#my procreate back up takes up like 3. :|

[these-lovely-monsters]

Tentacles Under The Bed - Part 4

[NSFW | 18+]

Characters: gn!tentacle monster x f!reader

Content: tentacles, eldritch monster, blow job, deep throating

A/N: If you were missing the tentacle smut in part 3, don't worry, I got you :)

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4]

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Smiling faintly, you give Karl another kiss, lingering a bit longer this time. After a moment, you feel its mouth part and something soft and wet strokes against your lips. Realizing that it's Karl’s tongue, you open for it. It immediately dives in, curling and twisting around your own tongue.

You groan softly at the sensation and return its strokes with licks of your own. Even though you can’t get too close to Karl’s mouth for fear of its razor sharp teeth, you’re perfectly happy with this alternative version of a kiss. 

Deciding to be a little bold, you wrap your lips around Karl’s tongue and suck gently. Suddenly, a melodic humming sound fills the room and it takes you a moment to realize that the noise is coming from Karl. This must be its sound of pleasure and it’s strangely beautiful.

Pulling back to catch your breath, you place your hand on Karl to keep it from chasing your mouth. You’re surprised to find that its surface is spongy and soft but solid. Not at all what you expected from its goo-like appearance.

“No. Give me more, my little delicacy.” Karl protests.

Laughing, you reply, “I guess you like that, huh? We can do more of that soon but I…” You fidget with your hands, unsure how to ask for what you want. “I want to touch you. To…make you feel good like you did for me.”

Karl perks up at that. “You want to touch me?”

“Yeah, if that’s alright with you?”

Without replying, Karl leans back and you watch as a vertical slit opens in the lower middle portion of its body. A new, lighter colored tentacle emerges from the gap and sways in the air in front of you. In addition to the color, this tentacle is different from the others. It’s smaller and thinner than the rest and it has no suckers lining it. The end is also slightly enlarged in a club shape rather than a tapered point.

It almost reminds you of one of the fantasy dildos you’ve been wanting to buy online and you blush again. At the thought, you realize that you’re not actually sure what gender Karl is so you ask awkwardly, “Karl, is that a—is this your…?”

“This is how we transfer sperm to another for procreation—a penis as you would call it. But each of our kind has both reproductive organs.” It says as it waves its new tentacle in the air.

"Oh, I mean—then what are your pronouns?"

“My species does not have the concept of gender. Whatever you would like to call me is fine.”

“Ok so is ‘they/them’ alright?”

“Ye—yes” Karl stutters out as you reach down and stroke a finger along their cock, finding it slick and moist. You wrap your hand around their length and pump up and down once. The humming sound fills the room again and you smile at their obvious pleasure.

For a few minutes, you continue to stroke their cock, squeezing harder and increasing your pace. Using your other hand, you reach down and tease your fingers along the slit around the base of their cock. They shudder in response and the humming increases in volume.

Wanting to give them even more, and maybe selfishly wanting a taste for yourself, you drop down to your knees on the soft plush carpet.

“What are you—” They don’t manage to get anything else out as you tentatively lick at the club-shaped tip. The slick substance coating their cock is sweet and creamy, almost like vanilla frosting. The humming stutters at the action and you do it again, surprised but delighted at the odd flavor. Noticing a small slit on the tip, you probe it with your tongue and the hum deepens.

As you lick and suck at the tip, you continue to stroke and tease the rest of their cock with your hands. When a clear glittering substance begins to well in the slit, you lap it up eagerly, the taste of vanilla bursting on your tongue. You moan in pleasure at the deliciously sweet flavor and dive back in for more.

Eventually, once you’ve become more comfortable with this new cock, you open your mouth and take it as far in as it will go. Hollowing your cheeks, you suck hard as you bob your head up and down while swirling your tongue along the underside.

“Yes,” Karl’s voice echoes in your mind, more guttural now. “Let me have more.”

Before you can ask what they mean, a tentacle wraps around the back of your head as they hold you in place while their cock slides down into your throat. You gag at the intrusion, wanting to pull away, but a part of you loves that they’re taking control like this. You brace your hands on their soft body for support and try to relax, letting them have their way with you.

They pull out again, allowing you to breathe for a moment before shoving back in even deeper this time. As they fuck your mouth, going deeper with each thrust, another tentacle wraps around your neck. They don’t squeeze though and you realize that they’re feeling the bulge of their cock as it slides in and out.

Wetness is dripping between your thighs at being used as a fuck toy for this giant tentacle monster and you squirm, trying to find some relief. But you’re determined to give Karl their pleasure this time so you just squeeze your thighs together and enjoy the erotic scene.

Tears are streaming down your face from fighting the gags wanting to climb up your throat and snot is pouring from your nose. You probably look like a mess but you don’t care as long as Karl doesn’t stop. Noticing the wetness on your face, they reach up with a tentacle and gently rub at the moisture on your skin. Another tentacle reaches up and traces the edge of your lips which are stretched wide around its cock.

“I do not want to see you cry but I love the taste of your tears.”

Moaning at their words, you swallow convulsively. The humming noise intensifies with a new, much deeper, thrumming sound that harmonizes with the melodic notes. When you feel Karl’s cock begin to swell, the sounds filling the room speed up and you think they might be close.

Within a few moments, their thrusting becomes jerky until they stop fully, holding their cock deep inside your throat. It suddenly starts undulating and you feel a thick, cool substance sliding down your esophagus and filling your stomach. It feels as if it goes on forever until finally the humming subsides and Karl gently eases themself from inside you.

Slumping back, you cough and wipe at your wet cheeks. Your throat is raw and your underwear is completely soaked but you’re entirely satisfied at getting to do something for Karl this time.

They reach out tentatively to stroke your neck and ask softly, “Did I hurt you?”

Smiling, you place a hand on their tentacle and squeeze gently. “No, I liked that a lot. Was it…ok for you?”

“Yes my sweet. It was the most exquisite thing I have ever experienced aside from watching you come apart on my tentacles.”

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[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4]

taglist: @blushycadaver @pearlofrose @gothicsugarslvt

[bobzora]

they did a pretty good job at making fun escape rooms that are quick to replay once you know what to do. except door 6 i loathe that room for real i am so glad that i never have to do that again. sorry

finished 999. holy fucking shit. even with all that time spent painfully holding down the skip button and replaying puzzles the ds version was worth it. banger

[art]

Creator Spotlight: @jdebbiel

Deb JJ Lee is a non-binary Korean artist based in Brooklyn, NY. They have appeared in the New Yorker, New York Times, NPR, Google, Radiolab, and more. Their award-winning graphic memoir, IN LIMBO, about mental illness and difficult relationships with trauma, released in March 2023 from First Second.

Below is our interview with Deb!

Have you ever had an art block? If so, how did you overcome it?

That implies I am over my art block, but I’m still in it! I think about Kiki’s Delivery Service a lot and how she had to stop doing a thing, and that you can’t really force it, and you have to let it come back to you. It’s a pretty humbling moment, realizing there is more to life than just drawing. I’ve been trying to consume other content like reading or watching movies—anything that is not drawing-related—and to trust that it will come back to me. I think not being afraid to do the small pieces before committing to the big pieces is helpful. Because big pieces are what I am known for, I dig myself into a deeper hole, thinking that each piece has to be bigger than the last one. So yeah! Relaxing and doing the small things before overcommitting to a big piece is the best way to go about it for me.

Which 3 famous artists (dead or alive) would you invite to your dinner party?

I feel like these are all artists that I have second-degree connections with! Jillian Tamaki, Victo Ngai, and Tillie Walden would be my picks!

What are your file name conventions?

…What file name conventions? I mean, I don’t have specific file name conventions, but I actually have a public Google Drive archive! But I usually put “djjl_whatever-the-title-is_final,” and I would always know it’s the final and legit version.

What is a recent creative project that you are proud of?

I did an illustration for the whiskey brand Johnnie Walker. It’s so wild because I only had four days to finish it, and it usually takes me a week and a half if I rush. And honestly, it’s probably one of my best pieces from this year, which is funny. It was for the Mid-Autumn festival, so I made it as Korean as possible.

How has technology changed the way you approach your work?

I only use my iPad to draw everything now, and if I want to pretend that I have a steady workstation, I’ll use my Cintiq. I still am not as comfortable on the Cintiq as I am on Procreate, but it’s still pretty solid and nice. That’s the good part about technology. The bad part about technology is how AI art has been messing things up for me. I’m currently in a lawsuit about AI art as a class rep. Some of my stuff got turned into AI art late last year, so I have to give a deposition at some point. 

What is a convention experience that has stuck with you?

Honestly, they’re all good! I feel like Lightbox Expo has been really nice because it’s truly been a convention for artists. I feel like that’s where most of my audience is, and they’re all around because their purpose is to be better at art. That’s where a lot of original artists do well because they’re getting art they’re inspired by, not so much fanart. I like the Lightbox Expo because it encompasses the pure love of art very well. 

Top tips on setting up an Artist Alley booth?

Use a Y axis, not just your X axis! Take advantage of it! Branding is also something to think about. It is definitely something I’m getting better at. Having an assistant is also very important. I’ve also heard that 8.5x11 to 12x18 inches is usually a good size for prints, but I also provide postcard-sized prints because sometimes people don’t want to commit to a larger size. 

Who on Tumblr inspires you and why?

You know this is so funny. I’ve been following @alicexz for over a decade on Tumblr and other platforms. I’ve followed her work since high school, and we’ve only recently become peers. I found her, and we met for the first time in real life, and she recognized me. And then I found all my drawings from when I was in my Alice phase, back in high school, and I was like, “Yo, this is when I was trying to be you so badly!” and she was cracking up and was like “Wow, this is so good!” It was such a sweet moment. I wanted to take a picture of her holding my drawing up. It’s really nice because now we’re peers.

Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing, Deb! Be sure to check out their Tumblr blog over at @jdebbiel.

[fyodior]

pure fluff, a little bit of crack. the baby fever is so bad guys. send help. fem!reader // divider by @adornedwithlight

only one kid. that’s what you and toji decided long before there were ever rings on your fingers. only one. enough to scratch the itch of procreating, but not so much that you were drowning in nothing but childcare for the rest of your lives. and you were okay with that! both of you loved your sweet, adorable daughter more than anything in the world, and couldn’t imagine loving anything or anyone more than her. she was quite the handful too, especially in the beginning - she really took after her father - so it reinforced the notion of one and done for both of you. having a family of 3 felt more than enough, and you had never desired to change that.

but. but. she was almost 3 now. and that itch, that undeniable itch, began to rear its ugly head again. every time you tried to deny it, tried to convince yourself that you were fine with just one, your mind played rosy red scenarios of two beautiful kids growing up together by your and toji’s side. the yearning for another newborn in your arms was becoming unbearable.

a plan was necessary though - if you just popped the proposal of another baby to toji out of nowhere, the “no” would come at you at supersonic speed. the love and adoration he had for your daughter was immense, but she was enough for him. so, you had to come at it methodically. and for that, you needed to employ the one person in the world toji could never say no to.

you had been coaching her for at least 30 minutes at this point. the plan wasn’t convoluted, but needed preparation. she’d present him with an adorable gift, butter him up, and ask the daunting question. if only she truly understood the task you were putting her up to.

under the ruse of playing outside during a sunny summer day, you helped your daughter pick out a few flowers from the garden before sending her back inside, phase one of the mission in action. you stayed in the kitchen, hidden but still able to listen in.

toddling into the living room where toji was flipping through TV channels on the couch, your wonderfully innocent daughter giggles as she holds out the makeshift bouquet in her hand.

“look what i made for you, da-da,” she grins brightly, presenting the flowers to him with pride.

toji gasps before smiling softly, accepting the bouquet from her little fists and takes a big whiff, making a scene of it to make her giggle.

setting the flowers down, he pulls her into his lap. “these are beautiful, sweetheart, where did you find them?”

“the garden ou’side,” she giggles. “daddy likes them?”

“daddy loves them,” he assures with a fat kiss to her forehead. “where’s mama?”

“still playing,” she responds, mostly as she was instructed to. it’s a bit curt, but still got the point across. “daddy, i have ques-sion.”

“and i might have an answer.”

“when can i have brother or sissy? like my friends at school?” she asks oh-so innocently, referring to the other kids at her daycare.

toji frowns, sighing as he rubs her back. “sweetheart…” he starts, unsure of how to answer. “mommy and daddy only wanted one baby - you are more than enough for us, okay?” he places another soft kiss to her chubby cheek.

she frowns and tugs at his t-shirt. “i wan’ a sister,” she pouts. “so does mommy.”

toji raises a brow. he knows you well enough to quickly put two and two together. “oh? mommy does too? did she put you up to this?” your little minion immediately breaks, breaking out in adorable giggles.

“nuh-uh,” she responds, still trying to remain in character. the smile on your face hurts at this point.

“why doesn’t mommy come out from where she’s hiding, hm?” toji calls, bouncing your daughter on his lap.

meekly, you peek your head around the corner before emerging with palms held up.

“you caught me, you caught me,” you sigh, walking dejectedly towards your little family. plucking your daughter out of his lap, you settle her on your hip.

“we got caught, mama,” your daughter pouts, burying her head in your chest. you just laugh, patting the back of her head.

“you did absolutely wonderfully, my love,” you assure her.

toji rolls his eyes and breathes out before standing up and wrapping an arm around his little family.

“what am i gonna do with you two, hm?” he chuckles. “scheming and plotting like this against me, i’ll never survive.”

you bite your lip. “what if… we made that three?” you offer. “what are you gonna do with us three?” you attempted, grasping at straws at this point.

toji groans softly before laughing, ruffling the soft hair of your daughter. “you really want another, huh?”

for the first time, you offer him a very genuine look. “i do. i really do,” you nod. toji’s heart pangs.

“maybe.” he finds himself saying.

you gasp, making him laugh. “really?”

he coaxes your daughter out from where she still had her to pinch her cheek gently, making her giggle.

“if both my favorite girls want it, i guess i have to, hm?”

[apollo1three]

Hello! can I plz request the obey me bros with their children, you can choose if u want them to be their daughter, son or multiple. i just really wanna see them as like dads, like a scenario maybe when they learn to walk or say their first word you dnt have to if you don't want to! and if it's too much can i have just Beel Mammon or Lucifer :3

AHH MY FIRST REQUEST!!! I’m sorry for taking so long! I haven’t checked my dusty musty crusty a$$ inbox in a while ;-; also nonnie u don’t understand how much I love domestic, sappy, fluffy af stuff like this <3<3

Ofc I’ll do all of em, but I’ll do them in parts so you don’t have to wait for me to finish all seven ^^

------

An unimaginable type of love (Lucifer x f!reader)

The demon brothers with their babies (1/7)

Demons are not born, he once told you; they manifest – either as a product of great sin or demonic energy. Demons do not feel the need to procreate, they cannot- they do not get pregnant, and they certainly do not give birth.  

So how is it that the Morningstar finds himself staring down into sparkling crimson eyes, reminiscent of the deep shade of his, with a softness akin to yours? How is it that he cradles a squirming bundle made from the love between him and his human wife?

With a life only ever dedicated to servitude, Lucifer would’ve never dreamt of creating a family of his own. Never in his time in the celestial realm would he have imagined small, fragile little arms, reaching out for him to hold them in his. Never could he have imagined the possibility of a being regarding him in the sentiment with which he had once regarded Him.

He eyes your sleeping form, snuggled into the comfort of the large bed, and he’s overcome with a fondness that words could not explain the level of. To be loved unconditionally by you, and to be given the most precious gift of all. What had he done to deserve such a thing? - something that was once an unfathomable idea - did he deserve it?

He cradles his daughter in his arms, stroking her little face, and the giggle she lets out is so precious, so much like you, and has him nuzzling his nose into her puffed up little cheeks. You had once light-heartedly complained to him about carrying her in your stomach for nine months, only to have her come out identical to him. Though he'd never admit it, your husband was proud of the notion (at the time, you swore you could see puffed up feathers behind his form), but it was irrefutable how the child carried herself with a poise that was undeniably like yours: a mischievous, yet endearing glint in her eyes that surely meant trouble in the foreseeable future. Lucifer didn’t mind, though.

He mutters, “my darling, what are you doing up so late at night?”, to which his only response is a squeal and few kicks of tiny feet. He tuts back, playfully. “So noisy, my love. Won’t you let your mother sleep?”

There’s a slight breeze from the open balcony, and he gets up from his side of the bed with your daughter rocking gently in his grasp. “Let’s go outside for a bit, come now.”

The way he carries her is careful, protective, and much more assured than the way he had first carried her after her birth. He wasn’t used to dealing with humans, let alone any living thing, in their infancy. Angels and demons did not have an infantile period, and it shook him inwardly the first time he held her, so small and breakable. You, a fully grown human woman, were fragile enough as is – but a human infant? It took some stern reassurance that the child he considered so small and breakable was his just as much as she was yours for his paranoia to waver.

‘She’s ours, Lu.’

(Fatherhood. Such a human experience, and he had only you to thank for it.)

Ushering to the Devildom fireflies, she blows raspberries that makes him want to litter his daughter in even more kisses. So he does, far more unreserved than if it were in front of you (while he loved you and trusted you with his heart and soul, showcasing such unabashed doting was still awkward for new to him). So disgustingly affectionate; the past him would’ve laughed at the notion of such outwards display of emotion directed towards anyone or anything – a hit to his pride, to the very thing he embodied. But to the him right now, such a thought never even crossed his mind.

“Do you see that, my love? Aren’t they pretty?”, he smiles softly, tenderly, eyes creasing at the corners. He pokes at her mouth, now endlessly razzing. “Alright, who taught you to do that? Was it Uncle Mammon? Belphie?"

To the him right now, his pride was in the form of his beautiful wife, and his darling little girl.

“Daddy will always protect you two, I swear on it.”

Absentmindedly stroking her head, a thousand thoughts run through his head. He contemplates heading back inside as the wind picks up, worried you might be getting cold. You’ve been all over the baby since she arrived (and even before then, too), insisting that her crib be placed in the both of your bedroom (much to Asmodeus’s chagrin, adamant that your old room would make the most beautiful human-realm-esque nursery) – while your motherliness was extremely attractive (or rather, all of you), and despite your daughter being an unusually well-behaved little thing, you deserved some quality rest.

He heads back, moving to lower her into her pink-embellished, Avatar of Lust™, crib, but freezes.

“Da..da!”

His movements are miniscule, microscopic, as he looks down at the cooing and giggling tot.

“Say- say that again, darling.”

“Dada!”

Time seems to slow, and he’s overcome with so much fondness, so much love.

“Haha! That’s right, here’s Dada..!” He practically throws her up into the air, accompanied by more squeaky giggles, and if anyone asks: no- his eyes don’t water (it’s merely the brightness of the Devildom moon).

Amidst childish laughter, she says it once more.

He lets out a shaky laugh of disbelief. His eyebrows are furrowed, and there's an uncharacteristically toothy grin on his face. Slowly, trembling hands (a fault of the temperature, obviously, despite him once mentioning the immunity of demons to things as 'trivial' as the weather) press his daughter's small body to his chest.

His daughter. His. His daughter. His wife. His brothers. His family.

It was then that he realised, although perhaps he had always known, that the love he felt for you and the life the two of you had created was different from His love. It was unconditional. The sort of love that allowed him to understand Lilith, the sort of love that he would gladly die for, kill for, be destroyed for. The sort of love that was once unattainable, unimaginable, was now closer than ever.

Lucifer wanted to share this moment with you.

“M-MC!”

[ziyuanyuan1113]

I am in love with your art style. I love all your jjk art, it’s like stitching back the pieces of my shattered heart. Your art is so soothing and has such a warm feel, I love it. Also if you don’t mind me asking what program do you use for your art, and do you have any tips? I strive to someday create art that gives the same feeling of comfort as yours. Thank you <3

Thank you so much for the kind message! I'm actually in the middle of making another jjk piece but it's been a while so I've been trying to remember and consolidate my process. This ask came at a great time hehe

I use photoshop for most of my art pieces but I think there are a lot of cheaper alternatives (procreate on Ipad, clipstudio paint, medibang etc) that would work just as well. As for tips, I have a technical and an emotional one:

My technical tip would be to use references!! Especially if you're just starting out, it's SO IMPORTANT imo for catching mistakes especially with anatomy, lighting and perspective. And by reference I mean real life photos. I think you can be inspired by other artists' work, but there is the danger of picking up their bad habits if you only use their work for reference. I would recommend sticking mainly to real life and looking to other artists only for resolving specific stylistic details once you have a solid grasp of your fundamentals.

I would start with a rough sketch first of whatever you want to draw and then look for refs that match the mood and tone you want to go for. Get the idea down first and draw from the heart. Then the refs come in to help with the specifics (ex. what a window looks like, how someone would hold a cigarette) The jump from the rough to the clean line version is an amalgamation of all the little things you learn along the way. For example, on one day, I learned that clothing folds usually start at one point and spread out. Then another day, I learned how to do 1 point perspective and so on and so forth. Then all those tidbits slowly add up to help you get better and better.

2. My second tip would be to understand what you want to convey with your artwork. If it's fanart, what about the media that you're interacting with draws you in? It doesn't always need to be a complex answer, sometimes you just want to draw a character because you think they're hot and that's totally valid imo.

I occasionally tutor very young artists and oftentimes, they will tell me that they want to draw like X artist or X painting/piece of media. I always try to encourage them to go deeper. What about that drawing resonates with them and what specifics are occurring in the picture to make them feel that way? For example, I recently realized I love environment heavy drawings not for the background itself but because they ground the characters and seeing them do mundane things makes them feel more real to me.

For the example below, the whole set was to explore friendship and mental health. Sometimes just having someone there who listens and is willing to talk with you can make a huge difference.

Once you know the purpose of your art, then I think it makes the decision making for the rest of the process much easier. What type of lighting scenario conveys support and comfort? I went with dusk. Then I started searching up references for dusk lighting. Couldn't find the ref I actually used for colour but a quick google will show you lots of similar options.

What kind of poses feel in character for Shoko vs Geto? What is the focus of the picture? As much as I love details, I think sometimes they can actually take away from the main message. For example, if I had rendered the lamp on the right a lot more, it would've distracted from the main point of the picture so I tried to keep that and the background in general simple (still something I need to improve on haha).

Then those extra technical things (value structure, cool vs warm light, reflective lighting, connotations behind colours) you pick up along the way are all there to help you better communicate what you want to convey with your art.

Okay I lied one more tip, be patient and learn to appreciate the process. Like with any skill, there are a lot of technical aspects that you have to study and practice. I think because the end result is so visual and easily accessible in comparison to other hobbies/jobs, it really cripples beginners. Even with writing, you won't realize a book is good until you learn how to read. With art, you can resonate with a painting without having drawn a single line yourself.

I think beginners and even professionals see a lot of beautiful finished artwork and get enticed by that only to be discouraged when they find their process/finished work didn't end up the way they wanted it to look. Treat it like you would learning how to write. The fundamentals can be tedious and do take time to drill into your head, but learning them will help you SO MUCH with the creative fun parts. You can't write a poem without first taking the time to learn the alphabet, spelling and grammar. You're also probably going to write a bunch of shitty poems before you write that one good one, but that's okay because each piece lets you experiment and exercise your voice. Art is the same thing, don't rush it! Enjoy the process and celebrate your improvements.

[sunshine-on-my-mind]

Soldat’s fairy

chapter 3

pairing: winter soldier x reader / bucky barnes x reader

general warnings: 18+ MINORS DO NOT INTERACT!! Dark Elements!! HYDRA!! (Dub Con implied but not really and NOT FROM BUCKY), Winter Solider, Mind Control, se-xual in-tercourse. forced relationship forced procreation (HYDRA!!), ANGST - (this is my first time writing something like this so please let me know if I should more warnings)

chapter warnings: non-graphic s.mut, mentions of virginity, mentions of crying, mentions of blood, injury from glass (accidental), mentions of pregnancy, pregnancy test, (+ general warnings)

words: 890+

a/n: hi everyone, thank you for showing love to this story, things accelerate quickly in this chapter but it’s shorter than the previous, thank you for your support, hope you like it. please please read the warnings before continuing.

<- Previous Chapter

DO NOT COPY MY WORK!!

—————————

Soldat kept his word, he was gentle with you, as gentle as he could be.

It hurt, more than the physical hurt it was the betrayal, the fact this was not happening willingly

You always thought your first time would be special, or at least with someone you loved but mostly it will be your choice.

“You’re so beautiful” The Man kissed you, whispered in your ears. Soldat was kind to you, he made you feel good but a part of you felt broken, and he felt something similar.

He blamed himself, if it wasn’t for him maybe you wouldn’t have to do this, maybe your life would be better. You could be free.

Soldat kissed your jaw, your neck, as he could feel his high approach, it felt wrong, but both of your bodies betrayed yourselves.

Maybe the two of you could challenge fate and take it in your own hands. That moment, even if forced, was shared just between you two. It was yours and only yours.

Soldat looked at you with kind eyes as if asking permission, you gave him a gently smile, which was enough answer for him, he leaned down and kissed you, he made sure to provide you pleasure, as the two of you reached your high, you felt full, even something so wrong felt so right.

Fate played a game with you both but in that moment, you didn’t feel betrayed, in that moment, it was just you and him.

“I’m sorry” Soldat couldn’t stop blaming himself. He didn’t look at you, lying beside you staring at the ceiling

“It’s not your fault” He wasn’t used to hearing that. After everything that happened how were you not screaming at him, cursing him or hitting him?

You looked at him as the man kept avoiding your gaze. Soldat was beautiful, you thought. There were so many questions going through your mind, what happened to him being the most prominent.

“Do you- do you think I…” You trailed off gently touching your belly. The future seemed uncertain and scary. Soldat didn’t say anything, instead he looked at your hand on your belly.

The silence of the room got disrupted when there were loud knocks on the door followed by footsteps and people coming in. Thankfully you were modestly clothed by then. Few of Pierce’s men came in notifying you that soon a doctor will arrive to check you, to see if you got pregnant.

“Soldat, come with us now.” They ordered. Soldat looked at you, saw the tears in your eyes. Part of him wanted to stay with you, but the other part felt you must hate him now, why wouldn’t you, he thought. Probably it was best to leave.

Soldat got up to leave. He looked at you one more time and you were looking back at him. What he didn’t realise was that you wanted him to stay.

All of them left the room and you were alone again. How did your life turn out to be like that? Was it your fault? Were you not a good enough daughter? Could have done something differently?

No. Suddenly all you could feel was rage. You didn’t deserve this. No matter what. You got up from the bed and started throwing whatever you could grab.

Eventually you got a hold of the glass of water which was on your bedside table and threw it hard on the floor and a tiny piece of glass cut your arm.

It was tiny, didn’t really hurt much but you felt so broke, everything added up which resulted in you sobbing on your bed. You didn’t know when you fell asleep. Losing the idea of time, you woke up hours later.

When you were given food that day, you didn’t feel like eating at all but you knew if you didn’t take care of yourself the consequence won’t be nice. You felt empty as you gulped your food down with water.

More than week passed in solitary. Your mind wandered to Soldat, wondering what he must be doing. He was not doing well either. He was sent on a mission, which he obliged like the good soldier he is but he couldn’t stop thinking about you, about the future, about the pregnancy test that was about to take place soon.

When the day came, Pierce burst into your room followed by doctors and his men. You did what they say, they tested you.

“Well daughter, in some time we’ll get to know if you are of any use” Pierce had a sickening smile on his face. You felt like throwing up, literally. And you did.

The test result - Positive.

“Now then, I’ll see you soon, after consulting our doctors and scientists. Congratulations daughter, you are gonna be a mother.” With that Pierce left your room.

Soldat was informed about the news as well. They needed more of his blood sample and run some other tests on him as well as on you to make sure you were healthy.

The next day there is another knock on your door. But no one enters without permission, which was unusual, usually the knocks were just to give you a moment, to notify then people are about to come in. But this felt different.

You opened the door to see a bloodied Soldat standing in front of you.

“Wha-“

“We are leaving. Now.”

———————

previous chapter | series masterlist

taglist: @vicmc624 @floralwsloki @cjand10 @420-hun @identity2212

[temtamtom]

Fuck it, I’m taking out the trash. Here’s a dump of sketches and some perpetual WIPs that are sitting in my procreate files. A few of these are from well over a year ago 😭 I’ve actually posted a few of these WIPs before, only to promptly delete them out of insecurity (at least I think I did. Some might still be up and I just forgot lol). I’m trying to be less shy about my art, even the caca sketches- so I’m pulling them back out of the abyss.

Some context/explanations for the drawings under the cut:

1st page:

- An exploration of a young Ludwig. He came out more baby-faced than I originally planned, so let’s just say he’s like. 12. Or something. Bro should be playing Fortnite 😩

- I think this is from a year ago- it’s a Björn from one of Grem’s AUs (which is why he’s got all those scars, rest in piss)

2nd page:

This is one of the WIPs I posted and then deleted immediately after. At least I think I did, I can’t seem to find it on my blog. Anyways, I sketched this while exploring how the itabros drifted apart as they grew. This particular one-shot is set during Holy Rome’s funeral, and Romano is conflicted on how (or even IF) he should approach Feli. Should he comfort him? It might be awkward, but that’s his brother so he SHOULD say something, right? Would he even be that helpful? It hurts to see him cry, but he’s already surrounded by so many people, it might just be redundant. God this is so awkward and difficult and and and-

3rd page:

Woe, Venetican be upon ye. Thinking of Pietro’s more sentimental, softer side. The part of him that yearns for something genuine with Feliciano, but would never dare to cross that line. He’s scared of what his feelings mean and if he thinks about it too much he might just shatter. If you’re wondering why Feli is blurry, my idea was to imitate a camera focal lens and have it “focus” on Pietro’s face solely. Sadly, despite the blur, I didn’t like Vene’s face so I just moved on to other things FBGHF

4th page:

- This started off as a study from a photo and then ofc I hetalia-fied it by turning it into Sebastiano. He’s just a littol guy…

- Another oldie. VERY old and very rough, from well over a year ago. This was from a historical story/one-shot idea where Romano’s on a Not-Date with Alfred, and he breaks the news that he’s going back to Italy. They’re not a couple, and they won’t be for a long time. It’s very rough but ngl I like how Romano’s face turned out

- Another historical one-shot idea- this time about Gaul and François. I already posted a sketch of lil France from this comic a few weeks ago, but I don’t think I showed any Gaul panels. Here he’s talking to a Druid, who comments on François’ peculiar nature, and tells Vindiorix to hold onto him before he inevitably slips from his fingers. Soon enough, François would live under Rome’s care as “Gallia Narbonensis”. He would eventually embrace his new Roman identity, and his loyalty would shift (both out of genuine respect, and for survival)- inevitably drifting away from his father. I wasn’t happy with the dialogue, so I left it on the back burner for another day.

I’ve been thinking a lot about François’ childhood. His relationships with Vindiorix and Rome, his loyalties, his turmoils, his regrets. There’s more I’d like to say, and I would love to make a more in-depth post about it, but uni has fried my brain and it’s become difficult to string a coherent thought or sentence together. One day, though! I love those two so much augh they tickle my brainnnn

——

Pls excuse any errors or awkward phrasing, I’m genuinely running on fumes 😭 </3 At least I’ll be on break soon YAYAA. Anyways if y’all wanna yap about any of this stuff, my inbox is open. I’ve got a few lovely asks I need to finish answering too aaaa sorry y’all

[loveroftoomanyfandoms]

A Little Angel (Or Devil?) Chapter 3

Pairing: Matt Murdock x F!Reader

Story Summary: Matt and Reader, happily married at the end of Angel of God, my Guardian Dear, start the next chapter in their life together -- parenthood.

Warnings/Tags: Smut, Unprotected Sex (I mean obviously, Matt and Reader are trying for a baby), Pregnancy and all that comes with it, no graphic depiction of childbirth

Word Count: ~1200

A/N: Please let me know if you'd like to be tagged!

Tag List: @nommingonfood

FlutterFlutterFlutterFlutterFlutterFlutterFlutterFlutterFlutterFlutterFlutterFlutter…

Matt’s head tilted curiously as he stood in the kitchen cleaning up after breakfast. He had been hearing the same strange fluttering sound off and on all morning and he was starting to wonder if a butterfly or something had gotten into the house. 

Whatever it was, he wanted to try to get it out before the dining room furniture was delivered in about an hour. He and Y/N had already both taken the day off to deal with accepting and arranging their new furniture, so he didn't want to have to also be spending all day trying to locate then shoo out whatever was flitting around the house as well. “What is that sound?”

“What sound?” Y/N asked as she came up the stairs from the basement. “I don't hear anything.”

Matt listened closer, the sound growing louder as Y/N walked into the kitchen. “It's a fluttering noise. Kinda sounds like a butterfly or a hummingbird beating its wings -- oh.” 

Holy shit.

Suddenly it all made sense… the intoxicating change in Y/N's scent, her nausea and fatigue over the past few weeks, the butterfly --

Not butterfly. Heartbeat .

Matt slowly walked towards Y/N, focusing on the sound that he now realized was coming from her abdomen. 

He took her hand. “Sweetheart,” he said carefully, “I've been thinking about how you haven't been feeling well for the past few weeks, and um… have you considered the possibility that you might be pregnant?”

Y/N took a surprised step back. “What? No, no, there's no way, right? I mean, my cycle hasn't even really had the chance to get back to normal yet.”

Matt shook his head. “I don't want to get our hopes up in case I'm wrong, but you might want to take a pregnancy test just to make sure.”

Y/N took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay, I -- I actually bought a couple while I was at the pharmacy the other day so I'd have some for when we might need them, but I definitely didn't think it'd be this soon.”

Matt nodded. “Where are they?”

“They're upstairs in our bathroom cabinet.”

“Okay.” Matt bit his lip. “Do you, um, do you want some privacy while you go do that?”

Y/N took his hand. “What? No, of course not. Positive or negative, we find out together.”

They headed upstairs to their bathroom, where Matt spent the longest ten minutes of his life waiting to find out if he and Y/N would be growing their family. 

After the alarm on Matt's phone went off Y/N picked up the pregnancy test off of the bathroom sink, her free hand slipping into Matt's.

“Well?” Matt asked nervously. “What does it say?”

Y/N sucked in a breath, her heartbeat quickening. “It’s positive.”

Matt's heart leapt with joy. He had been pretty sure, but to have the news confirmed… “Yeah?”

Y/N let out a watery laugh. “Yeah, it's clearl y positive. I'm pregnant.”

“You're pregnant… You're pregnant!” Matt picked Y/N up and spun her around. “We're going to be parents!”

He gave her a kiss. “Oh my God, I love you so much, angel.”

Y/N kissed him back. “I love you too, Matty.”

Matt tilted his head curiously as she started to giggle. “What's so funny?”

Y/N gently patted Matt's chest. “Of course you'd knock me up immediately after I stopped taking my birth control.”

Matt smirked and wrapped his arms around Y/N's waist. “Well, we have been practicing quite a bit, and you did say that you could tell that the Murdock genes were strong.”

Y/N laughed again. “Yeah, yeah, I know your inner caveman is proud of your ability to procreate so easily. How'd you even figure it out?”

Matt smiled softly. “I can hear the baby's heartbeat.”

Y/N let out a soft gasp. “Really?”

Matt nodded. “Yeah, I'd been hearing it off and on all morning, but I finally realized what it was after I pinpointed where it was coming from.”

He knelt on the floor and lifted Y/N’s shirt up, then nuzzled his nose to her bare stomach before giving it a gentle kiss. “Hi, baby,” he said. “It's Daddy. Mommy and I just found out about you but we love you already and can't wait to meet you.”

Y/N carded her fingers through Matt's hair. “Not too soon, though. We want baby to be fully developed before we welcome them into the world.”

She pulled out her phone. “That reminds me, I should make an appointment with my doctor to get official confirmation from her and make sure everything's okay so far.”

Matt nodded and stood. “Let me know when it is and I'll go with you if you want.”

Y/N gave his hand a squeeze. “Of course, sweetheart.”

Matt waited as Y/N called her doctor's office. "Hi, yes, this is Y/N Murdock, and I need to schedule an appointment with Dr. Miller… I think I might be pregnant and need to have it confirmed. Yeah, I took a test at home this morning and it was positive. Mmhmm, mmhmm, yes, yeah, that's perfect. Okay, see you then. Thanks. Bye."

Y/N hung up. "Dr. Miller actually had an open appointment slot at 2 o’clock this afternoon."

Matt grinned. “That's great. Hopefully we'll have the dining room furniture all in place by then, but if not I can finish dealing with it while you go to your appointment.”

Y/N hummed. “Good thing we're still furniture shopping since we'll be needing to turn one of the spare bedrooms into a nursery sooner than we anticipated.”

“So when do you want to tell everyone? After your appointment, obviously, but I mean how long do we want to wait before we start spreading the news?” Matt wanted to immediately tell all of their loved ones that they were expecting, but he understood if Y/N would want to wait until she was further along.

Y/N was silent for a moment. “I want to tell Aunt Ruth in person but I don't want her to be the last one to find out, so maybe we can get everyone together while she's in town for her birthday in a few weeks and tell them all then.”

Matt nodded. That was completely reasonable. “Okay, yeah, that sounds good.”

He placed a gentle hand on her stomach. “I still can't believe it. I'm so happy, angel.”

Y/N set her hand on top of Matt's and gave him a tender kiss. “I am too, Matty. I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” Matt turned towards the doorway as he recognized the now-familiar sound of the furniture delivery truck pulling up. “The dining room furniture is here.”

Y/N hummed. “Too bad we’ll have to wait until after my doctor's appointment this afternoon to break it in.”

Matt huffed out a laugh as they headed back downstairs. “Oh, don't worry, angel. I'll make absolutely sure it was worth the wait.”

[crowngamer901]

My Splatoon OCs' GrandFest outfits: The Concepts and the Final Models

(I’m looking at the last three with the names and I’m realizing how bad my hand-writing looks lol)

(Also I have no clue how long of a post Tumblr will allow me to make so this may be broken up into multiple posts/reblogs)

So a while back, everyone was designing GrandFest outfits for their OCs. Me, being a Blender user, was like "WHOA THAT'S SUCH A COOL IDEA I WANT TO JOIN IN!!!!" but obviously I have no modeling-from-scratch skills yet. The only thing I know how to do in Blender is how to attach Splatoon 2 clothing to a Splatoon 3 model and how to use Edit Mode to cut away pieces from a model.

BUT I WAS DETERMINED TO DO SOMETHING REGARDLESS OF MY ART SKILLS

So I quickly rendered the first render with Autumn (who wears a custom hairstyle of Haircut + Megalobraid here), Jewel, Derek, Monica, and Hunter - my agents - with the intent of just making outfits for them. I saved the aforementioned render to my iPad, opened Procreate, and began drawing. I wasn’t really going for any kind of theme for any of the outfits, and wanted to do some really custom clothing that didn’t exist in-game. I did, however, take inspiration from some of the clothing that already existed but that was about it.

It took two days to finish (as you can tell by Jewel and Derek having one date and Autumn, Monica, and Hunter having a different date) but it was fun! So fun, in fact, that I decided to make more outfits. 10 MORE OUTFITS, IN FACT. But that comes later, as one day I got bored and decided to actually attempt to model the outfits in Blender! And that was also fun! Yeah, it took the whole day but more importantly it was fun! So fun, in fact, that it only pushed me to make those 10 more outfits. So now we have everyone else’s outfit concepts (with actual existing clothing in mind), and the resulting Blender versions.

BEHOLD!

Jewel/Agent 3 (with a bonus bald pic showing her earrings)

Derek/Agent 5 and Kelly, with their matching rings (I LOVE THIS SHIP SO MUCH)

Found family brother-sister duo of I-Wei and Priscilla

Autumn/Agent 4 (with her usual hair) and Monica/Agent 8 with matching glasses

Hunter/Neo Agent 3 and Stitches, the two shortest characters in the line-up

Alecs, Kimberly, Ezra, and Morgan

And last but not least, Jeremy and Kaden

(Everyone's expressions in these screenshots match the ones I picked for the drawings)

I am SO HYPED to actually render everyone in their outfits but first I gotta go texture the GrandFest venues *cries*

Happy to answer any questions you might have about their outfits (like what clothing I used for everyone)

[mellosdrawings]

What do you use to draw with? Like what device and drawing app? I finally graduated high school and want to get back to drawing and maybe start posting it but I wanted some advice

Hi~

I'm just gonna go and give you my full setup (plus health advices coz trust me they're important).

These days I use an IPad Pro 11" and Procreate. My friend has the bigger version but I hurt my elbow using it because it made my moves too big, so I settled for the littler version. I suggest you chose based on your feelings for that. If you want a bigger screen to see more of your work, it's perfectly valid.

If you do take those two, I suggest you also take the ICloud save. (I have the 200Go save and that's only 3€ a month, but the 50Go save in free!) Should your IPad eventually break, you'll be able to retrieve ALL your art files from the Cloud, which is a huge lifesaver!

(I used to use a simple computer plus graphic tablet plus Adobe Photoshop, but it kept crashing so much that I had one too many rage quits. Plus it's super expensive since it's subscription based, and nowadays they take your art from the Adobe Cloud to feed their AI, so I can't really recommend that. Photoshop is an excellent tool but the direction Adobe is taking does NOT suit me.)

For brushes I just use the default Procreate Pencil. For the eraser I use Syrup, which is found in the default Inking Brush set.

My base canvases are 4000x4000px with a DPI of 300 (I suggest you improve the DPI if you do illustrations or really precise work. I only do little fanarts and comics with that DPI). For posting online please be careful to chose an RGB color profile (I use the default Display D3). If you ever want to print though, you should chose a CMYK color profile (I use the Generic CMYK Profile then).

Now back to the real world! I'm going to strongly suggest you make sure your paper/computer/screen is at least at an angle, at best right in front of your face. The least pressure you have to put on your neck (bending), the better it will be. If you do traditional art, I'll suggest actual art tables that you can adjust in size and angle. Here's mine.

To prevent any pain in my thumb I use one of those hold-helpers thingies kids use to hold their pens properly! It increases the size of the grip which prevents from holding the pen too tight (trust me, it's important). You can also find special tape to roll around your pen if you need an even bigger grip.

I wish I had a proper desk and chair because that will also be very important for your posture and health, but rn I'm not in my own flat so eh. What I'll encourage you to do instead are stretches and exercises BEFORE and AFTER an art session. Fingers, wrist, elbow, shoulder, back, neck. If you want to avoid medical costs (masseur, kine, osteopath) you need to take great care of your body. You can also find little self-massaging gadgets in sports shops to help with your muscles.

(Talking from experience there. I'm only 25 and I already had to undergo surgery on my writing wrist because I f*ed up. Your health is important!)

I'm aware most of those are extremely expensive to get (it took me half a year of intense working and savings just to get the IPad) but I've found that they were 100% worth it in the end. It's alright to get things little by little if you feel they are going to be important for you. I strongly suggest you invest in your health first though!

Once you have decided on your preferred setup, I guess the only thing left to do is train, experiment and have fun!

I think that's all? If you need more advices on setups or art or whatever, I'd be happy to help, my DMs are always open!

Also congrats on graduating highschool!

[dirksawesomesprites]

not a request but what do you use to make sprite edits? I’m on ibisPaint and I want to be as good as you are! Do you draw the clothes? Or take apart and put back together bases on the sprites?

AAHHHHH I WAS ABOUT TO GO TO BED THEN SAW THIS ASK AND I HAVE TO ANSWER

OK FUN FACT i actually started doing edits on ibis :3 (they wernt that good tho)...

heres one of my first ever sprites i did on ibis of my one trollsonas

i reccomend the digital brush with a smaller canvas to make it get the more pixle effect. i dont use ibis anymore so you might need to fiddle around with it a little more thats just where i started

so the other part first THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SAYING U WANT TO BE AS GOOD AS ME IT MADE MY HEART CRY /VPOS

so anyways

i actually draw them myself SOMETIMES, my condesce one the body was an unused sprite for her i found on the homestuck assets website here, sometimes i do patchwork the clothes together but sometimes i draw them by hand like these

my march eridan sprite, the legs/shoes are ripped of roses sprite same w the rough shape for the skirt (i just eyeballed it) then the top is drawn by hand

this character from my MSFPA vinco macula, i ripped eridans body from his sprite, erased his cape and scarf, recoloured it all then drew the front bit by hand same w the bit on the front of the shoes

heres a video of a talksprite i made for my msfpa aswell where i pretty much just drew the clothes but it explains what i do better than me saying it in words 💀

FLASH WARNING FOR THE TIMELAPSE

ignore the bad quality procreate messed it up...

i hope this helped :3333

IM GLAD TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS ABT MY SPRITING BTW I LOVE ANSWERING THEM >w<

[mafuyuakgae]

YOUR ART IS LITERALLY ENCHANTING HELLO??? I feel like I'll get sucked into it Narnia style... Would you mind talking about your art process 👀

thank you so much?!! i dont mind if you dont mind me taking this chance to yap

my art process has changed a bit since i last posted a step by step... i would say my ideation phase is still

seeing something that really makes me want to draw (ie alien stage round 6 or a really good gacha card (sorry) ) or forcing out thumbnails

go on my pinterest board of poses/colours from other artists i like for the general vibe (i reference a lot from my own photos as well, usually pics i take around my city/a lot of selfies taken from 0.5x angle LOL)

and then start the drawing. usually not a lot of thumbnailing..i would like to get better at that to explore more interesting compositions >_< also trying to flatten my art style a bit but i still go overboard with rendering extraneously oops

these days im also switching back to paint tool sai/csp on my pen tablet rather than procreate..i really dont like the blending engine sometimes and it makes it really difficult for me to motivate myself to paint there. i guess walking through a recent painting i like:

sketch on a colour bg ( usually this kind of decides the colour palette for the rest of the painting, building off of this main bg colour) (i erased some of it bc i was using it in the final painting ^^;;; it gets redrawn on top a little)

blocking the main foreground - sword, horse - just going from dark foreground > middle > background lightest as a frame of reference, having the least amount of detail at the right since i want the horse's hind legs to fade out in perspective

3. layer at a light opacity using a big brush to just suggest light/shadows (yellow at bottom right and around her face to complement and contrast the blue/purple)

4. render details (this is what gets me and i am very lazy and typically give up on a piece once we get here. working on it..)

5. yeah. done! outline some desaturated areas (horse hind legs) with a saturated colour found elsewhere in the painting (lighter colour of the bg) and then add final touchups on top of everything. my layers dont make sense. also i love using the fringe effect on sai to fake edges/lines (every layer has it. yay)

[greenhorn-art]

Prince of Shadows, Lord of Thieves by alkat

Fandom: The King's Avatar | 全职高手

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Category: Gen

Words: 1 929

Once upon a time, their exploits were immortalized by artists and writers across the tapestry of history. Once upon a time, they were worshipped as gods and reviled as demons. None of that stopped the Met from stealing all their shit.

About the Book

FONTS: Alegreya [Google Fonts], Lato [Google Fonts]

IMAGES: all art made by myself @greenhorn-art for this fic

MATERIALS: regular ol' printer paper (8.5"x11", 20lb, 96 bright); ~2-2.5mm binder's board; Neenah cardstock (8.5"x11", 65lb, bright white); Cialux bookcloth (black); waxed linen thread (30/3 size, white); wheat paste (1:4 flour:water); paste wax (from a friend, unknown ingredients&quantities, some kind of wax and turpentine/mineral spirits)

PROGRAMS USED: Affinity Publisher 2; Affinity Designer 2; Bookbinder JS | Renegade's Community Imposer (settings: Quarto, snug against binding edge, custom signatures of 2, 1, 2 sheets).

Text & QR codes printed with colour laser printer (duplex, flip long edge), images printed with inkjet printer. QR codes generated with LibreOffice Writer, snipped, saved, and inserted where needed.

BINDING: quarto (quarter-letter) size, sewn board binding with french link stitch and breakaway spine.

.

So this one all started because the visual of HST's outfit was so fun that I was possessed by a visceral need to draw it. Inspiration slapped me across my mind's eye, and much like a medieval knight being slapped in the face by a glove (which didn't actually happen, that's a myth that sprung from the throwing down of a gauntlet. but that's beside the point), I felt bound to take up the challenge. Which lead me to draw a few more, and then I ended up binding the whole thing.

(Also, I find it really amusing that the famous Terracotta Warriors were just storage for YXs stuff. And the gang going 'shopping' at various exhibits for gifts for friends/family,, like that sure is SOME window shopping! I can hear it now: 'Oooh I'll take one one those SMASH, and that SHATTER, and throw in some of those CRASH, they're going to love these! 😇'. All in all, it was a fun little read, and fun little project! :D)

About the Art

Because this was initially a one-off drawing I tried a new art style (and struggled to at least not stray too far for the rest). It was fun and helped me think more about shape and visual focus, instead of being caught up in the details.

The crow (based off of image ID: 4039963 from Rawpixel) and the red umbrella on the front cover were filled curves made with the pen tool. The illustrations' poses were based off of a combination of images found on Google and photos taken by myself.

Pinterest is awful for sources, but it would have been handy to pin the references I'd googled. Only remembered to save the one of a man sitting at a desk. (I deliberately searched for someone sitting with bad posture because YX is described as being "slumped" over the desk. I figure that since "the laws of physics held no meaning to ["cursed souls eschewed by the natural order"]", they'd also be immune to mundane things like discomfort from sitting hunched over for too long. Back pain images were a gold mine! All I had to do was choose one with lighting that would give me a silhouette.)

The Myriad Manifestations Umbrellas and illustrations were drawn in Procreate.

I opted for a more plain umbrella design because it's not (presumably) a fantastical weapon in this story. Though the initial version did have YX cradling the donghua!MMU.

For the scene breaks I inserted the images, pinned them inline as character, and adjusted height and baseline in the pinning menu to fit.

The author wrote one scene break differently than the others, using multiple empty paragraphs instead of just one. Following suit, I used a different image for that particular break. I wanted to reference vampires somewhere, so for that break I made two bloody spots resembling bite marks. The blood spots were made with a group of shapes in Designer.

On cover design:

Because the MMU is what sparks the whole heist, I wanted it on the front cover.

Earlier iterations involved a full cover spread with a man's shadow standing before a shattered glass case, with a plaque mounted on the wall to the left providing information. The plaque was formatted like a museum label and had the author, date published, title, event collection, and story description. I'd also added a QR code to it. Ultimately, I abandoned the concept because it was difficult to decipher what is was when only looking a one cover at a time.

My second idea for the cover would have been a bookcloth-only cover with a cut-out of the MMU on the front, acting like a window showing off an image of the MMU on paper below it. (Inspired by the work of a number of folks over on Renegade's Discord. Here's a few examples gleaned from a quick search: szynkaaa's lung cutouts, some of EHyde's books, and the front cover of Spock's massive all-in-one TGCF). As fun as that would have been to try out, I felt it didn't quite suit the style of the art so I nixed that too.

Eventually I landed on the back cover design with the Met exhibition webpage. At last, I felt that the back & white and simple-shapes-background went with the artwork. The webpage viewed on the phone is based off of the Met's actual website. I took a snip/screenshot of the Met's logo from the banner at the top, then looked at their exhibitions' pages and eyeballed it to create my own. (Threw in the QR because I wanted the easy access to the fic online on the back cover). I chose to use a phone screen rather than I computer monitor because it worked better composition-wise. And besides, while YX may be allergic to owning a phone, SMC is not. I imagine that she saw the news while on her phone then messaged him.

The front cover came together after that. An umbrella for the MMU, and a pop of red. One of YX's messenger crows. A black shape in the background similar to the back cover's, sort of creating a spotlight over the umbrella and placing the rest of the cover in shadow.

Trying New Things: Applying a protective finish to printed covers

Over on the Renegade Bindery Discord, folks have spoken about using a beeswax & turpentine/mineral spirits 50-50 mix to seal printed covers (thank you Kate). According to my dad that's just a paste wax, so he threw 3 different ones at me and said 'have at it'.

I tested them out using the same paper and inkjet I'll use for the cover. I was looking at 1) whether the paste wax affected the paper colour or print quality, and 2) the finish. After applying one coat each and buffing them out I had my winner. Then I applied & buffed two more coats to it and tested 3) water resistance by dripping tea on it. The liquid beaded up and wiped away without staining -- good, three coats will work nicely.

(Test results: Mystery paste wax from a friend wins.

The commercial SC Johnson Paste Wax Original formula (intended for woodworking) has a nice dry shiny finish, but coloured the paper slightly brown -> disqualified

My dad's homemade stuff has a nice shiny/satin finish and didn't change paper's colour, but it felt slightly tacky even after buffing it -- maybe I didn't buff it enough?

The gifted paste wax has a matte finish, didn't change paper's colour (in the image below this one has 3 coats. The paper is now slightly off-white, but still acceptable), and while not as dry-to-touch as the Johnson it was not as tacky as the other homemade stuff.)

When I print out my quarto covers, I print front and back covers side-by-side on the same page*, with some guides to ensure I'm cutting and gluing in the correct place. (The guides mark the boundaries of the covers and start of the turn-ins, and stop at the edge of where I cut. Before cutting I flip it over to mark the guides [see marks indicated in image below] on the wrong side and connect them so I can see where to glue/place book. Then flip it back over to cut, right side up.)

*I'm being economical here at the cost of possible warping damage. This layout means that I'm only using one sheet of paper, but the grain is running in the wrong direction (across the book instead of preferred head-to-tail/top-bottom). This could cause warping issues, but I'm OK with that. I'm hoping that by just gluing at the edges, instead of pasting down the whole thing, warping will be minimized. (I use wrong-grain endpapers most of the time with larger books anyways).

I applied the paste wax before cutting out the covers, working carefully to avoid accidentally creasing/bending the paper (which happened twice, but it was minimal and I hardly notice it). Doing so before cutting ensured that the cover material was completely covered. Even the turn-ins -- something I later came to regret. After all, wax is used specifically so that things don't stick to it. It made it rather difficult to drum on the endpapers because I was trying to glue something down onto a waxy surface. It all worked out in the end -- perhaps due to the fact that there were multiple layers of wheat paste which could adhere to each other, followed by being squashed in a press.

[andreal831]

Do you have any headcanons/theories on vampire biology in tvdu?

Like in season 1 of tvd Damon tells Elena that if vampires have a steady blood diet then their body functions regularly, meaning they can eat human food, but does vampirism enhance/take away the taste? We know they don’t need to sleep but when they do is it normal sleeping or more comatose? And if they eat human food would they need to go to the bathroom, are their bodies even capable of that?

I’m sorry if this is a weird ask, you don’t have to answer, on an unrelated note I love all of your posts/metas <3

I honestly try not to think too hard about it because it is so inconsistent. Anytime I try to wrap my head around vampire biology in TVDU, I just get more confused.

I do think their bodies work completely normally when they are on a blood diet. They eat, their hearts beat, they breathe, etc. I imagine all of the normal bloodily functions still work as well. They still would need to go to the bathroom, etc. I also think they taste although I don't think it's enhanced. Only their hearing and eye sight seems to be and this was specifically to give them an advantage over the wolves. Taste wouldn't really do anything for them. They still smell normally, only the hybrids/werewolves have enhanced smell.

One gripe I do have is in TVD Season 2 when Elijah "smells" that Elena is human. Was he just doing that to freak her out? How could he tell. We never see another instance of a vampire being able to sense another one. It definitely added to the tension but made no sense in the grand scheme.

I do think they sleep but it is not as required. We know Rebekah falls asleep after her night with Sage and Damon and they get in her mind while she is vulnerable. We also see Elijah watching Hayley sleep in TO or Klaus sleeping next to Cami. It appears to be relatively normal sleep. They all appear to have normal schedules due to sleeping. I don't think they need to sleep as often but I do think they will eventually get tired just not as easily as a human. They are stronger than humans but still require the essentials. Like they can drown because they need to breathe but it's only a temporary death if they don't breathe.

My biggest hang up with honestly with what exactly does "function normally mean." We know that they can't procreate because their bodies are frozen in that state, so one would think they wouldn't function regularly. The show kind of messed itself up with that one. If they can do all of the regular bodily functions, how are they not able to procreate? Why is that the one bodily function stopped by the transformation. If their bodies are frozen in time, wouldn't the rest of their organs? They wouldn't grow hungry or need to breathe because their lungs and stomach would never change.

But also, how do the Originals function? We know they can't be killed in the normal vampire ways, like decapitation or ripping a heart out. Rebekah makes a comment about ripping Klaus' heart out and waiting for it to grow back, but that just seems wild. Does that mean if they are decapitated, their head would grow back?? Could you successfully chop them up into little pieces and burry them around the world to "kill" them? Or would they grow back from one point? I can't imagine no one tried that.

It would have made sense to make them just so strong that no one could physically do it. Like when they tried to burn Elijah and he just wouldn't burn. They should have just made their skin so indestructible that no one was strong enough to pull them apart. But even Gia, a baby vamp, could stick her hand in Elijah's chest. Hayley temporarily kills Elijah with a twig in Season 4. But then when the Detective shoots Elijah, he doesn't even bleed from it. Shouldn't it still kill him temporarily if he was shot in the heart? It was a cool scene but it felt more Superman than The Originals.

So much of the show doesn't make sense and they really just gave up when it came to biology. Nearly as much as they gave up when they dealt with geography.

Thanks for the ask! Sorry that I really don't have any answers for you

[arabriddler]

Or how I fudge and find out my way through making digital paintings.

art program used here : Procreate ( but the method can be applied to other programs )

original painting time ≈ 3 hrs

*note : English isn’t my native language in case something is confusing or wrong. Don’t hesitate to ask for more details regarding anything

**more important note : take breaks, drink water, don’t push your hands too hard.

Base

I start off by sketching where the bodies and objects are. Nothing too detailed. I’m just arranging stuff around and figuring out sizes. You shouldn’t spend too much time in drawing this and they shouldn’t be detailed so you can easily move the elements around without exhausting yourself beforehand ( also to avoid getting bored when you’re just starting.

composition is a little complex to figure out but for this one I made the characters around the middle point to create some sort of guide for the observer’s eye movement.

2. Initial sketch (optional)

I usually make one sketch for a drawing unless it has little details or elements I’m not used to drawing. For this one it was figuring out the clothes and the details on them. Again, don’t pressure yourself to make this look perfect or right. You’re just figuring out where things are.

As you can see, the sketch is pretty rough, not all the details on the hands are drawn. The eyeliner are still there and the chair is just a shape. Lots of lines are overlapping and.. you basically get the idea.

3. Second (final) sketch.

I wouldn’t call this a lineart. Linearts are more careful, less rough, cleaner. I like using sketches more than linearts because I like the rough sketchy texture they provide, and also it’s less restricting boring for me personally . Although we keep in mind this is the drawing we’ll color. So we’re more careful about it. I draw the details and clean the sketch.

also don’t be like me, I forgot to draw the cane here and was upset about it :(( didn’t notice till days later. But also sometimes I do change things here. This one wasn’t on purpose though.

it’s important here to avoid chicken scratch by using less strokes. For example. Instead of drawing a curve with say a hundred strokes, draw it with one and then clean up anything wrong. You make have to redo one stroke a hundred times to get it right, but it’s cleaner and softer. ( it helps with drawing hair )

Nothing is wrong in art but it depends what kinds of effect you want. You can use both methods to give different vibes, draw different things. But it’s important to know how to do them. oh and, it is one stroke but it’s fast. If you linger on it the line will come out woobly and shakey. If you do it fast it’ll come out clean.

4. Blocking.

You go back over the drawing here to fill in black spaces. Maybe if someone has black hair or for shading, you can also add texture on things like walls and etc*. I like leaving some white spaces when doing this because black is very reflective irl, so it gives some shine to it. It honestly depends on what the black element is, something’s are shiny some things are not. But it’s pretty fun

**when it comes to texture this is an example from another drawing

5. Grey scale coloring.

I have already a plate on hand of colors from white to black to use in my drawings. You can use three or more. This is the one I use

Circles to indicate that if you have white, grey, and black, that’s enough. why grey scale? The thing about grey scale coloring is that it helps figuring out contrast. You don’t want all your drawing to be of similar tone, when you have contrast, it helps make elements pop and differentiate things.

"Joseph Nelson." Roboflow Blog, May 15, 2020. https://blog.roboflow.com/when-to-use-contrast-as-a-preprocessing-step/

I’m honestly still figuring out how greyscale works but, looking at real life pictures is one way you can know how to do it. See how light is distributed where whites and blacks are used. One key element is to figure out where light comes from, and shading according to that . The light source isn’t very strong with this drawing so it was more of a simplified shading. If something is over the other, shade underneath. That’s the simplest way to figure out shading

before coloring, I did change the sketch to a more grey color and set the layer to multiply. What multiply does is that it darkens the color underneath it with a hue of the color in the multiply layer. I know, confusing, so here is a picture.

Sorry, got a little detailed there. back to our drawing.

As I said, the light source wasn’t very complex here to give more of a photo shoot vibe, but I can show another drawing with a more natural strong light

Places directly getting the light get very light colors like white, the ones opposite use very dark grey or even black.

of course the coloring here isn’t very realistic, I have, after all, colored the character, kristen, in lighter colors than everything else. This is because I wanted to create a sense of contrast to make her pop out against the background. So don’t limit yourself, play around.

6. gradient map

gradient maps replace the grey scale colors into other colors on a specific range, you can use a gradient map offered by the program or one you make yourself. How to chose them? Depending on the vibe you want to translate. I have synesthesia so I sort of follow my gut when it comes to this, but you can also look at movies and pictures and see what colors they use and what feelings they give. Or just go warm colors give warm feelings and cold colors give cold feelings. Or just whatever you like. Just have fun with it

See? It looks pretty fun. Heck you can even stop here even. Note that I merged the sketch layer and the grey scale one into one layer so it can change the color of the sketch layer too. Also sometimes id use the blur tool to blend some things but I didn’t use that here.

another thing to note is that if you leave things empty in the greyscale drawing they won’t change color in the gradient map, that’s why I use white in the empty spaces. Or sometimes I don’t if I’m unsure if I want to keep something white/black or not.

7. Coloring.

here, I add another layer and set it to multiply and basically color it in over the drawing. I have the colors for the characters on hand to use, and they change according to the gradient map.

note that it will look weird and wrong at first but just keep going, trust the process. The colors will fit in together.

Also notice the difference between the colors in the drawing and the colors on the color palette. Cool no?

And this is how the whole thing looks. You can also add details in here. Like the drawings on the vets and Ed’s bow tie. Makeup, blush, lipstick, nail paint… etc etc.

8. Details

I add another normal setting layer here and basically go back over the drawing to add details, fix mistakes, draw over things to make them pop off or look more hard than soft.

I mostly like going over the hair and facial features in this step, and also adding highlights and shine.

I also felt that the background was a little too empty, but I didn’t want something too detailed so it wouldn’t take the attention from the characters. so I added a pattern.

9. Finale touches. (Optional) sometimes the drawing is done here, sometimes it’s not.

I’d maybe add overlay and/or add layers and to highlight light sources, or add a multiply layer to emphasize shadows like in this example.

for this drawing I didn’t do that as I was satisfied with the lights and shadow, but it still felt too… rigid.

so I added a textile texture as a multiply layer so it would look more…Touchable?

And…that’s it!

If you like this, you can check out the original drawing’s post ( or support me on ko-fi? ) 👀👀👀