#singlepagertag

[deva-arts]

Have some writing. I totally didn't do it overnight. Haha look at Nate. So old! So non-blue and old!

Sera said I take after my mother, but I can see a lot of my father in me too.

The... everything else about me makes it hard to find the similarities, but that’s a given. Heh.

All it took was my old handler’s password to get the file on them, and I soon proceeded from there.

The log was outdated and somewhat inaccurate- I imagine any documents would be after twenty-eight years- and I learned through R.A.Y that they divorced several years ago. Just a year after I was born.

It wasn’t hard to find my actual parents. I was almost disappointed when I realized how easy it was, actually, wondering why I never looked for them sooner. In truth, I was avoiding them all those years for a reason, worried to see what else I could’ve become. My feet were always lead when it came time to meet them face-to-face.

I wished I could thank them somehow. Tell them that they saved themselves from a lot of torment, that they made the right decision… But I would be lying, thanking them for robbing me of a childhood. A mother. A father. A family. Love.

Oh, how I craved that recognition, that spark of anything in their eyes that could cue me in on how they felt about me. I wanted to see the apologetic look in their eyes, the longing for the family they threw to the wolves. I had rehearsed so many ways it would work out, too, as if I hadn't learned that life is no movie. Scenarios where my mother tearfully realizes her mistake, where my father regrets urging me away. I thought of entire conversations from beginning to end, all of them ending in my reluctant- but very willing- acceptance of their weary words. Where they have the perfect excuse for throwing me away, and I feel nothing but sympathy for their pleas.

Maybe that’s just the old me talking. Maybe that’s why it stung.

I was left with nothing from my efforts.

I sought them individually. Mom’s a wedding planner that works in Continental Hydroponics, and Dad does real estate in the common sector. Both of them were middle-aged humans living normal lives. They didn’t know that I watched them over the course of a weekend, nor did they recognize me when I went to their establishments and asked some nonsense I can’t bother remembering. 

These two were civilians. Hopelessly clueless civilians.

And they didn’t even think of me.

Not once did they look in my eyes and find something worth recognition, and in a bitterly comical turn of events, they couldn’t be happier with their lives! Was it just that they couldn't recognize me due to my age? Or did I really resemble nothing of who I was before? I had worn a human appearance as close to my true form as possible, with my mother’s eyes and my father’s frame, and yet… 

...It was unreasonable to come here in a human disguise. I knew it then, too. The solution was painfully obvious- rip the bandage and reveal my true form to them, the only one they could know. But I couldn't bear to. The thought alone filled me with dread- I was all too certain that I would be met with immediate disgust. I feel the same even now.

And so, I chose the safer route: indirect means. Fake faces. Why bother with brutal, complicated honesty when I could read their reactions and keep my distance? It was craven, I know. A little trick that was equally fruitless.

Haha, now isn't that wrong of me? You're free to think so. In hindsight, it was naive to think that they would entertain the thought of me at all, especially under those conditions. 

I stood there with a souring blue bouquet in my fist, swallowing down every sound, every reaction that broiled in me as my mother talked about her three sons. Three brothers I never met, replacements she was happy to keep, and how I was oh-so dutiful for thinking about my mother today. It was all a post-sale script. I was all too aware of that. But the words still felt like poison rubbed into a wound. Every second felt like drinking lead.

"I wish my sons were more like you. It's good to keep family in mind." She said. She said it with a light chuckle, and so I smiled back. Grinning even as the image of my brothers emerged as one of her notable memories. It's a happy, human scene. Of course.

Of course.

I suppose it was cathartic in a way; I didn’t need to show them who I became. I got to see them happy and healthy, even if it was in my absence. Even if I'm only a rubbed-out stain in my mother's mind.

A regret.

What else could I be.

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You reached the end! have an edit!

[deva-arts]

Sera's main base is very big, but also very cozy (thanks to everyone's decorative touches) to accommodate and safely house the people that live there.

However, Sera is Sera, and the places you least expect are weaponized against potential intruders.

Seraphina's kitchen!

Yes, all of the windows open. It works in an inexplicable and odd way.

Some nice closeups!

Gotta love a decorated fridge! (guess which mug belongs to who!)

The fridge has a nice little knock-light on the door :>

One has to wonder... How does that window open? (The answer is magic)

What a healthy group-discussion board!

Is that an oversized-dessert recipe book? :O

Hope you guys enjoyed this little background as much as I did! :D

[deva-arts]

Behold! One of Sera's core memories!

[deva-arts]

Mouth + Teeth studies!

Can you recognize who is who?

[deva-arts]

"Cocoa, anyone?"

Have a sketchy Magnus! I realize I'm never beating the elliott allegations, I am a simp, It is chronic, terminal,

Anyway we finally see some more of his abilities. Fire! Pure Venutians are able to channel and produce it, while also being impervious to extreme heat. Sera and Vincent are unfortunately unable to use this ability due to their genetic mixups. They do tend to run hot, though.

[deva-arts]

Me, making a villain: Yeah okay so this is Titan. He's a big bad cyclops and genocidal maniac who is always caked in blood, has a vicious lust for the gore of innocents and likes breaking people's spines.

You people, apparently:

...

I did not anticipate this sort of reception

[deva-arts]

Soph is growing on me oh no

[deva-arts]

Teehee have sibling time (i even wrote something for it!!)

Calm nights were always the best in Amon's apartment. The holidays tended to quiet down even the roughest slums; no chaos, less yelling, and best of all, nothing suspicious sounding on the metal scaffolding outside.

It was on a day like this, with no work left to do and none on the horizon, where Amon was able to spend some quality time with Adra. He wasn't home nearly enough for his tastes, often having to rely on old family friends to take her home from school and keep her company.

Today was different. He got to take her home and had a fresh paycheck from his jobs. He was grateful for the little things.

"And then Ms. Winters said that we could take home goodie bags! They had toys and GalaxyMors bars and candypops. It was the best day ever and they also gave me a miss mousie trading card and I got a rare missy mouser which wasn't the one I wanted but was still VERY cool because it's sparkly. I feel dizzy-" Adra sat restless as she spoke, kicking her legs over the edge of the refurbished casino stool.

Amon idly listened, more focused on tying her hair. "Breathe, Dora." He says, trying not to pull any strands. She had this style she wanted to try out, and who was he to deny a girly whim?

"GAAAAASSSSPPPPP- Pfuhh. Oh hey I feel better." She giggles, and he smiles at the sound. Hm. He might need to buy them both a better shampoo- is this what counts as brittle? He can't tell...

"Keep telling me now." Amon murmurs, his thoughts whirring a list together. Shampoo... Groceries... School supplies... She could probably keep that backpack she has for another school season...

"...-So that's why I really like Patron Cog day now because we get free stuff and pizza bites."

"Sounds like fun," he comments as grabs a hair tie, equally mindful not to snap the elastic- they could only afford so many.

And oh, that's right, It was almost time to take Adra to the doctor... He'd have to work around the price somehow, maybe look into insurance again. If he can get it to fall between debt payments, he could-

"YEAH and then they said not to eat candy with an H on it 'cause it was bad or something? some kids got sick because this kid, I don't remember his name but it starts with an R I think, he took it to school on lunchtime." Adra mentions this like it's a remark of the weather, casually picking a scab on her shin.

When the words finally register, Amon stills, and the air in the room suddenly feels prickly. H? As in Halcyon Acetate? He's only ever saw it in teenths- rare, hard-to-get teenths- and now they were making a candied version? For what market?

He was paying too much for a school this careless. One dose was enough to kill a kid- or leave only shells behind, like all the addicts on the streets. He pales when he thinks about Adra near some tiny lowlife skirting around with pocketed poison.

('Don't react. Don't let her see you're upset.') His inner dialogue softly chides. ('Breathe. She's happy today.')

And so he does, stifled and quietly incensed, he manages to wrench his jaw pliant and unfurrow his brow.

"Did you do my hair good? I can't see it." Adra's pixie tone is enough for him to recall this is a lighthearted moment. One the siblings haven't had in months, now. The room gets some color again, his ancient tenement shining in stained, stale, dimly lit glory.

"Adra?" He says, sounding perfectly level. He has to be.

"Yeah?"

"How about we stay home from school for a week or so?" He smiles in case she looks back at him.

"YAY! -Wait, why?" Her eyes glitter with mirth he hopes never goes away.

"Well... It's my Patron day gift!" Amon prays that she buys it- and she does, bursting with enthusiasm.

"Gasp! Momo! I knew you'd get me something! I love you!" He can feel the words needling deep in his chest. Like a soft tink on cracking porcelain.

"Love you too, Dora." He hugs her close, trying to swallow down the knot in his throat, the new worries on his shoulders. Then he smiles, a bit wider than before, a bit more strained. Thankfully she isn't old enough to notice.

"Now, let's get a mirror so you can tell me how I did."

"Yeah!"

[deva-arts]

And with that, we're done with the girlie side of the beach drawings! this was fun! Plus It helped me design some characters that exclusively lived in my brain... Nice.

[deva-arts]

"Don't worry I'll kiss it better." -Sonia Sanders, The Art of War

[deva-arts]

Have another palate cleanser. This time it's Sophia. She's the spitting image of her mother for now, but will look a lot more like Nathaniel as she grows older. Her upbringing is one filled with thoughtful rearing and tenderness.

Shifter gametes will always result in a shifter or mixed-trait variant, with very rare exceptions. They're nearly always the most stable gene providers in the pool, and as such will take over most other physical characteristics. When mixed with atypical blood, there is a chance that physical characteristics of the non-shifting partner becomes part of the 'base' form of the child. There's endless minutiae to this study, and it's impossible to know exactly what you will get from any given cross-variant pairing.

In this case, Sophia is a shifter with an atypical base form. Her physical characteristics retain stability thanks to Nathaniel's human DNA, at the cost of some of her avian performance. She'll be much less subject to Vince and Sera's peculiar issues, and able to live a normal, wingless life- if she so pleases. The world is her oyster.

[deva-arts]

So, 1, looks like you enjoy drawing. What have you made recently?

Baby's first OC! He's a budding artist. He's also gaining some weight again.

The plucking incident messed his wings real bad, so he's been made to molt and regrow everything from scratch. Such behavior has since been corrected. Look at those untampered feathers! Extra fluffy! Flight feathers will take a bit to come in.

[deva-arts]

Teehee it's done!

+Close-ups

[deva-arts]

Have some icky tricky flicky sticky Ricky

[deva-arts]

Noctis: Had a nightmare, did you?

Harvey: Perhaps.

Noctis: Good. That's what you deserve.

Harvey: "Deserve"?

Noctis: Yes. "Deserve". You took away my Halcyon, dammit.

Harvey: It needed to be done, Noctis. Otherwise, you'd run yourself into an early grave.

Noctis: But... *sighs* Who cares, anyway?

Harvey: You made it my business to care.

Noctis: ...

Harvey: ...

Noctis: So, about that nightmare...

Harvey: Don't you dare, Noctis.

See the thing is he absolutely would do that That's what happens when you trust an umbra! it backfires! except this one is just unnecessarily petty and immature

I'm guessing this is a continuation of this

[deva-arts]

"Ick, you lived like this?" (Sonia's mind, 2XXX) She then proceeded to offer Sera a spa day to help with the sadness wrinkles.

I absolutely had to redraw this lol, the temptation was too great. It's also quite fitting, considering the recent discussions on Sonia. She's... Not the most tactful person.

+ the proper meme format lolol

And a reel because I love sharing these

Guess who I instantly thought of!