#questioning if i should make a commissions post but i have nothing new in my portfolio so :((((

[balteus]

wish i had a 3 piece full course meal in front of me so bad rn

[vasiliquemort]

~Commissions are open!~

- Bust of one character up to the chest: 60$ Background for busts is free to be added<з

- Portrait of one or more characters up to the waist: 70$ For background + 10 $ as base cost, prices over are determined by detailing. For each new character + 20 $

- Character (or several) in full growth: 80$ For background + 10 $ as base cost as well, prices over are determined by detailing. For each new character + 30 $

It could be such joy if you distributed this post - or even had desire to acquire something for yourself!<ззз

Below I have described in detail almost all the information that I could imagine as necessary, yet please do not hesitate to write for any reason in a private message or ask - it will be my absolute pleasure to tell or show you more, and I am always glad to have new delightful acquaintances!<зз

I do portraits in three formats - bust, waist-length and then full-length. They can be various in styling, therefore please pay close attention to the difference in the execution of these formats - the busts are always more detailed in the character's features, the atmosphere is more consistent in waist-length paintings, and full-length drawings are well suited to demonstrate clothing design or depicted scene.

I adore to experiment with styles and learn new tones of this craft - as each meeting is a start of something beautiful, and I desire to create art that is complex and multifaced, but to an important extend I should say that I do not feel comfortable to copy or imitate other's styles of execution and sensuality, and a lot of expressions and detailing in my work are sudden - art is an journey and yet I would love to share this journey with you;з

Cost of more complex and expressive pieces and backgrounds are increased by tips, which I express as an deeply loyal and tactful system - it is absolutely voluntary and happens only at the end of the project, so you have ability to define their cost to your feelings and abilities and nothing over that<зз

Also, if you do not have tumblr account or emailing for you is more preferable - you can also fill the commission form instead!<з

Oh!! And you have read almost everything! Thank you so much! And also there, under the cut, I describe the general process of work and how we pay. This is quite useful information for other questions that you may have if you desire to purchase my work, therefore I may advise you to take a look at it along;з

How do we work on an order?

Please feel free to contact me via Tumblr for any questions you may acquire! ~

After I discuss the content of the painting with the client and receive additional materials from them (a photo of the person I am drawing, or references that are close to what is expected of me), I start creating the first sketch.

In accordance with the request, I make a sketch of the future painting, which will contain all its important elements and an approximate color scheme (if any) that I will use. At this stage, you can freely make your amendments, and when the content suits you, I will ask you for an advance payment of half the cost of the work without additional prices of background or detailing.

After that, work on the portrait will begin. Its duration varies on several factors - to a greater extent on the volume and complexity of the work itself, as well as on my own workload with other projects.

After completing the portrait, I will send you its version in low quality- after you familiarize yourself with it (there is also possible some edits - of tones and color, elements of shading, character features and small details), and after you pay the rest of the amount, you shall receive the final result of our artwork! ~

[paintedkinzy-88]

I really hate to be this person, but my cat has to get surgery and the cost is really going to wipe us out, unfortunately, so…

I’ve been working on making a RedBubble for prints and such, and I’ll probably get stickers set up on Etsy as soon as I’m able to, but for now I set up a Ko-Fi for a sort of commission-like opportunity.

Until January 16th, I will draw a dragon design for a character of your choice for $25! Not like a full reference sheet, I wanna have the time to get to as many as I can if I need to, but still fully rendered like above. Dragons are the one thing I think I can draw consistently and repeatedly, so I’m sorry it’s nothing more broad! 😭

Rules are under the cut, PLEASE READ THEM before you do anything! ❤️ I am very new with this, so please be patient with me.

Link to my page is here, and I’ll put it on my Masterpost as well.

Thank you, whether you can donate or not. I appreciate all the support you guys have ever given me. (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

REQUEST RULES:

You can place your orders under the Requests section!

The listing will close after January 16th, 11:59 PM PST, and I set my max request slots to 15, so I’m not too overwhelmed lmao.

Leave your Tumblr account in the description box of the request, alongside the requested character, so I may contact you and/or tag you in the completed drawing’s post! If you want to remain anonymous, though, that is totally fine as well.

I will send updates/process pictures unless you tell me otherwise, or you go the anon route!

If you have a certain dragon character already in mind, want an OC done, or have any additional requests for the piece (pose, dragon type, any sort of design specifications), tell me in the instructions! There should be a section for images as well. Or you can message me here, of course!

I WILL be posting every finished piece here, unless told otherwise!

If you do not send specifications, I will design the dragon(s) as I see fit to the character! (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

I cannot promise any kind of time frame for when the drawing will be complete. I do have other things that take up my time. I will try to complete them ASAP!

Should you want more than one character in the same shot, I’d say it’s an extra $10 for each additional design (in the listing). But, if you want each character on their own page, that is a separate order, $25 each.

These are for fully rendered pieces in my style, no backgrounds, and no reference sheets. If you want other options for cheaper, like just a colored sketch, message me first and we can talk about that as well. :)

Depending on how this week goes, I may choose to do this again in the future with more formality and flexibility! This is just a bit of an emergency. ;w;

Message me/send an Ask if you have any questions!!

The Ko-Fi also serves as a sort of tip jar, should you simply want to donate a $5 coffee instead. By all means, if you cannot or don’t want to donate, PLEASE don’t. I just don’t really know what else to do. :/

The above image is one of the designs I made for Ink in UTMV. Further examples of my work are below!

(Note that the drawings will be more like these first two examples!! For price reference, the two characters would have been $35, and the five $65)

[writingquestionsanswered]

Hello there! Do you have any tips for 'kill your darlings' and what kind of scenes to cut from a story? Anything in particular to look for?

"Kill Your Darlings"

The phrase "kill your darlings" is one of the most parroted yet least understood bits of writing advice. Writers too often take this advice to heart, believing they must go through their story and eradicate anything they deeply love... and that's not just immensely stressful--it's wrong.

"Kill your darlings" just means "don't let yourself be so blinded by love of something in your story that you don't realize it doesn't belong." In other words, you may really REALLY love your protagonist's best friend's quirky girlfriend, but what does she actually contribute to the story? What role does she play that's so important that taking her out would make the story fall apart or diminish the reader's understanding of setting, circumstances, character, or plot? If the answer is, "Well, she doesn't really contribute anything other than a little humor. But there are other characters who provide that. If I take her out of the story, nothing changes. The story still works, the reader's understanding doesn't suffer..." Bad news, this character is "a darling" and she needs to be cut from the story. As much as you might adore this character, she's just taking up space on the page and in the reader's mind, which detracts from characters who are actually important.

So, that's what you look for... look first at the things you love best about your story (characters, moments, events, conversations, setting details, character details, descriptions--literally anything) and ask yourself, "Does this really serve a purpose? Is anything negatively impacted if I remove it?" And really, you should do this for every element of your story. It's just that it's most important with the things you love best, because those are the things you're most likely to think are working when they actually aren't.

And don't stress too much about it... Critique partners and beta readers will be sure to spot things that don't work in your story, so even if you miss some things, it's okay. They'll be caught.

Although, the truth of the matter is, if you let the protagonist's best friend's quirky girlfriend slip through even though she adds nothing to your story, as long as she doesn't get too much page time and wrestle the spotlight away from more important things, it's probably not going to ruin your story or the reader's enjoyment. It's just that you don't want too many unhelpful "darlings" running around in your story.

Happy writing!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

Learn more about WQA

See my ask policies

Visit my Master List of Top Posts

Go to ko-fi.com/wqa to buy me coffee or see my commissions

[awhisperofbluevn]

Rules concerning asks

First of all, thanks to everyone who's been interacting on this blog ! I like taking time answering asks, and I'm just glad people are curious enough to ask for more ! It also helps me fleshing out the character and makes me think about things I haven't considered before, so it's great !

I've been gaining more asks and I realized I should have set rules to keep it easier to manage, so please read before sending an ask :

Keep it SFW. As of now, everyone's been amazing with this, but I still have to mention it. I'm open to questions featuring injuries, death, or general questions related to merfolk habits as long as it's nothing graphic.

Keep it to one question, two if it's directly related to the first one. I don't mind recieving multiple asks. I'll eventually make an F.A.Q. masterlist in the pin post so people can check if their answers have already been answered. It'll be easier to redirect people if there's only one question per ask instead of a whole list they'll have to go through.

Don't request drawings. I don't take requests, those take too much time. I'll draw something if I feel like it. If you want me to draw something, my commissions are open via Artistree.

I won't roleplay as the merman. I know some blogs do it, but first, he can't talk, second, I honestly am unable to roleplay at all. I'll only respond in his stead.

Now, don't worry if you've already sent an ask that doesn't respect one of those rules, you're fine. I'll still answer it because you couldn't know. That's more of a message for future asks since I realized I needed to set some rules for things to go smoothly. It's my first time using Tumblr, so I'm still learning. I'll try to be more proactive from now on.

But starting from this post, if I don't answer to your ask, it's because it doesn't respect one of those rules above.

I may add new rules later if necessary, but for now, that's all !

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

(image description: a digital drawing labeled "making humanoids less human" with secondary captions on each side that say "alternate evolution" and "exaggerated features". above the secondary captions, there are two portrait sketches of very humanoid characters. on the "alternate evolution" side is an elf man with long dark hair. on the "exaggerated features" side is a woman who could be a nature fairy or a dryad, with flowers in her hair.

below the captions, these two characters have been redrawn to match their categories. the elf man has been redrawn with features more similar to a monkey, such as a very flat elongated nose, a small chin, and ears that sit higher on his head. the dryad or fairy woman has been redrawn with huge eyes and angular features, turning her hair with flowers into whole leafy branches with flowers. end description.)

hi i'm still around and i am finally caught up on things in my life, so i have time to catch up with this blog and all the questions people have asked! starting with a very old one. or several.

I had multiple anonymous messages asking me how I would draw specific fantasy beings to be less human, including witches of various elements. Rather than trying to answer each of them individually, I thought it would be more effective and helpful to talk about the general idea of taking fantasy designs that are usually more human looking and changing them to be less human. My favorite option is the alternate evolution, which I have been working and working on with my own fantasy people species.

Elves in particular have been a struggle, because I chose to keep my elves as a type of primate. It's been rough trying to abandon the recognizably human parts of their design and further embrace the simian features, because my brain does still have an internal bias towards the standard "elves are humanoid but more beautiful" trope. But I think I'm finally hitting the right level of "monkey" in their design.

The other option shown here is one I just don't do much, and which could be even further exaggerated into the uncanny valley. Take your humanoid characters and just shove them into the uncanny valley, exaggerate their features, add new things that have nothing to do with speculative evolution and just help emphasize the unique traits you want them to embody. elemental witches who become more and more fused with their element. nature beings like dryads that really just look like they broke out of the center of a tree. etc.

I'll make a few more posts with full body examples for both options, but I hope these portrait examples help a little!

remember, you don't need me to give you every detail of how your character and creature designs should look, and you don't need anyone else to do that for you either. If you want a particular artist to give you a specific design exactly as they would draw it, you ask about commissions and you pay them to do that design for you. this blog exists so I can post my ideas and give advice and occasionally nitpick about common mainstream fantasy design tropes that bother me lol. I'll give you ideas, but you gotta do the work yourself. that's how you improve.

[ryuichirou]

Replies

Some replies! One about drawing, another one about Ortho, and then some other TWST ones.

Anonymous asked:

Hello Ryu! I hope you and Katsu are doing well. I wanted to ask you: how do you manage to post daily? what motivates you? I just admire how you manage to post quality content every day, I enjoy everything so much! and another question: how do you fight hand pain? I do draw daily, but I end up with hand/wrist cramps and it's worrying me, what would you recommend? Amazing art as always!

Hi Anon! Thank you so much for your kind words.

I actually talked about our motivation and the ungodly amount of sketches (lol) that I produce here! But in short, I’ve always loved drawing, and I spend the majority of my time drawing. Not everything that we post daily is new stuff: we have a big backlog of sketches, and Katsu helps me to manage it. Since I can focus on drawing and Katsu takes care of posting, it’s actually feels easier.

As for the second question, the most important main thing is PLEASE don’t overwork your hand! The moment you feel wrist cramps, take a break immediately, or if the pain is too much, better stop for the day, even if you really want to continue :( I am lucky to have pretty good stamina when it comes to this, but this is also partially because I stop immediately if I start to feel tired, plus never draw after my lengthy timeslot dedicated to drawing is over.

Here are a couple of more things that could possibly help:

Pay attention to the way you move your arm when you draw. Prioritise moving your elbow and using your entire arm instead of just moving your hand and wrist. Also try not to squeeze your pen too much, as it tends to make muscles tenser, at least in my experience.

Take short breaks every once in a while to stretch and do exercises for your wrist. These work nicely, but I also love to just… not do anything with my hand at all for like 5 minutes, to let muscles relax a bit.

If your muscles are tense after drawing, warming them up also makes it feel better. I just hold my wrist under warm water lol But there are better ways to do it.

Oh, and check if you do something else with your hand that might also put pressure on it during the day. If you use PC, for example, and sit in front of a desk, then your elbow should be on its surface (the reason for that is in my first point of this list), otherwise you strain your wrist muscles with that position. This is just an example, but it might help to find other reasons why your hand can be tired even before you start drawing. If not, that’s also fine! Drawing is hard enough to do that kind of damage on its own.

If nothing helps and you still feel cramps, you should of course talk to your doctor about it. Maybe they’ll have better advice than I do. Please be very careful with your hand, these muscles are not the ones that should feel slightly sore after a workout unlike a bunch of others, this strain (and pain) can do irreversible damage to your hand and should not be treated lightly. It’s better to take frequent breaks and draw later than to lose the ability to draw (and do other everyday things along with it) at all.

Take care of yourself, Anon <3

Anonymous asked:

wow a whole shroudcest ask post!!! kissing each of the askers consensual and platonically on the mouth, i love that y'all in this fandom. also agree, Ortho should use his beams as a treat when not allowed to join mature content that has first years, it makes me really sad for him!! Epel is super small and he gets to join????? sometimes he's even ''aged up'' (and stays short and small, i see that) lmao like what, Ortho can't be aged up too? the double standards are staggering

sometimes i assume he's just hard to draw, it's fair when mecha and armor are difficult for some people and i often see those two in won't draw lists in commissions, but also?? you don't have to draw when writing?? at least in writing, he should show up more, i'm doing my part at least in the orthoreader and orthooc tags on ao3. his crotch being bare is a feature, not a flaw.

(related to this post)

I am so happy and shocked that so many people wrote such long and lovely messages!! Everyone GETS IT…

Yeah, Epel also gets to join all the time, but somehow Ortho isn’t! This absolutely isn’t fair lol He would be super pissed about it.

I agree with you though that it is related to his design. Of course, the majority of people who complain about Ortho don’t even attempt to draw him as they aren’t artists, but I think a lot of aspects of his appearance are somewhat… “off-putting” to them? It feels like it’s a very strong word, but: his height, his “heels”, the waist and crotch parts of his gear, plus he isn’t very manly and ikemen-like, instead his appeal is that he is a cutie and sometimes a “kusogaki” type. This is why some people just don’t like him at all, and some people don’t like him and cover it up by saying “awww nooo he is just a baby, look at him, he is a kid right?”

I am happy you’re providing people with written Ortho-related content, Anon 💪 He would be so proud and grateful!

Anonymous asked:

Your chibi lillia just looks so adorable, he looks so chewable

Hehehe thank youuu!! Please chew on his chibi cheeks.

irregardlessly-tish asked:

Have you seen the new design that was announced? (Trying to keep it vague in case people don't know which character it is, I don't want to ruin the surprise lol) From an artist point of view, what do you think? I was kind of disappointed by it… I'm not sure if it's Yana's design or not, her characters have so much personality but this one looks just… so generic? Love his suit, the glasses are a great touch to represent this character's eyes (orlackthereof) but everything else feels so uninspired in my opinion. I know this is the pretty anime boy villain game but this one is just too much of a pretty anime boy and I hate this fluffy pretty anime boy hair...

I have! And I will spoil it so please don’t read my reply if you don’t want to know who it is lol

To be completely honest, I am not sure what to think yet; I kind of want to see the full design and also to see him in action. He does feel very different from Rollo and Fellow&Gidel, and maybe this is one of the reasons why he might feel underwhelming: those guys have very colourful designs and a lot of accessories, plus somewhat clearer silhouette (Rollo’s hat is iconic, Fellow also has a hat and fox ears, and that makes them very distinct right away), and the new guy… it’s hard to tell yet, but I think it’s kind of difficult to make a skeleton design work on the same level both in terms of his monochrome colour scheme and the fact that he is, in fact, a skeleton-like creature.

I know there are a lot of jokes about Gojo that people make (I am one of those people), and I think that some people aren’t as excited for the new guy because of that (the feeling that we’ve seen him around a lot already, because young!Gojo was everywhere very recently). But I do agree with you: the glasses are indeed a very good touch and a very smart addition design-wise.

I am also personally excited to see Undertaker vibes from him, but that’s personal lol

So yeah, I’m not sure for now. I really want to see more of him before making proper judgment. I absolutely see your point though. I think if he turns out to be a fun character, his design elements will also become fun and enjoyable, just in a different way.

[monamourbladie]

The Man of My Dreams - Blade x Reader (chapter 6)

Who said that the man of your dreams couldn’t be real? After having dreams of the same mystery man for 2 weeks straight, the reader sets off on a journey to find the mystery man known as “Blade” that had been occupying her mind every single night. After realizing that he might actually be a real person, and not just a man she made up, she will finally discover parts of her past that had been long forgotten and locked away. (Originally posted on AO3, which can be read here. Also posted on Wattpad, which is here.)

Chapters Masterlist

warnings: slow burn, slight enemies to lovers themes, fluff, HEAVY angst throughout the entire story (not kidding.), soulmates, memory loss, mutual pining, eventual smut, pwp, renheng themes

Tag List: (@ me to be added) @kimura-uzuri

Fu Xuan knew she had time to speak with the General before Kafka's interrogation was to take place. She quickly moved to a secluded location outside of the hotel and made a holograph call to the General. Quickly, he answered the call, looking concerned. "Is there something wrong, Diviner?" Fu Xuan let out a soft sigh, glancing at her hands. "You were right, General. About Y/n? It is her. The same one that was banished from the Luofu all that time ago." Jing Yuan simply hummed in response, his hand moving towards his chin in thought. "I see. I was afraid of that. I can't say it's not nice to see an old friend, however - even if we weren't that close at the time." Jing Yuan recalled the painful memory of the day everything went wrong. The day Yingxing died, and a grave sin was committed in an attempt to save his life. Jing Yuan tried his best to not think of it.

"How much does Y/n know?" he then asked. "I told her I must speak to you first before I tell her anything. She knows I know something grave. She doesn't remember she's a Vidyadhara... or that she was even married." Jing Yuan looked at Fu Xuan with a slight smirk, "Meaning, she has no idea the man she's been dreaming of was her husband in a past incarnation? How amusing." Fu Xuan shifted uncomfortably, "What should I tell her, General? She remembers nothing of her previous life. She has no idea of her sin, what she did to Yingxing, or even who she really is. Is it even safe to unlock those memories? And how did she even forget?"

Jing Yuan looked at her with a solemn expression. "Her reincarnation process was interrupted. The same happened to the Imbibitor Lunae, Dan Feng. Because neither of the two could complete a full reincarnation cycle, everything in their previous life was locked away - essentially making them believe they were an entirely new person. It would take nothing short of a miracle for their full memories to return, and for them to physically appear as a Vidyadhara once more. I don't think this is the time for that. Especially since, if Y/n were to fully return knowing everything she did - she'd still be banished. I don't feel like sending her to prison when she's already helped us so much with the Stellaron Hunters."

"So... what should I tell her, then?" Fu Xuan asked. "Tell her nothing. Tell her that once this all passes, I will set her aside and answer all of her questions. But for now - we can not risk her finding out about her previous incarnation. Especially if my hunch is correct, and that Blade is truly Yingxing, it could be disastrous." Fu Xuan nodded, bowing her head, "Yes, General. I will go catch up with our guests and begin the interrogation of Kafka momentarily." Jing Yuan nodded to her, "Good. Report to me once it is complete. And good luck - dealing with Kafka needs it," he chuckled. His hologram faded away, and Fu Xuan left to find the Trailblazers.

Fu Xuan remained at the center of the Commission where the Divination was to take place, waiting for the Trailblazers to return. Soon, Stelle, Welt, March, and Y/n walked up. Y/n walked straight up to Fu Xuan as the Cloud Knights guided Kafka to the center. "Well? Did you speak with the General?" she asked. Fu Xuan nodded, raising her hand to silence her, "Yes. And I'm afraid this will have to wait until after the Divination." Y/n glared at her, "No. You're going to tell me the truth right now. I have a right to know." FU Xuan grumbled, shaking her head, "I don't have time for this. You can talk with the General afterward like he requested! Now stand back with your friends and let me do my job," she snapped at Y/n. Y/n rolled her eyes and walked towards March and Stelle, "Whatever. I'll figure it out myself."

March immediately took notice of her frustrated demeanor and frowned. "Woah... what's got you all fired up?" March commented. Y/n crossed her arms as she stood beside her bubbly friend, "Fu Xuan knows the truth about what's going on with my dreams and refuses to tell me. She's claiming I have to speak with the General to learn the truth. As if it's so important I have to talk to the damn General of the freaking Luofu. Like, what is she even on?!" Y/n started ranting to March. "Oh! And one other thing that's  freaking perfect is apparently, the man in my dreams? Blade? She's claiming he's my husband! How ridiculous is that!" March immediately busted out laughing. "Oh, that's so funny! And so obviously wrong! You've never even met him, how could you be married? If you ask me, little missy up there is just spitballing everything she says! I doubt she'll even be able to fully do... whatever it is she's doing to Kafka," March muttered, looking over at Fu Xuan who was beginning the Divination process.

Brilliant shapes made of vibrant pink lights were swarming around Kafka, causing her to levitate. Fu Xuan's hands were raised in front of her, her eyes closed in focus as she Divined the truth of Kafka. As frustrated as Y/n was, she couldn't deny how beautiful this process was shaping out to look. The shapes swirled around Kafka as her smirk grew until Fu Xuan pulled back gasping for air - the same reaction she had after seeing through Y/n's memories. "That's... that's why you're here...?" she asked, her voice shaky. "All for that?" 

"What? Not what you were expecting?" Kafka smiled innocently down at her. "I... I can't believe it. But the Matrix of Prescience cannot be wrong," Fu Xuan muttered, looking down at her hands. The Trailblazers and Tingyun stepped closer to Fu Xuan to make sure everything was alright. "What did you see?" Y/n asked. "Kafka has nothing to do with the Stellaron, but... it's you." Fu Xuan pointed to Stelle. She let out a bitter laugh, "Absurd. I'd never thought it. "Me?" Stelle asked simply. "Ask her yourself. Speak to her as long as you'd wish." Fu Xuan stepped aside to allow Stelle to walk up to Kafka.

Y/n quickly moved forward and rest her hand on Stelle's shoulder, "Are you sure you want to speak with her?" she asked Stelle cautiously. Stelle glanced at her hand then back at her, slowly nodding. Y/n then removed her hand and watched as Stelle walked up to Kafka, whose smile only widened at the sight of her. Her obsession with Stelle was creepy at this point.

Y/n crossed her arms as she began to think over her dreams again. March hopped over and leaned on her shoulder, smiling. "Hey, miss pouty. Try and cheer up, okay? As I said, I doubt whatever Fu Xuan is trying to talk you into believing is a load of lies. Just live in the moment! Look around at the Luofu and how pretty it is! And that tree that we saw earlier? It was so pretty, I took so many photos of it!" March exclaimed. Y/n couldn't help but smile at her excited younger friend. She never failed to bring a smile to her face, even in times of feeling stressed out like right now. "Thanks, March. Can I see?" March nodded as she went to grab her camera, when a huge earthquake shook the planet. March immediately grabbed onto Y/n's arm, looking around frantically, "What's happening?!" 

"It's the tree!" Welt exclaimed, pointing at it. The ground shook intensely as the tree grew at an alarmingly fast rate, the top of the tree protruding past the clouds from its height. From the branches dropped glowing words in the Luofu's native language, beautiful yellow sparks falling from it slowly. It was so large that it completely obstructed most of the view of the Luofu now. 

"Kafka's escaping!" Fu Xuan yelled. Everyone turned to look at Stelle, who was currently trying to chase after Kafka. Her shackles had been magically broken and she immediately started to back up. As Stelle sprinted forward, a man dropped in front of her, holding his sword dangerously close to her - forcing her to keep her distance. Y/n looked over and immediately recognized him. It was Blade. He was here, so close to her...

"Let's go, Bladie~" Kafka called to him. "We've got two more places to visit." Blade twirled his sword behind his back as he kept a strong glare at Stelle. Y/n felt her heart pound out of her chest. She wanted to follow him. Y/n broke free of March's grasp and she gasped, yelling back at her as she ran, "Y/n, what are you doing?!" 

"BLADE!" She yelled, catching up to Stelle quickly. Blade began to turn to follow Kafka when he froze, recognizing the voice. The voice... from his dreams...? He turned back around fully and saw Y/n running up to him. He quickly drew his sword again, holding it taught, "Who are you?" He snapped. "Leave her, we don't have time for this!" Kafka yelled at him. "It's me! It's Y/n! You're the one from my dreams... you're... you're real," Y/n said, her gaze completely fixated on his. His glare softened, examining her face as he took in her words. Then it clicked in his mind...

Blade let his sword fall to his side. He felt so conflicted. The woman he had been longing to finally meet was right in front of him, but he had to run with Kafka... Kafka rolled her eyes and twirled her fingers, "Just take her with us, damn it!" Blade heard her voice in his head and he growled, closing his eyes. He let out a heavy sigh and immediately grabbed Y/n's wrist tightly, pulling her against his body as he leaned in to whisper, "Don't make me regret this."

His free arm slid around her waist, holding her flush against his body. After making sure he had a firm grip on her, he started to run. Y/n squealed in surprise, "Hey! Let go of - what do you think you're doing!?" she tried fighting it, but good God that man was so strong, she could barely move an inch in his hold. The Trailblazers started yelling after them, chasing after Kafka and Blade as they got away with Y/n. 

She wanted to resist, but something was stopping her from it... Maybe she was secretly okay with this? She was at least, until she saw them get closer to the ledge... "You better not fucking jump that!" she yelled. Kafka let out a laugh, "That's the fun part, Trailblazer." She raised her arms and fell backward off the platform, disappearing. Y/n grabbed Blade tighter as she hid her face in his chest, his grip on her tightening, "Better hold on..." he muttered, jumping head first after Kafka. Y/n screamed as they fell, fully convinced this was how she'd die.

To her utter surprise, she, Blade, and Kafka had landed feet first on a Starskiff deck that was docked below the platform, perfectly hidden from view. Kafka brushed off the dirt from her clothes as she regained her stature, looking at Blade with a pissed off gaze, "What the hell is wrong with you, Blade?" She snapped at him. Blade set Y/n down, rolling his eyes, "Don't you start." Y/n's knees immediately buckled, most likely from the fear of dropping that far so fast as she scrambled to find a place to sit down. Her breathing was jagged as she tried to process everything that had just happened.

"Don't I start? Don't I start?? Blade, you brought a fugitive with us! This was not a part of the script!" she snapped at him. "And out of everyone, it was an Astral Express member! Are you fucking insane?" she yelled. Blade waved his hand in irritants, "I'll get back to you in a damn minute, so shut up!" he snapped back at her. He turned from Kafka to Y/n, walking directly up to her. "Get up," he snapped at her. His voice was much colder in person than how it was in her dreams. She gulped as she stood up slowly. Blade gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, keeping it at his side, "Y/n, isn't it?" he asked coldly. She nodded quickly, "Y-yes... please tell me you've been having those dreams too so I don't feel like an absolute idiot," she asked nervously. She was greatly intimidated by him. His stature was much more intense in person, and he was way taller than she thought he'd be. She gulped as she looked up at him when he moved closer, clearly examining her.

Blade was silent for a few moments, "...Yes, I have been," he finally answered. "You've been in all of them. How are you here?" he asked her. Kafka scoffed, "This is her?" she muttered, rolling her eyes as she started piloting the Starskiff to the next destination. "I'm with the Astral Express. Kafka... she told us to come here. Said she needed help to get you out of prison..." Y/n replied. She couldn't help but blush from how close he was to her. Either he had no concept of personal space, or he was that close to her to get a reaction out of her. Either way, it was intimidating in the best ways.

"She managed just fine without you. What's the real reason why you're here?" Blade replied, his tone growing colder again. Y/n bit her lip, "That's why we came. But... when I realized I might have a chance of actually meeting you, I made sure to come with them. Even if I had a friend tell me to stay away from you," she answered truthfully. She hadn't thought about Dan Heng in a while, and now she was beginning to feel guilty that here she was doing the exact opposite of what she promised him. But now that she saw him in person... she didn't feel so bad about it.

"Good to know that friend of yours is afraid of me," Blade said with a smirk. "But, I must say I'm curious as to how you realized it was me." he set his sword down, crossing his arms. It was amusing to him just how short she was in comparison to him. But, he couldn't lie to himself - she was just as gorgeous as he secretly hope she'd be in person.

"Fu Xuan and General Jing Yuan all but confirmed it," she replied to him. She brushed some of the hair from her face as she let out a shaky sigh, "L-Listen... I don't want to cause any trouble. I really don't. I just... I felt compelled to talk to you. This was what I came on the Luofu for anyway, hoping I'd be able to find you if you truly did exist." Blade was amused by this. He slowly started to walk forward toward her, and she instinctively backed up. "How sentimental of you. How about you tell me what Jing Yuan told you, then?" She hit her back against the wall of the Starskiff, and she blushed brightly as his hand lay against her head. He had her practically pinned between her and the wall. She bit her lip, staying silent as she looked up at him flustered, "I..." Blade waited for a moment for her to answer, and when she didn't, he reached down for his sword slowly, "Don't make me use this on you, sweetheart. Just tell me what he told you," he said in a taunting tone. Her eyes widened at the nickname, and it served to make her all the more flustered by the situation she was in. Blade looked down at her with an amused sly smile. He was enjoying taunting her like this...

Before Y/n could fully answer, Kafka spoke up for them. "You're married, Blade. To her. Is that what it is?" Kafka said. Y/n looked over at Kafka, her mouth hanging open in surprise, "How... how did you know?" Blade looked back at Kafka in shock, then back at Y/n even more surprised. He immediately dropped his sword and removed his hand from beside her head, taking a large step back from her. "Excuse me?" He said in an angry tone, as if the mere thought offended him deeply. Kafka pulled out Y/n's jade pendant necklace, smirking. "You dropped this when we landed on the Starskiff. It's identical to Bladie's." Blade immediately moved forward and snatched it from Kafka's hand, examining it. Y/n felt nervous as he held it, "Hey! Be careful with that, it's a family heirloom!" she exclaimed.

"No... it can't be," he murmured. He looked down at his belt where he kept his jade pendant. His brows furrowed as he moved his hand to unhook it from his belt, holding it up to her pendant. He noticed that the two could be pieced together... so he connected the pendants.

And it was a perfect fit. Blade remained in complete silence as he and Y/n looked at their pendants that slotted perfectly into each other. It was obvious they were a one-of-a-kind pair. "What do you know of the Jade Pendant, Kafka?" Blade asked. His voice was calm and quiet now. Kafka crossed her arms and sat down on a chair behind the couple. "On the Luofu, those pendants are used in place of a traditional wedding ring. Although a ring could be bought for looks, the Pendant is the true symbol of marriage. According to legend, Vidyadharians specifically would place their pendant in their mouth before their reincarnation process in hopes of being reunited with their lover in their next life." Kafka began to smirk, "Cute, is it not?"

Y/n's heart began to race. Everything was slotting almost too perfectly into place. But it still felt like she was missing a huge chunk of information. "I don't mean to be rude, but I don't remember getting married to you," Y/n spoke up, looking up at Blade. He looked down at her for a moment, nodding in response, "Nor do I."

"Curious," Kafka said, standing up. She stepped between the pair and held the connected pendant in her hand, "Well, then if neither of you remembers, then I guess it's not true?" Kafka suggested. "It's just by pure coincidence that you two have been dreaming of each other for weeks on end, and have matching jade pendants that eludes to you two being married. No biggie, I suppose," Kafka said with a fake disappointed sigh. Blade rolled his eyes at her dramatization. "I have had memories for the longest time with a woman I could not recognize. I'm beginning to think that perhaps you are the woman in those memories, Y/n," Blade finally spoke up, turning to her. Y/n glanced up at him. She shrugged lightly, "Maybe. I've had the same kinds of memories, but I always thought they were dreams, since I had no idea what was happening in them." Y/n took a moment to recall a few of them. "But... now that I'm thinking about it, maybe you're right? In mine, there was always one man that I couldn't identify his voice, or what he looked like. But eventually, I started to see you appear in my dreams..."

Y/n and Blade both looked at each other. They felt a certain warmth and familiarity as they did, which caused Y/n to smile up at him. "What if... somehow... we really are married?" Y/n asked. "Then what?" Blade remained completely silent. He looked down at her, averting his eyes from her to the sky. "I don't know," he said simply. He then walked to the opposite side of the Starskiff, leaving Y/n and Kafka alone.

She felt her heart sink... he seemed irritated at the idea that they were married. Maybe she was stupid to come here and confront him in person. She understood that everything she was explaining seemed farfetched and completely unreal - she even thought that. But what she hoped was not the case was that Blade was angry at this development.

What else was she forgetting? Maybe if she managed to remember whatever it was, she'd find out the truth as to what she and Blade truly are.

[my-silly-little-guys]

HIDDEN BENEATH!

(You may know me from @snickerzanddoodlez or @crown-of-roses-thsc!)

Hidden Beneath is a book series- being written and posted on Wattpad and Toyhou.se by yours truly- following Felix Rubik, a disgraced geneticist who finds himself far past the apocalypse, in a world that was so destroyed it became something new….and full of magic, through a twist of fate that Felix himself may have something to do with.

Hidden Beneath as a series is about challenging myself to write new things, subvert clichés, and explore some of the trauma that isn’t always explored in-depth in different tropes (for example, the isekai trope)! I’m a self-taught artist and writer and earn nothing from my work (aside from the occasional donation or commission on Ko-fi!) so everything is a passion project!

INFO AND BOUNDARIES

Hidden Beneath is a semi-open universe. Though there is a canon storyline that the books follow, creative interpretations, AUs, OCs, and fan-content are greatly encouraged! Heck, with permission, headcanons and OCs could very well become canon within the books!

1. RPs within this series are absolutely okay (and, if permitted, I'D LOVE TO JOIN OR HEAR ABOUT IT)! Break canon, create your own stuff, have fun!

2. The series and aspects if its worldbuilding deal with sensitive topics, some head-on and some through allegories. If you would like a more specific list of trigger warnings, please ask!

3. My rules and boundaries are few- just keep in mind that I am 16!

4. I value passion and creativity, not accuracy or realism! Create that Mary Sue! Be the next Ebony Darkness Dimentia Raven Way! I encourage it! Go crazy with your own worldbuilding details! Heck, make your own Realm! With your permission, I may even make it canon!

5. Do not spread hate. I do not want anything to do with people who advocate for zoophilia, racism, pedophilia, etc.

6. I truly do not mind which characters you ship. I do not give my characters sexualities, as I do not like others gatekeeping ships based on that info, but please respect creators’ wishes and please do not bring pro-shipping into this community. If further clarification is wanted on my reasoning or qualifications, please ask! I don't bite!

7. I ask that current events are discussed elsewhere, as for me and many others, these are places to escape reality! As well as this, please do not message me or send me asks pertaining to charities and seeking donations- though I wish those who truly need it help and support, this just isn’t a place for it.

8. I am perfectly okay with people monetizing content pertaining to this universe or its characters, so long as it is their own work!

9. Please send me asks! Please! I need! Social interaction! And to talk about! My OCs! PLEASE TAG ME. IF YOU’RE DEBATING WHETHER YOU SHOULD OR SHOULDN’T, THAT MEANS YOU SHOULD. <3

Have more questions? You can check out my overly-detailed boundaries! (Nothing you actually NEED to know- I don’t really do DNIs- this is just here if anyone is curious! Don’t worry, I’ll still answer asks about things even if they’re here!)

CHARACTERS

See the full cast here!

[cringetownusa]

Cheers! I'm Clownie!

💥💥They/Them, 26 nonbinary, lesbian💥💥

(This is updated frequently!)

Writer/Artist

An intense and avid fan of Animaniacs, A Goofy Movie, and Yax (Yakko Warner x Max Goof) I'm also the owner of the discord server YAKKO'S BALL PIT And I ran the @animaniacssecretsanta for 2023 and 2024 I was the head mod behind Wishing Star, a Wakko's Wish zine, which you can read digitally for free HERE. I also hosted a Mass Collab for the 4th anniversary of the Animaniacs Reboot!

💥I run several Animaniacs related blogs as well!💥

The Warner Mailroom - A blog about the changes in the lives of the Warners post reboot ending.

On The Open Range - A blog for the Western/Cowboy AU @night2time and myself have together.

Animaniacs Secret Santa - A blog that details updates and gifts for every year of the exchange.

Wishing Star Zine - A blog that tracks the updates and release for Wishing Star, a Wakko's Wish Zine.

💥Here is a list of my Animaniacs/Yax fics:💥

The Differences We Share (finished) Wallpaper Guy (one-shot) The Needs of the Few (In-progress) A Royal Ruse (In-progress) Final Exam (one-shot) The Favorite Warner (one-shot) Tangentially Related (a compilation of drabbles) The New, Special Friend (not updating) A Brief Moment (one-shot)

If you've read any of my fics and want to make any art or other content based on it, please @ me. Nothing makes me happier than to see the effect my words have on people. I love and appreciate everything I've ever gotten for them.

💥Analysis Posts💥

The Warner Tax Rant Yax, the How and Why part 1 (For if you, like many, are confused about what Yax is and why it's so popular)

💥Frequent tags💥

#my art -all my art i've done or collabed on #my writing -all posts related to my Fanfiction #ask - asks I've answered #update - updates on progress with fics #journal - personal posts

💥Other Socials💥

Ao3 -- Insta

💥Commissions💥

Both Writing and Art are currently CLOSED! If you would like to be placed on a waitlist for when they open if they are closed at the time, please DM me! For Art Comms you can find the info HERE For Writing Comms, please refer to my carrd HERE

💥Asks, Requests, and DM's💥

under the read more

Both asks and DM's are always open! I'm very much a people person, but I do have adhd and often forget to respond to asks or dm's. I don't always answer all my asks, but I do love seeing them so much!

I also love making new friends, so If you're 18+ and would like to make a connection, you're welcome to DM me! I'm very extroverted so it's never a bother :)

Couple Rules about types of asks/dm's I take!: PLEASE DO: - yax - Animaniacs - A goofy Movie and related media - my AU's - Rise of the TMNT - leoichi - Sam and Max - any of my posts here - my fanfiction: I absolutely adore when people write in commenting or asking about my work. It really touches my heart to know that people are actually thinking about my works, especially when I put so much love into it. I also love constructive criticism! It helps me refine my art to be it's best self! - writing behind-the scenes: this means questions about a fic, how i write them, my process, other writing ideas from me, questions about WIPs! NO: - nsfw - gore - drama - conflict baiting - bashing other creators

REQUEST RULES: 1. I will only take requests off anon, as I prefer to do requests for followers. 2. Requests should fall under one of the "Please Do" categories listed above! 3. It is more likely I will fulfill a request if it is Warners or Yax. 4. Oc submissions are allowed, but if you want me to draw your oc, a reference must be provided, I can't draw without it. 5. I am only taking OC submissions now so that I can broaden my horizons with different characters, animals, and body/face types. They will not include backgrounds and I'm in control of how i want to draw them. 6. Any requests will be sketch only. 7. There is no guarantee that I will do a request or a time frame for it. I do whatever idea happens to catch my fancy, and whenever I have time. I have a lot on my plate at the moment, so this is as I have time for it.

[ilreleonewikiart]

TDIOBCB ship challenge:

As the ones who follow me on Twitter know, after two months drawing canon stuffs, for this March I decided to use these prompts to make some fanarts of my fic.

This means that next month my art will be again internally about TDIOBCB and nothing else.

However, before starting posting about this new challenge, I think, considering the fact that not everybody who follows me had read my fic and the characters that will be drawn, to provide some specifics to avoid misunderstandings.

As you've understood, this new March 'challenge,' unlike the previous one, has nothing to do with Canon (either from the book or the TV series) and instead is completely centred on the pairs present in my AU fic 'TDIOBCB.'

This Fanfiction is in turn inspired by another fanfic, also AU Divergence: if you're curious about what these two stories are about, you can search for them on AO3. This means that many (if not all) of the couples that will be illustrated will have no logic to exist in the canonical world, in any possible way, yet in this completely nonsensical universe, they do.

Many of the characters and their partners may have undergone significant modifications from their canonical counterparts: for example, in this universe, Viserys and Larra are a real ship, which would be aberrant if they were the same characters from the books, but in this context, it's acceptable, given that the methods and premises of their union are 99% different from Canon.

The same goes for the ship Baela and Aemond, which makes no sense to exist neither here nor there, but here it has been done, albeit nonsensically, to give it a completed sense. There will also be many ships made entirely of my OCs, and others made from pre-existing characters and OCs.

Additionally, all these illustrations will be explicitly inspired by paintings, famous and not, with a strong use of tracing. I won't copy Line by Line these paintings, but I'll use them as models for compositions and poses, and all paintings used as references will be posted below.

I wanted to specify this because recently there has been 'a debate' within the artistic community of this fandom about tracing, so I wanted to clarify my intentions from the outset. I know that many disagree with this practice, especially if those who use it then pretend not to use it, but I have never hidden my use of reference images and, indeed, I have always published with great transparency every time-lapse of the works, never cutting any steps. I don't believe that tracing is evil or a cardinal sin, especially if it's used to assimilate and improve one's skills, but one shouldn't abuse it, and pretending not to know about it is tremendously dishonest. All my art teachers since high school have encouraged us to copy from classical paintings because they believed it would help us remember and memorize proportions, composition, and anatomy more effectively, but the underlying idea of this technique is that once everything is assimilated, one should stop and start drawing without it and not continue indefinitely. Furthermore, this becomes fraudulent if the illustrations you copy part by part are then sold. I haven't yet received commissions of this kind, and all the other illustrations where I've used tracing for poses or objects were all illustrations I did without receiving a penny and that I did for pure pleasure, but I assure you that if anyone ever offered to pay me to do an illustration, I would never dare to use tracing.

That said, the 'challenge' in question is something I want to do for myself, so I don't see anything horrible in getting help with some images that help me set up the composition, and in any case, I would post the entire process. Again, sorry for this immensely long and monstrously boring screed, but on Twitter, it's better to protect oneself in advance

[joyful-joe]

My 2023 art summary. Here's my written rambling thoughts of last year's progress: (spoilers: It's long)

In 2022 I posted about 37 art pieces, I wished I could've beat that record in 2023 but it ended up being about 30 art pieces including sketches. There are reasons for my slow output. A major one being I was focusing on finishing my vocational college which I succeed. The second reason is wanting to continue improving. I feel like each time make something it comes out better than the last one. I don't think that's true for all art pieces I made this year, obviously some are better than others in terms of quality. But I don't think I've ever had a moment were I thought (of a finished piece) to have gotten "worse" compared to previous pieces. I'm glad that I can still keep this positive mindset with me. Of course I couldn't improve that fast without the help on one good friend who helped me each time I got stuck. On one part it's amazing to have someone that's willing to help me even if it might be over done, but on the other hand I'm still trying to be more self reliant which atm I'm getting better at getting out of those situations myself. But occasionally there's nothing wrong to ask for a bit of help. Last reason was I got lost in what my goals were. This art blog started in February 2018, making it almost 6 years now. It started as being a motivational drive to work on art more (since it's been a long hobby of mine) and get better just like the other online artist I admire. Maybe dreaming if I ever got up there with the other I could earn money with doing what I loved. Of course that is still far out of my reach. Account growth has been pathetically slow in comparison to how we see others. But I feel like I have the right to complain of such thing. I know my faults, I'm not really consistent in what I draw and this year felt even more inconsistent. I don't keep up with trends or draw them cus in the end if I look back at them I would only feel shallow, cus it was obviously made to gather (potential) numbers and not be something I really wanted to do. I see other artist that draw way better than me and also under perform when it comes to notes/followers. So maybe it's a bit selfish to complain of such things. But going into the "screw those internet numbers" sort of lead me to ask "okay but why should I keep up? Why not go back drawing whatever and not bother posting it online?" and it goes on and on spiraling down. I questioned if this careless attitude is where I should really be going. That said internet numbers don't really affect me. It's not the end of the world if the fan art doesn't do good numbers. I already tried what I could to improve the number rate and going down this internet rabbit hole of how to get bigger numbers makes it all sound paranoiac (especially on Twitter). But overall 2023 made small achievements. Got at least 2 commissions, one art piece made it into the front page of Newgrounds, some artists I look up to followed me back, posts have gotten in general more attention than last year and the overall quality of my art has improved. It's not much but still small steps in achieving my goals. It's been a good year for me. I'll continue to draw till I drop dead. I'll continue to work on improving my art. I'll continue to explore new ideas even if they're small. I'll draw in different mediums, even if it doesn't help my consistency issues. That's just who I am. I don't expect many to read this but if you did, thank you for reading.

[aesethewitch]

Hello! I just want to let you know that I'm on mobile app and the link to your rules on the Free Tarot Friday post isn't working for me, it redirects me to the beggining of your blog 😭 the link on your pinned post does the same thing. I can't access your rules.

Accursed website!! Try this link: https://aesethewitch.tumblr.com/rules-for-tarot-readings

If that still doesn't work, they're copied below this read more:

Rules for requesting a free tarot reading are simple: 

Send an ask with your question or goal for the reading. Be as clear as you can, and be mindful of the things I won’t do, listed below.

Include your initial(s) and the initial(s) of anyone else involved. No zodiacs or anything else necessary. This is to help me organize my notes, since I record all readings, and to direct my thoughts.

Please mention if you are a minor so I know the sort of language to use with you. Advice/interpretation for minors is (and should be!) different than for adults.

(Optional) Include your pronouns and the pronouns of anyone else involved. This is so that I know how to phrase my reading respectfully. If you don’t, I’ll default to they/them. In this house, we respect ALL pronouns!

Be respectful. Only ask one question for Free Tarot Friday, follow the rules, and don’t be an asshole. Please also don’t trauma dump in my inbox. Remember that I’m a whole person and that I’m not your therapist. And unless we’re friends or have interacted before, don’t be that parasocial weirdo who makes me turn anon asks off.

Things I won’t do:

Yes/No questions, especially ones about love. Instead, try asking “What do I need to know about my love life?” or “How can I improve my situation?” You’ll get better answers that way. I can’t guarantee a clear yes or no. (I’ll sometimes accept yes/no asks if I can reword your question to a more open-ended question such as “How can I make this happen?” – note that these are free readings and I’m not going to bend over backwards to make your ask work because you didn’t read these rules.)

Readings about health or legal issues - trust me, you should talk to a professional about these things. This includes mental health! (General advice like “what can I do this season to keep my spirits up?” is okay – “when will I get better?” is not.)

Sexually explicit readings, including readings about first times, future sex lives, etc. I’d also rather not do “future spouse” readings, but I won’t refuse them. (See below.)

Future spouse/partner readings, in general. Nothing about where a future spouse is from, appearance, when you’ll meet, etc. I’ll do questions like “How can I attract a relationship?” or general love readings.

Anything that constitutes “mind reading.” This includes what people think about you, what people are saying about you, and similar questions.

Readings about celebrities, period. Especially ones that involve celebrities falling in love with you or someone else, but nothing about drama or scandals, either.

Readings on behalf of other people. (For example, “What should my friend do about this situation?” or “Will my sibling fall in love?” or “How does x person feel about y person?”)

Readings on past lives, “twin flames,” “soul mates,” and related concepts. Trust me, you don’t want my perspective on these if you’re in my inbox asking for information about these.

More than one card or and one question at once for free, unless you’re one of the lucky few in the Twitch chat on stream days. Exceptions for this are extremely rare and only happen if I feel the first card is incomplete. If you’d like a more in-depth reading, I have a variety of commission offerings over on my Ko-fi page.

Keep in mind I have the right to refuse to do any reading for any reason. Even if something isn’t explicitly listed here, if I’m not comfortable, if you’re rude, or if I just don’t want to answer a given question for some reason, I’m allowed to refuse. I’ll usually offer to let you send a new ask in these cases.

[xeymol]

Woah new pinned post jumpscare.

Hello I’m pie, you can call me whatever you want tbh. pie, xey, xeymol, weird void cup, whatever as long as it’s not mean i don’t care lmao

(Used to be known as SoggyMuppet)

Commission sheet

Some important information about me:

- i am EXTREMELY nervous and shy so I apologize if I tend to be awkward with any interactions with anyone

- I may be shy but I don’t mind getting asks, I actually kinda love getting them wither it be answering actual questions or getting doodle requests

- I absolutely love and adore making gifts for people especially if I consider them a friend so gifts for others should be a fairly common sight

- I tend to go for long periods of time without posting, it’s not because I feel I need a break or because I have artblock (may possibly be the case at some point actually) but it happens because I just have a genuinely hard time getting my ideas on paper

- if you ever want to send an ask but your Nervous or I seem scary please know I’m quite harmless and I don’t mind getting asks, it may take me awhile to respond but do know It’s nothing against you and I either just haven’t checked my notifications yet or I’m just taking awhile to type my answer (possibly also drawing something to go with it)

- I am extremely apologetic so I apologize if that gets annoying, I’m just a strong overthinker and I get overwhelmed by it easily which leads to me apologizing a lot for very small thingys

- unreasonably anxious and overly sensitive, if your going to be rude to me please at least be straight up, I can’t tell if or when someone is being jokingly mean and that causes me to overthink and become stressed

- I am very forgetful, some things leave my head instantly so I need to be reminded of things multiple times

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Random Info:

- my persona is some sort of Eldritch creature made of void with a cup for their head, their name is granola

- I absolutely ADORE birds, I can’t draw them for shit but I love seeing pictures of them

- I am not funny. my humor is absolutely horrible, I try to stay family friendly on here but an adult joke might slip sometimes, though I do cuss a lot so I guess I’m not very family friendly💀

- I genuinely do not make sense half the time and when I do it’s either weird or concerning, I’ll say shit like “holy shit Freddy fazbear in portal 2 real not clickbait?!?!?!?!“ or “will skin you alive then boogie on your corpse” and other strange shit, I have something wrong with me

- I have horrible grammar and spelling, autocorrect loves to fuck me over so I’m sorry if a sentence ever comes out wrong on accident

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

My main interests right now are:

- space

- horror/body horror

- making strange critters

- a few of my personal projects

- don’t starve/don’t starve together

- regretevator

- Roblox pressure

- animal crossing

- POKEMON‼️

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

I usually make fanart for whatever fandom I’m in at the moment but there’s a rare chance I may share if stuff and or original story’s I’m working on, most of what I post is doodles but there is a rare case of fully rendered art. I might post kinda gorey or body horror and genuinely just spooky art one day and if I do I’ll definitely put a warning and try my best to tag it properly, I enjoy making sorta cutesy silly shitposts most the time and I tend to get sorta extreme with my facial expressions lol. I’ve been drawing for technically all my life really, I’m not the best but I’m very devoted to art and designing characters and story’s, my art tends to have heavy shading and overall a sort of dark atmosphere and that’s just due to my immense love for horror and spooky vibes

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Anyways that’s all I have for now, I’ll add to this if I ever have anything more I feel I should add

Goodbye for now, hope you have a lovely day/evening/night💕

___________________________________________________________________________________________________Commission status: currently open🙏

[addictedtostorytelling]

Thank you for your thoughtful answer about Abby Fisher! You sort of answered this in your original response, but if you wouldn't mind elaborating, how would you have written an arc like that? In canon, we see Sara connect to so many victims/survivors in a way that impacts her own mental wellbeing, and I am wondering what it might look like if that connection was maybe drawn out longer than the arc of one episode, especially because the Abby plot has all the holes you pointed out.

hi, anon!

unsurprisingly, my answer got away from me here, so in case you don't want to read this whole monstrosity, the tl;dr version is:

i'd move the storyline up, making both sara and the kid older when it took place. i'd also show their relationship develop in real time as opposed to inserting it into previously established narrative as a retcon. from there, i'd change certain details to make it more feasible that sara and the kid could stay in contact. finally, i'd put different kinds of narrative pressure on sara to make her more willing and able to open up to the kid regarding her own past.

much, much longer version after the "keep reading," if you're interested.

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so to start off here, let's discuss the background specs for this potential arc:

as mentioned in the previous post, i'm convinced this storyline would actually work better and be more viable if it were to take place with an older sara who had already "come out the other side" on her s4/s5 story arc and achieved some stability and healing in her life.

i just can't really see her being prepared to adopt a mentorship role for a vulnerable child probably any earlier than s6.

that said, i also think the most ideal time for the story to unfold would be sometime after her breakdown in s8/s9, as well.

for me, the real sweet spot with her would probably be in the s10/s11 range, when she is happy, settled, stable, and thriving (and also has some free time on her hands because grissom is living abroad).

i'm likewise of the opinion that the story itself would work better if we saw sara's bond with the kid in question develop in real time, as opposed to being told about its development long after the fact (and being asked to believe that sara has maintained this really significant and even life-changing relationship for the past ten years that we have nevertheless known nothing about until present).

along those same lines, i also think the storyline would work better if the kid in question were older than five years-old when sara actually bonded with them.

the kid can still be around early elementary school-age (between 5 and 8 years-old) during the commission of the original crime that puts them into contact with csi, but when sara finally gets to know them and adopts that mentorship role in their life, they should be older, between 15 and 18 years-old.

though i don't actually believe sara is bad with small children—again, i am the one writing a sprawling geek!baby au right now—i think the fact that she thinks she is bad with small children would make her reluctant to try to befriend one (see, for example, her protestations to grissom about taking care of brenda collins in episode 01x07 "blood drops").

that so, i tend to suppose she would have an easier time dropping her guard and bonding with a somewhat older foster child in the preteen to teen age group than she would with a literal kindergartener.

i also think that her dynamic with an older kid would just plain be more interesting than one with a younger kid (because older kids can be held morally and intellectually accountable in ways younger kids can't).

as for the kid's foster situation, i think that whereas episode 15x12 "dead woods" has abby fisher in a relatively new placement with foster parents who don't know her as well as sara supposedly does, in this scenario, it would work better to say that the kid had been in the current placement for several years and that their foster parents know them well.

since sara seemingly never experienced that kind of long-term stability in a single placement herself—according to her conversation with glynnis in episode 05x10 "no humans involved," she bounced around a lot—she might end up being a little bit weird and flighty about the kid's situation in an "i'm not quite sure how to relate" type of way that would make this whole scenario more interesting.

so then thinking of the scenario itself:

let's imagine this story as a three-episode arc (which i'm going to title the "memoriae sacrum" arc).

like i said in my other post, i'm not 100% married to the "foster kid realizes, ten years ex post facto, that their father was not in fact a murderer" storyline (particularly as i find it somewhat ham-fisted), but for the purposes of this thought exercise, we can more or less stick to those bare bones.

that said, one element from the original storyline we're definitely not going to retain is the part where they retconned the nature of sara's father's abuse from what we had always known it to be in earlier seasons.

episode 1

in real life, gary dourdan became a persona non grata at cbs after he left csi under unpleasant circumstances back in 2008—hence the reason why tptb at the show never brought warrick back even in flashback in any subsequent seasons.

that so, if these were "real episodes," there'd probably be no way to swing an appearance from him.

however, let's imagine this arc more like a fic, where we can play around with what characters we want.

so let's say that back in 2000 or 2001 or so, sara and warrick work an apparent murder-suicide case together wherein a father seemingly kills his wife and eldest child and severely wounds his youngest child, shooting them*, before dispatching of himself.

* i don't really think the gender of the kid would matter, so imagine what you like here. this kid can still be abby fisher or it could be anyone else. i'm going to use they/them pronouns in reference to the kid to leave the possibilities open.

whereas in the original case, the killings took place at a mountain campsite, let's say, in this one, they happen inside the family home (which makes them even more similar to sara's own family tragedy and also adds to the circumstantial evidence suggesting the father is the cuprit).

at this time, sara is still a csi level ii, so warrick, at csi level iii, is the actual lead on the case.

the youngest child's injuries are profound. however, when they do eventually come-to enough, warrick is able to interview them.

(sara plays no part in the interviews by her own choosing and never interacts with the kid herself at any point during the investigation.)

unfortunately, the kid is unable to provide any kind of useful information to warrick, as, at this time, they are very young and the situation is so traumatic that they simply can't recall much. they also may have sustained injuries during the attack which impact their cognitive abilities/memory*.

* whereas in episode 15x12 "dead woods," abby fisher is rather improbably shown to survive a close-range gunshot to the head with no long-term impact to her cognitive abilities, i think it'd be more realistic for injury to either be entirely noncerebral in nature or to result in some actual traumatic brain injury symptoms.

warrick being warrick bonds with the child pretty immediately—seriously: one of the joys of the early seasons is watching warrick interact with kids, like when he used to babysit lindsey willows or when he interviews suzy in episode 07x10 "loco motives"—and, as is often his wont with child victims of the crimes he investigates, gives his contact information to them and/or their new social worker, telling them to get in touch with him again in case they ever remember anything and/or even just want to talk about the case with him when they're older and interested in learning the facts.

however, in the absence of any testimony from the child which might suggest differently, the evidence in the case does seem to (more or less) indicate the father's guilt.

since the father is dead along with the rest of the family, there's no one to arrest, so, in consultation with grissom, warrick closes the case—a decision sara has no real reason to question at the time.

particularly as, even back then, as would be shown in the flashback scenes, the case does squeeg her out and somewhat trigger her, given its likeness to her own family history, and she feels like the sooner she can move on from it, the better.

fast forward to ten years later, to 2010 or 2011 (i.e., s10 or s11).

at this point, said surviving child, now an older teenager, appears in the lobby of the crime lab one morning at the tail end of the graveyard shift, requesting to see warrick.

of course, by this time, warrick is dead, so once it's determined what the kid wants—which is apparently to discuss their family's case—sara is summoned to meet with them, as she was the other investigator back in 2000/2001.

and let's say the detective on the case was ray o'riley, who is also, by 2010/2011, canonically deceased, so he's not available, either.

sara is, initially, shown to be uncomfortable at this prospect, citing the fact that she's not warrick and doesn't "have a way with kids" like he used to. however, since she is the only csi still working at the lab who has any direct knowledge of the case and its details—grissom signed off on it as supervisor back in the day, but of course he's no longer on staff—she's pushed into taking the meeting, never mind her objections.

here, i'm picturing ecklie being like, "come on, sidle, just deal with this. it was your case."

she initially tries to be very formal with the kid, but it should be clear to the audience that she's wildly uncomfortable and masking.

however, while her going line is that she's "just not good with kids," between the flashbacks and the real-time scenes, the true source of her discomfiture quickly becomes apparent: namely, the whole "orphan whose one parent killed the other in front of them" likeness between her and this kid in particular.

at first, she assumes the kid has come to the lab because, now that they are old enough, they want to hear the full details on their family's case, as per warrick's offer to them back in 2000/2001 (of which sara is aware because warrick wrote it on the business card he gave to the kid and/or their social worker back in the day).

however, to her great surprise, the kid corrects her: they've actually come to provide new testimony in their family's case, based on some newly retrieved memories of theirs.

much like in canon, they would explain that something had recently caused them to remember details about the murder they were unable to remember previously—and these details contradict the notion that their father was the murderer.

however, let's say that in this version of the story, this recollection on their part happens under even more dubious circumstances than the ones in abby fisher's case, like while the kid is under hypnosis or experimenting with hallucinogenic mushrooms or undergoing a controversial form of therapy or the like.

much as in canon, sara is skeptical, believing the kid simply wants to "rewrite their family history" (an impulse she understands but doesn't necessarily condone).

let's say unlike in canon: the thing that draws sara to this kid even more than just the similarities between their respective family histories is their personality.

honestly? the kid is whip-smart and well-spoken but also angry and rough around the edges; blunt and a little bit awkward, etc.

they match sara pretty much toe-to-toe during this interview, countering her every argument.

when sara tries to let them down gently and tell them that in the absence of any new physical evidence, there's no reason for the crime lab to reopen what seems to have been an open-and-shut case, they get in her face, citing (obviously researched) precedents re: the legitimacy of their chosen memory recovery techniques to her in an attempt to change her mind.

with all of their tenacity, it's hard not to be reminded of her younger self.

but in that resemblance, it's also hard for her not to think of how she operated as a young csi: that tendency she had to "chase rabbits" and let her feelings get in the way of her professional judgment.

she remembers how often she used to be disappointed back then; how she'd get her heart hung up on certain outcomes and then have it shattered when they didn't pan out.

let's say—again, since we're pretending we can get whatever "guest stars" we want here—that after sara goes home for the day, this dilemma is one she talks to grissom (on one of his visits to the states) about, explaining to him that for as much as this kid may want her to start digging, it's possible they may not like what she finds if she does, and she'd hate to cause them even more pain.

she opens up to him: she knows what it feels like to be this kid.

maybe she even admits that when she surreptitiously searched through her mom's legal files back in 2004 (see episode 05x10 "no humans involved"), she was hoping to find not "exonerating" information, per se—as her mother's guilt was never really in question—but at least some new context that might have helped her to better understand or come to terms with her mother's actions, or at least to fill in some of the blanks in her memories.

so she gets the impulse, you know?

(of course, she notes, she never did find any previously unknown information to contextualize her mother's crime. there's nothing that could ever really ameliorate "abused schizophrenic wife brutally stabs alcoholic abuser husband to death in his sleep," is there? the whole situation was just as awful and senseless as she always remembered.)

now, she wonders what her role is here as the adult: to play the realist and put her foot down, telling the kid there is no probative evidence to suggest their father's innocence; or to actually listen to the kid and reopen the investigation (because she understands how often kids—and especially foster kids—tend to have their thoughts and feelings discounted and she doesn't intend to be one of those grownups who just brushes off everything a kid says simply because they are a kid)?

at this point, grissom gives her a nudge: asks her when she looked through her mother's files what she felt when she discovered that there was no "hidden context" and things were always just as bleak and awful as she'd always known they were.

her realization: she accepted it.

was disappointed, but accepted it.

because at least then she knew for sure, you know?

and with that determination, sara decides to reopen the case, securing permission from catherine (who is at this time her supervisor) to do so, albeit perhaps more in a "well, i guess i can't really stop you" way than an "i fully support you in this endeavor" one.

she also enlists greg to help her—or rather, he volunteers because he remembers running dna on the original case back in the day, recalling some unknown exemplar collected from the crime scene he couldn't find a match to then and wanting to follow up on it now that codis is a more fully-developed technology.

the next morning, when the kid once again turns up at the lab, sara gives them the news that she's officially reopening the case, though she makes sure to stress: she's not promising them anything.

even with that caution, the kid still lights up.

for the first time, sara sees them smile—and on the one hand, it obviously terrifies her, having all this kid's hopes rest on her, but on the other, she also can't help but feel somewhat exhilarated, offering this kid at least a chance at an outcome she never had available to herself.

episode 2

this episode marks the beginning of sara's investigation in earnest.

the physical evidence in the original case is both limited and ambiguous in nature.

there were no signs of breaking and entering at the house.

the family members were shot with a gun belonging to the kid's father, and his prints were found on the weapon, which was recovered from next to his body, right where one would expect to find it had he dropped it after committing suicide.

however, there was also a pair of microfiber gloves found next to the father's body, which, while roughly the same size as his hands, were not ones the kid recognizes as belonging to their father.

sara and warrick's going theory at the time was that he had worn the gloves to shoot his family members but then taken them off to shoot himself, though they couldn't figure out why he would have done so, given that he didn't necessarily need to conceal his identity as the killer, his intention always being to commit suicide in the end.

inside the gloves, there is one unsmudged print. however, it is seemingly unrecoverable, due to the nature of the fabric.

the mystery dna greg couldn't match back in 2000/2001 comes from a sweaty handprint on a door handle to a part of the house seemingly out of the way of the murders; it doesn't belong to any of the family members, though it's unknown as of yet to whom it does belong or if it is even probative.

there is also circumstantial evidence to suggest that the kid's father may have been experiencing financial troubles at the time of the murders and that the kid's mother may have been having an affair back then, as well, of which her husband had perhaps recently become aware.

there was nothing at the scene to indicate anyone in the family struggled with assailants prior to their deaths, and both the mother and elder sibling were covered over with blankets, indicating remorse on the part of their killer.

meanwhile, the kid's "recovered memory" suggests that the man who came into their bedroom that night had some distinguishing physical characteristic that their father didn't have.

in episode 15x12 "dead woods," abby fisher's memory centers on a distinctive smell, and maybe the same thing could be the case here, though there might also be some other difference instead; i don't suppose this point really matters much, in terms of the overall story arc.

sara decides to run everything from the top, grissom-style (see episode 01x12 "fahrenheit 932").

of course, in this scenario, the added "warrick of it all" would throw a new wrinkle into the whole operation, as she would be sifting through his old work, potentially looking to overturn it.

imagine: once word gets out that sara is revisiting this case, nick becomes upset with her for distrusting warrick's original determination, feeling as if she is just being contrary and maybe even taking advantage of the fact that warrick isn't around to defend his own conclusions anymore.

and for what?

all because some weirdo (possibly drugged-up) teenager dreamt up a pseudo-memory ten years after the fact?

of course, given his ignorance of sara's past, nick doesn't understand sara's sense of personal connection with (and obligation to) this kid—and especially not because sara is trying with all her might to repress her own feelings and memories and "remain objective" on this case, not allowing her own trauma to color either her investigation OR her interactions with the kid.

—speaking of whom.

the kid turns up again at the lab for what is now a third morning in a row to check on sara's progress.

whereas in all of their previous encounters, the kid has had this somewhat surly attitude—think sara fending off grissom's inquiries about her "diversions" in episode 01x16 "too tough to die"—now, they are starting to come out of their shell.

while it's not a total transformation just yet (much like sara, this kid has been burned a lot and is fairly "slow to warm up"), they are becoming gradually more animated and expressing curiosity about sara and greg's investigative activities.

while it's clear they're trying not to get their hopes up too much—per sara's caution—it's also clear they're not fully succeeding in that trying.

more and more, they're becoming invested.

—and so is sara, who, despite her general trepidations about being "bad with kids," finds herself getting along with this one, especially as she starts to see their personality emerge out from behind that façade of jadedness, and especially as the kid starts to speak somewhat more freely about what their life in foster care has been like for the last ten years.

though sara lets on nothing to the kid regarding her own time in the system, we as the audience should be able to tell: the instability and uncertainty of "living with strangers," of always being the "odd kid out," is something she can very much relate to, and she feels for this kid.

deeply.

unfortunately, the gods of forensics don't seem to be on their side: it seems like whatever new investigative avenues sara and greg develop all eventually terminate in dead ends.

the mystery dna isn't in codis.

the details from the kid's memories are hard to get a fix on.

as the episode goes on, sara's stress grows.

she's still fielding passive-aggression from nick, who resents her taking on the case in the first place, and she is also starting to feel pressure from catherine and/or ecklie, who are annoyed with her for continually tying up department resources (including both herself and greg) as she pursues admittedly flimsy leads in a ten year-old solved case.

worse: the more time she spends with the kid, the harder she's finding it to keep her personal feelings out of the case AND out of her interactions with them.

despite her best efforts, she's getting her heartstrings tangled up in the investigation and in them.

she's also thinking about memories from her own past that she hasn't allowed herself to think about for a long time, and she's, frankly, worse for the wear for it.

after a hard shift fraught with disappointment for both her and the kid, she goes home to grissom, and we get a cuddling in bed scene where she admits, somewhat tearfully, to him that there is still so much she doesn't know about what happened between her parents; so much she can't remember either because it all happened when she was still so young or else because she's repressed it.

memory can be a fickle thing, grissom muses, and she agrees.

tells him she doesn't remember when her mom first got sick or why she (seemingly) never received treatment. doesn't remember when her father's abuse started. doesn't remember why her mother never tried to leave or if she perhaps did but maybe somehow failed. she can't recall what, if anything, precipitated the murder—if her dad's abuse of her mom had recently gotten worse or if her mom just finally after so many years snapped or if her mom's delusions perhaps had become stronger or more violent in nature.

she admits: there is so much about that night she has actively tried to forget and so much she is terrified she will someday be triggered to, against her will, remember.

worried about her, grissom wonders if maybe she should hand this case over to greg, but she tells him she feels she owes it to the kid to keep going, at least until she can definitively say whether or not their father was involved in the murders (regardless of if they ever identify any other potential suspects outside of him).

resolved, sara returns to work the next night.

however, as she starts to dig into the case again, she still isn't coming up with anything to challenge the original narrative.

at a team meeting, nick (who, remember, is the assistant supervisor on grave shift at this point) motions for her and greg to shelve the case, as active/current cases have been piling up in the meanwhile "and warrick already solved this one ten years ago anyway." sara pleads to be allowed to continue her investigation, and catherine compromises by pulling greg off the case while allowing sara to continue to work it solo. she also presents sara with a hard deadline: if she hasn't come up with anything probative by the end of the week, then she's got to drop the whole thing and move onto something new.

the kid appears—like clockwork—the next morning and, upon sara's dismal report, practically begs her to keep going, pushing her to dig deeper, to try just one more thing, please, please.

it's here where, overwhelmed by facing so much opposition on all sides, triggered, mixed-up, and half-defeated, sara finally snaps at the kid—says something harsh about how you can't rewrite history just because you want to; tells them that they have to learn to accept the fact that their father was a bad man, and there's nothing anyone can do to change that reality.

at this point, for the first time, the kid—who, until now, has been very tough and even recalcitrant—breaks.

starts crying.

and sara immediately feels awful.

apologizes—and, in an attempt to extend an olive branch—admits (in her awkward but heartfelt sara way) that she was maybe talking more about herself and her father than she was about them and theirs.

slowly, hesitantly, she tells the kid an abridged version of her story, enough that they also can see the similarities between their experience and sara's and know that she understands where they're coming from.

earnestly, she tells them: she wishes more than anything in the world that she could tell them for sure that their father was innocent and that she could find "the real killer" and lock them away.

but the truth, she says, is that that answer may not be the right one, however attractive it may seem.

she gets real with the kid: without more details, there's starting to be nowhere left to go in this case.

the kid offers to try more of the memory recovery technique—i.e., the hypnosis or the shrooms or the therapy—to help in the effort.

but sara tells them: memory is unreliable, and that technique is unproven.

better to stick to science.

she vows, for now, to keep going.

the kid is grateful to her, expressing that they feel like she "just gets it."

cut to the final shot of the episode: sara appearing super conflicted—honored, on the one hand, to have won this kid's trust, rare commodity that it is; but terrified, on the other, that she is still ultimately going to end up letting them down, which is the absolute last thing in the world she wants to do.

episode 3

insert sara wracking her brain to come up with one last avenue of potential investigation here.

eventually, she comes back to the latent print in the microfiber glove—one piece of evidence that was never run back in 2000/2001.

she thinks the print could be the key to unlocking this case now.

however, recovery will be nearly impossible using traditional collection methods.

even with mandy's help, there's no clear answer as to how to lift the print off of the microfiber without destroying it and while still maintaining all its ridge detail.

as the end of the work week is rapidly approaching, sara fears her time to investigate may well run out before she can derive a solution to her problem. not only does she feel like she's letting the kid down but also in a weird way warrick, who she knows would have done everything in his power to get to the truth, were he still around to run this investigation instead of her.

but just as she is about to succumb to total despair, who should approach her but nick, offering up a memory of his own?

—namely, a technique warrick taught him back in the day that might be applicable to her problem.

cue both nick and sara doing their best warrick impersonations: "i can pull a fingerprint off the air!"

of course, there's no guarantee warrick's technique will work, and it could still result in the destruction of the print. however, it is the best option sara has yet encountered.

so, when the foster kid appears at the lab the next morning, sara poses the choice to them: do they want her to take this one-in-a-million chance (knowing that it could well destroy the only remaining physical evidence that might possibly exonerate their father in the process of so doing) or do they perhaps want to hold off in the hopes that technology will eventually advance to the point where the print will be recoverable by some other, less invasive means sometime in the eventual future?

though they are nervous about the prospect, the kid ultimately decides to take the chance.

so sara pulls the print and is successful in so doing. however, she also destroys the surface from which she pulled the print as she collects it, meaning that the print now only exists in digital facsimile form.

mandy then runs the print, and eventually she determines: it doesn't belong to the kid's father.

its existence strongly suggests that another person was on scene during the commission of the murders and that they handled the murder weapon.

unfortunately, there are no hits on this mystery person's identity.

all of these determinations are made during the night, while the kid isn't at the lab, and sara knows that the next morning, she's going to have to tell the kid: while there's a possibility—and even a good one—that their father isn't to blame for the murders, as of yet, there is no empirical way to definitely prove as much, much less to find out who the real killer is.

and there may not ever be.

however, sara doesn't get the chance to tell the kid anything, because they don't turn up at the lab the next morning.

instead, their foster parent does.

come to find out, the kid had been lying to their foster parents, claiming they were going to early-morning "sat prep" and then beelining for the lab instead.

after one of the kid's friends accidentally let it slip to the foster parents that the kid had never actually attended any of the prep sessions, yesterday morning, the foster parents had trailed the kid to the lab. after the kid got home, they then confronted them.

now, upon discovering what the kid was up to, they have become concerned about the kid's level of investment in the case, fearing they are setting themselves up for a major letdown.

the foster parent explains the situation to sara.

apparently, after their family's murders, the kid bounced around in the system for years. during this time, they experienced all sorts of behavioral problems. earned a reputation with the dcfs as a "problem child."

the foster parent and their spouse were kind of a last-ditch solution; the only ones willing to take the kid in anymore.

it took them a while, but they were eventually able to earn the kid's trust and stabilize them.

now, after four or five years of living in their home, the kid is finally on an upswing: doing well in school, enjoying a social life, and just really thriving for the first time since the murders.

however, given the kid's obvious emotional investment in this case, their foster parent is worried that if they don't get the results they want, they might not be equipped to handle to the disappointment and could suffer a major backslide, right at a time when they're getting ready to "launch." the foster parent doesn't want to see them get derailed or "sacrifice their future for the past."

unaware that sara knows this fact all too well for herself, the foster parent explains: the stats on most "graduates" of the foster system are abysmal, so the best chance this foster kid has is to buckle down and study for the sat, get good grades, and attend college.

"that's their pathway out."

the foster parent has now come to sara in order to ascertain whether or not there is actually any hope that the kid will get the answer that they want, all said and done.

when sara explains the somewhat ambiguous outcome with the print, the foster parent decides not to tell the kid and asks sara for help in thinking up some way to "put the kid off the scent" for the time being, at least until they're emotionally prepared to hear potentially disappointing news.

though conflicted, sara suggests that the foster parent could perhaps tell the kid that she'd sent the print off to the fbi for further analysis and that it might be "in process" for a while (months or even years), and the foster parent thanks her for the idea, assuring her it's in the kid's best interest.

they also tell her: she shouldn't expect to see the kid back at the crime lab anytime soon, as it's probably not the best place for a teenager (and especially a traumatized teenager) to be hanging out before school everyday.

though sara outwardly expresses support for this decision, it's clear she's not 100% sold on the notion that concealing the truth is the best course of action here. she is also obviously devastated that she won't even get to say goodbye to this kid.

after her encounter with the foster parent, greg quickly sniffs out sara's upset, which she blames on the fact that she regrets not being able to get the kid a more straightforward answer.

however, he intuits: she's also sad because, despite all her protestations about not liking children, she's actually gotten attached to the kid, and now she's not going to see them again; she is going to miss them.

though he expects sara to resist this assertion, she surprises him by admitting he's right.

cut to a time jump.

the next morning.

and who should turn up at the lab but the kid, having snuck out on their foster parents yet again?

like sara, this kid has the uncanny ability to detect bullshit, and they're not buying the whole "fbi" story that their foster parents tried to sell them. they want to hear the truth from sara herself about her findings, even if it hurts, they say.

please.

at first, sara is reluctant to defy the kid's foster parents' wishes. she is also scared of sending the kid on a downward spiral and fucking up their life.

but then she realizes: she knows for herself how hard not knowing can be.

so she reaches deep inside herself, sits the kid down, and presents them with the truth in the best, most honest way she can think to, even though it's not altogether positive.

she admits: she can't tell them for certain that their father is innocent, though there's at least a chance he is. she also can't tell them who besides their father might potentially be to blame, though perhaps there is someone out there.

maybe, she conjectures, the databases will eventually kick out a match to that print or the dna that at the moment doesn't exist in their datasets; maybe technology will improve enough to someday fill in some of those blanks.

she'll absolutely keep trying, running the evidence periodically to see if anything turns up.

but in the meanwhile, there's no answer.

and there's also a chance that there will never be one.

on instinct, she confesses to the kid: she's never been certain if her mother habitually kept the knife she stabbed her father with under the pillow and pulled it out "in the heat of the moment" to defend herself OR if she had, in an act of premeditation, fetched it from downstairs after he fell asleep that night.

back when she was a kid, the detectives who worked her father's case had asked her, but she couldn't tell them.

and now she's never going to know.

"i keep trying to remember," she says, "the knife block in our kitchen. if there was an empty slot. if i heard her go back down the stairs and then up again. but i can't. that memory is just gone."

she's sorry, she says, she can't give the kid the answer they wanted.

but.

you can live with it.

there are ways to live with it.

someday, she promises, the kid will make other memories that their brain will allow them to retain; happy ones. they'll still carry the memories of their family with them, too. but they'll grow around the grief. have new experiences. give and receive love.

the kid ends up crying then, sobbing, totally unguarded and childlike, that they miss their family, and sara hugs them and says she knows, she knows.

cut to the end of the episode.

the kid's foster parents have come to pick them up from the lab.

they're apologetic to sara that the kid was "bothering her," but she tells them she doesn't mind. she also explains: she told the kid the truth, and they took it well.

"kids are more resilient than you think," she offers.

the foster parents agree.

they start to take the kid home, gently chastising them, on the way out the door, that now that they've skipped sat prep for a week, they're going to have to enroll in another session and take the course over again.

on hearing this statement, sara pipes up, "i could maybe help with that—if you want." stumblingly, she explains that she got a near-perfect score on the sat and attended harvard at age sixteen. "out of foster care," she adds.

and so it is that sara becomes this kid's tutor.

i imagine from this point, though the main storyline would be concluded, we (as the audience) would still see periodic evidence that sara was indeed keeping up with this kid and continuing to meet with them fairly regularly.

there could in time be other storylines for them.

if we want to go the tamer route:

maybe something to do with sara struggling to balance her work responsibilities with her new mentorship role.

alternatively or additionally, maybe her supporting the kid as they deal with some complicated feelings after their current foster parents propose adopting them.

on the one hand, they want to say yes, because they love their foster family and crave that sense of belonging. on the other hand, it feels like a betrayal to their bio family in some way, especially since they're so close to "aging out" anyhow.

maybe the kid meeting grissom and developing a relationship with him, too.

maybe the kid doing some kind of volunteer work or internship connected to the lab to help with their college applications, with sara supervising.

maybe them, with sara's help, starting a forensics club at their high school.

if we want to go the angstier route:

perhaps the kid still occasionally struggles. gets involved with substance abuse or has serious behavioral problems. ends up in trouble with the law, to the point that sara is obliged to confront them.

alternatively, maybe the kid has to unexpectedly move placements, and when they do, they confront sara: ask her why, if she supposedly cares so much, she doesn't offer to foster or adopt them herself. after all, aren't they close? doesn't she get it?

and who knows? maybe sara actually considers the possibility or even decides to go for it. has to broach the topic with grissom. reevaluate their lifestyle. could be an interesting development for both of them.

if we want to go the super angsty route:

turns out, the kid's dad didn't kill their family, and the real killer has somehow realized that the kid survived and the case has been reopened and that sara is periodically checking into it. maybe the killer then targets the kid, knowing they are the only person who could potentially identify them. maybe the kid is in real danger, and it's up to sara to catch the killer before they come to harm.

in any case, i'd definitely want to see more of sara interacting with this kid, building a real relationship with them over time—one that fit with her core characterization and didn't attempt to make her into something she wasn't.

excepting a scenario in which she did actually choose to foster or adopt this kid, i'd like her to toe that line, being a friend and supportive adult but not trying to fill the role of "mom."

i'd like to see her friendship with this kid challenge her in productive character ways and be consistently depicted, to the point where it was easy to believe that this bond was an important and regular part of her life.

anyway.

there would be other ways to write the whole thing than with this "memoriae sacrum" version, certainly.

but that's at least one way i could see the premise of "sara befriends a foster kid" working better than the option we're offered in canon.

thanks for the question! please feel welcome to send another any time.

[skylerfurmaniac-deactivated]

Rules and Description :P

Hi! I"m Skylerfurmaniac! Or Skyler/Sky for short (if you wanna ask me a question). And welcome to my blog (also sorta ask blog but it isn't really much of one anymore, but you can still do it! I love getting asks)! This blog is where I reign and spread my chaos and love to people lol. I'm just a chaotic little rainbow furbean >:3! My pronouns are they/them, and I'm omnisexual/romantic!!

I LOVE IF YOU MAKE ART OF ME OR MY OC'S OR MY SPAMTON YOU HAVE FULL PERMISSION TO DO IT, NO NEED TO ASK I LOVE ANY ART THAT IS FOR ME <3

Rules of the blog:

things you WILL get ban for:

NSFW asks or stuff that are similar. You can make jokes, but nothing too weird

Being rude to any community in the asks. Such as furry community, lgbtqia+, or black etc.

Asking for personal information

faking to be someone famous and try to make them look bad/ if you start to not respect my distance or stuff. If you aren't my friend and start asking for a lot of stuff or stuff I don't share with strangers

pls, if you want to vent to me or something, you can dm me, but pls don't do it in the asks or send like self harm photos

And that's everything! If you follow these, then you will have a very fun time here! I will make sure to respect everyone who asks something in this blog, but I may tease you, just a warning.

*BYE!!

Edit: I kinda forgot to put some stuff about myself, soooo

Hi! You already know my name and pronouns, But I want to put some personality stuff in here

I also will not be doing commissions, too much work for me right now. But, if you want, I love to do an art trade! But at some moments, I may not be able to due to what's going on, or I have too many art trades.

Secondly,

BRO HE'S COOL (and cute) OKAY

And thirdly, I have a second blog that interacts more with @drowninnoodles, @thenocturnenarrator, @tranquil-slaughterhouse, @ludrii-alt, & more! Some people didn't really like what I was posting with them, So I made an alt. account. If you want to follow that one, it's called @hellagang

edit:

I really like making new friends, so don't be shy to ask!

Also, tell me if you like picrew, cus i do them here and there, and I would like to tag you!

link to all my art repost! (lol don't use that its kinda weird, I have an art tag now XD)

Edit: lol I forgot about my tags I know this is a newer edit then the next one, but I feel like it should be put here

sooo my tags!

#skyler's art: my art!

#sky's chaotic reblogs: my reblogs from other people lol

#sky's random rambles: just random stuff I say

#sky's serious reblogs: the more serious of reblogs

#not my art: reblogs I make that aren't my art

#skyler/Skyler art!!!!/skyler's ref/FANART!: lol art of my persona that other people made of me or stuff that I made of my persona :D

#skyler's gremlin mode activated: IM REALLY HAPPY AND EXCITED OR HYPERACTIVE OF THIS POST AND I REALLY LOVE XDD

yeah :3

Edit:

immmm just going to add these

(PLATONICLY)

anyways, feel free to use these!

edit:

I made a server for tumblr undertale/deltarune artists!

my discord username is skylerfurmaniac, dm me if ya wanna join! (And if you want, you can add tumblr friends!)

also, that's if the link doesn't work (which is it doesn't can someone tell me pls?)

anyways

here is the link!!