like Giant Isopods etc... ...or you just want to try out a different art style References are a good tool, if you don't know how some things work in an artistic sense, that's all I'm saying.

Use you art program's features to AN ADVANTAGE. Especially the filters tab. I use FireAlpaca to make art. It's a free art program, so I don't have to pay over 100zł montly, unlike Photoshop or.. Clip Studio Paint. However it doesn't have that many features or filters like Photoshop does, and that's okay. Because despite this, you can make great art with it. Wanna make a picture you've just pasted from the web to have some nice halftones? Well you can covert the layer into an 8-bit one, enable halftones and adjust to your liking. Wanna have some interesting colors in your art? Use Gradiation map or Tone Curve and fuck around. Want your art to have a softer look? Use a 'Soft Light' mode, go to 'Gaussian Blur' and later go to 'Levels' and adjust the to your liking. Wanna make a drawing have a pixel-ish look? you can use the 'Mosaic' filter for that. The list goes on.

Last but not least... Have Fun. Art has no rules. You can make fanarts of your favourite series 24/7, make numerous paintings of landscapes on canvas, draw your OCs, doodle on Ms Paint of all things.. or just scribble things in your sketchbook. In the end you're making art, and what matters the most is that you're having fun with it. So go out while you're drawing (as long as you're not harming anybody)

Yeah, that's all

[rjalker]

okay much better design for a ""wheelchair"" (they can't have wheels in only two dimensions) for Flatlanders, since I realized the first one would mean the person in the chair can't see out of it, so they'd have to rely on someone outside acting as a guide.

This one would have a shorter chair the person sits in, which is pushed from behind by a domestic animal that is trained to respond to verbal commands rather than pulling on reigns.

The animals would have to be bred to have specific shapes for this to work, and receive lots of training. I imagine this started with rural people, since they'd have more access to larger animals, among other factors.

If it's a Flatland in the future where they have reliable electricity, they could have chairs with fans on the sides and back for powered "swimming"

[ID: A simple MS Paint drawing hoping geometric shape figures from the book Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions, with each shape labled like a diagram. There is a pink triangle person sitting in a blue-marked chair that is an open rectangle that comes up to slightly more than half the person's height, with small circles at the open points to act as safety cushions. Below the chair, separated by a brown cushion line, is a large purple domestic animal made up of an irregular shape with a flat section meeting the chair, and its eye at the bottom where its widest point is, so that it is "walking" backwards. End ID.]

(feel free to use this concept / image / expand upon it)

[deadpuppetboi]

Kidnapping children is, in fact, the easiest yet hardest thing Thomas had ever done.

It wasn't because of their age, far from it, it was more of how difficult it was to keep them in place. You can tie them up with so many knots, beat them to a standstill, and even threaten them to no end.

But they will still resist.

Point taken: Teenagers.

Thomas entered the home with a smile plastered on his face, hidden behind his mask of course. But if you looked closely you can see the indents of his smile with how tight the mask was tied around his head.

The front door had been broken down, rather brutally than he’d like to admit. He saw how the door had been carelessly thrown to the side where the wall was its unfortunate victim. The dent showed itself clearly as the cheap paint was torn off without much of a hitch.

He took so long to observe the damage he failed to realize the entire home in general. The other damage had made this entire place look like a break-in, a rather pathetic one at that.

Nothing was really stolen apart from broken picture frames, memorabilia, and even the occasional vase or two. Nothing too important, not that Thomas or his crew would care, honestly Ms. Sender wasn't always the best at keeping things tidy.

“Fuck off!”

Speaking of which...

Thomas hummed to himself as he made his way to the kitchen, nearly skipping on his two feet. He felt his smile widen as the sounds of struggling escalated the more he came close. His hands held together he watched as a teenage boy (no older than thirteen) cursed one of his subordinates as they held his arms behind his back.

Benjamin Lamb.

His clothing choice was atrocious, the youth of today dress in clothes too big that they hung on them like racks. Cheap mascara was bought from the local convenient store to make up a look that was laughable at best. And what was that? Lipstick? Black lipstick???

Lord, give Thomas strength, he can't believe how sad this child’s life must have been to make him the way he is now.

“Venchek, calm yourself, you might break the poor thing’s arms the farther you twist those frail arms of his!”

“Well, if he’d stop struggling then maybe I wouldn't have to be so damn rough!” The hunter huffed, still trying his best to keep the teenager down to his knees.

Ben spat out another crude comment, moving as much as he can to get himself free. Thomas had to admit, his commitment was favorable, too bad his body would fall apart just by one paper cut alone.

“Get off me!”

And there she is!

The star of the hour!

The true aspiration of a young adult!

Stacy Lamb.

Way before his ‘retirement’, Thomas and his crew had made themselves known within The Project. Had it to take care of or bring in new patients for the entire company then it was done without a second wasted. Daniel Lamb, before his madness, had a reasonable part in The Project’s plans for a better future. (or whatever the Hell Pickman said was the case)

He had his own little office, and coworkers to talk to, and even got himself to understand the unsettling environment he got himself into. Much of which was how much his family knew what he was up to instead of helping the poor people who were sick inside and out. So, the married man of two would like to keep his family thinking he was a graceful man to all.

And Thomas knew how much trouble his crew would get getting too much into Mr. Lamb’s files for their entertainment.

Case in point: Grimmins.

The very man who had Stacy Lamb into a headlock and ‘politely’ thrown her against the wall. Getting too close to comfort, not only getting to experience meeting the young woman for the first time but not by some file with a picture clipped onto the side.

And with how close this man was getting, it was very obvious what his true intentions were.

“Grimmins, stand down, you’re suffocating the poor girl.”

The man laughed in response, twisting Stacy’s hands at her back one more time to see her squirm before he calmed down. The young woman gasped at the sudden ease on her arms yet that didn't stop her from glaring daggers at him.

Thomas took this as a moment to properly introduce himself.

“What a pleasure it is to finally meet you both face to face! I’ll have to admit, I’d rather have this be done in better circumstances, but this will have to do!”

Venchek kicked the back of Ben’s knees, the teenager yelped in pain as he finally fell to his knees. Stacy turned her attention to her little brother, she moved over to try to help him but was still held back.

“I know you both have your questions, most of which will be answered while the rest will be up to you to answer yourselves! I’ll be the one to answer them for you, so I might as well get the easy ones out of the way!”

Thomas opened his mouth.

“Who the hell are you?!”

But Stacy had beat him to it much to Thomas’s dismay.

“Well, do you mean as in me or as my group in general? You have to be more specific, my dear, if not then this won't be fun for any of us!”

“You know what she meant, “Ben called out, “stop being a dumbass and answer it!”

Venchek made a move to punch the young teen but Thomas raised his hand to stop him from going through.

They needed these two conscious after all...

“We are The Watchdogs, a group of highly educated and trained killers of The Project. Whenever we’re paid (handsomely of course) to personally take care of someone or a group in general we do as we’re told! It’s not only in our contracts to do so but in our nature as well!”

The elder seemed to pride himself on the fact he was informing the two siblings of what his group was. Although, that didn't seem to ease their fears the more the man seemed to glance over the fact that he was an assassin.

“I am Thomas Chapman The Third, the chosen leader of The Watchdogs. I would go out of my way to introduce the rest of my team but why bother, you both met them already.”

Thomas laughed to himself yet the siblings kept themselves silent overall.

“But what does that have to do with us?” Stacy found herself asking, cursing only when she felt the hunter behind her pinch at her side.

“Wonderful question, Ms. Lamb, “Thomas cheered, coming close to the young woman.

Stacy stood back, moving her head back as gloved hands made their way over to her face. It took but two tries before gloved hands gripped her face harshly, squishing her cheeks together like clay. Despite the pain, the young woman kept her rage on tenfold, refusing to give these sick men the pleasure of her tears.

Nonetheless, Thomas grew hungry for more, tracing his thumbs over the girl’s lips softly.

“It has everything to do with you, “the elder whispered, watching the young woman contemplating whether to spit at him or not.

God, he loved the ones who didn't give up too easily. It excites him so.

“Of course, I don't want to give you the entire story, but I’ll give you a snippet. Two of them if I’m feeling generous tonight, honestly, it depends on my mood.”

The same gloved thumbs traced over Stacy’s cheeks, brushing away the dried tears that coated them.

“And I’m in a good mood, a great one even, so I’ll make this brief for both of you.”

Thomas looked over at Ben, the teenager sharing the same anger his sister had from before. But he had that idea in him that Thomas knew all too well. The idea is to keep his mouth shut and listen closely for more answers.

“My men and I have been hired to capture you both to be taken safely into The Project’s open arms. Unfortunately, due to how easy it was to capture you both, I find your part in playing this game to be lacking! And it's not fair for one side to play harder l while the other doesn't bother to do anything at all! It's not fun, no fun at all, it makes me disappointed that I even bothered to get out of retirement for any of this!”

Ben and Stacy kept their silence, not one of them chose to speak out or bother to in the first place. Thomas smiled nonetheless, maybe this generation had some manners after all!

“So, despite my better judgment, I’m choosing to let the both of you go.”

As soon as the elder had ended his sentence, the siblings were let go. The both of them gasped in relief as the pressure on their arms was finally gone. Ben hissed as the impact of his knees hindered him from getting up correctly. While Stacy ignored her pain and immediately got herself to grab at her little brother and drag him to a distance away from the men that surrounded them.

Thomas didn't mind, still keeping himself where he stood with that same smile he wore since the start.

“Now children, listen very closely to what I'm about to say next because it is crucial to the future decisions you’ll make from then on!”

He clapped his hands together, loud enough that it made both siblings jump from the sudden sound.

“My men and I will hunt you down, day and night, no amount of your blood or tears will make us reconsider. The Project is a very lucrative company, I can assure you both that the loss of your lives would be inconsistent to them as a rock in my shoe. I suggest that you both comply and try all you can to survive in this cruel and unforgiving world filled with perverts and maniacs alike.”

Thomas reached into his suit, taking out his gun.

Ben and Stacy yelped at the sight of the weapon, both siblings covering each other in fear that they may be in line with the fire.

“Oh, calm down, I’m just proving a point!”

The man pulled back the barrel with ease, muttering as the click was overhead.

“Overreacting like all the others, honestly, you both act like you haven't seen a gun up close before.”

Making a quick show of displaying the gun before quickly shooting up in the air. The siblings screamed at the sound as the bullet pierced through the walls of their home.

“As I said before, perverts and maniacs alike, I happen to be one of those two. Pick and chose what I am, it doesn't matter, I have the will to inflict harm on any and/or both of you with the confidential knowledge I know. So, now that you know that, you know that my men and I aren't to be messed with.”

“No shit,” Ben muttered, Stacy, shushing him as she pushed him to hide behind her.

Thomas didn't take that to heart.

“Now, before I allow you both to make your attempt to run away, I will set down a few rules. I know, annoying, I’m sure, but it's important I say them now so that this game doesn't end quickly as possible.”

The elder raised his free hand, one finger up in the air.

“Rule number one: There is to be no attempt to contact law enforcement. They will do you both no good as I will bathe you both with their insides once they are altered.”

Stacy opened her mouth to speak but Thomas intervened.

“Rule number two: The Watchdogs are not the only group who The Project has hired to hunt you both down. As we speak, there is a close-minded group hot in pursuit to capture you both, I suggest you both be grateful we got to you ahead of time.”

Stacy shut her mouth, carefully making her way back to where the doorway was free to go through. Ben caught up to her plan, stepping back with her, careful not to miss a single step that could trip them both.

“Rule number three: Remember we are always watching! No matter where you go or who you call, we are always there to make sure you don't go out of line! But I know you two are smart enough to pick up on that fact, so I suspect you both are capable of living on your own.”

Thomas then shrugged.

“Then again, survival is key, I would love to see how everything goes down.”

The gun was pointed over at the two, the siblings freezing up as they were near the open doorway, hearts at their throats.

“Now, children, I’m going to count down from ten to one. During that time, I want you both to run as fast as you can and collect what you want, my men and I won't do much. However, after one, we will do everything in our power to put you both down on the ground like animals.”

Stacy and Ben stayed silent, only a few seconds lingered before everything went into chaos.

Thomas smiled.

“Ten...”

Stacy was the first to run, grabbing Ben, she zipped through the open doorway toward the living room. She yelped in surprise when she saw another man stand by, gun in hand.

“Nine...”

She ran up the stairs, ignoring the other man who stood back and watched as the two ran.

“Eight...!” Thomas called out, stepping forward to where the two can hear him clearly.

“Seven...!”

Stacy ran into her room, Ben shutting the door behind them and locked up. He rushed to push up his sister’s study chair to use as a blockage.

“Six...!”

Stacy threw open her closet, rummaging through her things to get the two most important things that were hidden. She opened the lone shoebox buried behind her old shoes and opened it to gather what was inside.

“Five...!”

Stacy gathered all of her savings including the spare flip phone she hid away from everyone else.

“You have another flip phone?!” Ben asked, shocked.

“Not the time!” Stacy spat, grabbing her purse.

“Four...!” Thomas was right outside the room, Ben felt himself fly as he jumped over towards the window, grabbing at the hinges.

Stacy shoved him aside, unlocking the locks from above, she opened the window. She grabbed at her little brother and pushed him through, ignoring his pained grunts as she quickly followed suit.

“Three...!”

Ben nearly fell over, grabbing the tiles of the home as he quickly corrected himself. Stacy was halfway through, nearly dropping her belongings in the process.

“Two...!”

“Jump!” She called out, Ben struggling to follow through as he slid down at the very edge. Stacy jumped from inside to the outside, accidentally pushing her and Ben off the edge and onto the ground below.

“One!”

The door was kicked down, a force like the one used before by the front door emitting with each hit. Stacy and Ben groaned as they hit the grass below, getting up on their two feet, they rushed to make sure they had what they needed.

From inside, Stacy’s door was broken down, and Thomas and his men ran inside to do their bidding.

The siblings ran off, never minding the calls from the men above nor did they mind the sounds of gunshots that echoed throughout the night. They merely ducked, crying out as they felt something whiz past them as they passed through the walls of the streets of their neighborhood.

Thomas threw out his hand, commanding his men in the process.

“Get them!”

The men did as they were told, rushing to get the two siblings as quickly and efficiently as they could.

Being left alone in the girlish room, Thomas felt his phone ring from his pocket. The old man reached in and received the call, recognizing the familiar voice from the other line.

“Chapman, did you get them?”

Thomas forced a dreadful sigh from his lips.

“No, Doctor Pickman, I, unfortunately, did not. It seemed that the two children ran out quickly and evaded my men’s grasp.” He walked over towards the window, noticing something glittering from beside the window still.

“Well, what are you waiting for, man, get them! Daniel has already escaped, we can't let him ruin my life’s work!”

Thomas crouched down, grabbing the small golden amulet shaped like a heart. He opened it, showcasing two pictures from within. One of the late Mrs. Lamb holding what was a crude drawing of her on it. The other was that of Ben but before he secluded himself to dress as a discounted black crayon left at the bottom of a trash bin.

“Are you listening to me, Chapman, did you hear what I said?!”

“I did, Mr. Pickman, don't you worry.” Thomas closed the amulet, pocketing it as he smiled wider than before.

“They will be detained, I guarantee it.”

“Guarantee, I’ll make sure those two will be detained in no time...”

“Guarantee, I’ll make sure those two will be detained in no time...”