#lots of shade references in the comic yeah?

[luna-loveboop]

So hi

ITS THE HEROS SHADE BACKGROUND COLOURS

The colour shift (from blue to light) is a subtle parallel to the dueling grounds of the Hero's Shade. Where Shade (Time) taught Twilight how to fight

And it's repeated in panels shade-related

(In Dawn pt. 9)

The detail! I saw those panels and it looked like the hero's shade scenes. The colours aren't exact, but it's a cool reference, ya know?

Twilight still sees Shade, his trainer- while looking at current Time, his mentor

.

Art by Jojo @linkeduniverse :D

[nejiverse]

HOPELESSLY IN LOVE

Tanjiro Kamado

In which Tanjiro comes back from his battle in the swordsmith’s village. Fem! Hashira! Reader

cw: kissing, tanjiro is so so in love

1.08k words

"Pardon my asking but this is the sixth time you've sighed since we left the village. Is something the matter?", the female Kakushi asked a she tugged on the carriage.

Tanjiro was brought out of his thoughts by the woman's voice and he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly at the fact that she was able to count the amount of times he has sighed.

"It's nothing really...Y/n's gonna kill me when she sees all these bandages", he sulked. He tried to make it so he'd come with minimal wounds and bandages but clearly the demons he was fighting had other plans.

"Ah i've heard a lot about Y/n-san but have never gotten the luxury of meeting her", she responded. "I take it you two are close?".

Tanjiro stiffened and let his hands fall onto his lap in tight fists. "Yeah!", he exclaimed, a light shade of pink creeping onto his cheeks uninvited. "S-she's my girlfriend", he stammered.

They only recently put a label on their relationship and Tanjiro was still very flustered when referring to Y/n as his girlfriend. Everyone found it very endearing though.

"Oh wow I would've never guessed", she chuckled.

Tanjiro smiled serenely and before he knew it, his head was filled with thoughts of her. Her voice that spoke affirmations to him, her hands that always cradled his head when he was upset, her face that if he were to begin telling of her angelic features he would never stop.

"No one would. She's way out of my league", he lightly chuckled.

"Ah! I didn't mean it like that! Y/n-san just doesn't strike me as the romantic type".

Tanjiro's laugh grew louder. "She's really good at pretending, that's why".

Like the time he knew she was feeling sick but she constantly denied it saying she was perfectly fine and went on a mission anyway which ended up with Tanjiro carrying her all the way back. Or the other time she pretended she was fine the minute after a battle when really there was a gaping wound in her stomach.

It was her specialty to say the least.

"But even so I like to believe I survived this battle because of this", he held up his wrist which had a ribbon tied around it that was the same pattern as Y/n's kimono.

Tanjiro shook his wrist around in the air comically. "Are you..looking?", he cocked his to the side cutely. He was still blindfolded so he couldn't see.

The Kakushi woman laughed at his antics. "Yes I am".

He put his wrist down and fiddled with the ribbon. "She gave it to me so I wouldn't miss her but I like to believe it's a goodluck charm more than anything".

He couldn't wait to see her again.

After a while— a long while in Tanjiro's opinion— they arrived at the butterfly mansion.

"Thank you for bringing me back", Tanjiro thanked the Kakushi lady as his blindfold was taken off.

"You're very welcome", she bowed...except she was in front of him.

Tanjiro was curious as to who exactly took off his blindfold for him, and before he could even attempt to turn around, he felt a head rest on his shoulder and two arms wrap around his torso.

He could recognise those hands anywhere.

"Welcome back!", she exclaimed.

Tanjiro gasped lightly, feeling tears prick his eyes but but he pursed his quivering lips to stop them from getting any further.

He placed his hand over her own. "I missed you Y/n..", there was sadness laced in his voice, the happy kind. "So much".

Out of nowhere, Tanjiro grabbed the back of his head with his two hands when he felt Y/n hit him on the head. He turned around to her with a frown on his face.

"But you're an idiot! A stupid idiot! You promised to come home unscathed!", she spoke while flailing her hands around. "And you are very much scathed!!".

"But Y/nn! I said I couldn't keep that promise!".

She inspected the bandages on his chest and around his body. "You look like a mummy", she huffed.

Tanjiro chuckled. "But you know what came back unscathed?", he lifted up his wrist to reveal the ribbon that was perfectly in tact.

Y/n's eyes widened as she felt quite flustered. She couldn't believe he actually kept the piece of fabric safe the whole time he was fighting. It made her happy.

"But why?".

"Hm?".

"It's just a ribbon".

Tanjiro tilted his head with a hum as if the answer to her question was the most obvious thing ever. "Because you gave it to me Y/n".

As if he couldn’t get her any more worked up, Y/n averted her gaze everywhere but Tanjiro. Suddenly the blue sky that’s always been blue was looking very blue today.

She must get her revenge. Since he got her so flustered, it was her mission to return the favour.

She closed what little distance was between them and wrapped her arms around his neck, pushing her lips against his own. Y/n’s eyes were closed but Tanjiro’s were wide open in surprise.

The kiss was long and relentless. She held his body close and used one of her hands to guide Tanjiro’s own to her waist before bringing her hand back around his neck again. He was always very awkward with his hands whenever they kissed.

Tanjiro closed his eyes and savoured the taste and feeling of Y/n’s lips. If words couldn’t suffice, her kiss could. A kiss that said ‘I missed you’, that’s how Tanjiro interpreted it.

Y/n moved her lips from Tanjiro’s to get some air into her lungs but also to get a glimpse of Tanjiro’s flushed face.

He was always so adorable with his half-lidded eyes and pink cheeks whenever they kissed.

Tanjiro hid his face in her shoulder and hugged her tightly around her waist, as if she’d disappear any second now.

She placed a kiss on his head and they both walked back into the butterfly mansion.

“Time for you to rest mister”.

masterlist :)

a/n: tanjiro was absolutely adorable in the last episode I couldn’t help myself

[fletchingbrilliant]

🌙some wildly cheap commissions!🌙

🙃 for some even wilder reasons 🙃

hey y'all. long post thingie but it's got cute pictures so please check it out

TRANSCRIPT OF POST

hey frens got something kinda somber to talk about. most of you are very aware of the existence of my beautiful fiance and co-creator of basically everything i do. zae and i are getting handfasted (marriage for pagans) in october, and have been living together for about 10 years. in 2021, zae got really fucking sick, and after a few false starts, was diagnosed with a rare for of vasculitis called granulomatosis with polyangiitis, GPA for short. it’s an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in blood vessels and other tissues, ultimately stopping blood from getting to the parts of the body that need it, affecting many areas, but primarily the respiratory system. while the cause isn’t known, it usually presents in people in their 50’s or 60’s, but complications from a third bout of covid-19 appears to have made it emerge way earlier for our boy. at least, that’s what we think. his case is extremely aggressive, advancing faster than anyone could have expected. in zae’s case, it actually attacked his kidneys first, and then went after his lungs, causing both to threaten shutting down for good. he was extremely anemic and needed a ton of transfusions, narrowly avoiding dialysis, and we spent weeks in the hospital keeping him alive. he was placed on two different kinds of chemotherapy to combat the disorder. he lost his hair, went through even more fatigue and pain on top of what the disease had already put him through, and had to accept a plethora of changes to his life that will last forever. a lot of you out there have harrowing experiences of your own when it comes to chronic and potentially terminal conditions, too, I’m certain. “it’s not fun” is an understatement. though there were a couple of really fucking close calls, zae’s GPA went into remission. his hair grew back fuller and more luscious than it had ever been before. (i later learned these are affectionately referred to as “chemo curls.”) remission for gpa is usually expected to last at least 5 years, potentially up to 20, before any symptoms resurface. but zae’s case was particularly aggressive, so of course he’s not so lucky. he’s relapsing now. his symptoms have been slowly returning, and it’s been decided that he’s going back on chemo. it’s no surprise that this shit is expensive, even with insurance. we’re still paying off the care he received last time because ‘murca. being disabled myself, work has been… let’s call it inconsistent, yeah? yeah, that’s a nice and comfortable thing to call it. no one’s doing well financially these days, so we of course have to get creative. long story short(er), i’m doing a commission special! for the next MONTH, i am offering fast commissions at crazy-low prices to try and help us create a cushion to keep us afloat and relatively comfortable while we begin the chemo process again. there’s several options for a variety of budgets, because i really hate the idea of seeking something for nothing, and i absolutely abhor having to reach out in this way. it makes me feel vulnerable and icky and… i’m sure you all understand that, too. i can’t thank you all enough just for following me, and engaging with mine and zae’s work. it may sound trite, but that really makes a difference to us, especially when we’re dealing with something so painful. so if you can’t or don’t want to partake of the sale, please know that you are still a huge help to us, and we seriously appreciate each and every one of you. like, so fucking much. thanks y’all love, fletch

END TRANSCRIPT

Commission Options:

Flash Sketches: $5USD/character

Comics: $5USD/panel - flat color

Comics: $10USD/panel - shaded color

Screenshot Redraws - $15USD/character (complex bgs, add $20)

all of this is posted with @zaebeecee's knowledge and blessing

please DM me if you're interested in something, and thank you again

more Hungry Games, fic fanart, and Persona stuff coming soon too

[factual-fantasy]

26 ASK! :DDDD🎉🎉🎉

I do not.. :/ Sorry!

@mason-gaylord

:DDD Thank you!! ☕ I'm hanging in there as best I can <:) Thank you for the well wishes. I hope the same for you!

@boxofcreampuffs (SKJAJD HORSE XDDDD)

AAAAA THANK YOUU SO MUCH!!! THATS SO SWEET!! I PLAN TO GET BACK AROUND TO BOTH FANDOMS SOMETIME SOON AFTER MY COMIC IS DONE!!💖💖💖💖💖

@chaotic-public-menace (Post in question)

<XD While that is true, this comic is way overdue. Its taken me some weeks to make and it should have been up like a month ago! I just wanna get it done already so I'm trying to not get distracted by FNAF and other drawing ideas-

@ditzyclown

I haven't actually decided on whether or not the other Addison's were good or bad guys. This would change their reaction to seeing Spamton.

I had this idea that Spamton's world is a lot like Seam and Jevil's. Its more cruel and wicked than the original Deltarune.. And Spamton might not have been particularly close with the other Addison's.. They had no time for bonds or relationships. It was a dog eat dog world, every man for himself.

Branching off of that, one idea I had was the other Addison's had become jealous of Spamton's success and tried to kill him by pushing him into the acid pools.. Only for Spamton to survive and reemerge as a horrific looking creature..

If I go with the evil Addison story.. some Addison's might run away in fear just because of how horrific Spamton looks. Though some might deliberately abandon him becuase they hated him/were jealous of him and felt like he deserves this.

If I go with a story where the other Addison's weren't responsible for the acid fall.. they might still run away in fear. Seeing this horrible beast.. not realizing its one of their own.

@bunny-coffee

XD No problem! Soft boi Gregory is best Gregory!

@beryl-shade

In my AU, none of the other Glamrock's know that Gregory exists. But if they did, maybe Roxy would envy it a bit..? Having someone look up to Freddy and not her might hurt her ego a bit.. :(

@elegysonnet

Oh no no, his top and bottom row of teeth are separate. Like these pictures here show,

(Post in question for the pictures)

The top row of teeth all fused together and became one big cracked tooth. And the bottom row did the same. But the two rows are separate and he can still open his mouth.

To think that if while he was initially melting, he had kept his mouth closed? His teeth would have melted together and he wouldn't be able to eat anything easily.. if at all.

Please don't draw fanart of any of my stuff. There are no exceptions.

(Also thank you💖)

@skellacant

Thank you! :DDD

@iziria09

You just made their night XDD

Thank you! I'm hanging in there 😅 I hope you are well too! :}}

They're dry :x

@crimson-thinker

I imagine that Bonnie Bowl might have a flashlight.? And Pirates cove would have a box of confiscated Bon-cams XD

I don't really remember what the other collectables were in the game so I don't really have a reference to go off of..

Buuuut,,, maybe from Bonnie bowl you could also get one of Bonnies signature bowling balls? A purple bowling ball with a rabbit ears print on it somewhere.

And for Pirates Cove perhaps a cheap pirate captains hat? I had this idea that there's 100s of these cheap captain hats that Foxy gives away to the kids every day. So maybe that could be a collectable too? :00

@ninaandthegames

XD Once I'm done with this project that will be me. Posting the most painful angst I can conjure up

I have not. But something tells me its about Hares/Rabbits XDD

@randox-talore

Yeah, me and some friends theorized about that. We thought "Maybe Vanessa or William is taking care of the animatronics and keeping them clean"

But even if they were, you cant help certain wears and tears. They would look noticeably worn, stained, torn in some places and a bit brittle in others after so many years of just existing.

They also missed out on a lot of scares by making them pristine. Bonnie's face could have had a crack/split down the side. "Oh yeah that's been there for a while, its fine" Only for it to fall of later in the movie revealing these piercing red eyes and a Childs head lodged in Bonnie's face/jaw.

Or Chica could have her beak come off or dangle down and reveal colorful wires hanging down.. and.. is that a childs arm.?

(Post in question)

Oh yeah, he'd be scared. Even the Captain is spooked in that AU XD

@kaiserdarken (WAAA SORRY FOR ANSWERING SO LATE! I was originally going to draw something as a response to this but I never got around to it and it got burriedddd.. my apologies. Better late than never I suppose-)

I do celebrate Halloween, which means Bibi and Jangles would as well XD For Halloween I like to dress up in some way and carve pumpkins. Although I forgot to carve any this year and didn't have a good opportunity to dress up unfortunately-

I can see Bibi wanting to dress up and carve pumpkins too. But he might not actually be strong enough to puncture a pumpkin to carve it <XD He'd need some help-

Jangles would just eat all of the candy. Plus pumpkin pie and more candy-

(Again one of those asks I was going to respond to with a drawing but never got around to ittttt.. I'm sorry-)

Its been so long since you sent this I cant actually remember what it was referring to.💀 IM SO SORRY! Its still funny though! <XDD

(Another ask I was going to respond to with a comic- sorry for the lateness!)

Thank you so much! And yeah, "Jangles looks like Papyrus," I get that a lot <XD

(Yet another late ask that was meant to have a drawing attached😭 Sorry!)

(Bibi sweating profusely) "PLEASE do not die for me- I prefer you were alive--"

@minnesotamedic186 (ANOTHER late ask meant to have its own post but I got lazy😭💔Sorry!)

The basic idea for my Kirby AU is that I took the other metaknight's and added them to the Kirby Right back at Ya universe :00 I cant remember what info I shared before because this ask was sent so long ago.. but I'll just recap Axe Knights story because it has the most detail!

Axe Knight was Metaknight's first follower, and best friend. He was with Metaknight from the very beginning. They became star warriors together when they were both a bit young. Axe Knight truly believed in Metaknight. He saw greatness in his friend, he saw a true hero. And he truly believed Metaknight was going to end this war and save the world. Its because of this adoration and belief, that Axe Knight devoted himself to Metaknight and proclaimed himself to be his first follower.

It was not too long after when tragedy struck. A battle broke out and Axe knight sacrificed himself to protect Metaknight. As he lay on the ground, dying from his sacrifice.. he saw Metaknight too laying on the ground nearby. Unmoving, and in a pool of his own blood. Axe knight died with his heart twisted in grief. Thinking that his sacrifice had failed. And that his best friend had died.

Metaknight of course survived, and Axe Knights sacrifice was the only thing that saved him. But Axe Knight didn't know that before he died. Metaknight buried his best friend and left that planet in grief. Forever changed by this loss..

But Axe Knight.. wasn't totally gone. Axe died grieving, thinking that this world lost a great warrior; Metaknight. Thinking that it was so cruel Metaknight didn't get to live longer. To travel the universe and save lives. They were robbed of a hero. Because of Axe Knights failure. His soul was so disturbed that it couldn't move on. He later crawled out of his grave, with a fiery determination to make things right. To go out there and save as many lives as possible. To protect anyone he can and to help all who need him. Because that's what Metaknight would have done.

Eventually after years of blindly wandering the universe.. battling monsters and saving innocents.. he crosses paths with dreamland. He finds himself in a little town full of Cappys.. And then he runs in to a familiar face...

(ANOTHER ASK THAT WAS MEANT TO HAVE A DRAWING RESPONSE IM SORRY-)

I was going to draw a comic of Jangles making a vlog style video. "Hey guys, welcome to pranking with Jangles. Today I'm gonna prank Bibi by throwing this cheese slice at his face!"

He sneaks up behind Bibi who is sitting on a beanbag and reading or something- "Hey Bibi" He turns around

Jangles throws the cheese slice and it completely misses and just splats on the ground. "Oh oops"

Bibi: "????"

@uay778 (The last ask that I was going to draw something for and never got around to. So sorry!)

I was going to draw a comic to this where I replace the bandages with clean, fresh ones. But then they immediately get soaked with blood again XDD Its just a part of my design!

[pastelaspirations]

Inktobertale day 20: 4 panels comic. I like to think if Error ever joined the star sanses, then it would be a matter of no time before he and Ink became the most chaotic duo ever.

This gives Dream a lot of grief.

It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to do for this specific prompt. I knew I wanted to do it, I just didn't know what. Then, this cursed idea came to life while I was trying to sleep one night and here we are.

If I knew the second panel was going to be as glorious as it ended up being, I would have made a full on picture for it. But here's a cropped version of it 'cus I couldn't get over how vapor wave or freaking something they look lmao

Fun fact; the canonical reason why Ink is holding his shades up is because they ran out of tape. They only had the three. So him holding them up constantly has a stupid, in canon reason asides from just looking cool-

Additionally, I like to think how this all played out was because Ink was sad that Dream wouldn't let him dress up when they went on missions.

Ink: Dream said I couldn't dress up for the next mission! I tried telling him I'd look neat! But he said it wouldn't be very... intimidating to people we're going to fight. :( Since when did we have to be "intimidating?" I thought we were the good guys... Crossing his arms, he adds with a grumble: I have serious doubts I'm even considered "iNtImIdAtInG" to begin with, but that's another story... Error, having listened intently with a thoughtful hand on his chin this entire time: .....Yeah, but hear me out. What if... there were two people dressing up-

Ink: *GASP-*

The moral of the story is that Error does demonstratively have more brain cells than Ink, but he uses those brain cells to perfect and refine Ink's arguably stupid ideas.

Whether this comes back to make him appear like a dumbass too is up to interpretation.

Special shoutout to a special commenter on ao3 that referred to Error being bad bitch buddies with Ink on a comment one time. That just stuck with me for some reason. Also to @honeybubbletea33 for their art that depicted Error with the exact same fluffy boa and heart glasses that just. Imprinted into my brain or something, idk man-

[punch-aholic]

I love your art style, I was wondering what your inspirations were/your process for getting your art style to where it is now

Oh my gosh what an amazing question!! Thank you so much, I really appreciate this :) I'd love to talk about my style and how I've kind of honed in my style over the years. This will be a bit of a long one so I'll put in a cut!

I've been drawing DC art for a long, long time. Since I was really young back when I was playing Lego Batman lol. Before I was doing digital art I was really focused on designing my own versions of characters. I sort of learned how to draw one thing at a time. I learned how to draw hair, then eyes, then noses etc.

I wasn't very good lol. I think these are from like 2016? I took a lot of inspiration from DC Comics actually! I always describe my style as almost-realistic though, because I actually grew up as a life-drawing artist. I can't stress enough how important it is to take the time to really study the human body if you want to draw people. I went to college for Life Drawing and Anatomy studies and it really helped me figure out posing, how certain parts of the body move and stuff like that

I use myself as a reference a lot too. You're your own model! It leads to some pretty funny pics too haha (I ended up changing the pose a bit, but you get the vibe)

These are older and my handwriting is unintelligible but you get the picture. Learning how to translate emotions and character into a pose is really helpful and then of course figuring out how to draw clothes is helpful too. Before I was doing Superheroes I did a lot of fantasy art which helped me kind of perfect armor, cloth and those textures.

When I moved to digital drawing it really helped me learn how to render, which was kind of the final piece of the puzzle. Shading is so fucking difficult and I'm not perfect at it by any means (these drawings are two or three years old now and they still have a lot of issues). I mean, to show you how much my style has changed, this is the same character in 2016, 2020 and 2023

SO yeah! I get a lot of inspiration from older Disney, I really liked She-Ra's art style, and mimicked that a lot when it came out, and now I've kind of grown it into something all my own to the point where I can do full character scenes with my own designs. Anatomy, color theory and character design are big passions of mine and I try to show that in every drawing I do on here.

Thank you for asking by the way, I hope this is what you were looking for! Sorry for rambling lol

[shannonmanorart]

TWST Process!

So I got a comment this morning asking if my Ignihyde piece was a Memoji---a thing I immediately had to google to even know what that means lol I'm not mad, no shade to OP but it really threw me for loop to be asked if my art is a customizable avatar.

I know this blog is mostly my fun little sketches or side projects but I am a professional artist! Even if this is a silly little side project to keep my brain from falling it the abyss, it's still my art I drew with my own hands and it's important to me for people to know that!

Process breakdowns below the cut! it's not very detailed but figured i'd be fun to show a peak behind the curtain!

First things first! I do all of these in Proceate on my iPad! These are very casual and just for me to have fun--I'm very burnt out after my associate art direction job on Hit Monkey so I'm just trying to give myself a tiny piece of joy so I can get myself back to drawing my web comic and merch for cons/my store.

I draw each dorm in their own file just to keep things from getting too cluttered. The group shots I do separately in another file. So I'll finish them, flatten them and paste them into another file to size them up together/add backgrounds/effects. I included screenshots to show the breakdown of the original drawings along with the group shot. Nothing too fancy. Also forgive all the unnamed layers x_x I am usually incredibly organized but typing on my iPad annoys me so I tend to not name Procreate layers. You can see where I thought about it by naming ONE layer.

Here is the timelapse for The Ignihyde boys! You'll notice I keep Ace+Deuce in the file--I use them as a base reference for the stylization. I stylize everyone a bit differently but I try to maintain some consistency. I also reuse some bits of their palette as a piece of that consistency. You can also see me go 'oh yeah Ortho's hip thing goes all the way around so we should see it behind him........oh no. nvm that looks bad.' lol

What was most important for me to sell with these two was the difference of their personalities. I was aiming for that 'Someone will die' 'of fun!!' vibe haha So I wanted Idia very compact and to himself while Ortho is energetic and friendly. I also wanted to bring some design elements of Hades face to Idia's face. His bangs cover it up but I gave him a long nose that starts right from his brow the way they stylize them in the movie. I also gave them more color to their skintone but kept Idia more ashen/desaturated--I liked the idea of him looking kinda grey to match Hades instead of just pale.

Here's the non-default brushes I use--Jingsketch brushes are available here and the free comic brushes I got from Di Brushes. I'm usually a default brush kinda person but Procreate's default textured stuff wasn't really doing it for me anymore. I really like using stuff that looks more like pencil or pastel. I've also been addicted to adding noise a lot to my pieces. I know that's not the most original thing in the world but idk, it looks cool. My group shots always get a layer of noise.

But yeah, that's it! These are purposely kept pretty simple so I can knock each one out in about two hours or so. More detailed dorm outfits obviously take longer--I hand drew all the patterns on the Pomefiore kids like a mad man. Every time I erased the edges, I went 'I should probably copy and paste this' and then never did. I love making things harder for myself lmao

See y'all in Diasomnia! (I also have plans to draw my MC and Grim so Diasomnia won't be goodbye~)

[lolotheparagon]

After my last Batman design post went over so well: I think it’s only fair to tackle my fave piece of Batman media, warts and all: The Arkhamverse.

I’m gonna be doing a separate one for all the Arkham characters but for this one, I’m gonna be reviewing every suit Batman wears in every game (including Catwoman’s outfits in City.)

(Im not gonna count every DLC suit cos we’ll be here all day. I’m only gonna talk about the main suits that came default with the game)

Let’s start with Asylum!

Default Suit - 7/10

I’m glad this is not a suit of armor and the artists have kept that classic superhero silliness with the long cape, long bat ears and black underpants. The gloves are now armored gauntlets yet still have those spikes on the sides that just complete the look. A little on the dull side in terms of colour scheme. I miss the yellow circle behind the bat symbol. I think the Arkham City version was a lot better in terms of colour balance and how the blueish light the cape and cowl had in that game really makes a difference.

Armored Suit - 4/10

It’s a far too militarised version of the Batsuit and not silly enough to be a superhero costume. It is not worth completing the game 100% for.

Right, that’s all. Let’s head to the City!

Default Suit - 8/10

Honestly, this update of the default suit from Asylum is the perfect blend of a hardened combat suit but enough classic superhero silliness. Not too militarised and probably the best suit in modern Batman to date. I like how they incorporated the sleek blueish tinge on Batman’s cape from the 90s animated series. Great suit, even if the yellow utility belt is still an awful shade of yellow and there’s no yellow on the bat symbol.

Animated Suit - 10/10

A suit referenced from a legit good piece of Batman media. Streamlined, stylised and the mixes of navy blue and gold, with the muted grey and black is just chef kiss. Considering the technology of cartoon costumes into a gritty 3D video game at the time, this is still really good and holds up well.

The Dark Knight Returns - 0/10

Oh yeah. That comic. The one that Batman stans won’t shut up about and paved the way for morose, ultraviolent takes on Batman for decades to come. The suit isn’t even that good, he looks like Stan Smith in Batman cosplay

Batman Beyond Suit - 2/10

This isn’t Terry McGinnis so what’s the point exactly? Also the Beyond suit looks a lot less cool with all the added detail and defined muscle.

Batman Inc. Suit - -10/10

I know Bats has a hard-on for justice but Jesus, dude. I’ll give it points for being one of the few gritty Batsuit skins to keep the yellow bat symbol and utility belt.

Earth One Suit - 1/10

No underwear over the top of his costume and no yellow utility belt. You get an F. Not silly enough.

Year One Suit - 0/10

Oh wow, that’s boring! He doesn’t even have BAT EARS!!

Sinistro Corps Suit - 7/10

I’ll give it this: it’s a unique suit. I didn’t think black and murky yellow would work, but somehow it does. And that cape is LONG, surprised Bruce hasn’t stumbled on that yet. I don’t get the reference so I’m sure some comic nerd out there is going “aha” at this and good for them. It is one of the better skins of this game. Although tbh it does look like a men’s sized Batgirl suit.

Im not done, this is only the first part! See you all in a moment!

[medli20]

How do you decide how to do the greyscale for your comics? Do you, like, desaturate reference art and base it on that, or just go with whatever looks good?

It's mostly the latter. I've got a few set grey values for the main cast of our comic, so when I do the flats it's just a lot of eyedropper -> fill bucket work. Then I slap a black shadow layer on top of that at 35% opacity and quickly paint out the shadows, and add some light/bloom/environmental effects on top of that, if applicable.

Early on I tried to do the same thing with background elements, but then I realized that the exact shades of grey don't actually matter that much as the general relationship those values have, if that makes sense. Like, if a background element is largely dark with a light trim, I try to maintain a similar dark/light relationship between panels without being super precise. There isn't really an exact science to it, other than feeling it out and figuring out "yeah that looks about right."

[tamelee]

Hi Tamelee!

I was wondering if you could give me some tips/advice about color theory (in art/illustration specifically)?

Anyway, hope you’re doing alright! ( how’s life post uni if that’s not too intrusive?)

With luv <3

Hi @bruitdevague !!

No problem! ^^ I mean, with AI and all, things have changed a lot since my previous plans fell away. It's a bit stressful to say the least... But I don't want to stop drawing, and I really want to dive deep into storytelling (I also can't wait to share my SNS stories with all of you 💕) so, we'll see!

And yeah, sure!

Color theory is a massive subject though, is there anything in particular you want to know more about? For me personally, I think the best thing you can do is to simplify your learning process. I've ignored color theory for a long time because I found it complicated and overwhelming and always just thought I'd wing it. The main reason being that color is relative: it changes depending on the impact different interactions have with the subject: material, color temperature, transmissions, reflections, etc. And my brain can't really handle "well, it depends" when it comes to learning new things. But the result is obvious; I think some of you may be able to see at which point I finally started to learn it a bit on my own journey. ><

Of course, you’re completely free to use whichever colors you want and experiment to develop your own style regardless of theory, but understanding how colors interact is helpful, and in some cases, crucial. Some things are just more visually appealing together and more effective to suit the mood you're going for. (Look for complementary color theory, here's a helpful tool.)

I think, above anything else, the best thing you could do is start learning how to cell-shade until it becomes easier. (It's the art/shading you see in anime, webtoons, and comics.) This also helps you with forms and shapes.

Open a document, add a screenshot, and take your color picker to study the color wheel and take notes on saturation, hue changes, and light. 

I've done this many times until things just started to 'click' in a way. But take your time, it can take a while. For some this also might be overwhelming, in which case I recommend doing this while studying the theory together.

When it becomes easier and you want to take it a step further, then look at the famous ball that explains other lighting:

And honestly, also take your time with this.

Take any term, learn what it means and implement it one by one until it starts to make sense.

One thing I'd certainly learn first, or which one has been the most helpful for me is learning about color temperature. Since color is relative, shadows/highlights can become cooler or warmer (it's the shift in hues), which is a much more efficient way to look at it than determining whether something is just darker or not. When I started, I learned greyscale values at first, and although it helped me a lot regarding readability, it never taught me any of this, setting me back for a while. If you want to learn more about the theory itself, I'd recommend: "Color and Light" by James Gurney, and follow along while reading with a document to experiment. Or watch YouTube tutorials for free, but definitely scribble along while you do so! I think, even if you watch YouTube tutorials, it's important to have some kind of goal, or steps you want to take, otherwise you'll drown in all the information. So, this is what I'd recommend:

Cell shading (like in anime, webtoons or comics)

Learn about color temperature and experiment with casual scribbling.

Study the relevant terms which you see in the circle (sometimes they have slightly different names though. "occlusion shadow" can also be referred to as "ambient occlusion")

Implement them one by one into your art/illustrations if you want. Maybe just add highlights at first, then maybe consider focusing on the terminator if you're interested.

Practice a lot and whenever you find something you like, use the color picker to see what happens to the colors. You don't have to copy it, but you can copy the changes within your color wheel and see what happens!

Like I said, it's an incredibly large subject, but I hope this can at least give you some direction ^^💕

[siphoklansan]

Knave Cater. That’s it. Just Knave Cater. I’m down bad I’m not joking this fic made me down bad check it our rn it’s an order👹 /j but really though….read it cuz ya’ll missing out👁️👁️

Here are two versions of Knave Cater, one that sparks joy and the other that doesn’t spark joy-

Anyway, it was REALLY difficult when I got to his armor. I didn’t know how to shade armor let alone draw one so..yeah. Lots of photos were looked into but at the end I decided to go hail mary and design it my self. Please note the the armor patterns were just me doodling away because idk armor patterns💔

About the (terrible) armor colors/shading, I took a look at Alice In Wonderland live action movie, the Knave of Hearts. Reference photos and links will be at the bottom of this blog, as well as reference photos of the raven Cater is holding(?)! I feel like something’s off with his armor so I’ll be back and edit this post later :,)

I can just imagine the raven spilling the most atrocious tea while Cater just goes “mmhmm…mmm…yuh ikr? So true so true you’re so real for that SLA-“

Armor References:

Knave of Hearts (Character) - Comic Vine

Knave of Hearts | Alice in Wonderland Wiki | Fandom

Cummer Museum

ArtStation - Medieval fantasy armor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armour_in_the_18th_century

Raven references:

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Raven/id

https://www.outdooralabama.com/crows-jays-larks-and-swallows/common-raven

(I’m not sure if the links work, I suck at using tumblr sorry guys- also I’m not even sure if the fic has a crow or a raven I’m going by memory😭)

[vampiresdontbelonginfairytales]

In two minds as to whether to post this because I HOPE I'm going to do a comic arc of it.

But since I'm currently incredibly slow to do comics and also because I spent the last three days solid on it... Here it is.

But I guess if you'd rather see it in comic form and care about spoilers then don't read it?

EDIT: I wrote a follow up scene and then I wrote a follow up scene to the follow up scene and... Long story short, or rather, short story long, it's a book manuscript now. I've got 18k words so far

No book spoilers though! (The current book is coming along very well but isn't quite ready). << EDIT: this refers to a different book that is close to a final draft

----

“Um... I d-don’t have a l-lot, but...” Victor held out the canvas bag. The three of them had agreed to do a book swap, or rather, a manga swap. Lucinda had been bringing books to Fairyland for Will, as books were somewhat hard to come by, and she had offered to bring him books too. Victor, having no idea what books he wanted, not being savvy on the selection of Earth books available, and not daring to do such a bold, daring thing as taking a friend up on an offer, hadn’t asked for any yet. Hettie was positively itching to get her hands on Lucinda’s manga – “As the Otherworlds’ first magical girl, it is positively my duty!” – and Victor had some manga too. Only a few volumes... The yokai peddlers only had a small selection that passed inspection by his mother.

Lucinda sat cross-legged on the floor after taking the bag, and had plonked two of her own on the rug. They were in one of the guest parlours, little drawing rooms that were previously for nobles to sit and relax in, but were in the process of being turned into bedrooms and common rooms for the expected magical school students. This one needed very little doing at it, and had become their hangout area. There were comfy couches and a little table and trolley for drinks and snacks. Victor had brought them some tea – books weren’t the only thing he’d picked up from his brief visit home – and it was rapidly cooling as the girls were far too excited by the manga to worry about little things like staying hydrated.

“Oooh this is really rare!” Lucinda picked up one of the more battered copies with a pair of girls on the cover; one with bright pink hair, the other with an equally striking shade of purple. “It never came out in the UK at all, and in the US it was this limited run tied in to the anime they decided to air at like, 5am on a Saturday morning, so it never got a big following and never got reprinted in English. I swear sometimes they WANT shows to fail.”

“I... didn’t understand most of what you said. Sorry, it’s what?” Hettie looked up from where she was already a good chunk into volume 1 of something called Sailor Moon. “I understood ‘rare’ and then you might as well have said ‘and the hoop-de-doo sqoodled the squaddle’.”

“Yeah, sorry.” Lucinda stayed quiet for a minute before rephrasing. “They only printed a small number of these in English because the television show version of it wasn’t popular. And it was never printed in my country at all.”

“Ah.” Hettie sighed wistfully. “Oh to have print runs available. We just get whatever the yokai peddlers have with them. It’s pretty erratic. You’re lucky if you can get more than four or five volumes of a set. Sometimes they have really big sets of one thing, but they’re so expensive.”

“I guess I am pretty lucky to be able to find as much as I can,” Lucinda reflected. “They even have manga in the library.”

“You have to stop, you’re making me far too jealous!” Hettie held a hand out dramatically.

“Um,” Victor interjected. “They have m-manga in the library here, too.”

“They do?!” both girls chorused.

“A lot of it is um... e-embarrassing...” Victor had a very low tolerance for what Hettie had informed him was called ‘fanservice’ but some of the stuff he’d seen must be the sort of service where someone takes a bullet for you and then takes your would-be assassin out with them while apologising that they won’t be able to get your supper ready on time for once as they are unfortunately dying, rather inconsiderately, without two weeks’ notice.

Hettie and Lucinda looked at each other.

“I’m not about to be put off by a bit of embarrassment, are you?” Hettie asked.

“Not a chance.” Lucinda hesitated. “Well, okay. Some chance. But.” They both turned to Victor.

“Lead the way?” Hettie suggested. “Or you can just give us rough directions if you prefer.”

“I’ll c-come with you.” Victor was not about to lose out on time with Lucinda over a few drawings, no matter how embarrassing they were.

“H-here it is...” Victor waved vaguely at the two aisles.

After a few minutes of pulling out volumes at random – and hastily putting some of them back – the girls were a little deflated.

“Are they all in Japanese?” Lucinda asked. “I’m trying to learn but I can just about say what my name is, greet people and count to one hundred. I can read maybe five kanji and some katakana.”

Victor frowned. “Yes? I think. B-but...”

Hettie sighed. “That’s really too bad. Perhaps we could ask your snow woman friend to translate?”

“I don’t want to ask her to do her job for free...” Lucinda replied.

“Um.” Victor pulled the nearest volume out a little, checked it, and pulled it all the way out. He flipped to what in a Western comic would be the back. “Did you check the front? There’s a lot of translation notes and things.”

Lucinda held up a finger. “I did not.” She pulled out another manga and instead of turning to the middle she checked front and back. “Oh. It’s not the type of translation I’m used to, but this’ll work.” She put the random volume back and started searching for the first one of the series.

“It’s silly, really. I should have realised the large yokai population here would have donated something to the library,” Hettie chided herself. “I can’t believe I never looked before. There must be several doors to Japan here.”

Lucinda looked up suddenly. “I. Wow. I never thought of that. Do you think so?”

“It stands to reason?” Hettie theorised. “The queen must know a door, at least.”

“I can’t believe all this time and I never... Do you want to go to Japan?”

“What, now?” Hettie asked. “Right now?”

“It should be possible, right?” Lucinda said, eyes shining. “Although...” Her face fell. She bit the end of her thumb as she thought. “I guess it will take a long time to get into the map room, and I’m kinda broke still...” She glanced over at Victor making him jump. “It’s kinda crowded in the cities, from what I know... That wouldn’t be good... But I don’t know if it would be harder in a small place, we’d be too conspicuous...” She slouched. “I guess we can’t after all... I got myself worked up for nothing.”

“You should go to Okazaki!” came a voice from the other side of the bookcase. There were footsteps, and Will leaned into view around the end of the aisle. “It’s a city, so it’s got all the stuff you’re probably looking for, but it’s really quiet. As long as you don’t go during commuter times, you’ll practically have the pavements to yourself.”

“Okazaki?” Lucinda repeated. “Where’s that?”

“It’s near Nagoya. Aichi Prefecture.”

“I’m sorry to say that doesn't mean anything to me,” Lucinda admitted, rubbing the back of her head. “We’d still need a door map though, and, well, a bunch of stuff. I don’t have any yen, for a start.”

Will waved a hand . “You don’t need to worry about any of that,” he said. “Wait here.”

The three of them exchanged a look. Lucinda and Hettie browsed the manga while they waited, pulling out the odd volume and looking back and forth between the translations and the pages. It was pretty difficult. They weren’t intended to be read in the aisle. Victor had borrowed a few of them and you needed a desk to spread them out on.

It wasn’t long before Will returned, holding an envelope and a piece of white paper, with a much folded look about it. Paper, not parchment.

“Here you go!” He beamed. “Just make sure you go when it’s not right before or after school, and you should be fine.” Lucinda unfolded the paper and all three of them peered at it.

“Door locations?” Hettie asked.

“I came via Okazaki to Fairyland,” Will explained. “I needed to make sure I had an escape route if something went wrong, but the doors you want are this one and this one.” He pointed at the one in the top right and the middle bottom. “Oh, and here.” He presented Lucinda with the envelope, holding the shortest end with a thumb on each corner.

Lucinda opened it. She gasped. “Does that say... ten thousand? Ten thousand yen?! And what’s this?” A large feather slid out with the bank note.

“It’s a feather. You’ll need it to get back here, so don’t lose it.” He pulled out a pencil from a pocket. “I’ll just make you some notes. You need to write the kanji for ‘gate’ in the air to open the return door.” He wrote the kanji next to the door. “It’s pretty easy. Oh and if you do lose the feather or something, THIS door here leads back to Stratford-upon-Avon. It’s quite a walk, to the door and from the door, like, maybe a full day of walking, but if you can’t get back here it’s the best option. I’ll give you my parents’ address. My mom is an Otherworlder, she can help you get home.” He scribbled the address on the back. “Oh and if things are bad in Okazaki for some reason... You can’t get the door to work or any other trouble, you go here.” He drew a star on the map. “Ask for Asakura Miho. She's the local Otherworlder concierge.”

“This... This is a lot of money isn’t it?” Lucinda asked.

“Not loads.” Will shook his head. “Only about £40.”

“Only?” Lucinda spluttered. “I can’t take this!”

“Sure you can!” Will grinned. “Look, you’ve brought me at least that amount in retail value of books, if not in second hand value. I was wondering how best to repay you for it.”

“But... ... I mean...” Lucinda hesitated. She stared long and hard at the note. Finally she said, “If it’s really okay... You’re sure it’s okay?”

“Positive.”

“Okay... Uh...” She looked round at the other two. “Who’s ready to go to Japan, I guess?”

The three of them made their way to the entry door. It was in the Northern Quarter of the capital; a gathering place for yokai.

“It should be... here!” Lucinda pushed on a patch of air and a slit appeared; a slice of blue sky and a rice paddy hung in the air, contrasting heavily with the brown walls of the tavern behind it. Lucinda let it close. Then she checked her phone. “It’s... about 9:10 in the morning. Will said avoid commuter times.” She bit her lip. “I think we should wait a bit longer to be safe.” She drummed her fingers on her arm. “I feel like I’ve forgotten something...”

“You waiting for the Okazaki door, kids?” a voice addressed them from above.

They looked up to see a yokai woman leaning out of the second story window. Her eyes were narrowed and her lips pouting.

“Yes?” Lucinda replied. “We were told to wait until the morning commute was over. That’s right, isn’t it?”

“Oh, yes, that’s right. It’s just... You’re going... like that?”

The parental tone and question was familiar to Victor as of late - his mother did not appreciate his change in wardrobe from the expected vampire evening dress to the everyday fairy tunics. The three of them looked down at themselves then at each other.

“Oh. Oh, I see what you mean,” Lucinda admitted. “We look like we’re going to a convention.” Lucinda had come straight from work and was in her prince outfit, Hettie was wearing one of her tea gowns and Victor was in a blue tunic and pants, tied at the ankle. “Not good for blending in.”

“L-let’s go change?” Victor suggested. “There’s p-plenty of time.”

“I’m not sure I have anything suitable...” Hettie said.

“D-don’t worry, Molly showed me where the clothes a-are for the f-fools, w-we can find something in there.”

“I think I still have some stuff from when I stayed here before,” Lucinda said. “I’ll check my old room while you do that.”

There were a few trunks of spare clothes in the servants’ quarters, mainly intended for fools but really for anyone who wanted them. Fairyland worked on a bartering system, so labour in the palace was exchanged for food, accommodation or occasionally other goods.

“Does this suit me? I think it’s a little big but beggars can’t be choosers...” She had found a wine red jumper; it was a solid colour with long sleeves that hung over the edge of her fingers. She pulled them back over her wrists, using a ribbon on the edges to tighten them.

Victor nodded. “I-it looks very nice. W-will these trousers fit you, d-do you think?” Hettie had also found a blue skirt, but it was a glaring mismatch, in both style and colour.

“Trousers?” Hettie took them uncertainly. “I, I really don’t know, I’ve never worn any before.”

“M-Miss Lucinda is often wearing them, e-even when she isn’t dressed for work,” Victor pointed out.

“Yes, must be nice not to have to worry about changing to come here,” Hettie observed. “Then again, I didn’t have to change when I visited her house. We pretended I worked for Rent-A-Legend too, which come to think of it, I actually did.”

“I’m a l-little jealous that y-you got to see Miss Lucinda’s house,” Victor admitted. He stopped short of asking what her room was like. That felt like spying, somehow.

“It was fun, Earth technology is incredible, a magic of its own... though it was incredibly nerve wracking... I had to keep Lucinda’s identity secret from her parents.” Hettie took the trousers and he turned away so she could change. “I doubt it will be as difficult out and about in a town setting.”

“W-were her parents nice?” Victor asked.

“I only spoke briefly to her mother to introduce myself, but she seemed nice,” Hettie replied. “You can turn around now. How do I look?”

“L-like you’re from Earth,” Victor replied. There were less options for him. Most of the clothing was dresses, or way too big for him. Maybe he would have to make do with his old clothes. He understood they were very old fashioned on Earth, but without his cravat and cape, he would at least look like an Earthling, if a slightly overdressed one.

“Any luck?” Hettie asked.

“No. I’ll h-have to wear my old clothes.” Victor pouted. “I sh-should get some Earth clothes s-sometime. B-but I d-don’t know how I’m going to. They’re s-so expensive a-and the peddlers never h-have anything my size.”

“Perhaps you can ask Lucinda for help?” Hettie suggested.

Victor shook his head. “I c-couldn’t do that.”

Hettie tilted her head to one side. “Whyever not?”

“I j-just... H-help how?”

“So you just automatically answered ‘I can’t’ without even thinking about it?”

“W-well, it j-just seems too imposing t-to ask for help,” Victor tried. “... What do you mean?”

“She literally lives there?” Hettie pointed out. “She offered to bring you books? It shouldn’t be that big a step up to help find some clothes. Maybe she knows some place you can get some cheap? Or she can ask Sara? You really won’t know unless you ask her.”

“B-but clothes are s-so c-complicated!” he protested.

“I don’t think they’re as complicated on Earth,” Hettie said. “Like I say, you won’t know if you don’t ask. Besides, Lucinda is your friend. I wish I could prove it to you that asking her for help isn’t a big deal.”

“N-no, i-it seems like t-too much...” He shook his head.

“Victor...” Her brow furrowed slightly, and Victor steeled himself for a lecture. She stared at him for a long moment before giving a short sigh. “Well, I for one plan to ask Sara where she gets her Earth clothes, so if find out anything useful I shall pass it along. I’m ready, so shall I wait for you here or at the gate?”

“Th-the gate,” Victor answered, relieved. “Please apologise t-to Miss Lucinda for me.”

When he had changed into his old things, he found one of the glassless windows that lined the upper corridors and launched himself out of it, becoming a bat in mid-air. He didn’t much like being a bat, but it would be faster than walking down and he didn’t want to make Lucinda wait any longer than he already had. He made a mental note to learn a new animal transformation spell as soon as possible. He had learned how to become a bat at about age seven, normally a little early for even a vampire to start learning magic, but the death of his father at the hands of a mob when he was six had made his mother keen to get him learning escape spells as soon as possible. He could also turn into mist. That wasn’t much fun either. The only real upside was that you were pretty much impossible to kill. Stay that way too long though, and you’d find your mind starting to dissipate too. It was like being in a dream. You had to force yourself awake again.

“H-here I am!” Victor said, turning back a little way above the ground and landing on his feet. “S-sorry for making you w-wait.”

“We’ve got plenty of time,” Lucinda reassured him. “And it’s definitely not commuting time now.”

“I was just telling Lucinda how difficult it was finding Earthling clothes for you,” Hettie said. “She says you can probably have a look in Okazaki.”

“It’ll be interesting to see what second-hand clothes they have in Japan,” Lucinda remarked, smiling at him. “I’m not expecting to find a shop full of kimonos or anything but there’s got to be some cool stuff, right?”

“O-oh. Um, r-right. Yes.” Victor shot his cousin A Look, but she just made a half shrug and a smirk that said ‘See?’.

It was impossible to be mad that she was correct about just asking, or as it seemed, just mentioning, and he spent the walk back to the Northern Quarter wondering what sort of clothes they would have and how they fit without a tailor. He was aware that they didn’t usually have tailors any more. They bought things ‘off the rack’. Maybe they bought everything a size too big and sewed it to fit themselves?

When they got to the door, they found the yokai woman from the tavern waiting there. She had it open the tiniest possible amount, sticking a fingernail in it to keep it from closing. She looked round as they approached.

“Much better.” She nodded approvingly. “I’m just waiting for my partner Mitsuki to get back with supplies. You go ahead... if you’re ready?”

“I think we are.” Lucinda hesitated. “Um. Do you have any other advice?” she asked as she tentatively put a hand on the door. “It’s our first time in Japan.”

“Don’t talk loudly in public, the doors SLIDE, do NOT cross the street when it’s red, you’re expected to pack your own shopping bags at the supermarket AWAY from the cashier, get a little hand towel each for public bathrooms - I recommend Daiso for that – don’t hand money to anyone directly, it’s bad luck, that’s what the little trays are for, oh and I hope you kids like mayonnaise because we put mayonnaise on everything.” The woman thought for a moment longer. “You know a return door, right? From your lack of luggage, I assume this is a day trip?”

Lucinda nodded. “We have a few options.”

“You got a feather?”

“Yes, we have a feather,” Lucinda reassured her.

“And you know the rules for going to and from Earth? It’s not like the other Otherworlds, you know that, right?”

“I’m from Earth, yes,” Lucinda replied.

“Oh. You’re more prepared than you looked.”

“I was just a bit overexcited and I tend to forget what I’m wearing,” Lucinda admitted.

“Off you go then,” the woman said. “Have fun. Try some dango.”

“I will. Thank you.”

Lucinda had just put her hand flat on the door when Hettie piped up suddenly;

“I completely forgot! I have a thing with Lolotte today!”

“You do?”

“Yes, I shall have to go immediately,” she announced. “Don’t want to be late.”

“Oh.” Lucinda took her hand off the door and turned round. “Oh, that’s too bad. We can go another day, then? Lolotte can always come with us?”

“No, no, I won’t hear of it!” Hettie protested, bodily turning Lucinda back to the door. “You and Victor go ahead! You went to the trouble of getting changed and everything. You can go and find all the fun places and show me next time. You’ll have more money between you, too.”

“I guess but... are you really sure? I do want to go but-“

“Then go.” She gave them both a bright smile. “You’ll be more inconspicuous without me, anyway. Much better for a first visit. Can’t be too careful.”

“But-“

“Must dash! See you later!” She gave them a little wave before turning into a panther and bounding away.

“Well... I guess we’re going then.” Lucinda scratched her head before smiling apologetically at the yokai woman. “If that’s okay? With just me?” She addressed this to Victor. Who almost didn’t hear her over the internal screaming.

“Th-that’s fine,” he replied, a little shocked to find he meant it.

Yes, he reassured himself. Fine. He was alone with Lucinda. Not a problem. It had ended horribly the last time, but fine. So it was his first visit to Earth. And not a ‘Western’ culture like he was used to at home. So he didn’t speak the local language. So what if he couldn’t use magic there. So what if there were humans all over the place?

“Okay. Just stick close to me and if it’s too busy we’ll turn back, all right?” Lucinda offered. “Will said it would be quiet, so I guess we’ll just see. I’m... a little bit scared, but at least I won’t be alone. I mean, I’ll still go alone, if you change your mind. You don’t need to worry about me. I’ve been doing this for two years. I’ve been to scarier places than Japan, that’s for sure. The crime rate’s supposed to be really low. And there’s zero dragons.”

Victor considered this. They were stood in what was a foreign country to both of them right now. In Fairyland it was allowed to eat people who didn’t have a resident’s permit and there were at least two species of flower that killed you if you looked at them funny. And while he’d managed to shake off most of what he’d realised were his mother’s prejudices about humans, he was still nervous around strangers. To be fair, he was also nervous around any type of people, most animals, quite a lot of plants and the occasional rock. But objectively Japan was not scary.

“I-I’ll tell you i-if it’s too much,” he said. Oddly, it helped to know Lucinda was also a little scared. And that he was helping. He’d never helped someone else to not be scared before.

“Let’s go then.”

The yokai woman opened the door, looked around quickly, and tilted her head to indicate that they should indeed go. As they stepped through, a tanuki slipped past them the other way. They turned in surprise to see the tanuki take a human form, peering at them curiously as the door closed.

“Just some otaku kids-” they heard before the sound was cut off.

Victor looked around. He’d thought they were in the countryside but the rice paddy they’d seen through the door was next to a building... A few buildings. There was a row of houses behind them. A narrow, concrete road was painted with white stripes to serve as the pavement edge and some letters he couldn’t read.

“Oh. Uh. Wow. We’re actually really here.” Lucinda looked around at the scenery, shading her eyes from the sun. Though, the sun was nothing compared to her smile. She beamed at the scenery like it was a long lost treasure. She bounced on her heels with her hands clenched. “What should we do first? Oof, it is warm.” It really was very warm, much like Fairyland. His shirt probably wasn’t the most appropriate for the heat, but at least it would protect his skin from the sun. “Glad I put on sun cream already for Fairyland.” Lucinda fanned herself with a hand. “Do you need sun cream?”

“Sun cream?” Victor asked.

“To protect you from sunburn? Do fairies have a potion for that instead, maybe?”

“I d-did... b-but this morning.” It was late afternoon in Fairyland.

“We’d better get some then.” She tutted to herself. “I am not, in fact, well prepared at all.” He expected her to be annoyed, but she laughed. Still with a smile a mile wide she continued, “We need to break this note anyway. What did she say... Mini hand towel...for bathrooms... Ah, where did she say would be good for that?”

“D-Daiso,” Victor said.

“Great. Thanks!” Lucinda pulled out her phone. She’d brought a small bag. It was a croqueted tote; pale green with a white flower. It went well with her outfit; a pink frilly top and long white skirt. “Let’s see... Daiso...” She tapped her foot for a minute while she waited for something. Her smile finally turned to a frown. “Data is HOW MUCH per megabyte?! Someone’s having a laugh. All the way to the bank.” She shrugged and her smile returned. “Ah well. Not like I use my data for much since I’ve no signal half the time. Ooh, there’s a Daiso really close! Basically straight up this road! This way.”

“A m-map on your phone?” Victor queried.

“Yeah, it connects to a thingy in space or something,” Lucinda explained. “Oh, if you need to translate something, it can do that too. Not WELL, but enough that we should get by.”

“H-how is your phone N-NOT magic, again?” Victor asked, staring at it. It could show pictures, moving images, play music, he’d seen her use it to do maths and he knew there was a library in there too. Multiple libraries, from what he could gather. And yet Earthlings would be amazed he could turn into a bat.

“Honestly can’t argue,” Lucinda admitted.

As they walked, he thought again about the bat thing. “Um, M-Miss Lucinda, if you could turn into a-any animal, what w-would you choose?”

“Good question.” Lucinda stopped as she thought. Someone on a bike rode past them. Victor didn’t have time to react. They were already long gone even as he registered the intrusion. As he looked behind him to see where they went, he realised the jester had been right; the street was deserted. It was a tiny side road, that he could see, but this was much better than he had hoped. “I don’t know.” Lucinda’s reply startled him out of his observations.

“You don’t?”

“I’m not sure I’d want to turn into an animal at all,” she said. As he drew breath to question her further, she gasped, “Oh look, it’s right there! Right across the road!”

“O-oh. Th-that’s what she meant by ‘d-don’t cross when it’s red’,” Victor observed.

“Yeah. We call that the ‘green man’ in the UK. Interesting cultural difference,”-she held up a finger-“here they say ‘it’s blue’ instead of green.”

“The G-Green Man?” Victor raised an eyebrow. “L-like the forest spirit?”

“Oh. Oh yeah. I... think I’ve heard of that. Not the same guy, from what I know. Incidentally... It’s blue.” As they crossed she added, “And where I’d say ‘your face has gone white’ they say ‘your face is dark blue’.”

“Interesting... Wh-where did you l-learn that?”

“I’m not sure.” Lucinda cupped her chin. “Probably from manga translation notes or possibly from a research rabbit hole on the internet.”

They stopped at the edge of a large concrete area in front of the store. It had a few cars on it, with lines indicating where they should stop. He’d never seen a car before, but was vaguely aware they could kill you or explode. Luckily there were only two, and both were on the same side of the car area. They could see quite well into the store via the glass panelling all along the front. It wasn’t busy. There were four or five people in there he could see, all spread out.

“Do you want to come in with me or wait here?” Lucinda asked.

“I’ll... I’ll c-come in,” he decided, steeling himself. Even though they were at a BIG crossroads, bigger than any he’d ever seen, it was still almost devoid of people. Despite the size, it was still quieter than the Dark Capital’s streets. Logically, it was silly not to go in.

“Okay.” Lucinda led the way. He froze momentarily when the doors opened BY THEMSELVES at which Lucinda didn’t so much as blink. More Earthling ‘science’. “Oh no,” she almost whispered. He stopped again. “Everything. Is so. CUTE.”

“I-is that bad?” Victor’s voice quavered. Cute was not a quality he had hitherto associated with the phrase “oh no”.

“It is bad,” Lucinda replied solemnly, “because I want to buy it all.”

He relaxed somewhat. “What were we l-looking for again? H-hand towels?”

“Oh. Yes.” Lucinda snapped her fingers. “And sun cream. I’ll look up the word for sun cream while I remember.”

Heart pounding, Victor followed her along the shelves. He barely noticed the goods at first, instead keeping a surreptitious eye on the other customers and the shopkeepers. But he gradually came to the realisation... they weren’t paying him any attention at all. The shopkeepers would glance in his direction, smile and say a greeting. But then carry on with their work. He was completely unremarkable, apparently. It was liberating.

After a little while of browsing around the shelves which contained the wildest assortment of goods Victor could never have imagined existed, Lucinda stopped and took a very deliberate breath.

“Okay I have to make a rule for myself here,” she said. “This is the first shop we’ve been in and there is already so much cool stuff. I have to wait until we’ve had a proper look around. Comic Con rules.” She thought for a moment. “Um. Not that I’ll stop you from buying stuff you want.” She paused again. “I know Hettie said to spend the money on ourselves but I think we should save her some of it anyway. Let’s say... 2000 yen each? And we’ll try to save the rest. I know Will said we can just spend it but... I just wouldn’t feel right.”

“Y-you really d-don’t need to worry about me,” Victor protested.

“Don’t be silly,” she chided. “At the very least you need some food and drink. Speaking of, I know I said I’d wait to buy things but I have spotted some sweets I DEFINITELY want. They’re technically food. And is that an ice cream freezer I can see?”

“Ice cream w-would be nice,” he admitted. It was far too hot to say no to something as nice, luxurious and above all cold, as ice cream.

“Lemme just...” Lucinda checked something on her phone again and made a low whistle. “Wow, okay that is cheap. Is this a Japanese pound store??” They couldn’t read everything but the flavours were obvious enough and some were also written in English.

“I-I’ll have the earl g-grey one,” he said. “I-if you’re really sure.”

“Good choice. I’m super tempted by that one too but I think I’ll try the ice cream mochi.” She took one of each out of the cold box and looked around. “Oh. Self-checkout. I have never been so glad to see one before. I was working myself up about having to talk to the cashier for nothing.” She approached some boxes with words displayed on a screen. It was almost like a big version of her phone, he noticed. “Oh and there’s an English option, even.”

“Wh-what does ‘w-working yourself up’ mean?” he asked.

“That I was making myself really stressed,” Lucinda replied.

“You w-were stressed??” He hadn’t noticed.

“Yeah, to be honest I was dawdling a bit because I was stressing about having to talk to the cashier,” she admitted. “Sorry. I’ll try not to. I’m going to have to talk to at least one cashier today I’m sure.”

“D-don’t apologise...”

They took their ice creams just outside and ate them right away. There were a couple of big boxes out here too, that also looked like the cold boxes he’d seen inside. They had rows and rows of... something?

“Oh right, I forgot to get a drink.” Lucinda eyed the nearest one. “Is that... tea? COLD milk tea? That’s ... different. Though I suppose you get iced tea without milk AND iced coffee however. I’m gonna try it. We have change now.” She selected an option. Something clanged in a compartment below the rows of drinks and she reached through a flap and took out a can. “Hey, this is hot?! What the heck??” She studied the rows again. “Oh. OH. This one with the red must be hot and... the blue ones are cold? How the heck do they do that??” So there WAS some Earthling science she was baffled by. She turned from the machine and wiggled the can at him. “Want one? They’re pretty cheap.”

“Y-yes please.” While he still felt he was imposing, she was right that he couldn’t go all day without anything to eat or drink. Technically he had had lunch... back in Fairyland, some hours ago. And he was thirsty.

“This is very sweet,” Lucinda remarked, after taking a swig. “I think I like it.”

Victor tried his. “Y-yes, very.” He couldn’t decide if he liked it or not. Sweet things were a luxury at home, and carefully rationed, as he mustn’t damage his teeth. Come to think of it... she had said drinks were okay, and it WAS important. “C-can I also um, g-get some water?”

“Sure.” She double-checked something on her phone before making a selection. “Yep. Should be water.”

“Th-thank you.” Once he’d finished the tea and ice cream, he took a good few mouthfuls of water, swishing it around a bit. Seeing Lucinda looking at him curiously he said. “U-um. For-” He opened his mouth a little and pointed to his fangs.

“Oh. Yeah. Too much sugar would really mess you up, huh?” She tapped her own teeth thoughtfully. “I’ll keep that in mind. Want me to carry that?” She indicated the water bottle.

“Um. Please. Th-thank you.” Was Hettie right? Was it really this easy?

“We should look for where we can buy clothes next, I guess. Oh and sun cream. Here’s the sun cream.” She handed over a small bottle. “Uh-”-she lunged forward and grabbed his arm-“-you don’t drink it. You rub it on your skin. Just where the skin is showing.”

He lowered the bottle, feeling his face colour and wordlessly opened the top, looking down to avoid her gaze. He squeezed some out and rubbed it on his face.

“You need a mirror?” Lucinda tapped her phone and turned it to face him. He jumped, seeing his face on the screen. “There’s a camera on it,” she explained. “Two cameras, actually.”

“Is there anything it doesn’t do?” he said, mystified, forgetting his embarrassment.

“Lots of things but admittedly none I can think of right now,” Lucinda replied. “Right. Clothes,” she said when he’d finished. “There’s a place right up the street. Book-Off? Sounds like a weird name to pick if you sell clothes.”

It was a straight walk up the very big street. It was so big there were trees and sculpted bushes between the pavement and the road, as well as a line specifically for the bicycles. Yet there were still hardly any pedestrians. The occasional bike whizzed past. They still made him jump, but he was finding himself less bothered about any of the humans around. It helped that this place was like nothing he’d ever seen. Some of the buildings were huge. Not just big, like his grandmother’s mansion, but wide AND tall. Incredibly tall. Fairyland trees tall. Maybe taller.

“This is... a supermarket?” Lucinda frowned. “Where is the clothing place?”

“I-is it up there?” Victor pointed to a strange, moving metal stairway.

“Well spotted.” She moved towards it and looked up. “Looks like there’s more floors too. Shall we go up?”

Victor nodded. He watched her as she stepped onto the moving stairs, then copied her. There was a handrail to hold; it moved at the same rate as the stairs. Earthlings had thought of everything. His fingers stiffened on the rail as they neared the top – how did you get off? What if he didn’t do it right? Lucinda merely stepped off at the top. He wobbled a little and half-jumped off, as his toe bumped the metal barrier at the top. He straightened up immediately and spun around, backing away. When they didn’t explode, stop or otherwise herald disaster, he turned away and looked around. The floor below had been filled with food from what little he saw, but this one was full of clothes, tableware and a lot of stuff he could only categorise as ‘Earth things’. There was a floor above them that seemed to be full of books. Lucinda noticed it too.

“First we’ll look on this floor, then we’ll go up and look at the manga and DVDs and stuff then we’ll go get some dinner from the supermarket,” Lucinda suggested. “Sound good?”

Victor gave a nod. “I d-don’t r-really mind what we do.” He really didn’t. This was a good place for his first ever Earth visit, he realised; everything was as fascinating to Lucinda as it was to him.

“Wow, there really are kimonos here!” she pointed to a section full of robes and wraps. “Or maybe they’re yukata. I’m not confident I can tell. Ooh and are those bowls and things? I am definitely getting a bowl or a cup or something.”

They browsed for a while. Victor tried to keep Lucinda in his eye line, but it was difficult as the clothes were organised by type. He didn’t want to bother her, but became quickly apparent that he needed some help.

“U-um... H-how do I know i-if the clothes will fit?” he asked.

She put a finger to her lips for a minute. “I never thought of that. Clothing sizes are different in different countries, so I guess I’m not sure what size fits me, either. Um... If I can figure out what size you are in UK sizes, I can probably convert it to a Japanese size.” She got out her phone again. “You’re roughly my size, and I’m a size twelve, sometimes a ten, probably need to go with a twelve or maybe even a fourteen to be safe. It’s easier to make a garment smaller than it is to make it bigger.” She tapped on her phone for another minute, her face a mask of concentration. “We’re looking for size 11 or 13, or just M for medium. You find it on the clothing tag, here.” She pulled up a little white label on the neckline of a nearby shirt. “Do you want me to help you look, or...?”

“N-no,” he said quickly. “I-I should be able t-to look by myself now.” He didn’t want to take up more of Lucinda’s time than necessary.

“Okay.” She gave him a thumbs up. “You want me to give you your share of the money or you want us to go to the counter together when you’re done on this floor? I wouldn’t say I speak Japanese, but I can at least count and I have my phone if it gets more complicated.”

“T-together, please,” he said, cursing inwardly that he’d be holding her up after all.

He browsed the clothing as quickly as he could manage. He had no idea what he was looking for, exactly. He stiffened up every time someone else appeared in the aisle, far more on edge now Lucinda wasn’t with him. He tried to focus. Think. What did he actually need. The plain, black trousers he was wearing were fine apparently, but his white shirt was too formal. A shirt, then. He should try to find a casual shirt.

He was absorbed in the task when he noticed a boy a little further down the aisle, about his own age. He hadn’t seen him approach.

‘Don’t panic,’ he thought to himself. ‘He won’t even look at you.’

The boy looked at him. And Victor had been looking at the boy. He’d seen him looking! Victor seized up. The boy’s eyes flicked to Victor’s hair. He’d forgotten about his hair. It was short and black, but with a thick, white streak in his fringe and around the nape of his neck up to his ears. In the Otherworlds, it was now a known sign of vampirism.

The boy gave him a smile. “It’s very cool!” he said in a thick accent, fingers brushing his own bangs.

“Th-thank you?” Victor replied.

The boy smiled a little wider. Then he looked away, and continued browsing.

Victor hurriedly looked away too, feeling his face redden. It would probably look bad to run away. He fought his every instinct, forcing each and every nerve to stay rooted to the spot. After a few heart pounding minutes that felt like hours, the boy left the aisle. Victor sagged in relief before nearly launching himself into the air when he felt someone come up behind him.

“I found this super cute dress, but there’s no way it’ll fit me,” Lucinda lamented. “It’s so unfair. I think I’ll get it for Erlina, though. Think Hettie would like this cup?”

Getting his breathing back under control, Victor nodded mutely. It was a pretty cup. It was pale blue with pink flowers. Lucinda was also carrying a bowl with a similar design, a spoon shaped like a mermaid and two pieces of clothing. One was the aforementioned dress, the other was a mauve and beige shirt with some writing on it.

“I'm shamelessly breaking my 'look around first' rule. How's it going?" She lowered her voice. “Hey, did you see that guy who was just here? He looked so cool!”

Victor tried hard to remember what the boy had actually looked like. Black, short hair, but with blond tips, and he was wearing a sleeveless black shirt and ripped jeans. He’d been wearing studded bracelets, a mixture of black and bright neon colours. “H-he spoke to me,” Victor said. “H-he said my hair w-was cool.”

“I just realised that in an Earth context, your hair looks like a fashion statement,” Lucinda observed. “I bet it would dye bright colours really easily, too.”

“Y-you can dye h-hair bright colours?” Victor asked.

“Yeah. Or pastel. Blonde. Whatever, really.” Lucinda took in his empty hands. “No luck?”

“N-not really,” he admitted.

“Do you want some help?” she asked. “If you tell me what you’re looking for, I can look too.”

“I’d l-like a shirt,” he said. “D-do you think m-maybe... s-something like that boy was wearing? But, n-not black. A-and with sleeves?”

“Gotcha.”

In the end they left with a n orangey-brown hoody-like shirt with colourful gashes in the sleeves, and some soundtrack CDs from the third floor, which Lucinda nearly fainted at, and which she’d talked about at length in a squeaky, high pitched voice that he’d probably have been able to hear better as a bat. Then they’d walked around the huge food market on the ground floor, picked out some dinner – technically supper – and now they were sat on some benches a street or two away eating some dango. It was sweet rice paste formed into balls, covered in a sweet, brown syrup. He had opted for a colourful version with no syrup; the balls were white, pink and green.

“These are so good,” Lucinda waved an empty skewer in the air. “Why don’t they make these in England? I wonder if I can make them myself...”

“These a-are also very nice,” Victor said. He yawned. It was getting pretty late in Fairyland.

“You know, I realised I only gave you half an answer before, and then I never heard your answer,” she said suddenly. “You asked me what animal I’d want to be,” she clarified, seeing his confusion.

“I-I asked because I d-don’t know,” he said.

Now it was her turn to look baffled. “What do you mean?”

“I d-don’t like being a bat,” he admitted, wrinkling his nose. “I w-want to learn a d-different spell, but I d-don’t have any ideas.”

“I imagine it is kind of a pain,” she sympathised. “Especially in the day. But I don’t know that much about bats. They’re cute and misunderstood, they have echo location, and that’s it, that’s all I know.”

“I l-like bats,” he pointed out, “I j-just don’t want to b-be one.”

“An owl, maybe?” Lucinda suggested. “Wait, no, same problem, nocturnal... Umm... Flying squirrel? Though, I guess you’d prefer something that can actually fly, not just glide... Hmm.”

“Wh-what about you, though?”

“Me? I’m happy staying the shape I am.” She leaned a hand on her cheek. “I wish I was a bit prettier... I guess who doesn’t...”

“Y-you’re pretty!” he protested.

“O-oh? Thanks.” She hunched her shoulders and smiled awkwardly. “I mean, it’s not like I think I’m ugly it’s just...” She dropped her shoulders again and looked away. “I don’t get to feel pretty a lot? I’m a prince for my job and my school uniform isn’t exactly flattering... So that’s at least 90% of the time I’m not dressed how I want. I suppose I’m done with high school really soon so that’s goodbye to the uniform at least.”

“D-do you not l-like working as a prince?” Victor asked.

“It’s not that,” Lucinda replied. “It’s just... tiring to pretend you’re a gender you’re not? I mean I don’t have to do a lot - Otherworlders just see the outfit and think ‘That’s a boy’. It’s both really useful and incredibly irritating at the same time. I don’t know if I’m making any sense.”

“I th-think I understand,” Victor replied. “I-I w-want new c-clothes because I d-don’t want people to l-look at me and just s-see ‘vampire’.”

“Do you... is it hard on you, being a vampire?” she asked.

“I d-don’t know, i-it’s inconvenient,” he replied, “b-but i-it’s n-not that I’m a vampire, i-it’s that I didn’t kn-know I was allowed to be a-anything else.”

“Yeah, it’s ... a whole thing, finding out something like that.” She flung a hand out in front of her. “It’s like, ‘You mean THIS was an option this whole time?!’ and it’s both annoying and great.” She laughed. “It’s better late than never though, right?”

He smiled to himself. “Y-yes...”

Lucinda rubbed her eyes. “Speaking of late... it’s something like 4am back home, and it's pretty late in Fairyland too.” She yawned. “I know we’ve only really been to two shops and a supermarket, but maybe we should head back? It’s up to you though. I can easily stay up longer.”

“W-we should head back,” Victor agreed. He was tired, and he was starting to suspect it wasn’t just the time since he’d last slept.

They got up, put their rubbish in the correct bin – there were several – and starting walking back. They’d been walking for just a few minutes when they were blindsided by a car. Lucinda jumped back. She hadn’t seen the crossing light - which was red - or the vehicle. There was a tiny side road with a wall blocking the view of anything but the main street. You couldn’t see the side street until you were practically on it.

“G-gomen nasai!” she said, bowing an apology. The driver didn’t look impressed; they were frowning hard. Lucinda shuffled back a good way from the road edge.

Victor, who had taken off as a bat in his panic, clung to the wall. It took Lucinda a minute to understand what had happened and spot him. She held a hand over her heart and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Are you okay?” she asked. They were now on opposite sides of the little road, but she didn’t try to cross.

“I-I think so,” he replied. “Th-that w-was close.”

“Yeah, I didn’t see that road AT ALL.” Lucinda made a face at the crossing light. She looked all around them and down the offending side street again. “It’s clear. No-one’s looking.”

“R-right.” He climbed around the corner anyway, just in case. And then...

“Do you want me to help block you from view?” she offered.

“Um.” He hung there for a minute. “Um... M-Miss Lucinda...”

“Yeah?”

“I c-can’t change back.” His voice sounded as small as he was.

She frowned and finally crossed the road, standing on the corner of the main street. “What was that?”

“I... I c-can’t change back.”

“Has that ever happened before?”

“N-no. N-not... to me.”

Her expression changed to match his own growing horror. “Lamprey...” Eyes wide, she bit her knuckles while she thought. “Did they ever... Couldn’t the fairies fix it? Or a witch?”

“It d-doesn’t w-work,” he answered, struggling to keep a grip on the stone as his whole body was trembling. “Th-they t-tried, b-but you end up w-with a regular h-human who still n-needs blood. B-but with a body th-that c-can’t handle it. I-it w-was worse a-and he w-would have died f-from n-no blood.” His grip slipped and he slid a few inches down the wall.

“Um. Do you want to...?” Lucinda held out a hand. He hesitated, before climbing on. She held her arms together a little away from her torso. “You know, one of the reasons I couldn’t answer you before about the animal thing... When I was turned into a raven that one time, it was really freaky how everyone else was suddenly a giant. So um, let me know if I’m being scary.”

“I-I’m u-used to it...” He glanced up at her before looking quickly back down. Her face was a mask of concentration.

“Didn’t Lamprey fall asleep as a bat or stay too long as a bat or something?” she asked. “I don’t remember the details but I know that he couldn’t turn back because he didn’t have enough magic. And he couldn’t drink enough blood to get enough magic to ever turn back because bats are too small.”

“Y-yes, that’s wh-what happened,” Victor confirmed.

“So... Um, so...” she began hesitantly, “since you only just turned into a bat, wouldn’t it work if you... drank blood, like, right now?”

“M-maybe, b-but... I c-can’t j-just... Who would...” Realisation dawned and he glanced up again.

“You could... drink... mine?” her voice cracked. “Wow, those words really just came out of my mouth. But there’s not a lot of options.”

“B-but-” Oh good. Now he had two different kinds of nightmare scenario to deal with at once, AND memories of The Incident were flooding back. His claws reflexively tensed, and he remembered that was flesh he was gripping, and forced himself to just flop. “B-but-” he tried again.

“I don’t think we’ve got time to argue,” Lucinda pointed out. “It’s at least thirty minutes walk to the return door, then a few hours from the return door to the palace.” She made sure no-one was looking, then ducked into the narrow side road, heading uphill. “Just need to find somewhere less exposed...”

“B-but-” He had absolutely no arguments to counter with.

“Look,” she continued as she powerwalked up the street, “I know I said don’t ask me for blood, and you didn’t, I offered. And, yeah, I’m uncomfortable and slightly terrified but you were literally just talking about how you don’t like being a bat and if I don’t do something you might be stuck as a bat forever and I’m a prince and rescuing people is my job and it doesn’t matter if I’m on Earth or I’m not getting paid, because you don’t get to choose who needs rescuing-”

“I d-don’t-”

“-so we’re both just going to have to speedrun facing our demons. Here should do.” She stopped in another side street, and leaned against a wall breathing hard. “Look, it’s not like that time with the potion. Just. Just go ahead? I promise it’s fine.” She hesitated. “Well all right, not fine, but as fine as I’m going to get. And we might have taken too long already.”

Unable to answer with any suitable words, Victor turned his attention to Lucinda’s arm. This was going to be a lot harder as a bat. And it was going to hurt. Human skin offered zero resistance to vampire fangs, but bat teeth weren’t anywhere near as sharp. He wasn’t even a vampire bat. Still, they weren’t herbivore teeth. He tentatively nipped near a vein. He felt Lucinda wince; she didn’t say anything, but she gave him a thumbs up with her other hand. He tried again, hearing a hiss from Lucinda, but he’d drawn blood. And still the inconvenience of being a bat wasn’t over, because he couldn’t cover the wound and suck. Bats lapped. He tried to avoid the actual cut, merely licking at the trickle of blood. He’d have to try and drink as much as he could stand; constantly stopping and failing to transform would only drain even more magic and draw this ordeal out. Determined not to look at Lucinda until he was done and frankly, possibly never again, ever, he focused on the blood. It wasn’t long before he couldn’t drink any more – he was a pretty small bat – and without thinking, tried to transform. The two of them toppled over, the sudden weight of a human on the girl’s arms not being conducive to good balance, and they ended up in a heap on the floor.

“It worked!” Lucinda beamed at him before extracting her arms from under him and pushing herself away.

Victor’s body was screaming at him. He was bruised and aching from the fall, he’d been up for nearly twenty four hours now and above all, he was thirsty. “C-can I-” He bit the question back.

Lucinda rubbed her wrist near the cut. “Do you... n-need more...?”

He gave a single nod.

Lucinda held out the still dripping arm shakily. “Well, I’m... already bleeding s-so...”

Victor shook his head furiously.

Lucinda started laughing.

He looked up in alarm.

She pushed herself up off her knees and into a sitting position, still laughing. “We are the worst two people for this activity.”

“Wh-why are you laughing?”

“I dunno, just, there couldn’t be any two worse people to have been put into this situation,” she remarked. “Well... maybe Sara,” she admitted after a moment’s thought. “Probably, no, definitely Sara.”

“A-are you okay...?”

“Doesn’t matter.” She shook her head. “Erlina fainted from not having enough magic in Bad Schwartz and that’s an area that actually has magic. Earth has barely any. I wouldn’t be able to carry you back to the door if you collapse, and if we tried and failed, you’d collapse in public, in a country where I don’t speak the language, and neither of us has a passport. Pretty sure that’s illegal, now that I think about it. So.” She held out her arm again, steadily this time.

“I c-can’t argue...” he whined, slumping back against the wall. Eventually he dragged himself back up and to where she was sat. He gingerly took her arm and put his mouth to the cut. It was inadequate, so he used his fangs. At least this way wasn’t painful.

“You know, this isn’t anything like any of the nightmare scenarios I had in my head,” she said. “I thought it would hurt, for one thing.” She rifled in her bag one handed and pulled out her phone. “Still okay for time.”

Despite what she said, he could feel she was tense through her arm. She held it rigid, while she kept a lookout for people and cars.

Eventually he let go and just let himself breathe.

“I should probably get a plaster or a bandage for this,” she began, looking at her arm. “Oh... It’s actually not bleeding that much. It’s stopped already?”

“Vampire bites h-heal v-very fast.”

“I’m gonna get some cute plasters anyway,” she said, standing up a little shakily and dusting herself off. “I’m always getting scrapes from my prince work and um, I... don’t want people to see the bite mark. But mainly I want to buy cute stuff. Is that okay? It’s on the way back. That Daiso place.”

“Y-you could tell me y-you want t-to tour the whole city by foot a-and I’d agree.”

“Is there anything you want?”

“I w-want to s-sleep for s-seven hundred y-years,” he replied. “A-and some more of th-that tea.”

They returned to the store and got more sweets and drinks, and a few interesting gizmos. It was now the wee hours of the morning in Fairyland, and it was disheartening to know that they had a few hours to walk before they got to the palace and more importantly, their bedrooms.

When they stepped through the door to Fairyland, they found a carriage waiting there.

“There you are!” Tyrian exclaimed with relief. “I thought something might have happened, so I came to wait for you. Will told me this was the return door he gave you.”

“We weren’t gone that long, were we?” Lucinda asked.

“I... suppose not, but it was getting dark and you weren’t back, and I know its not dark there yet, but I don’t know, it’s Victor’s first trip to Earth and everything,” he rambled. “Not that I don’t trust you Lucy!” he backpedalled. “So ah, was everything all right? No emergencies?”

“N-none at all,” replied Victor.

“Completely uneventful,” Lucinda reported.

“Very good then,” Tyrian said, opening the carriage door. “Get in.”

“You have no idea how glad we are that we don’t have to walk back,” Lucinda told him as she climbed inside. She settled herself into the opposite corner, on the same side as Tyrian.

Victor lay full length on the other seat, facing the ceiling.

“So, what did you get up to?” Tyrian asked brightly.

“N-no questions, please,” Victor protested.

“Agreed. No questions, only sleep,” Lucinda added, closing her eyes and getting as comfortable as possible.

“Hmm.” He peered at them both in turn before settling back himself. “Very well, as you wish,” he acquiesced.

They were asleep before they even reached the edge of the forest.

----

I have so much stuff to do right now but this INSISTED on being written.

Oh and... Lucinda is wrong about there being zero dragons. Just fyi.

[superemeralds]

What's been your favorite place, or setting, to draw and depict in The Heart of A Monster?

now i think im known for not bneing able to answer things in a simple way. especially when i'm asked for favourites. picking jsut one would be unfair and untrue.

my boring answer is.,. all of them!?

it was a very nice challenge and learning experience, especially the places that I had trouble with. I can pick out somehting positive for every single one of them..

some noteworthy milestone type stuff:

Issue 4 was the first time i heavily referenced and actually used the sonic unleashed game to explore areas to really get some details in for the hub world location they visited! that process was super fun but ultimately ended up in me making too detailed backgrounds. Still a very important formative learning experience :3

I'm proud of the desert areas in issue 5. i think you can actually see how on page 15 it just CLICKED and i figured out how to use color in that setting, how to properly use the colros for shade and sunlight!

I'm also really happy with the depiction of arabic culture in that issue. I got a lot of comments from arabic readers thanking me for depicting their culture properly and making them feel represented. (especially the fact people have communal meals on carpets on the floor; as it is almost never represented at all in popular media)

the icy areas and areas in the ARK in issue 7 were a huge experimentation and ended up being so fun that i drew ALMOST 30 comic pages in 2 weeks. that issue was also the first time i actually did environment concept art beforehand instead of making the environment up as i go (yeah i usually just come up with the location the very moment i draw the final page LMAO i neeeed to stop doing that hoyl shit)

i had a lot of fun making up the chaotix office at the end of issue 8 too :3 built it in the sims for reference lol

im generally really bad at interiors, ESPECIALLY sleek sci-fi stuff. i think it really shows in issue 8 with the big disparity between outside and interior backgrounds. (honestly those pages are super embarassing to me but... the show must go on!) eggman-land is a very special challenge that I welcome :] having lots of fun actually! comparing my eggman base art to the art i made in issue 1 definitely makes me hopeful for the future.

especially with how i practised eggman-bases in my sonadow comic BLUE TIDE

[mimssysciest]

i always have the worst couples as my comfort ships, what the hell.

the brain rotting levels these DORKS gave me is worse than the time i was obssesed with gopher. (topher bus/gandhi)

i got a doc on my notes app with 40 ideas on fanart for them. (this includes editing, drawings, maybe comics? not sure, these might become eventually fanfics in case i cant draw it right.)

(in case you are a ch mootie and is curious, i had one doc for gopher too, but i registered way fewer. theres around 12 ideas </3)

NO OTHER PAIRING I LIKED MADE ME GET THIS MUCH IDEAS IN SUCH A FEW TIME, im honestly impressed with myself and with how there is such few fan content of them if there is so much potential 😭

i dont rlly blame the fandom for such, their relantioship is mostly played as a joke in the show than a real thing to develop their characters and dynamic, which is fine, not everything needs to be treated seriously, specially if we're talking about a side character and his love interest that is one of the main antagonists in a exagggerated comedy. also, sometimes they have pretty toxic moments, like, vicky literally beats him up and mark attempted to kidnap her and also knew exacly where she lived, thats disturbing! and yet, it makes total sense for them to be toxic, given how awful they both are. i mean, were. because mark actually improves in the later seasons and even becomes friends with timmy, and tbh?? that brings even more potential to them, like, i think their relantioship could either help them improve or make eachother worse. (the latter i refer more to vicky, though, i can see she getting actual character development if she was more grounded, like in the oh yeah cartoons shorts/season 0.)

anyway, i conclude they could've been cute in a weird way, they could be more than what there was in the show.

actually, i hope these freaks die for infesting my thoughts and for making me take a interest in vicky as a character. i always hated her so much until now 😭 but thanks for reading.

ALSO, they need a ship name. HOW COME YALL ARE A CANON COUPLE IN A SHOW THAT IS MORE THAN 20 YEARS OLD AND NEVER GOT ONE?

i thought in calling them "emerald morning star"

• morning stars are medieval weapons that vicky carries with her a lot of times through the show, while mark finds somewhat of ammusement in violence due to his planet's culture. im pretty sure too that in the earlier seasons it was mentioned that he enjoys torturing prisoners, so it definetely fits both of them. 😭 (THESE FREAKS ARE DESPICABLE AND SICK (IN THE EARLIER SEASONS), THATS WHY I LIKE THEM SO MUCH. I FUCK WITH CHARACTERS THAT CLEARLY ARE MADE FOR EACHOTHER OR DESERVE THEIR PARTNER.)

•"morning star" theres "star" in the name, and mark's from outer space erm... also his and, i guess, yuggopotamia's symbol is a UPA styled star.

•morning star is one of the devil's names, which aligns with vicky's evilness.

•"emerald" cuz the signature color of both of them is a shade of green and i love this little detail about them. they really are made for eachother.

not sure about this name, i want to hear more ideas, but i cant think of something that represents them better.

[marisoft-paint-adventures]

Pgs. 309 - 384

so there’s this guy.

he has an intro.

and

he’s pretty cool.

he’s so cool he has a shitty galaxy reflection in his shades.

his name is David and his room looks like this.

Dave’s room is the most kind of guy room ever, I can just feel his entire personality here, and I can also feel the “this dude has no parental guidance outside of an equally unorganized brother” energy.

Dave is just a hyperspecific Guy, a real type of Guy, he’s even described as liking obscure bands and shit, Hussie was airing something out when making him.

Anyway, these are your copies of the beta you received in the mail recently. You've labeled them with your name in BOLD RED PRINT to distinguish them from your BRO's copies, who labeled his in kind. Neither of you really gives a shit about this game or has any intention of playing it, but you'll be damned if you'll let that get in the way of your campaign of one-upmanship.

the Lalondes and Striders have a lot of parallels going on between each other with their dynamics and situations. 1 thing that sets them apart is that the perception of an insane mindgame rivalry seems to be more truthful on Dave’s end compared to Rose. Rose thinks that even a fucking fancy pillow is some kind of symbol of scorn and spite in the waterfall of irony and insincerity. while there’s not much seen out of Dave and Bro’s relationship on a normal day, the stupid ass stealth moves that Bro pulls out in order to get Dave’s goat really implies that there is a genuine absurd rivalry going.

also they’re just brothers. when there’s brothers in fiction, they either hate each other or like each other but still fuck with each other just for the sake of Being Brothers.

Dave: Bleat like a goat and piss on your turntable.

You would never consider allowing any fluid even remotely resembling urine to touch your beloved TURNTABLES. That would risk breaking them, and a world without the gift of your godly science just doesn't sound like a place you want any part of. While you're at it, you might as well wipe out human civilization with a meteor or something ridiculous like that which will probably never happen. That sort of thing only happens in stupid idiot movies for stupid idiots.

You will however contemplate bleating like a goat for IRONICALLY HUMOROUS purposes at a later date.

Dave is so lame.

FUCKING APPLE JUICE BABY. YEAH LOVE THAT SHIT. TOP 3 FRUIT JUICES ON THE TIERLIST WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

he’s gonna say it, he’s gonna say the thing.

yeah this is the OS design I’m attached to the most, I grew up with Windows 7 which basically did everything Vista did but a bit more glassy, so this is up my fucking ally. look at those GRADIENTS, look at all that GLOSS, it’s so fucking good.

HE SAID IT.

I love Hussie’s fake UI I love it.

I also love Dave Strider’s blog, he said the n-word on it

not joking you can check for yourself.

FUCKING SWEET BRO AND HELLA JEFF YEAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

SBAHJ is so damn interesting because it’s the Homestuck thing that has the furthest reach out of the entire comic but at the same time people don’t even know it’s Homestuck.

true story: my 1st ever exposure to Homestuck without even knowing it was when I was like 12 years old and watched a fucking VanossGaming GMod video in which they played that masterpiece SBAHJ map.

seeing a giant shittily compressed texture that just said AIDS which spun around in a circle and fucking instantly killed anything it touched was literally formative for my sense of humor.

the backstory is also absolutely beautiful, imagine dropping your armature Gamer Webcomic™ on the Penny Arcade forums only for Future Homestuck Artist Andrew Hussie to come in and completely shit on your comic by turning it into the worst form of art you have ever seen which would then turn into its own popular comic.

I really like the utility of SBAHJ as an in-universe source of memes and in-jokes for all the kids to reference rather than forcing relevance by shoving in memes that were popular at the time. it really helps make Homestuck feel... not exactly timeless per say, but more relatable in way that supersedes generations.

I say this because I fucking know for a fact real ass memes come in later on in the comic and they get really fuckin annoying.

I would kill someone for a Midnight Crew adventure, you would not believe how far I would go for this to be real.

TT: In some cultures the persistent refusal of a lady's invitation to play a game with her would be a sign wanton disrespect. TT: Either that, or flagrant homosexuality.

STOP JOKING ABOUT DAVE LIKING MEN YOU DO NOT KNOW OF THE FUTURE CONSEQUENCES IT HAS.

it is here where Dave and Rose immediately become the best fucking character dynamic ever.

TT: Sometimes I wonder how you are ever allowed to pay for meals in restaurants. TT: It must be hard to keep a low profile when you're always overhearing awed voices whisper, "It's that guy who has a blog." TG: seriously TG: dudes be worshipping me left and right TG: i cant hardly walk down the street without stepping over torsos of the prostrate TT: Navigating the urban landscape I'm sure is difficult enough without an obstacle course of deferential flesh and skyward asses. TT: Perhaps adapting the art of parkour to your unique environment would help? TG: yeah! TG: i mean damn TG: like theres this scruffy little shit at my feet TG: an orphan or something i dont know TG: face flush on the pavement TG: im like dude you listening for a stampede of buffalo or something? TG: he braves a look at me then gives my shoe a little kiss and scurries the fuck off TT: Heavy is the crown. TG: yeah TG: not kicking oliver twist in the fucking face every day is my gift to the world i guess

also the little "yeah!" he does in excitement of parkour before he corrects himself back to serious coolguy mode is fucking perfect.

aw what the fuck put that shit away.

Dave’s Phat Beat Machine may be a silly joke about shitty fucking DJ machines that have weird pre-made beats and sound effects but some of this shit slaps when you play them at the same time ngl. 11 and 12 together is really fuckin good.

also Captain Planet is in this flash.

maybe Dave is cool, no one else could catch and open that apple juice with such finesse.

this is a really great series of expressions, he is so mad. he can’t stop thinking about PISS.

HE’S SO MAD.

oh god.

oh god they’re here.

You glance at one of the many RADICAL PUPPETS in your BRO'S collection and nod in approval. Is there anything not awesome about your BRO? No, you think not.

this is not cool this is very not cool.

why is the little man in the SHOWER, bro does not BATHE, he is made of WOOD.

he is simply having a terrible, terrible day.

why did he do this.

HOLY SHIT IT’S DAVE’S IRONIC SELF PORTRAIT.

this is why Dave’s sylladex shit is the best sylladex shit, sheer frustrating mathematics leading to renaming items into weird synonyms and yelling out shit to fucking send out swords.

LOOK AT HIM.

he changed his tune so fast, he went from imposing and about throw down to just...

:o

now how will he play the funny Sburb??? what will he do to get out of this situation- WIZARD.

GIANT, STONE, WIZARD.

girl is not having it.

it is here we get the entire downlow of this maddening mother-daughter relationship through the totally not biased eyes of Rose. I mean look at this shit:

Your mother clearly has no real affinity for these damnable things. She only collects them to spite you. If anything, she finds them even more repellent than you do. She's just a committed woman.

A while ago you gave this as an ironic gift to your MOM for mother's day. You even customized it with a drink holder to support one of her ubiquitous ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES. She "liked" the gift so much, she had it bronzed and put on this pedestal. She even left it plugged in so it can still be turned on now and then. But never to do any cleaning. It never leaves this display.

The PRETTY PRINCESS DOLL has been sitting there for months, ever since your mother got this abomination for your birthday as a totally PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE gesture. You decided to make it much less abominable by knitting Her Majesty a new head and new arms. Now it brings a mischievous smile to your face whenever you walk by. Your mother hasn't removed the doll yet, and probably never will. She would never be the one to blink first.

This was a drawing you did of your cat JASPERS when you were younger, along with a poem about him. Your mother bought this ostentatious $15,000 frame for it, and had it welded to the door.

Using the colorful MAGNET LETTERS, you recently left a succinct message, which may or may not have been directed toward anyone in particular. But you couldn't find the letter W, so you just stuck two V's together.

Your mother then purchased a fresh pack of W's and left them there for your convenience. Appreciative of the thoughtful gesture, you left her a sincere THANK YOU NOTE, which you had legally notarized, and then marked with a drop of blood.

But part of it was touching the floor, so your mother was kind enough to lift the lower portion of the document with a VELVET PILLOW.

this entire cavalcade of fucking overly professional stupidity really just symbolizes the daily Lalonde struggle. again, way more of an actual thing compared to the baking menace in Washington, Rose does not feel loved enough, she projects contempt onto every action of her mother, even if they’re completely genuine, who’s also literally an alcoholic. but at the same time, this is ridiculous. I can bet that the mere thought of any of this coming off as mean-spirited to Rose is just flying over Mom’s head because she’s too busy cleaning shit or getting drunk. she’s so sincerely nice but also too damn ignorant, while at the same time going completely overboard in every sense just because she can. “oh look at this!! my daughter’s very own drawing!!! it’s so nice!!! let me put it in an expensive frame and then weld it straight onto the fridge!!! :)))))” and then Rose sees this and just goes “SHREW!!! DAMNED SHREW!!!” meanwhile Mom’s just taking this as “oh she’s spelling words on the fridge!!! :))))) but she has no Ws..... :((((( I’ll buy some for her!!! that will satisfy her needs!!! :)))))” and I guess Rose takes a break from the absolute scorn she’s building up in her system to make the most polite ass note all like “Dearest Mother Lalonde, I thank thee for this humble present.” and notarizing it with BLOOD. of course this has to end with Mom walking in, seeing this note and going “how thoughtful!!!” and then sliding a god damn pillow just for the presentation.

it is my firm belief that the Lalondes are just kind of off the fucking wall inherently, literally all of them just do wacky shit like this without question.

fandom mischaracterizations are so frequent that they’re not even a surprise, but this concept of Rose being this completely serious and levelheaded girl who’s always moody and brooding and never puts up with stupid shit is something I cannot understand how anyone picked up from her. she has a sense of humor, a really damn good one, a lot of the comedy can be attributed to her dialogue. she’s not dead serious, she literally knits Lovecraft monsters in purple for goofs and does something like the above while no one is around. and in no possible way is she running on full logic and reasoning because she plays weird mind games with her mom and later on just goes insane and destroys shit for the hell of it. there really is more to Rose than just “goth = serious smart.”

a lot of this extends to Kanaya as well because I guess people just write the 2 of them as the same person, as we all know, couples can’t be together unless they completely overlap on the Venn diagram of their personalities, hobbies, and interests, but that’s for later.

AND THEN SHE PAYS FOR THE FUCKIN MAGNET. WHO DOES THIS.

MOTHER JUMPSCARE.

And of all things to be doing during a power outage. She's up to her IRONIC HOUSEWIFE routine again. That mop bucket doesn't even have any water in it! What an absolute madwoman.

I like how Rose calls this some kind of weird irony chore that no sane individual would do without a hint of joking, she really expects too much out of Mom. a real core part of this relationship is how Rose assumes that her mother is operating on the same high level thinking as her, when in reality she’s just doing actual housewife stuff genuinely. the bucket being empty is even part of Rose overthinking all of this, Mom’s using a Swiffer, she doesn’t need water, she just brought the bucket because it completes the housewife look.

I don’t know if that latter part was intentional or if Hussie just didn’t know how Swiffers worked.

NYOOM.

SICK TRICKS.

ah fuck.

the Strider household is such a very specific home aesthetic of “complete fucking disaster, the likes of which you have never seen, owned by 2 dudebros who like Eminem.” this visual style is so poignant that the best way Dave fixes a window is with straight black tape, how classy.

big fan of how everyone talking to Jade starts to smile, she just has that energy. I mean look at Dave, you see that single raised pixel? that’s him smiling! he’s got joy! and he’s so much more genuine when he’s talking to her too, she’s literally the one person in the friend group where he can drop the whole image of “I am so fucking Cool and Real and Awesome and Swag.” they play off of each other really damn well, no wonder DaveJade is a really big ship.

TG: say hi to your grand dad for me too ok GG: ._. GG: yes i guess an encounter with him is almost certain GG: it is usually........ GG: intense!!! TG: well yeah isnt it always with family

this is the non-embarrassing parallel to John talking about Dad with Rose. Dave’s probably thinking to himself, “ah yes, she too knows of the struggle of high octane anime fights in the middle of the house.” meanwhile Jade’s talking about yelling at a corpse.

also JADE KNOWS THE FUTURE??? HUHHHH???? HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE???????????

[castlebyersafterdark]

yeah finn's humour is deffo bizarre but its also got this flavour where we often see that he's not mimicking the jokes with a crowd that would get it. i myself have what most people might call niche references but you usually have a couple of close friends who totally vibe that with you and you don't really whip that humour out for others. or if you do, you kind of tailor it to be unique to the context and situation, in order to make others laugh and feel included. or maybe to reveal your taste and humour. but shared humour in conversation and groups is usually there to sort of build on the situation. whereas with finn i find that a lot of what he says and does kind of doesnt make sense or it's a closed circle of references that some people wont get, which is really interesting as a choice for him to make those jokes. to me it speaks of anxiety and filling spaces by making people laugh, which, no shade, i mean most comedians started that way lol. he's got this specific its kind of like 'im going to joke about this even though no one here will get it' which is what makes him awkward and funny to me lol. ofc sometimes it lands and he's hilarious, but i think a big part of being a funny person is reading a room and making the comedy fit into the space, either in a normal humour way, or by taking people by pleasant surprise with something a little left field.

all comics take risks that don't work and i do think finn sees himself as a comedian perhaps before an actor. so its just learning and growing. i really remember a clip of him squinting with big buggy fake joke eyeballs in, just sitting there casually and asking everyone 'what? WHAT??' in this really genuine way, and you can just hear/see millie and noah and everyone pissing themselves in the background, it's amazing and so funny. thats classic humour, though, im not sure how alt that is. it works because he himself isnt normal though. i think the best comedy is in friction and surprise, so finn could make lots of 'normal' gags funny and fresh just by way of who he is. im really curious to see his movie he directed because its always been clear to me that he wants to break into comedy but keeps getting put into horror or dramatic roles, and i think... even though the industry often sleeps on people's potential, there's a reason for that lol

This is really great, thank you for the analysis and insight!! I don't have much to add again because this is spot on and thorough. Very accurate. Even as seemingly elusive as he is - he's not quite the prototypical enigma. He has a way about him, and I totally kind of get it. I think this read has it down. Fun!! 😁