#spark central

[tigertaurus22]

Once again, I did not get to share my piece during the last Drop In and Write session so I’m posting it here

This time, we had a special prompt from a company called Spokane Bottle Project. According to our Prompter, what they do is they collect old glass bottles and sell them to people that can make up a story about it.

And that’s basically what we did. We came up with a story about one of the bottles they gave us to choose from. We were even allowed to take them home with us!

Mine was a smaller clear glass bottle that kinda looked like an inkwell.

Again, this piece is supposed to be part of A Kitsune in Camelot. Some things will likely be changed in the final version.

The Piece:

The feather quill tapped the side of the little glass bottle as it was extracted, leaving small drops of black ink on the wooden surface of the desk.

The girl paused as she held the quill, pondering how she was going to transfer her thoughts to the parchment. She glanced at the bottle, noting how the sunlight reflected off its smooth, somewhat foggy surface.

It reminded her of the day she and her beloved Sigurd had found it, abandoned in the Court Magician’s study.

It had been much dustier then, likely sitting on that shelf for years before she found it. There had been stains all along the inside from the many potions and elixirs that had been kept inside it.

The Princess idly wondered whether there were still magical properties within the bottle now. There hadn’t been the last time she used her special inkwell, and the time before that. At least, that she knew of.

Sigurd must have really scrubbed it clean, as the magician had suggested.

It had apparently belonged to the Court Magician before him, and Copernicus just forgot it was there.

The Princess had forgotten what brought her to the magicians’ study in the first place that day. But she supposed it didn’t matter now.

Scratching sounds filled the silence of her room as she thought of something else to add to her letter.

At her father’s request, the Princess was writing letters to each of the five Champions that had won the recent tournament.

Of course, there had only been one actual winner, but the four runners-up were also allowed to become knights. The kingdom desperately needed as many soldiers as they could get, preferably pre-qualified for the job with little to no training required.

The thought made the Princess worry got her dear Sigurd all the more.

He’d gone missing soon after they’d returned from the Duchy of Wessex a month ago.

Last she knew, he’d fallen I’ll and then just… disappeared.

Reports from that night told that there had been a dragon spotted above the castle.

Logic suggested that the dragon must have taken him.

But that couldn’t be right.

Sigurd was one of the best fighters in all the realm. It was why he was made the Princess’ personal guard.

She suspected there was more to that story, but she knew she couldn’t investigate or retrace her steps herself.

So… she’d have one of the newly-appointed knights look into it for her.

The letter she was currently working on was addressed to the man who had actually won the Autumn Games.

He seemed trustworthy.

A few minutes later, she’d finished writing her message for help, tucked into the center of the letter, rolled up and held together with a green ribbon.

Each of the letters had color-coded ribbons to indicate which was to go to who.

The others had yellow, red, blue and white ribbons.

She placed the quill back in the inkwell, causing the thick, black liquid within to slosh around inside the bottle a little.

After a moment, she picked up the bottle, a ginger caressing it’s side as she sighed sadly.

Holding it to her chest, she looked out the window at the jousting arena.

At least a dozen knights were out there, practicing their swordplay and horsemanship, their archery and martial arts techniques.

The Princess would often see Sigurd out there with them. She recognized a few faces, belonging to the captains of the King and Queen’s Guards and fellow knights that Sigurd seemed to get along with.

She wondered why they weren’t doing anything to look for their fellow knight.

They must think he’s as good ad dead, if he was taken by a dragon.

She refused to believe that.

With purpose, she strode out of her room, meeting Sigurd’s replacement at the door.

He had been his squire, a waifish boy with copper red hair and freckles and blue eyes.

Sigurd had taught him well, but he was still nervous around his charge.

Evident from the way the boy tensed up as she faced him.

“Oh, calm down. I’m not going to have you executed or anything.”

“R-right.” He laughed nervously. “A-anything you need, your highness?”

“Yes. Make sure these are delivered to the Champions. They contain the date and time for their accolade ceremony.”

“Oh! Of course, your highness!” He said, some of the nervous stutter leaving his voice.

“It’ll be good to have some new recruits. Especially ones as strong as them!”

He bowed respectfully.

“I’ll get these to a courier right away!”

With that, he turned and jogged down the hall.

Once he was out of sight, the Princess returned to her room, glass inkwell still in hand.

She sighed.

“Sigurd, my love… I do hope you return to me soon…”

If that foreign magic caster didn’t deliver… then she might have to do something drastic.

[atthebell]

there are plenty of other mcrp projects that i will enjoy in the future and many creators whose content i will adore but the big reason qsmp hit so hard for me was the multilingual aspect, and nothing else will really manage to capture that. even when more multilingual servers happen, they won't have the same spark that qsmp started with, the same insane passion and community and love, the same novelty. but i'm so proud of all the doors that qsmp opened and all the opportunities that will continue after it, and i hope that every single person who worked on it and every creator who was on it knows what an incredible thing they helped to create and what connections they managed to inspire.

[vargaslovinghours]

It's here! It's the big one-oh! Get ready for the 10th! (1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9)

Starting off with some Just Desserts stuff; it's not exactly against the rules to modify Pets with features they wouldn't naturally have - like a cat with wings - but it is side-eyed by other players

He might be projecting just a little bit lol

Obviously he'd support Joel wiping the floor with other Pets in the arena haha

Next one's a continuation, comic-style!

Since they've only got the one pet between them, they have to take turns directing Joel so he doesn't get confused on who to listen to haha, I'm sure it doesn't help that they have similar voices and Scriabin is constantly butting in. I think in this setting Edgar might be able to get away with pushing him around a little more haha ♪ He'll still pay for that later :)

FNF x Vargas! Quick, who wants to collab as I know Nothing about music composition lol - what might their voices/instrumentation sound like! I’ve always been a fan of strings for Edgar, piano for Scriabin personally :)

These were the two poses I had the absolute strongest mental images for, so they get the big pretties! Scriabin having a secondary feature to his Up animation (not just pointing a finger gun but also “shooting” it), only being visible when the note is held ah, I just love the animation in my mind’s eye lol

Two poses inspired by their bouncies! Edgar’s Down and Scriabin’s Right - I didn’t have them onhand for reference, but I’d definitely push them closer to the originals :D

I really like the idea of most of Edgar’s poses being smaller, more closed-in, and Scriabin’s being big and bombastic, but their Lefts are the opposite! Haha ♪

I've seen a good several songs that have a mid-level transformation which I find Very cool :D I suppose these could also be for different stages, but going from a whole Edgar to him missing an eye and actively bleeding and screaming and stumbling around to the music - I just think it's a neat concept lol

Scriabin's transformation would be with his wings of course!

More of the WOY idea! Scriabin's being so nice 😈♥

You know I had to draw Jake in this style, he's too cute not to, I had to! Fun proportions hehe

Two little balls of sunshine <3 This was the one where I really couldn't decide what art style I was most reminded of between Steven Universe and the rest haha

A rubber hose smooch! Cartoony mwah!

Don't be fooled Wander, kisses are temporary, bullying Edgar is forever

The topic drifted at one point to the idea of Scriabin and Edgar being able to turn their brain-sharing on and off which gave me a Two Yeses/One No idea

Started with them on equal footing - both of them can say no to oppose the other, and in order to link back up they have to both agree! And how that might look depending on who initiates hehe <3

I think it'd be good for them to have hard boundaries in place, not able to be coerced into giving up their privacy :)

As well as them being able to just tap in and Know again, Scriabin using it to be lazy and not try to communicate with his mouth haha

But even with those hard stops in place, how would sleep affect things! If he tried, could Scriabin break into Edgar's dreams? Even if he gave permission, would his subconscious allow that? :0 It's interesting!

Quick break for a scribbly concept of how I wanted my first Vargas Drabbles soft cover to look haha - I didn't end up using the red inlay but it's definitely an idea for next time 👀

Back to brain-sharing, but this time featuring a return to body-sharing! :00 I hadn't considered it until Zarla mentioned them physically phasing together and then became Very interested in exploring it, when isn’t Scriabin annoying tho lol. It’s because you love him, Edgar!

Falling back into old habits of emotionally degrading Edgar, but he has the power to kick you out now! Just try your smart mouth on him from out here, where it hurts less!

Get back in on good behaviour, or because he misses him too much ♥ I love his sweet face here I 💕💗💖❤️💞💝

How dare he be so inviting, Scriabin has to deal with a physical heart and you are trying to kill him, cruel mean Edgar (lol)

Inspired by the hug test haha ♪ Hug him!

This was supposed to be a sweet moment :( Scriabin can't help it, being vulnerable is icky haha

But when offered the opportunity, you take what you can get <3 They are so damn cute, gah

Hehe ♪ There needs to be Some level of awkwardness to it, it's still Vargas after all. Would it hurt? No, maybe more like an organ shifting back into its correct position :)

How's he supposed to help it when you make it so easy

They'd have to negotiate safe and opportune times to share minds if it required them to share a body! Scheduling when to be apart would probably be stressful, but so would being together haha

Edgar doesn't want to deal with this until he's more awake, and maybe not at all if he gets jealous hehe

And finally again, we've returned to the Two Yeses/One No idea - who gets to decide who's "No" counts once they're already enmeshed? :) Introducing the Lobster Trap ✨

“slrch” is such a gross sound effect haha

Really struggling with the concept of Scriabin’s autonomy! He quite literally exists outside of you now Edgar, you have to let him grow on his own!

Scriabin probably just wants out to do something Edgar morally objects to, enough to suffer his company while pissed. The idea of Scriabin having his own body and still having to take Edgar over to exert his own personhood again, ugh, it’s so fraught <3

The Lobster Trap has so many potential outcomes, even discounting one side over the other! Obviously I had to make as many as I could come up with lol; starting with Scriabin getting to decide when he hops in, and Edgar getting to decide if he lets him out - two yeses all around to show it As Intended, all going well :)

And here are Edgar's No options: his no overrides letting Scriabin out, but does nothing to deter Scriabin from coming in without his permission. I think this is one of the worst configurations for them haha ♪ It’s so easy for them to be cruel to each other!

Now the other way around! Scriabin has to get Edgar's permission to come in, so here's their Two Yeses :D Obviously he did it to annoy Edgar, he'll never get to read in peace haha. Not that he would even without this hehe

Edgar's No would shut Scriabin out, which I think would be good for them honestly; Edgar gets time to process things on his own without Scriabin manipulating him from the inside, and Scriabin gets to eat humble pie

Two Yeses again, though it was hard to imagine a situation where Scriabin would willingly hop out at Edgar's request - to make fun of him though? Yes ✨

And again, Edgar's No not overriding Scriabin's Yes - I think this would be really good for them! Edgar doesn't get to hold him against his will, and Scriabin doesn't get to burst in without his permission!

But really, it'll always be messy with them <3 Even in the best scenario, if Edgar's Yes overrides Scriabin's No of being forced inside - even if he couldn't hold him there, just the action of making him see from his point of view and all that entails... ♪

Little jailbird, just wants to fly away on clipped wings 💔

Now for something completely different lol. Scriabin wrote a resumé! I’m sure it’s full of accurate information to help him land a proper interview :)

Good, good, dates, prior experience, employers, skills, conquests-

Scriabin insists he's a sexpert but if there's a degree on his wall I haven't seen it

There is such a Massive difference between writing resumés and actually doing the work the resumé is required for, come on. I do love just how miffed Edgar looks tho haha

S: >:3c | E: Yeah alright point taken

Tiny spacefiller - he's so mad! He's gonna tell you all about it!

Oh hey wow Nny's still here, that's neat. Originally there was an Edgar next to him but only the main character turned out cute, rude

Quietly cutting potatoes <3 Domestic

I love Scriabin getting scared inside Edgar but him having to put on an outwardly placid face so he doesn't freak Nny out in turn haha. Nny's love language is knives

But that's where the nutrients are! Speaking of Ghost-

Teaching him how to flay skin, not necessarily strictly on potatoes hehe. I like the idea of Nny kinda spacing out when it comes to his favourite activities - yeah he hates touching people, but that takes a backseat to talking about murder and playing with knives

Obviously Edgar's a bit distracted himself lol. Nny just casually talking about what happens when you separate the flesh from the body and Edgar and Scriabin are over here discussing Just how gay this is haha

I went and reread one of my old drafts of One Way Mirror recently and ahh I’d forgotten how sassy they are with each other lol

I'm still crazy about them <3 They drive me absolutely mad 💕 I think it's funny too, since I started writing OWM while deeply fixated but didn't think much of the Flavour of my writing I didn't expect anything from rereading, but it does taste a bit like mainfic hehe ♪

I love when Scriabin argues how much he wants to "help" Edgar while controlling him up and down, Edgar's not about to take this sitting down if he can help it! Also emasculating insults my beloved ♥

Thinking again about Hunchback; not quite any of the already-established stuff (they're not playing the roles, nor are they separate and seen the movie! What!), about why Scriabin would side-eye Edgar so much during Out There. It's a good song for him :) And I love drawing him like this haha, proud and haughty angle <3

Edgar with slightly less floofy hair and the closed-line nose style from a few years ago lol ♪ I do like bridge/bottom of the nose style I've grown into, but it's still a fun style to return to every once in a while :)

And one last sneaky cheeky kiss for smooch practice before the very end! Just try and stop me! Why did Scriabin turn out so pretty tho ♥

So that's June through September, again-again! Well, almost - turns out I actually made too many sketches for my Blank Slate AU/fic - literally as many as are featured here! - so it needed its own post. So please look forward to that!

[hiraethwrote]

aight enough booping and gathering snacks for the weekend — last shift of the week tomorrow 🫡

[fictionadventurer]

I would like to publicly debate Mr. Andrew Peterson about his stance on endings please and thank you.

[alexis-royce]

how effective is it when diegesis gives lee the kicked puppy look?

Obvious appeals to his heart receive only kicks; being manipulated doesn't bother Lee so much as being manipulated POORLY.

Patreon | Game Demo

[gothhabiba]

a shameful thing about me is that I have never shipped anything that wasn't canon. I don't have it in me. I'm sorry lesbians

[biting-miguel-ohara]

this isnt really a request just thoughts cause im also obsessed with dog/wolf hybrid mutant reader fics and youve just got me thinking about hybrid!mutant!reader x logan and now all i can think about is him tugging your tail to get your attention and you hating it. or him scratching behind your ears or under your chin and you loving it. you trying to act annoyed at something he did but your tail failing you and wagging at him anyways or logan putting you on a leash in bed. many thoughts are forming in my head i just had to share. im having wolf/dog hybrid x logan brain rot.

AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! Omg yes!

Please please please (you can totally say no though) let me write a few of these up into short fics! I’m getting ✨ideas✨

Especially about the leash one and the acting annoyed one. Like, omg

Like I said though, you can totally say no if you just wanna keep these as thoughts. Please send in another ask or whatever to let me know bc I really would like to use these as fic inspiration

(Also I feel you about the brain rot lol. I’m being consumed by hybrid!Reader thoughts)

[emberglowfox]

Link for eye color. I looked it up after seeing your post idk if it's helpful for you too

https://www.warbyparker.com/learn/hazel-eyes

fascinating. mine aren't quite that green on the edges but the color split is also considerable

[transkingcobra]

I’ve a mighty need to dance with Wyll

[carcarrot]

losing my mind

[tigertaurus22]

During my latest writing club session, I didn’t get to share what I wrote, so I’m posting it here.

The prompt was use of Voice, like two different voices in the same piece

I just wrote two different characters talking to each other. For context, this would be part of A Kitsune in Camelot, a story I’m currently working on.

Constructive criticism is appreciated

The piece:

“Are you sure this a good idea?

The boy said, looking at his older brother with a raised eyebrow. The boy was seated on a hill overlooking a small valley.

“What if you get caught?”

“I won’t get caught.”

Hiroshi said, waving his hand dismissively as he grabbed the wooden bow.

“But how can you be sure?”

Kay pouted a little as he watched the kitsune get into position.

Their makeshift archery range was located not far from the walls separating the nearby city from the surrounding wilderness.

Amaryllis had set up several targets on a few trees, each a certain distance away from the other. She’d painted red rings on certain trees.

Hiroshi sighed, his tails swishing softly in the light breeze.

“Kay, you know how powerful I am. My illusions will be nigh impossible to see through at the tournament.”

Keeping his eyes on the target, Hiroshi lifted the bow and knocked an arrow.

“But you won’t use them to cheat?”

The arrow flew, hitting the closest target square in the center.

“No, I won’t.”

“Why? Seems like a waste.”

Hiroshi knocked another arrow.

“Because I’m not participating to win. If I did that intentionally, it wouldn’t be fair to everyone else. Besides…”

He aimed.

“It might tip someone off.”

The arrow hit the second closest target. Another bullseye.

“And I don’t want to put you or the others in unnecessary danger you can’t handle.”

“I can handle it!”

Kay exclaimed, puffing his chest and cheeks out. His elven ears dropping a little.

Hiroshi turned to face the young half-elf, his verdant gaze questioning and one hand on his hip.

“Oh, really? You can handle a whole army of heavily armed human soldiers and possibly some wizards, all on your own?”

“Yeah! After all we’ve done already? I mean, I saved Celia from that magic draining spell AND looked after Miss Bari like you asked me to.”

Hiroshi shook his head fondly.

“And you did so admirably, little brother. However, you didn’t need to use any real combat skills in those situations, did you? You relied more on your magic than physical fighting.”

Kay deflated.

“Well… no. But I could’ve!”

“Yes, you could have. But what would you have done exactly? Cast spell after spell, hoping one will do enough damage until you run out of magic power? Pick up a weapon you have no experience with, or is ill-sized for you?”

Hiroshi walked up to where Kay was sitting on the ground, his back to a tree.

The older half-elf placed a gentle hand on the younger’s shoulder.

The boy looked a little upset as he took in his words.

“You’re already very talented, Kay. You’re picking up magic so quickly, and you’re the best pickpocket I’ve ever seen.”

Kay smiled at the praise, but he still looked rather downcast.

Hiroshi breathed out his nose.

“Tell you what, when I’m done with archery practice for today, I’ll teach you and Kara some fighting techniques.”

The boy lit up at the prospect.

“Really? You’ll teach us to fight?”

“Only some basic self defense. But it’s better than nothing, right?”

Kay nodded vigorously.

“Yeah! Thank you, bro- I mean, sensei! I’m gonna go tell Kara!”

With that, the young half-elf excitedly got up and ran over to where the girls of the party were gathering herbs from the forest.

Hiroshi huffed as he stood back up, nine tails betraying the nervousness he felt.

“I’m glad he’s happy.”

He ran a hand through his greenish-black hair.

“I just hope they won’t need to use any self defense anytime soon.”

He turned and walked back to the archery range, knocking another arrow. He aimed, waited, and finally fired at the third target.

Another bullseye.

[ron-do-i-get-to-sing-my-way]

Mandatory music blaring session as I run around shoving stuff in a bag and freaking out about transit systems

[fictionadventurer]

I love setting fantasy around and after WWI. It's such a good combination. WWI was a loss-of-innocence on a societal level. There had been this assumption that technology and progress could solve all our problems and make us better people, and then WWI comes and shows us horribly and violently that it does not, and then in the aftermath we have to deal with what this means for us as a society and as people.

Throwing magic into that is a perfect thematic fit, because magic and technology are basically the same thing--people trying to impose their will upon nature. It can do good things or terrible things, but the issue is not necessarily the technology or the magic itself, but the hearts of the people using it, the cost to bring it about, the drain on resources and the effect on the environment and people. In the aftermath of a major conflict, we have to take a long hard look at ourselves and the choices we've made and will continue to make. Are the benefits worth the cost? What is the true nature of man--can we ever trust ourselves again? Have we progressed to a better stage of humanity or reverted back to beasts? There is just so much to explore there. The WWI connection has been built into the genre ever since Tolkien, and it continues to be relevant to our modern world.

[spark-circuit]

“The time has come. Soon, the bell shall ring. A new world will come. Rise, my servants. Rise and serve me. I am death and life. Darkness and light.”

Really?! During the end of day drinking session at Safety Department?!

[flameleads]

tag dump #4