#october practice

[didasgomas]

"What other dungeon is so dark as one’s own heart"

Day 19 of October Practice

Prompt: Memories

Warning: Mentioned infant kidnapping

For my own original story "BirdsHeart" (starting off grimly huh)

(I recommend checking out the book the title's quote is referencing)

They had moved most of his things to the bottom of the mountain, so that they wouldn't need to be reminded of him every day.

Only his crib, some toys and blankets remained in his nursery, all the rest of the furniture along with his remaining clothes and swaddles were put aside, reeking of the little one's panic from the night he had been taken away from them. His nursery still held a small happy smell, of a calm and comfortable nestling, even though it was now almost completely empty.

Sazael still sat in the nursery a lot, when the pain of missing his littlest sibling became too strong. Everyone in the family missed him, but they had both been Harpy Eagles, so they had bonded in a way the others couldn’t fully replicate.

Sometimes, he'd try to sing the lyricless songs their father used to sing for the baby, even though his voice cracked through the melodies. He knew he wasn’t very good at it, but it was the only way he had found to let the sadness out. It was as though, for a fleeting moment, the nestling would hear him and might call back.

At times, as he sang, Sazael found himself staring at the empty crib and wishing, just for a moment, that his little brother might magically reappear. The thought would sometimes bring back memories so vivid it was almost like the past had really returned: the little one chirping happily, reaching out with his tiny arms whenever Sazael approached his crib.

Pearly, however, couldn't bear with it. Though she had taken up a lot of the hunting tasks, much like himself, after their father retreated into himself, she was still home a lot, and whenever she passed by the nursery and heard Sazael, she'd harshly tell him to stop singing. He knew she blamed both him and their eldest sibling, but he also knew she blamed herself, for she too had created a deep bond with their little brother, and was too fiercely protective of him, so the loss had also left her in shambles.

The two of them had never really gotten along the best, but their relationship had completely soured after their baby sibling was taken, and that showed.

Sometimes it would be Father who found him in the nursery on the days he had the energy to just leave his room and walk around, and most time he too would ask Sazael to not sing anymore, except he sounded exhausted and like he had been crying for a long time, which was probably true. There had been one occasion though, where Sazael had been singing on his little brother's birthday, and instead of once again asking him to stop, his father had just walked into the nursery and hugged him.

Hugs were rare now, especially from Father, and yet, Sazael never pushed away, even if his father's presence carried the smell of a deep sadness and a longing for the past.

Their father had been utterly consumed by grief after the baby was taken. He spent most of his days either confined to his room or scouring the mountains and plateaus for hours, bringing back a plethora of food but never the piece of himself that had been lost. He had also become even more protective of his remaining children, almost to the point of obsession, always trying observing and listening for any possible threats whenever he was near them.

That had quickly become suffocating for Sazael, making him dedicate more and more hours of his weeks to being in the baby's nursery, where his father would rarely step foot in, instead of his own bedroom, where he now only slept, not wanting to fall into the same trap Father had.

Though, it didn't really matter how much they tried escape from it, to move forward. Grief wrapped around them like a noose tightening at a criminal's neck, almost like taunting them.

And no matter how much they tried to not face the facts, to not look at the reality of things for what it was, to keep going and return to a near normal, one thing remained perpetually true.

They had moved most of his things to the bottom of the mountain, so that they wouldn't need to be reminded of him every day.

[homoesia]

[ominouspuff]

CC-1010

[tazuransi]

sol catguy and dizzy kitty

[elssbethtascioni]

FILMS WATCHED IN 2024 Practical Magic (1998) dir. Griffin Dunne

[clowns0up-felix]

Linktober day 19- reward

Only 8 more drawing and I’m caught up with linktober yipeee yipeee,,, fun fact there’s exactly 1123 of his freckles visible

I love the gratitude crystals soooo much every time I would get/find one I’d get this fuzzy warm feeling,,,, sigh

His nickname is prob gonna be Dawn btw ;)

[makenna-made-this]

BAWKtober Day 3 - Cider Press

Can't wait for a sippy sippy~

If you'd like to support my BAWKtobering by buying a commission or a treat for my spoiled, spoiled chickens, all my links are in my pinned- *i am immediately mobbed by a flock of chickens and dragged off stage in a cloud of feathers*

[meltedmush]

With great power comes with great need to make skin creatures

HELL YEAHH

[april-doodles]

My sketchbook is meant for the silliest things ONLY. (Different iterations and reference under cut)

Here’s the Processed hand-lettered, non-processed, and non-processed nor colored/halftoned iterations.

The ref. is this edited panel of Moon Knight. Made me laugh real good so I made it into Salim :)

[siphisket]

(He calls her Riza when they're alone 🫢)

[didasgomas]

Double lives

Day 7 of October Practice

Prompt: Napping together

Warnings: None

Cdta au "Running Through Your Veins" belongs to @angelic-writer

April 24th, 2011

It was already evening when Sebastian got back home from his… "job".

If he had made it back earlier, then Strawberry, the very spoiled Leonberger that he had to share the sofa with, would have been in front of the door already, wagging her tail non-stop, but only after Seb closed the door did she appear, walking her way towards him instead of "tip toeing" as she usually did.

He guessed they had fallen asleep, despite the living room's lights still being on, because if there was one thing in the world that Strawberry adored the most, was to cuddle with them whenever they were resting, something they weren't bothered with despite Strawberry's size, as they had grown up cuddling their parents' Shih Tzu, Cinnamon, that Sebastian had only ever seen photos of.

"Angel eyes?" He called out, keeping his voice low as to not startle them.

"Hmm..?" They mumbled back, having just woken up from his voice alone, the TV having helped them fall asleep.

Sebastian went inside the living room, Strawberry following him, patiently observing as they sat up slowly, yawning before opening their gorgeous eyes to look at him. Light violet eyes that had earned them the nickname from him, cradled by their long blond hair. Not the "ideal" type of beauty, but it sure as hell was Seb's new ideal of perfection.

Salem Feinshtein, his partner of five years and housemate since last June, and whose salary was most of the reason the bills were paid and their combined lifestyles were kept afloat. Not that Sebastian didn't have money to call his own, but Salem's job as a university dean paid off really well, though it came with long hours and the hassle of having to work with a chancellor who "had a brick for a brain", as they themselves put it.

"…Hi, Jellybean." They sounded exhausted, but still gave a weak smile in his direction.

Sebastian sat next to them in the oversized couch, perfect to fit the giant dog they both lived with, and gently brushed some strands of hair off of their face, letting their small but dark eye bags be seen.

"Rough day?" He asked, though he really didn't need to.

"Yeah…A bunch of meetings with the Law teachers. Some really bad grades from the second year people. Was just waiting for you."

"You need to take it easy, Sal." He cupped their cheek with his hand. They might have been older, but he was the taller one in the relationship.

"And you're late, Baz. Like, really late." They were almost falling back asleep, but he knew they were worried.

"A newbie shot himself in the foot by accident, so we had to bring him to the hospital. Nothing more."

Sebastian didn't particularly like the fact that he had to lie to his own partner on an almost daily basis, but he had no other choice. If he were to say that he was a devil hunter, Salem would definitely have left him, or worse, call the nearest mental clinic or even the police.

So he had to keep up the lie that he worked for a hunting business that he never named, going around trying to find animals around the state's green areas, chopping wood for fireplaces or woodcraft that could be sold along with any valuable pieces of the prey they caught.

It was convincing enough that they never really questioned it, besides asking for some extra details in the beginning, but he still found himself worrying that they'd be able to see through his act.

"There's some leftover tuna in the fridge if you want dinner." They managed to say it before another yawn came out. They really needed to rest well today.

Strawberry jumped on top of the sofa to get closer to Sal, probably able to smell their exhaustion, and Seb got a different idea.

"I think I want to be close to you instead." He smiled, taking his jacket and shoes off quickly, letting them drop on the floor, before climbing onto the sofa and laying next to them.

Strawberry placed her head on top of Salem's hip, her giant body acting like an improvised blanket, but Sebastian didn't mind, because he took the fact that they inched closer to rest their head on his chest as proof that he had gotten the best part.

They fell back asleep rather quickly, while he took much longer, but he eventually got there too after he turned the background noise into a bedtime story, falling into dreamland along with them.

He would need to wake up early the next day to keep up with his exciting new "responsibilities", but he wouldn't give up the chance to sleep cuddled next to his partner for anything else in the world.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Mushroom body

(for @mikkeneko)

[lulublack90]

Prompt 24 - Transform

@jegulus-microfic October 24, Word count 196

Regulus flicked his wand and watched the rat transform into a water goblet. He flicked his wand and watched it turn back. The rat tried to scurry away, but he stopped it by transfiguring it into the water goblet again. 

“Regulus stop!” James cried as he came into the empty classroom where they were meeting. James hurried forward and scooped up the rat as it transformed back from being the water goblet and carefully placed him on the floor. Regulus watched as the rat scurried away out the door squeaking indignantly at him. 

“What was that about?” Regulus asked, confused by James’s actions. Turning rats into water goblets was part of the curriculum. 

“That was Peter,” James said, shrugging. Regulus’s eyes rolled to the back of his head. Of course, the random rat he found just had to be one of his brother’s friends in animagus form. 

“Alright, fine, you transform. I want to practice stag into hat stand.” James gulped and ran out of the room. “Coward,” Regulus called after him, chuckling to himself as he wondered what it would take to convince his brother to let him transfigure his dog form into a footstool.

[opikiquu]

[clowns0up-felix]

Linktober day 4 - night/dark

Took me a while to figure out what I wanted to draw for this, my first thoughts were with dark link from oot or tp,,,, but then a friend started playing ww for me since I can’t do it myself rn and that left me needing to draw this lol (thank you piddles my hero)

Perspective hard af broooo 👎👎👎

[millieueu]

@trashys_here 1 year DTIYS entry || millieueu

Finally entered the DTIYS contest hosted by @trashys_here (on Instagram). I drew them in the DP style. Sorry I made Valerie look alot less chubby than the original :(

Also I just realized that I made her look taller than Danny 💀