#not that anyone will end up reading this

[tawnysoup]

Finally now that the comic is fully public on comicfury, I get to share it with all of you here, too <3

If you enjoyed, please consider supporting by buying a PDF of the comic on itch.io: https://tawnysoup.itch.io/home-in-the-woods

[vantablackdraws]

Interrupting my usual posting nonsense with some ISAT doodles I did a while ago

[vaguely-concerned]

the strength it must have taken for illario to not immediately go full 'lmao since when have you even had a kiss hello lucanis' sibling violence mode during the café talk. inspirational. rook and lucanis really were doing all that right in front of his salad huh

[plagueislost]

“its like a museum in here…”

[celtrist]

Was there ever one...?

[orchaic]

but if i have the right to unsheathe this “legendary sword,” then i shall gratefully accept.

[kiwianacat]

Was thinking of how the infamous itw fight scene would translate into a medieval setting, then got distracted thinking about Longtail and ended up making Longfire canon to the au whoops.

Their relationship would be incredibly slow-burn, in the background to Fireheart's relationships with Greystripe (unrequited) and Sandstorm (temporary) to the point where I don't even think they'd be "courting" until about Firestar's Prophecy.

I wrote them a background, which was meant to be brief context but ended up being really long whoops. I think i've missed writing rip

Young Rusty meets third-season squire Longpaw during the ceremonial event young pages attend to prove their ability and be chosen as squires by Warrior knights. Rusty was controversially allowed to compete by Bluestar, using his blacksmith apprenticeship experience in place of the required service as a page and Longpaw mocked him for his low-born status prompting their duel. Rusty’s win cement’s his worth to Bluestar and he becomes her squire; meanwhile Longpaw’s loss was an insult to his knight Darkstripe as well as causing a nameless, low-born to become squired to King Bluestar, earning him great dishonour. He became a bitter rival to Firepaw, even after he was knighted, frequently antagonising him as in canon.

They form a tentative partnership when Longtail rescues him from Tigerclaw dropping him in the river, as even he sees this as suspicious, although he’s afraid to directly confront his peers and hesitates to think of him as disloyal. He has gained Swiftpaw as a squire by this point, unknowingly transferring the same pressures and beliefs onto him. During Tigerclaw’s raid on camp, Fireheart turns to him for help, which helps result in Tigerclaw’s capture; Longtail is shocked and sickened when it’s revealed that he killed Redtail (his dad in the au) and offended that he wasn’t told (Fireheart, rightfully, couldn’t be sure of his loyalties). When Bluestar, turning against the stars and traditions in the wake of Tigerclaw’s escape (he was set to be executed, but escaped with the help of an unknown ally (Darkstripe obviously)) makes Fireheart the heir to the throne Longtail feels doubly betrayed. As if he’d been manipulated against his friends in a play for power; maybe Tigerclaw was right to have his doubts about Bluestar if she’s willing to break traditions as it suits her. 

Big fallout, rough time for Fireheart, as he also loses Greystripe around this time. He’s courting Sandstorm around this time and their relationship is also beginning to crack, although I’m not sure who ends it; they started courting largely due to social pressures (and to Spite Greystripe) and come to realise they have a stronger alliance platonically. Longtail also thinks that Fireheart’s helping delay Swiftpaw’s knighthood to spite him and he backslides into bitter, insecure thought patterns. 

It’s Swiftpaw’s horrific death to Tigerclaw’s hounds that’s a wake up call and Longtail finally can see the transfer of Tigerclaw’s destructive beliefs to Darkstripe, through him, taking his squire’s life. He begins to investigate the hounds and has a larger role than in canon in uncovering the plot, taking the evidence to Fireheart (who doesn’t believe him at first), which ends up being an olive branch of sorts, re-establishing their alliance. It’d take a long while to get over their shared history to the point of romance after this point, but I think Longtail sees his own feelings first as his crush would’ve been amplifying his bitterness. 

Eventually they marry, Sandstorm remains important as Firestar’s principal advisor and heir to the throne. She surrogates kits, which the three co-parent together. Longtail never takes on another squire but becomes the head of the education of young pages instead; after being blinded he maintains the role but gains a co-head (maybe Bracken, Thorn or Bright) who helps with combat/weapons instruction and has a reduced role during his recovery.

[horsemotifs]

Loch took that literally

[hoarder-of-rats]

As an Aroace who never gets crushes, I must say reading a first-person romance-focused slowburn thing is absolutely insane

This is trying to convince me that almost having a panic attack due to being in the same room as someone else, while also being miserable when that same person isn't there, is normal and good and *checks notes* HEALTHY????

Sorry guys you're making this up

[hotchtits]

essays i want to write about hotch

hotch and fire -> who couldn't he save? what happened?

hotch and gideon's relationship -> because spencer wasn't the only one gideon walked away from

the foyet arc -> specifically the stabbing. specifically how it was almost 100% also sexual assault and how hotch chooses to deal with it

hotch and anger -> i wonder if he has his father's temper

hotch and his team -> he loves them so deeply, so completely. that has to take a toll.

the scratch arc -> being drugged like that has to leave some kind of deep mental scars. as well as seeing a victim with your name carved into their forehead. also im convinced that if TG hadn't left, spencer's prison arc would have been hotch's instead.

hotch and autism -> and how he sees a freedom in reid that he feels he's never had for himself.

hotch's childhood -> "an extremely violent, abusive household" ok lets expand on that!!

hotch and leadership -> heavy is the head that wears the crown

[jayktoralldaylong]

Alright, there's something I'd like to talk about, and let's come at it with an open mind. When Season one of Arcane ended I was 99% sure that Mel was not going to make it to this season. I was praying for every kind of miracle that could happen just to keep that beautiful goddess on screen but she was the first line of contact for that bomb.

Now that everything has been revealed, I want to talk about that bomb.

Ironically, Season two episode one starts with the exact same shine of gold that ended season one.

See, season one:

Season two:

And when the smoke clears we can see her leaning really close to Jayce, like she got blasted towards him.

Now, looking at the seat arrangements from Season one, I can actually see it a lot better now that I'm taking a second look. We can see that she is standing directly in the line of fire, Jayce is standing to her left and Viktor is sitting in his chair, Jayce's chair. Just about everyone sitting by her right died, Salo is sitting furthest away from the blast, opposite her. He probably saw it just a few seconds before she did.

And when she wakes up, all groggy and out of focus, her hands are on his shoulder. They been there, she did not just put them there, she already had her hands on him. Protecting him.

But what I really want to pay attention to, is the look on Mel's face when she and Jayce take in the damage.

The entire place burned down. Realistically, not a single person should have survived that, especially not unharmed.

Then the damage starts sinking in (Don't look at Jayce, look at Mel):

Look at Mel, as they look around the room of injured Councillors.

Jayce is panicking, full on panicking, he's had his nerves rattled, he's never seen anything like this (unlike Mel who, if the audience remembers, grew up in Noxus). And the sweetest thing is how she follows him around, trying to comfort him, while he's trying to shake Cassandra awake.

And she stays right there by his side, until her mother pulls her away (foreshadowing about their duties pulling them apart perhaps?)

Now, imagine you were in the middle of a disaster, a terrible disaster, and you had the power to save every single person in that room, but you did not know this because no one ever bothered once telling you that you had powers. However, in that moment, you did indeed save one person, without knowing, without even thinking. Who did Mel save?

She saved Jayce. (The craziest thing about that.....is that.... Viktor was literally right beside him. He was right beside Jayce OMG 😭😭).

Watching this scene, I cannot imagine the amount of guilt that threatened to swallow Mel whole ever0y time she saw the aftermath of what happened and a small part of her brain would nag her that she could have prevented it, that she could have protected Jayce's friend.

So why Jayce? Why ONLY Jayce?

"Because she loves him."

Obvious answer, two plus two equals four, but this is Arcane we're talking about, there is more to this simple equation and it is plain to see in their reactions in the aftermath.

Jayce is devastated. He is new to war, he does not know shit about it, it scares him to see all the people that he respects flattened like they are nothing. The Piltover Council means something to Jayce.

To Mel, they are colleagues. They are.... people with names and faces and power. They are people she would help on a normal day, but at the first sign of danger she clung to one person.

Jayce was Viktor's first friend, and he was Mel's too. He was the first person to tell her that she was not crazy. The first person to strangely believe in her dreams, to pour out affection not out of arrogance but genuine care that he was not ashamed or even hesitant to show her. He fought for peace when she began to doubt. When she felt unstable, his naivete and pure heart steadied her.

Mel loved Jayce. Loved him so much that she did not freak out when he was tweaking cause of the Arcane. So much that she fought for him when he was getting outright dominated by his ex. 💀💀 And while it is not the space shattering world changing soul bonded union of javik, I think it is beautiful that Mek loved Jayce.

I think it's ironic that the brotherly love that people keep trying to achieve with Jayce and Viktor was represented so well with Jayce and Mel. I think it's iconic that a male and female character that banged on screen can go their separate ways without a dramatic breakup and without losing the entirety of their care for one another (cause some of it was definitely damaged after their individual trauma).

What I'm trying to say is that Mel loved Jayce. The love was there. Call it romantic or platonic or whatever but she cared about him more than she cared about anyone in that room when that bomb went off.

And it just twists something in my heart....that Jayce was so loved by the two people that meant so much to him. That he gave all of his heart out and they gave everything back because of how selfless his love was. Everyone says Viktor and Mel are out of Jayce's league but they both keep putting him first. (⁠T⁠T⁠) They just cannot resist that all encompassing love of his. It saved Viktor, and it saved Mel who finally found her truth, and lost him to find it.

[vaguely-concerned]

sometimes I think of all the on-the-surface warm, well-meaning but deeply ineffectual advice and attention john gives harrow through harrow the ninth (make some soup and get some sleep! get a hobby! don't be so hard on yourself! self care harrow! as long as I need take no actual responsibility in this relationship whatsoever I would have loved to be your dad!) set up against the stark truth that with his other hand he has been staging her attempted horrific murder again and again and again like a living nightmare on the logic that it will 'put her down or fix her'. and then I find that I wish there is a hell. a special hell where twitch streamers turned necromantic death emperors go

[brontes]

I had a thought today about all that vampires lose in the twilight lore. Sure sure they’re fast and strong and invulnerable BUT they lose the chance to earn things because of that. The Cullens are rich but like…that just happens when you invest for three centuries. They can lift incredible amounts of weight…but just by nature and not because they’ve built up to it. They build projects and make paintings and learn…but they will always lack the satisfaction that comes from managing those accomplishments amidst the regular demands of life. Edward was seventeen…he never got the chance to earn anything by the sweat of his brow or the burning of the midnight oil.

Beyond just the bloodlust, they miss out on the regular daily challenges that make our time and pleasure meaningful. Something that is easily overlooked by teenagers reading a love story but honestly something heartbreaking to contemplate.

[waitineedaname]

when I started orv I expected it to be a story where lots of main characters die, like i was coming at it as someone who's read homestuck, I fully expected a lot of major character death, I expected no one from that first subway car to survive. and then as I kept reading, it really struck me just how many people survived and how aside from kim dokja dying a dozen times, no one in the main party has died, and now I've realized that is extremely intentional. this is a story where a lot of people are supposed to die, it's a story that's supposed to force repeated sacrifice, and kim dokja looked at that story and went "absolutely the fuck not, that's not the story I want to tell" and pulled that burden of sacrifice onto himself over and over because he refuses to be part of a story where his friends die

[hey-hey-j]

posting some of my unfinished comics just to get them out of my mind and because I still think the ideas have merit. Picked at this one for a while before deciding I just wasn't vibing with the compositions even though I really liked the emotional pacing, lol

I imagined this scenario taking place a good while after Band Together, when JD has mostly smoothed things over with the bros but has yet to actually say the words "I'm sorry" because dealing with guilt is hard and he hates the thought that those feelings will never really go away no matter how much he apologizes or how hard he tries to fix things and yadda yadda that's a rant for another post

anyway here's the script I was working off of because I still feel bad I didn't make it to that last bit of dialogue

[jojo-schmo]

I'm updating my personal ref sheets and it's really hitting me just how SMOL Kirby, Bandee, and Elfilis really are compared to the rest of the cast.