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sundslime · 1 year

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Another Object Comic Blog 2

Back at it again with another name change! This one’s probably the last one for a bit though.

A good amount of progress has been made on the idea of the comic since my last post in March. That is, I hunkered down with some buds and actually made a kind of rigid outline of how I want the plot to be structured. A good amount of ideas were leftovers from Exclusion Delusion but more fleshed out with a cleaner idea for a possible ending in mind, which makes me happy! Every time I’ve taken a stab at a comic like this I usually drop the idea because I don’t know how I’d end it, so having that in mind has been reassuring.

Here’s a mostly redacted look at the outline of the story, mostly for the sake of keeping things a surprise! Who doesn’t like a good surprise? I will leave a synopsis of the beginning of the story though, so here! Objects of many different locations live on a planet with only them and are all aware of/ friends with each other. Ornament is the main character of the story, who on their (TBD)th birthday travel around the world in search of artifacts warning of an impending doom. After a year, the end of the world takes the form of a competition in which each challenge takes place on a different planet.

Unlike the plot, the biggest point of contention has been the actual characters to appear in the comic! Truth is, there’s been dozens of characters that have had the possibility of appearing in the comic. Some as main characters, and others as more comic relief side characters. Sizing down the original fifty plus characters has been no easy task, and I’ve joined a bunch of calls with some buds trying to decide which characters should stay or go has been a struggle. I’ll probably come to this decision on my own since these are my characters and only my most cherished of children will make it in..

The spreadsheet above was originally where I listed out all of my ocs and we went through them all and talked about how which characters could act and little quirks they could have. I’d be a liar if I said it didn’t help give me an idea on the characters I FOR SURE wanted in.

Ornament’s a character I’ve wanted in the comic since day one, they’re GUARUNTEED to be a main character. I used them in this enviornment as a test of how I’d draw backgrounds in the comic.

As another small experiment, I tried to go back to my last comic Sunburn and redraw it with the skills I have now in a style I might’ve liked back then, I’m pretty happy with how it came out!

Below is another character with a similar style. She’s also guaranteed for the comic, her name’s Inkwell!

More onto the look of the comic...

I’ve also been messing around with a potential style for the comic. It’s another one of those things that I’ve been putting a lot of thought into, but at the end of the day I think I have a good idea for what I want to do.

My biggest inspirations for this comic have always been my favorite object shows (ONE, Battle for Dream Island Again) and their saturated colors and simple designs, and Homestuck and the many many MSPFAS out there (Vast Error, A Guy Gets Revenge). Drawing objects in this style consistently has been a bit of a struggle, but I’ve found myself gravitating towards big and round hands, and tiny lil’ feet.

I don’t know if I’ll lean as heavy with the gradients and blurs though, since they’ve given me mixed results. I think I like the look of them when minimally used so I’ll probably stick to that.

Another art related thing I heavily debated on using was sprites. At first, I wanted to completely opt out of using any sprites for the sake of simplicity, but with the help of some really nice people I not only re-sprited old characters, but decided that I might go with this sprite style for the new characters. They’re so silly that it’s been hard for me to say no!

Another thing I want to note before ending this post is that just like all of my other comics, I do not mean for this to be the job of a crew where I’m only a writer.

This is my comic, and something I’ve wanted to make. Chances are that just like Sunburn, I’ll be writing a large part of the comic and drawing a large chunk of the panels. I wanna carry the weight of this because its my story!!! With that being said, anyone’s welcome to help! If you’re interested, feel free to DM me on Discord @sundSlime#2003.

TLDR?

Progress on the comic has been underway, but there’s a lot of stuff left to iron out. Hope you guys like what I have so far! Have a good day :)

#osc #object show community #object show comic #mspfanventures #mspfa #another object comic

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awoken-artist · 2 years

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{Work Created on Oct 13, 2022 }

🌸 Please Do Not Steal, Trace, Use AI on my work, steal and sell my works for NFT's, and Repost/Resubmit my Works. Thank You. 🌸 Yep these two are back and I am honestly thinking of making a Instagram account focusing on the two cause why not [which I'll add to my carrd website for you guys to check it out down below] ANYWAYS SO YEAH MORE CONTENT OF THESE TWO. CAUSE I CAN the timeline here is with FMA Brotherhood where Ed visits Winry getting work on his automail before heading off with Greedling and the chimera guys. This does pop up in the story that is still being written about these two and I have been working on it off and on for years and just want to perfect the story before submitting it at least. So Emmy couldn't sleep after over hearing with Greedling and Edward about the fact that it would be best to leave Emmy behind [and it was during the trip heading back to Resembool] because knowing how the humunculi are they'll go after anyone who Edward cares about the most and do anything they can to keep them in their clutches. Winry was one of the hostages they planned to use on Ed and the worst gets when its Emmys life in the line as well. Emmy has fought her hardest even though she hasn't completely healed from the mine injuries she received that was not pleasant at all. luckily the injuries wasn't too serious to cause permanent damage but she was horribly hospitalized with limited supply but pulled through and went to the doctor the chimeras took her to like they did with Edward. Emmy couldn't sleep she had so much thought going on as she was worried when Edward leaves it'll be the last she sees him, of course she's worrying so much since she's used to tagging along with the brothers, especially Ed. So it will be the first she is separated from them until they return back home. Edward had a feeling she's been acting very off and decided to finally confront her and by luck they were completely alone in one of the rooms to talk in private. Which is something they rarely get to have between them since so much has been going on with everything that has happened. Edward assures her of a promise that he'll come back alive because he never plans on dying, because he has everyone waiting for him even his brother to count on him to get his body back and he never plans on dying what so ever. Emmy just wants to spend as much time with him as possible just the two of them, since this was a rarity they ever get privacy and time alone with themselves as life granted that as they were alone for the rest of the night. I love how this came out. I did my best making Edward in vroid the best I can. I do wish there's FMA outfits I can use on him but there hasn't been any that popped up that was decent and good which saddens me. [i even looked up on any models anyone made of him and its nothing but old models that doesn't even look good, i applaud to them however for trying.] I plan to make more content with the two again I just been very busy, got large commissions to work with still but its getting there. I do have old EdxEm arts I plan to redraw. I still have the large fanfiction of the two to work on as well as I plan to do a FMA 2003 series version and conqueror of shamballa version. Plus brotherhood since I like to give a variety for those who like brotherhood, for those who like the 2003 series. So yeah! :3 hope you guys enjoy!!

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🌸Artwork © by: @awoken-artist

🌸Character Emmy Rosenthal © by: @awoken-artist

🌸FMA and character Edward Elric owned by: Hiromu Arakawa

🌸3d Model of Edward Elric made by: @awoken-artist

🌸Programs Used:🌸

♥ Clip studio paint EX - Adding shadows, 3d background tool, finishing touches Vroid - Made my FMA OC model in along with making Edward Elric in it as well.

♥ 3d Background I used from Clip Studio Paint

♥ VRM Posing Desktop I used for setting the poses and angles on my 3d models of Ed and my FMA OC

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zone1alma · 2 years

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Hi, it’s me. Your friendly Alma ask blog mod that comes and goes and you can never predict her! :D

Ok, so anyway, here’s the juice.

And here’s the reason why I’ve popped back here after another 800 years of no activity.

So Alma’s blog (and the OFF fandom in general) have always been special to me on a personal level and even though I don’t hit up the OFF fandom like I used to back in 2012-2014, I still love it. I’ve tried to have this lil blog come off of hiatus many times, but I think with the slimming of the OFF fandom (I know it’s not dead, but it’s definitely not the fandom from back in the very early 2010s) and frankly, the fact that ask blogs just don’t seem to be as popular or as active on Tumblr as they used to be (at least not from what I see), I’m not sure this ask blog will ever be able to reach the activeness from the fandom I need to frankly keep it up and running. It’s also its own blog and not a side blog, so I have no active blogs I have attached to it, making it easy for me to completely forget about it and have even had a time or two where I thought I couldn’t find the stuff to log back in, thus losing it forever.

So I’d like to do one last project involving this blog before I most likely have to say ‘goodbye’ to it for good. I want to make a new side blog and start redrawing all of my old Q & As on here as kind of an archive project and a way for me to enjoy the blog’s content one last time. This is so I’ll be able to go back and enjoy the content without having to seek out this blog and once I finish all the re-draws, I’ll probably log off of this account for the final time.

Alma is very dear to me and I want to continue to enjoy him even if I don’t hit up the OFF fandom as much as I did back when he was first created. So in a way, this is for personal enjoyment, but I will also share the side blog on here for anyone interested in following. I do wish I could transfer some of my other interactions for archive on the side blog, but all of that will probably just remain here (I’m not deleting the blog, just archiving it).

So yeah, I hope that makes sense? So yeah TL;DR: I know this blog will never get the chance to be active like it was back in the day due to slimming activity in the OFF fandom and ask blogs, so I’m going to re-draw the Q&A content on here to archive it on a new side blog that’s attached to an account I actually get on daily.

If anyone has any questions about this, feel free to ask~ I’ll post again once I get the side blog made.

#OFF game #zone1alma #News #//I'm also probably gonna follow any active OFF blogs I followed on here to keep up with them//#//I don't have a whole lot on this newish main blog I got going on//#//and I have no OFF content on there at all//#//so I need to fix that//

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koffeenoe · 3 years

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This is such a good anime fr <3 and I love this route, soon I’ll be finish watching heaven’s Feel Route too （╹◡╹）♡

#illustration #my fanart #redraw #fate stay night #fate stay night unlimited blade works #fate stay night ubw #rin tohsaka #So I dtarted rewatching this bcs I never watched second season (I mean just the last episode from it lol)#and I’m enjoying it so far as it was 2014 🥺#Ufotable is on another level with their animation omg those figths look so epic #and KALAFINA 😭 I MISS THEM #those EDs are the best 😭#I consider it a redraw from a piece I did back in 2014 of Rin #I need more fate in my content #pretty sure I’ll do a Saber one bcs last one I did of her ir was last year 🙂#hasta aquí mi reporte Joaquín #I beg your pardon for typos lol

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l-a-l-o-u · 3 years

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ohh i haven’t done one of these in ages!! @sabertoothwalrus (check her out, gr8 content) tagged me in this art thing

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 8 (ish) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome work!

1 - Korra with Raava staff

this was super fun to finally draw!! i had this idea of an AU where benders use staffs to control their element over 3 years ago (i think) and its great to finally see it beyond random doodles i did in class back then. i really want to design some other staffs too at some point!

2 - Just some gays in a field

This might be the only thing I posted this year that wasn’t fanart... I rarely get motivated to draw original stuff but I somehow finished this one. yeehaw

3 - BoTW Midna

a little before Age of Calamity came out, i started a new BoTW file and as i was replaying & thinking about the Lore, i kept thinking about the love of my life, Midna Twilight Princess..... and for like a week i was obsessed with the idea of a Midna reincarnation showing up in the sequel. my Midzel loving ass immediately shipped this dumbass teen version with Zelda, of course,

4 - My tabaxi child

I started playing D&D regularly this year!! it’s one of my favorite things about 2020!! i absolutely love this character too, druid is my favorite class so far and playing an impolite 13 year old with a bad french accent is SO funny. every other player immediately adopts them its great

5 - The background map & front page art for the Critical Role Wiki

I finished catching up to all of CR earlier this year, and since i had a tendency to zone out and miss stuff, i would look up a ton of stuff on the wiki, and i always thought it looked so bland! it was still using the default theme and i thought it deserved something nicer. so i decided i would just Do That Myself! and since then i started editing the wiki super regularly, it’s one of my main hobbies now (ranked 19th out of the wiki editors babey)

the map i can’t take full credit for, as it’s only a traced version of this map. the original wasn’t big enough to fit the wiki, so i thought, why don’t i just. ya know. trace over the entire thing by hand. that way i could also decide on the colors and font, etc (plus i love drawing lots of lil tedious details). later on i also made this graphic to put on the front page! both of these had to be WAY downsized to fit the wiki formatting but at least i can share the full size files on here

6 - “Human” Raava

idk who remembers but I used to be OBSESSED with the AU where Raava looked like a human, and became younger as she lost power. i suddenly wanted to redraw the concept after all this time and reworked my old design a bit. twas fun

7 - The unfinished Pearl/Rose comic

in the end I only colored this single panel, but i did post the first 8 pages (which is as far as i got) of an old comic idea from over a year ago. its kinda crazy how hard it is for me to post unfinished stuff.. but in the end i’m glad i did. its very validating to read the tags on that post and see how many people got mad/sad after reading it hehehe

8 - Mighty Nein redesigns

i started this series of character sheets almost exactly one year ago! so far i only finished Jester and Beauregard (altho i need to update with her winter outfit), but i’m actually nearly done with Caleb, idk why i haven’t posted it yet... in my heart i believe that one day i’ll finish them all. but that might be 5 years from now. special shoutout to all the other CR art i made this year!! i actually got featured in the slideshow a couple times which is pretty unreal

Honorable mention - New Nameless designs

this is the only one i posted, but i actually spent quite a bit of time this year developping a webcomic idea. i made a good amount of concept art and wrote a lot about it. it still feels way too ambitious for me to consider starting the webcomic any time soon (i want to make at least one other comic before) but the idea really grew this year!! anyway this is Nameless and her funky animal companion, they are travelling around a fantasy continent and uncovering mysterious lore

im blanking on who to tag uhhh @officialrocketjumper, @cadetheespeon and @butchlinkle

#thank u for tagging me!!#lalou yells #i rlly didnt draw that much this year but what little i did was pretty nice #im slowly starting to get my creative juices back #burnout? dont know her

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ikroah · 3 years

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Whiskey river, take my mind, don't let her memory torture me. Whiskey river, don't run dry, you're all I got, take care of me. —“Whiskey River,” Shotgun Willie (1973)

It Keeps Right On a-Hurtin’ #15 - Vegas Outskirts

Collaborative Issue! Guest Colorist: @malpaislegate / @socksual-innuendos

Archive Links

«« First | « Previous || Next » | Last »»

Read IKROAH on Archive of Our Own

Notes / Original Pencils / Transcript:

Notes:

MAN that’s gotta hurt!! Volume 2 kicks off with a bang, literally if you count the gunshot and honorifically if you count Socks’ knockout color job on this issue. Look at those lovingly rendered bullet wounds!! Muah!!!

It’s been a relief having a month off from the comic as I handled a bunch of other things but there’s a lot to look forward to in Volume 2, as you can probably tell from that very forboding fist clench at the end there. Will Agnes and Cass get the revenge they’re looking for? Can they make it big in Vegas? Will it keep right on a-hurtin’? Find out next ish as Cass leads Agnes to meet the first of their new “friends.”

Original Pencils:

The pencils for this issue are like an autopsy report of all the things that can go wrong with your art if you don’t plan ahead and pay attention. Listen, friend, to my tale of woe, and learn from my mistakes so they don’t become yours!

First, you can see a lot of places where there’s floating objects, empty backgrounds, and incomplete heads. Part of this is because I always intended to just copy and paste repeated elements across each panel instead of drawing them multiple times, but other times I was forced to just because of my lack of planning. The top three panels on page two, for example, required me to draw the background I’d use for them on a separate page.

Second, you can probably tell that I actually had to flip the two raiders around in the final lineart because I forgot to keep the hands their were holding their guns in consistent—and since I couldn’t flip the middle panel on the second page without ruining the composition, I decided to flip all of their other appearances so that they’d be lefties. I doubt you even can seamlessly wield those particular guns left-handed.

Third, the size of the cart that Agnes and Cass are kneeling behind changes CONSTANTLY and is dramatically oversized from the third page onward. After inking these pages, it took a lot of work to correct the inks and shrink that cart in each panel, but fortunately it came out looking good.

And finally, I completely redrew the second panel on the fifth page because it wasn’t until I had already handed he pages off to my colorist that I realized having a second profile shot of Cass so soon after a first one was just...redundant and lazy-looking. So I went back to my sketchbook and whipped up a much more unique, striking angle (I also just wasn’t satisfied with the quality of my art on that panel, so I’m very glad I redrew it). But again, my failure to plan ahead bit me in the ass and my redraw attempt wound up taking up a lot more space than I thought it would, so after inking it I had to basically surgically remove it from the other inks.

I’ll be honest with you folks: part of the reason that I work in such simple, thick, high-contrast lineart is because it’s very easy to make corrections and adjustments with stuff you could technically color in Microsoft Paint.

Transcript:

EXT. SOMEWHERE IN THE MOJAVE, morning. AGNES SANDS and ROSE OF SHARON CASSIDY stand over the wreckage of a caravan, scattered over a dirt road.

CASS: Hell.

EXT. SOMEWHERE ELSE IN THE MOJAVE, midday. Looking over a second wrecked caravan, at the bottom of a ditch.

CASS: Fuck.

EXT. PRE-WAR HIGHWAY OUTSIDE OF VEGAS, mid-afternoon. AGNES and CASS survey a third wrecked caravan.

CASS: Shit. The proof is in the pudding. Or the pile of ash, rather. These attacks were done with Van Graff guns for Crimson Caravan caps. I'm sure of it.

As CASS explains her theory to AGNES, a short distance from the caravan two RAIDERS peer at the two of them from inside a barn at a ruined farmstead. They have snake-bite tattoos on the sides of their shaved heads and are holding rifles.

CASS: The scorchmarks and residue in the wreckages? That's energy weapon shit. Plasma and laser. Silver Rush special. Not like it'd be the Brotherhood. And Crimson Caravan must have bankrolled this fucked-up little hunting trip themselves.

The RAIDERS move out from the barn, sneaking up on two passers-by who’ve stopped at the caravan wreckage.

CASS: That explains why they bought me out...they needed the last loose end to saddle up back west with a tidy sum.

(NOTE: *Agnes delivered it and Cass signed it in IKROAH #7—Lou.)

CASS: It's a racket, Agnes: torch the local competition and it's win-win for both the f—

SFX: KRAK

A gunshot rips out from one of the RAIDERS’ rifles and sears across CASS’ shoulder.

CASS (gasping): —uckers.

CASS slumps down beneath the overturned caravan wagon on the road, clutching her shot shoulder.

CASS: —Aaggghghhhhhhh.

AGNES: Cass! Are you—

CASS: Fuck! Agnes, get down you moron!

AGNES ducks behind the cover of the wooden caravan wagon just as another gunshot splinters the top lip of it.

SFX: DTHWAK!

The RAIDERS advance on CASS and AGNES’ position, firing at them from off the road.

SFX: KRAK

AGNES leans over the top of the wagon with her pistol, returning fire.

SFX: BTAK BTAK BTAK

AGNES lands a shot right in one of the RAIDERS’ guts, and she drops her weapon and falls down.

SFX: SPLUT

CASS, leaning out the side of the wagon, takes as careful of aim as she can with her shotgun by holding it with her good arm. Trembling, she fires, connecting with the other RAIDER.

SFX: KBLAM

The would-have-been RAIDERS are dead.

AGNES: ...were those the Van Graffs?

CASS: No. Just some vultures.

CASS leans back behind cover to sit against the bottom of the overturned wagon again, wincing from her shoulder injury.

CASS: Ugghhn.

AGNES (slipping off duffel bag): Cass, your shoulder—

CASS: Yeah, it's been shot. I'm pretty fucking aware.

AGNES (unzipping bag): Quick, can you take your shirt off—

CASS: What!?

AGNES: —so I can dress the wound, Cass!

CASS: Oh! Good! So you weren't coming onto me on what remains of Griffin Wares Caravan.

CASS starts removing her shirt while AGNES produces a bottle of something from her duffel bag, and dampens a rag with its contents.

CASS: And since when are you a fucking field medic, anyway?

AGNES: 2269. NCR Certified.

CASS: What?

AGES: Yeah. I've been one kind of doctor or another since I was six.

CASS: What?

AGNES: Now hold still, this is antiseptic.

CASS: Since you were six!? I...shit, wait, hang on, Agnes—

AGNES pressess the rag onto CASS’ shoulder wound, and CASS winces instinctively. But, confusingly, there isn’t any pain.

CASS: ...isn't this supposed to sting like hell?

AGNES: No, not really. It's an acetic acid solution. Vinegar, basically.

AGNES begins cleaning the wound with the rag.

CASS: I thought you put alcohol on wounds to clean them.

AGNES: That's...a common misconception. It's good for tools, maybe, but too strong for skin. And it can complicate healing if you apply it directly.

CASS: So you're telling me, all my years, I've been wasting good whiskey only making my boo-boos worse?

AGNES: I mean...it's better than nothing in a pinch, but...

CASS: Well, then. Thanks for the lecture, doc. Can you just pass the whiskey anyway? Shoulder still hurts like hell regar—

AGNES hands her the whiskey bottle. She’d already gotten it out.

CASS: —dless. Oh. Thanks.

AGNES unspools a roll of bandages in her hands, then begins wrapping it over CASS’ shoulder and across her chest..

AGNES: So. It's a relatively minor wound, more of a deep graze than a real gunshot.

CASS: You'd know all about real gunshots, huh?

AGNES (unfazed): Uh-huh. I can suture it if necessary, but for now, these bandages will be fine. Just hold still. How do you feel?

CASS: I feel fucking pissed, Agnes!

AGNES recoils, taken aback slightly.

CASS: As I was saying before I got shot in the shoulder—which, however "minor" the wound, is real fucking close to my head, Agnes—this wasn't some random attack. These caravans, my caravan, got hit by the Van Graffs and Crimson Caravan. It ain't just some tragedy anymore. Now I've got names. Places. Faces.

AGNES resumes bandaging CASS.

CASS: I told you—ow! Don't pinch my tit, dammit—

AGNES: I said hold still.

CASS: —I told you, when you told me about this guy who shot you...when I let you drag me out of that fucking outpost...and when we went to Boulder City...that I would do the exact same thing in your shoes. Now, it is the exact same thing. This fucker shoots your eye out, these fuckers ash my caravan...these same fuckers I sold my own goddamn name to on a piece of paper. I mean...what else are we doing out here, Agnes? Getting shot at by Khans and Raiders just for kicks? Are we just fucking around?

AGNES finishes bandaging CASS, then leans back, pensive.

AGNES: No...no, I really guess we’re not.

CASS: That's what I thought. Your friend in Vegas can wait. Help me get mine, and we can get that shitheel together, and that's a prom—

CASS raises her arm to shake her fist as she speaks, straining her shoulder injury.

CASS: —mmmmmmghhhh. Ooww, oww, oww, oww...

CASS grabs her shoulder in pain while AGNES looks off in the distance and stands up. She looks out towards the horizon—towards VEGAS, and the pre-war casinos and hotels that still gleam and glitter in blinding sunlight.

Her fist clenches. Her brow furrows. Her body tenses, all over, staring at that city, that place.

The caravan wreckage remains alone on the highway, brahmin bones long picked clean by scavengers.

AGNES SANDS IN: IT KEEPS RIGHT ON A HURTIN’

VOLUME 2: MAKE IT BIG IN VEGAS

#fallout new vegas #fallout #courier six #rose of sharon cassidy #volume 02 #15 #ikroah archive

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idanwyn-et-al · 3 years

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(XIV|21-10: Heady. Oakmoss Vithsyna.)

Today was her one hundredth nameday, and she was spending it alone.

At least that was the plan before her second son, Gjes, slipped past her wards, his overlarge red eyes glaring at her from the dark edges of her cavern, blinking too slowly for her comfort.

“You’ve always been my least-favorite child, Gjes,” Oakmoss grumbled irritably. “Along with your remarkable physical resemblance to my grandsire, you also have his terrible habit of refusing to honor boundaries.”

“Bold words, mother, considering your heresy is still spoken of far beyond Kisne.” Gjes didn’t move closer; he preferred the periphery when his bog witch of a dam was involved. Too many little cobwebbed traps hidden amongst her hoard; she might as well be one of those great wyrms rumored to rule far to the northwest of and across the sea from the Skatay range.

“Heresy? Isn’t that one of those...oh, what’s the word...Fishgardian concepts?” Close enough; it seemed she and her son were tuned into the same distant linkpearl. “It doesn’t matter. I learned much from my sire, and no knowledge is forbidden to the wily seeker. Why do you insist on making this argument yet again, and today, of all days?”

“I know it’s your nameday, mother. My gift to you is, again, my wisdom.” He crouched down, his voice low and urgent. “Take your show on the road, as it were. There aren’t enough visitors to this remote part of the world any longer. Go to Rabanastre, at least; shroud yourself and serve at Orbonne for a time. You could go further, to Doma, where everything is made of lacquered wood, even their dishes.” He was rising incrementally, driven by the heady passion behind his words. “You can’t stay here. You are starting to grow oakmoss on your legs.”

Oakmoss---again, not her forest name, but here we see the origins of her city name---turned her eyes away from the cards splayed before her on the dusty velvet tablecloth. “Am I? How fitting, then, for one who has earned a respectable living, borne ten children in under one hundred years, and done much more, all before middle age. You’ve yet to learn the value of stillness, boy. Your sire was handsome, but lazy. A shame to see it passed on to you.” Her irascibility seethed like foam in a tidepool. “I’ll give your opinion all the consideration it deserves. Get out. You’ve a patch of the Wood to mark with your piss.”

Her son was gone as if he’d melted through the mats of glowing fungus that covered the walls of her cave. She felt a brief pang of regret; shouldn’t mothers be more nurturing, even when their children enraged them? On her one hundredth nameday, shouldn’t she have wanted to seat all ten of them around a table groaning beneath the weight of her home-cooked repast?

In half a bell, these regrets, these self-doubts, had melted into oblivion, replaced by bitter acceptance. The cards, despite her reshuffling and redrawing of them in an attempt to exert her will over the universe itself, were in agreement with her least-favorite son. Within a moon, she’d left her cave and most of its contents to Mjrna; the rest moved with her.

#oakmoss vithsyna #my characters #my writing #FfxivWrite2021 #veena viera #ffxiv viera #thanks for the cave matoya!#prompt 10 heady #I don't care for G(j)ob

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sailorspazz · 3 years

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10 Dance Vol. 6 Special Edition overview

Volume 6 of the 10 Dance manga was released in Japan on March 18th, 2021. As with volumes 4 and 5, there are both regular and special editions available. In this post, I will provide an overview of the release, including observations on changes that were made to the chapters compared to how they were printed in the magazine, plus summaries and select scans of content from the special edition booklet.

It is often the case that when chapters come out in the manga magazines, they aren't always fully polished, and since I became highly familiar with this run of chapters from the summaries I made, several things immediately jumped out at me as I went through the book. First of all, though chapter 29 was split into two parts and released in subsequent months in the magazine, these two halves were combined into one chapter, with no indication they had ever been separate. I assume that they were always intended to be one chapter, but since the full chapter was not completed before the deadline (and it was a month when 10 Dance was being given the cover image, so not possible to delay its release), it was simply split over two months instead.

For visual changes, the most common alteration was scenes that originally had little or no screentone having it added in:

There were also some instances of either slight panel redraws, or complete replacements with new panels. None of these were from particularly important scenes, so it could just be Inouesatoh or someone on her team didn't like the look of the original panels and wanted to change them. The following example has a bit of both, with Suzuki in the upper left corner being replaced, and his eyes being redrawn in the lower panel:

Personally, the most amusing addition I noticed was when Max was thinking about throwing a party. Originally, we didn't see what he was envisioning, but in the volume, an addition has been made in the background: the New Year's piece Inouesatoh drew with sexy men dressed as cows, except now they're bunnies!

As for dialogue, it appeared to be almost the same in both versions throughout. Some minor exceptions include a spot I found where the dialogue was put in a different order, swapping Sugiki’s lines between this panel and his first line on the following page (in addition to another altered panel example):

As well as in this shot of Suzuki describing how they tug at the thread that connects them through their dance. Whereas before it put the word “dance” next to the part about tugging on the thread to specify what was meant by that, it was deleted in the volume. And while it was originally described as “affirming that we’re connected”, this was also tweaked a bit to be, “affirming our connection”.

There were a couple instances of character names being different from when they appeared earlier in the story. In this volume, two characters who were last mentioned back in volume 2 (Lucas Calvo, one of the champions at the table in Blackpool, and Deeks, who Ernie said hated Sugiki because he "stole" his girlfriend), either from typos or intentional changes, weren't the same as before. Lucas' last name was written with a 'g' sound (ガルボ) instead of a 'c' (カルボ), and this change carried over to the volume. On the other hand, Deeks' (ディクス) name got transposed as Disc (ディスク) in the magazine, but was fixed in the volume.

There was a typo that unfortunately made it through to the volume (but could perhaps be fixed in future printings). In chapter 34, when Norman is testing Suzuki's skills, he flashes back to Sugiki taking the national title from him several years earlier. The text in this scene, written in English, incorrectly states that Suzuki won the championship, rather than Sugiki.

The volume also includes the usual additions that are not present in the magazine, such as the under the cover flap comic, and Inouesatoh’s notes about each chapter.

The cover flap comic (which looks very much like a sketch, compared to previous ones that have had more complete art), features the Shinyas during a practice session earlier on in the series in December, where Suzuki complains that Sugiki’s Latin just isn’t sexy. Sugiki suggests that he can practice being sexy by wiggling his butt around to write a message in the air. Suzuki worries that if he starts writing out “love” or something, he’ll have to run away and escape. Sugiki gets started, and Suzuki calls out each letter that he can make out from his elegant butt bouncing. After figuring out he’s written “M-E-R-R-Y”, Suzuki guesses that he’s writing “Merry Christmas”. Sugiki gets mad that he said it aloud before he finished writing his message, and says he’s going to leave. Suzuki says, “Wait, I love you,” as narrative text says that this somehow turned into a love story in one panel.

And here are some tidbits I found interesting/amusing from the chapter notes:

She thinks readers who are fans of pecs will like Saichi.

She’s not sure if readers will love Max or hate him, but she personally likes him (sorry Sensei, I kinda hate him lol)

As of chapter 32, a portion of the art is now done digitally.

The epic “last dance” scene from 33 was something that she had planned since the beginning of the series, and it ended up being 8 times the cost for a typical chapter.

Special edition booklet:

The special edition comes with a 48 page hardcover booklet that includes a variety of different extras, divided into 8 sections called “heats”.

Heat 1 is a newly drawn, 12 page parody manga. Back in September 2020, Inouesatoh put out a request on Twitter for fans to send in their suggestions for an erotic side story. Putting the characters in a high school setting was the most requested scenario, so she chose this idea as the basis for the story. The title is “And All That Jazz” (the premise makes this somewhat confusing to summarize, so keep in mind that I’ll mostly be describing their actions based on the soul rather than the body, but will use quotation marks if it’s about other characters and who they think they’re addressing. It’ll all make sense, I promise...I think :P)

(The title page actually depicts the ending of the story, so I’ll come back to it later). It starts with Suzuki narrating his introduction, saying that he’s a transfer student to the Standard Academy. He really doesn’t get along with a guy named Sugiki, but for some reason, the two have now switched bodies with each other. Sugiki opens his shirt and inspects his new physique in front of other students, as Suzuki yells out asking what the hell he’s doing to his body. They look at themselves wearing each other’s expressions, Sugiki seeming surprised his mouth can gape open like that, and Suzuki wondering what happened to his body’s facial expression muscles. The bell rings and Sugiki heads off to class, as Suzuki is baffled that he can act so calm about this.

Sugiki perfectly reads a passage aloud in English class, something everyone (including the teacher, who looks like Norman) find unusual coming from “Suzuki”, as they wonder where his usual hearts are. Suzuki makes the decision to enjoy living as Sugiki for a bit, and is shown getting flirty with several girls. He notes that the more serious personality in his regular body is also strangely popular, though with a very different crowd.

A student named Alberko (Alberto in a girl’s uniform) shows up and says that “Sugiki” was supposed to have lunch with her(?) today. Suzuki says that he thought Alberko was going out with Dorou (a masculine alteration to Dolores’ name). Ernie and Suzuki watch as his harem falls apart with Alberko running amok. Ernie comments that both “Sugiki” and that transfer student have been acting weird all week, and he asks if something happened. Suzuki internally reflects back to one week earlier, when he was relaxing in bed in the infirmary. Sugiki comes in and accuses him of skipping class, and Suzuki tells him to mind his own business. He thought this would turn into one of their usual fights, but he can’t believe that actually happened instead...

After school, Sugiki asks Suzuki if they can go home together today. As they’re walking, Suzuki asks if Sugiki realizes what it was that made them switch places, and Sugiki says he does. Suzuki says that in that case, they know how they need to fix it, and they should go over to his house. Sugiki asks for clarification of whose house exactly he means by that.

As they start to get undressed, Suzuki says that he always thought his mom and sisters were annoying, but after a week apart he really misses them. Sugiki promises that he’ll make sure he can see them soon. Suzuki claims that he’ll be the one making Sugiki come, and Sugiki asks how he can talk like that when he was the one who looked like he was about to cry when Sugiki first touched him in the infirmary.

Sugiki peeks into Suzuki’s pants and wonders if he won’t get hard unless he touches him. Suzuki thinks it’d be weirder if he could get hard while looking at his own face, and wonders if Sugiki has AI in his crotch or something (Sugiki contends that it’s not his body). They fool around with each other until they finish, and Suzuki wonders why they didn’t change back yet. Sugiki suggests that maybe it needs to be just like the last time to count as a complete set, when they went at it until they fell off the bed, so both agree that they need to go for one more round. This then ties back to the title page, where they’ve finally managed to get back into their old bodies, but have now sprouted cat ears and tails.

Heat 2 of the booklet is 8 pages long, and contains short comics and illustrations that were not previously included in the volume releases. The comics include “How to 10 Dance”, a one-page comic with the Shinyas demonstrating the tango. Their privates end up touching, and Sugiki seems highly amused, gleefully asking Suzuki how it feels. Suzuki says that he was the one who got all bent out of shape over that back in volume 1, and tells him to lay off the sadist mode since they’re not dancing Latin right now. The second comic is “2nd Step”, and shows a glimpse of how the Shinyas were with each other after Suzuki gave the go-ahead for kissing. In fact, Sugiki ends up kissing him so much that Suzuki’s lips get sore and swollen. Sugiki then tries to kiss his neck as an alternative, but Suzuki’s not having it. The third comic depicts Suzuki’s first time in a public bath, where he realizes that Japanese people aren’t fully shaved everywhere like he is. Some of the old guys talk to him and slap their balls with their towels, and Suzuki, seeming a bit confused, gives his own balls a slap, too. After the comics are a selection of illustrations that were never used in the volumes, including this one from a Real 10 Dance event in 2018:

Heat 3 is 18 pages, and contains a variety of colored versions of both chapter covers and scenes from the manga, a couple of which I’ll share below:

Heat 4 includes 3 pages of insight from the professional dancers who consult for the manga, in which they explain the moves shown in specific panels.

Heat 5 is a single page look at Inouesatoh’s work space.

Heat 6 is 3 pages worth of advertisements that have been used to promote the series, including things like ads that were posted in subway stations:

Heat 7 is a single page look at the storyboard for chapter 1 of the manga.

Heat 8 is a single page showing the covers for foreign editions of the manga (Taiwanese, Korean, North American, and French).

Finally, there’s one last page with a thank you message from Inouesatoh, including an absolutely precious illustration of the Shinyas in happier times.

And that’s that! This really is an incredible release, and I’d definitely recommend picking up the special edition if you can. CD Japan offers direct international shipping, and I’ve also seen that Kinokuniya lists it as “available to order” currently (though they don’t appear to have stock on hand, so might take longer).

#10 dance #10dance

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serenedash · 3 years

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I started rambling about my experience with kh and then it turned into khux and then it just turned into me rambling about Ryou and my art journey????? enjoy I guess,

it’s very long but there’s art in there :)

It’s funny to think about my kh journey as a whole tbh, I grew up watching my mom play video games, which included kh1 and 2. I wasn’t allowed to play the playstation2 we owned BUT I did have a gameboy so the first game I played was CoM (after my mom finished it ofc,) so I guess you could say I’ve always been passionate about kh “””side games””” lmao but I did fall off of kh very quickly bc again, I wasn’t allowed to play our PS2 and also I Am A Terrible Gamer I’ve Never Finished CoM I’m sorry you all had to find out like this, but then 358/2 came out when I was in middle school and!!! I didn’t care and I didn’t play idk why lol

Anyway, fast forward to high school I’m like 15 and my older sister, who HAS been keeping up with kh, has a wallpaper on her phone of roxas and ventus. And bc I haven’t kept up I say “nice roxas wallpaper” and she says “thanks but it’s roxas and ventus” and I proceeded to get so mad that I was determined to prove to her that her wallpaper was just roxas twice and then I fell down the BBS rabbit hole and suddenly I was reading about vanitas and then I’m reading the fan translations of the BBS novel and I’m crying??? I am sobbing???? and that’s how I actually got into kh for real lol we are vanitas stans before we are people,

It’s so funny how I thought I was some kh super fan, knowing all this stuff that I spent so long reading and rewatching cutscene movies, but I never once, SOMEHOW NEVER ever came across khx. It’s so absurd and bizarre I seriously have no idea how I never once encountered khx prior to khux. I suppose that has to do with the fact I wasn’t involved in the fandom? In early high school I had stepped away from fandoms as a whole and I didn’t have any interest in really posting content or interacting with fans anymore bc of how burnt out I was from a previous fandom,

but khux released! and I was so hype and excited for it! on launch day I was a senior in high school, I had ran around to every “nerd” and weeb I could find in school to ask them to join my party and fun fact about me is I have crippling social anxiety I literally refuse to start conversations irl so holy shit I was OUT HERE doing the MOST

My player just originally had my name (Matt) but everyone in my party had fun names so Ryou was born! High school was one big yugioh phase for me and ryou bakura is one of my favorite characters ever so it was just the logical name choice lol I quickly started creating Ryou, the character, as well. I was also leaving my homestuck phase and that + vanitas obsession made This character design (art circa 2016)

If y’all are familiar with my kh oc’s you might notice that keyblade now belongs to my kid Monty LOL

Anyway that got scrapped quickly for the chip and dale outfit (which is where Ryou’s trademark goggles are from <3) Goggles have been a staple of my character designs for a LONG TIME so like, it had to be done, (that’s a separate ramble about a separate oc tho)

OG Ryou was an interesting guy; he was a young party leader with this overwhelming responsibility on his shoulders bc of his status as a party leader. In his original story, he also struggled heavily with darkness, much like Terra but for Ryou it was more that the darkness was controlling him and not like a source of power like it was for Terra

A big part of early Ryou I kept, however, was the crushing awareness of loss. One of my party members (the strongest one at the time,) had left without saying a word and I was very confused and hurt. This was around the time the ephemera plot was happening so I decided to incorporate it into Ryou’s story; having him experience losing a friend to darkness since it’s so normal for wielders in Daybreak Town to just disappear, and this would unintentionally become a theme for both me and Ryou as khux friends would just randomly disappear.

I was desperate for khux at this point and I decided to watch the fan translations for khx and GOD, god, was I obsessed. I couldn’t stop thinking about the foretellers. And I’m not going off about that here bc I already did that, but I actually started entering fandom again! I did it slowly, I started on tumblr before this blog was made altho it was me sending anons to the few khux related blogs I could have lol a friend convinced me to get twitter where I got involved with the ffxv fandom, which led me to the kh fandom and eventually the khux fandom there which is what REALLY got me going on khux.

I joined discord servers, most of the servers I’m in are khux related, and from there I joined the khux oc rp (shout out to anyone there who might be reading this lol here’s some art from the beginning of the rp,)

It’s SO FUNNY how the RP influenced me so heavily. I hadn’t RP’d in YEARS, I used to have a strict no oc rp policy, but here I was? And the funny part is, I had barely developed Ryou. I had scrapped his original story and all I had was POST WAR Ryou so I literally had to reverse write him; I had only ever written him as a depressed, guilt ridden adult, but it was a fucking blast and I have such fond memories of this rp when it was active,

But anyway, this encouraged me to get more serious about art! I started drawing, writing, cosplaying, and roleplaying when I hadn’t done any of that stuff in a very long time. The first time I ever drew a background was for a deviant art khux competition actually LOL

also! I always think extremely fondly of the drawing I did of Aced in the keyblade war. It was also one of the first backgrounds I ever drew and it felt like my real starting point in the khux fandom. It got a ton of notes on here and someone wrote a tiny fic in a reblog which just made me SO HAPPY like it really felt like people were noticing me :) I was going to draw a matching Ira but!! I just never did!! One day tho, it’s on my art bucket list to redraw this along with Ira,

Aside from my personal growth, khux was great for my social life ngl, I made SO MANY friends online and got to meet a ton of people irl over the years! It’s crazy to think about all the people I now know and talk to? It honestly makes me really emotional. I’ll never forget taking the train into NYC and meeting up with discord friends. Going to conventions and talking with people about the latest khux update? Absolutely insane and those were some GOOD TIMES, if I thanked every khux friend or even just person who made an impact on me then we’d be here for a LONG TIME,

Fun fact, for my Lauriam cosplay all I needed to buy was the wig I just owned his outfit LOL also? Probably retiring that cosplay ngl people treated me like absolute garbage when I wore him and it led to a lot of confidence issues for awhile ngl. That’s probably one of the only memorable negative experiences I have with khux; it was great when khux people recognized me but for kh fans that weren’t in khux? They were FUCKING MEAN??? fuck kh fandom at large, I only care about khux fandom,

This leads me to another huge part of my experience in khux fandom: THEORIES!! I used to write SO MANY and oh my god my brain was so full all the time. It was a huge appeal for me in the fandom; I had been previously writing theory posts in the RWBY fandom and it just migrated over to khux for me lol I had done a ton of theorizing around Lauriam tbh, it was really the only reason I liked his character at all bc initially I did not care about the dandelions, anyone who wasn’t Skuld I was like “please leave Now thanks”

A funny part of khux fandom I never intended to be apart of is the MEMES, I really only started doing memes as stress relief bc college had me so busy all I had time/energy for was these quick little shit post drawings.

The first meme I made, file name “invi despair” LOL we need to get her a girlfriend smh anyway, I think in my senior year of college I did a bunch of rapid fire memes all in one month bc the stress of finals was getting so bad afdgfhdgf as far as I know my impact on this fandom will be my memes bc all I do now is enter a kh/khux server and introduce myself and I go “yeah I draw art. here’s a meme” and everyone goes OH YOU, honestly I am nothing if not a clown

I’ve talked so much idk where I’m going with this. Khux is just a good game even if the gameplay actually kind of really sucks yknow lol but it was the first game I played where I like, REALLY got into the meta and the mechanics. I used to read so much on the mechanics and watch youtube videos on which medals were worth pulling for. I was never a whale or a top player exactly, but I could rank well if I tried lol I’ve made it to the top 100 for solo rankings, my party has made it to top 10, and in pvp I’ve made top 300. I’m not the highest level in my party but FUCK do I know how to manipulate this game LOL

And with all that hard work, the strategies, the theorizing, the content I’ve made-- it’s been my life for 5 years. I’ve logged into khux almost every single day. At the end, I have logged 1820 days in khux out of 1910 days. Kinda crazy. Crazier I’ve never spent money on khux either lol the only “money” gone into it was one time my mom gave me a google play store gift card and I used it on my birthday for a VIP xemnas medal which eventually made it to regular pulls anyway but it was nice and a little treat :)

I’m not a gacha fan, I don’t care for it, so I don’t think I’ll be touching another gacha again. But for kh? This was pretty fucking awesome, even if it sucked a lot sometimes LOL It was worth it for the people I’ve met most of all I think. I would honestly be a completely different person without khux and that’s REALLY insane to think about.

#the khux hyperfixation is REAL #but yall knew this about me #there's so much more I could say but it's 2am and this is long enough already #im rambling

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leconcombrerit · 4 years

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So I’m obviously not done yet, but I’ve started a little redraw of that Portia drawing I made back in 2019.

It was one of my very first Arcana drawing, I was just so into this game ! I sort of... Progressivly fell out of it I guess. That’s what happens with most of my fandoms though, the ones that remain for years are fairly rare.

Having to mess with my phone at every update (yes my phone is that bad) didn’t help. The three main routes being over didn’t help either, since, aside from Lucio’s, the new ones didn’t hook me up as much.

Portia’s started out good but quickly became “too much” for me. Too much information, I don’t see where the story’s going, my small brain can’t proceed everything and emotions at the same time. I still love her a ton as a character though ! Just. Yeah. I’d rather have kept it simple.

I don’t know what disturbs me so damn much about Muriel’s route, but there’s definitely something. I loved it at first and then... Something happened ? I really don’t know.

But hey, I’ll still see those routes through, and replay Asra and Nadia as well ! I guess I’m just not sure if I’ll be makign a whole lot of content for this game anymore.

#Portia Devorak #The arcana #the arcana game #art #redraw

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remember-the-fanfics · 5 years

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How about the crystal gems plus Spinel, if ya want, seeing the reader, who happens to be a werewolf and can control themselves, transform for the first time? If this has been done before I apologize.

The First Moon | Steven Universe Reader Insert|

Okay for the lack of inspiration from myself, it's everybody because it would be easier. Hopefully I'll make this long enough

The Gems had noticed something off about you since you've gotten back from visiting your family in the mountains.

You were always an open person to the gems, as you use to babysit Steven as an early teen. You had started to redraw from them. You would avoid them so they had gotten the Gem, you wouldn't dare to avoid

You've noticed it too, you could smell something from far way like the ocean is now almost an overwhelming salt smell. Your vision had gotten better, by you can see farther away and can make out great detail. You don't want to even talk about your hearing.

You were blaming your parents for this. They always wanted to carry down the family bloodline but since you weren't one by birth, they waited until you were grown and bite you.

You cursed yourself from trusting them, they've changed the past years, unhappy that you've chosen to live far away.

"(Y/n)?" Said Spinel and she watched as you jump away from her. "Are you alright? You've changed your style." She noticed, you were wearing sweatpants and a hoodie. You weren't one known to dress up or not at all.

"I'm fine! Really." You said. "Did you come to visit?"

"The Gems asked me to talk to you." Said Spinel. "You seem troubled (Y/n), they, we want to help."

"This isn't something you can help with Spinel. You or the others." You said, looking Spinel in the eyes.

"We can-."

"No! Please. Just leave it. Let's just hang out okay?" You said, clearly nervous and emotional as Spinel can clearly see.

"How's work?" Asked Spinel, the two of you were sitting on two swings.

"I've been taking a few vacation days I've saved up and some sick days." You mumbled

"What happened to you? You've never liked missing work (Y/n)." Said Spinel, looking at you. "You use to never avoid eye contact! You're pushing away people." Stated the gem.

"I don't know what to do! I trusted them and they just tricked me for their own reasons." You yelled at her before crying.

"Who did what?" Asked Spinel, clearly ready to kill an army for you.

"If I'm going to explain this to you, I need to tell the others as well. I'm not gonna do it more than once." You said, already tired of this.

"Of course."

So you had explained your family history to the Gems in front of you, explained what your parents did and why, even showing the bite mark.

"You're telling me, that werewolves exist, how?" Asked Pearl.

"They are just spread far and wide. They tend to stay in groups and the same area."

"I'm sorry." Said Garnet before hugging you. "This was a extremely unfortunate event, I didn't see it coming."

"It is a bizarre event." You said before feeling a radiant pain throughout your body making your curse and falling to the ground.

"What the heck? Are they okay?" Asked Amethyst.

"Don't touch them until its over." Said Garnet, holding out an arm to keep the others away from you.

You would appreciated it more if you were in less pain.

Then it was over.

"(Y/n) just turned into a dog."

"Amethyst! Don't be insensitive." Said Pearl. "Is it over?"

"Yes." Said Garnet, you felt diffently different. You probably looked strange than you feel.

Steven was the first one to pet you and you just let him, being contented at the moment.

"Are they okay?" Asked Spinel, standing beside Amethyst, which was to your left. You faced them and they both flinched and you whimpered.

"Hey, they didn't mean it like that. They just have to get use to it." Said Steven. "You can understand us, right?"

You shock your head yes.

"Amazing! Your fur is like totally so soft." Said Steven, hugging you.

Someones else started to pet you, well two when you looked. Spinel and Amethyst.

"Sorry about Flinching, dude." Said Amethyst.

"Sorry too." Said Spinel, you were very much enjoy this attention as Pearl and Garnet watched and whispered plans on how to deal with your parents and your hunger after this.

10/31/19

Happy Halloween!

Please send some kind spooky type ask!♡

#Steven Universe #steven universe headcanon #steven universe & reader #steven universe imagines #steven universe x reader #steven universe #su headcanons #su steven #su #su imagines #su garnet #su spinel #su pearl #su amethyst #platonic #platonic fic #halloween

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mittensmorgul · 4 years

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This Must Be The Place

timestamp for Lifetime Piling Up, 7 years later, but works as a standalone.

(2440 words, T, all the fluffs)

Read it on AO3

It’s the sort of day that leaves Cas desperate for some reminder that life isn’t all trauma and tragedy. He’s finished his shift at the hospital, where one of his patients lived and the other didn’t. It’s the reality of his life as a trauma surgeon, and he’s long ago accepted the fact he’s not God, that he can’t save everyone. It doesn’t stop him from trying.

He’s too worn out from five hours of surgery and a heart-wrenching talk with a man’s grieving family members to bother changing his clothes. Cas ditches his pristine white lab coat and slams the door of his locker. There was something he could do to turn the day around. Something impulsive, but something he’d also been planning for a long time; saving it up for the perfect moment.

Something life-affirming.

Cas pulls on his coat, the lapel catching on the hospital identification clipped to the pocket of his scrub shirt, and walks purposefully out the emergency room door. He waves to Alex the charge nurse at the desk and to a few other people who notice him leaving, but after the day he’s had nobody tries to hold him up when he looks so determined to leave. He’s grateful for that small mercy.

It’s raining as he pulls his car out of the parking garage and drives on autopilot. He sees the shop every day on his way to work and every night as he drives back home. Tonight he lucks out. There’s an empty parking spot right in front of the door, like it was meant to be. He pulls in without a second thought and shuts the engine off. He sits there for a minute, his head resting back against the seat as he basks in the welcoming glow of the blue and yellow neon sign in the window, the light streaked and shattered through the raindrops rolling down his windshield. It’s raining even harder now, and Cas just smiles to himself. It feels right. Everything feels right for once that day.

He pats down his pockets to be sure he has everything-- phone, keys, wallet-- and then readies himself for a mad sprint across the sidewalk through sheets of rain to the shelter of the shop’s awning. The familiar neon-lit window looks so different up close than it does when he’s driving past. The glowing Winchester Tattoo logo is clearly visible from the road, but the dozens of drawings that frame the sign and almost completely obscure the view into the shop from the sidewalk are another story entirely. On closer examination, each of them is easily worth a thousand words.

Cas thinks to himself that if the weather were being more cooperative he could spend hours giving every last drawing the attention it deserves. Then again, he also knows he’d only be delaying the inevitable. He’d talked himself into this months ago, and then waited so long for this moment. He wasn’t about to talk himself out of it now. This was definitely what he wanted, so why would the thought of actually going through with it fill him with dread?

He’s a surgeon, dammit. He has no trouble helping others deal with physical pain, but this is something potentially far more terrifying than that. This would be forever.

Cas closes his eyes, heaves in a fortifying lungful of cold, humid air and then opens the door. He’s greeted with a warm, inviting roil of heat and light and sound. The tinkling of a dozen tiny bells hanging above the door provides an uncanny counterpoint to Led Zeppelin playing on the stereo, several quiet conversations and the intermittent buzzing of a tattoo gun. It’s the strangest combination of things to inspire a feeling of ease and contentment, but as he looks around the warmly lit shop and acknowledges its occupants Cas can’t help feeling an inviting sense of home .

The man behind the front counter hunches over a sketch as a customer describes the artwork he’s commissioning, pointing out a detail that the artist erases and then redraws to the customer’s satisfaction. The artist sets his pencil down and continues to study his work, standing up straight and clasping his hands behind his back as he arches into a stretch. The sleeves of his incongruous white lab coat ride up revealing strong arms covered in vibrant tattoos, heaven and hell, light and darkness, somehow both perfectly at home together as if he carried a piece of each extreme in either hand. Cas can’t help the quiet laugh at the sight, how similar the coat is to the one he’d left at the hospital, and yet how startlingly different this one appears in context draped over the shoulders of this beautiful man who looks more like a punk rocker with his faded Metallica t-shirt and ink-stained fingers than a medical professional.

Where his coat is embroidered Dr. Castiel Novak above the pocket, the artist has chosen to create his own name tag in a swirling riot of color. The name Dean is written in a bold script across a hand-drawn banner surrounded by bird wings and wildflowers. Cas wonders what his colleagues would think if he showed up at the hospital with a similar badge, and laughs a bit louder.

He finally garners a glance from Dean, who gives him a little nod and a wink to let him know he’ll be with him shortly. Cas nods back and then distracts himself by observing the shop’s other occupants. One artist, a young blonde woman, is entirely focused on her work while the man in her chair whimpers through the pain of a shoulder tattoo. Another older artist meticulously sets up her station for one of the customers waiting on the sofa off to Cas’s left. The three girls look barely old enough to be getting tattooed at all, yet they eagerly flip through the photo albums labeled with each of the artist’s names-- Claire, Jody, Donna, and of course Dean-- commenting on the pictures as they wonder in equal measure at how good they look and how much each one must’ve hurt. He’s entirely bemused by the girls when he hears Dean finishing up with his client.

“So if you’re good with that, I can fit you in next Tuesday at four,” Dean says to the man, who nods and hands over fifty bucks as a deposit.

“Sounds good to me,” the man says. “Been wanting to get that done for years.”

Dean puts the money in the cash drawer and prints out a receipt that doubles as an appointment reminder while Cas sidles up to get a closer look at the artwork. It’s two birds in flight, circling around each other, that he recognizes as arctic terns. Cas glances up at the man, who catches him looking but only smiles back at him.

“For me and my wife,” he says. “Arctic terns mate for life, but they’ve got the longest migration of any birds in the world. Their entire lives are one endless road trip together. Well, in a manner of speaking.” The man laughs.

Cas glances at Dean to see him smiling curiously at him, as if he’s waiting to see what Cas has to say on the subject-- of tattoos or arctic terns or gruff old men deciding that’s how they want to commemorate the love of their life.

“Congratulations on finally going through with the tattoo, and for having someone you cherish to share your life with. It’s a beautiful piece.”

Dean’s smile brightens for a moment at Cas’s reply, his green eyes filling with a captivating mirth.

“So,” Dean says, leaning in and making a show of reading the identification badge still clipped to Cas’s shirt, “Dr. Novak, what brings a classy, upstanding doctor like you into my humble little den of iniquity tonight? Just getting out of the rain for a minute, or are you thinking about getting a tattoo?”

The customer belts out a startling laugh, but Cas pays him no mind.

“I noticed you’re still open, and I’ve had an idea for a tattoo for a while now. Would you prefer I schedule an appointment, or are you free right now?”

Dean looks him up and down and grins. “For you? I think I can spare a couplea minutes. What are you thinking?”

The girls on the sofa giggle at the unfolding drama, whispering to each other behind their hands. Mr. Arctic Terns says what the girls are either too polite or too shy to say aloud.

“Ooh, are you sure about that? You’re a doctor, you must know it hurts, and how painful the laser is for folks who regret their ink later.”

Cas smiles mildly at the man and slides off his coat, laying it on the counter beside Dean’s sketchpad. “Yes, I’m fully aware.” He continues stripping off his scrub top, the ID badge clinking against the glass countertop as he sets it down as well, leaving him in a heather grey long-sleeved henley that clings to the defined muscles of his shoulders, back and arms. Dean raises an eyebrow but doesn’t otherwise object to the strip tease.

The other customer nods seriously as Dean folds his arms across his chest and bites his lip to keep from laughing aloud. Cas appreciates it, as well as the mischievous glint in Dean’s eyes.

“I’m just saying, medicine doesn’t seem like a profession that looks kindly on tattoos.” He turns to Dean. “No offense to your profession, but I ain’t never seen a doctor with ink.”

Cas just sighs and casts a wistful look at Dean, who shrugs and waits to see what he’ll do next. Jody’s finished setting up her station but she stands back beside Claire, whose tattoo gun has gone quiet as they both watch and wait to see what will happen next. Even the three giggling girls are practically holding their breath at this unusual series of events. Cas barely even registers their presence as he reaches down and tugs up the hem of his henley, then whips it over his head.

“I dare say you’ve seen at least one tattooed surgeon,” Cas says, never taking his eyes from Dean and only peripherally registering the little gasps from the three girls at the unveiling. Not only is Cas a physical work of art himself, his skin is all but covered in glorious illustration.

“Well then,” Arctic Tern Guy says, scratching his head and then moving toward the door with a little chuckle. “Guess you learn something new every day. I’ll see you Tuesday, Dean,” he says, and then the bells tinkle and a gust of cold wind sends a shiver across Cas’s exposed back before the door shuts again behind him.

Cas’s shoulders settle again like a bird folding his wings, which is the visual illusion he gives with the broad set of wings tattooed across his shoulder blades and down his arms past his elbows. Above the wings and up to the base of his neck is an expanse of outer space, the black punctuated by bright stars and a glowing pink and purple depiction of the Heart Nebula, the greenish streak of a comet piercing it like an arrow. Below his wings blooms a garden of vines and wildflowers populated by a dozen or more frolicking bees. Heavens and Earth.

Through the entire show, Dean and Cas just smile at each other until Dean finally cracks. “Guess you told him, sunshine.”

Cas just shrugs and-- to the three girls’ dismay-- begins dressing again. “It always disappoints me when people assume that the appearance of someone’s skin has any bearing on their competence or their professionalism.”

“You’re a regular crusader,” Dean adds, also looking a little disappointed that Cas put his shirt back on. “So did you just stop in to fight social injustice?”

Cas steps up close to the counter, reaching into the back pocket of his dark blue scrub pants and shaking his head. “No, I really am interested in another tattoo, and I believe you’re the only person I’d trust with it.”

Dean’s smile returns. “Well I hope I’m worthy of that kinda faith.”

Cas nods, slowly edging his way around the end of the counter until he’s practically toe to toe with Dean. “You’ve proven that to me over and over again, every day for the last seven years. I hope I’m worthy in return.” He drops down onto one knee and holds out his hand, a simple gold ring in his outstretched palm. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I don’t ever want to imagine a day without you in it. I love you, Dean. Will you marry me?”

Dean stares down at him for a second, and that terror that had held Cas back from asking sooner begins to creep up inside him. The pain of a tattoo needle’s got absolutely nothing on this. But Dean blinks and then pulls Cas to his feet, grabbing him up in a tight hug and planting an awkwardly sloppy and slightly frantic kiss on him as Dean tells him yes over and over again.

“Hot damn,” Claire’s client says and the rest of the shop erupts in a chorus of delighted awws.

Relief and joy flood through Cas, washing away his entirely baseless fear and making room for the certainty that Dean will always be his. Jody and Claire offer them fond congratulations, as do the three girls, before Jody brings one of them back to her station and she and Claire both get back to work.

“That was unexpected,” Dean says the minute everyone’s attention moves on from them, and admiring the way the ring looks on his hand before pulling Cas in for another kiss. “How long you been planning that one?”

Cas shrugs. “A long time. Years, maybe. On some level, probably since the first time I walked into your shop.”

Dean nods, too overcome to even tease him. He clears his throat and leans against the counter, pulling Cas close. “So did you really have another tattoo in mind? Or was that just an excuse to come see me at work?”

“I gave you a ring, and I was hoping you’d be willing to give me one too.”

It’s a ring he’ll never be able to remove, and one he’d never want to. When Dean’s finished inking it into his skin, he removes his gold band and teaches Cas how to give his very first tattoo. It’s the sort of day that’s marked indelibly in their skin, and all the way down to their souls.

(thanks for reading! If you enjoyed it and haven’t read Lifetime Piling Up, here’s a link to the whole series: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1559668)

#spn fanfic #destiel #things i have written

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aonorunic · 5 years

Text

Moments for Us Alone, Byleth/Dimitri/Claude AU, Chapter 3: Longing

Summary: Claude could not be more happy to have Dimitri and Byleth in Almyra. He would have two blissful months to spend with his lovers, stealing private moments that belonged only to them. Chapter Summary: Dimitri realizes Byleth has been hiding her desires behind Claude's own.

Notes at the end.

Read on AO3.

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

Dimitri closed his eye, enjoying the sun warming his face and the slim fingers gently teasing their way through his hair. Byleth’s lap made for a wonderful pillow, and his world narrowed only to her, the sounds and chatter in the gardens drowned out by his own joy. He was content.

It was no longer a strange feeling after all these years, but there were times, times when he allowed himself to dwell, that it made him uncomfortable. He could still remember the smell of death, the sight of ruby red blood staining the entire world; he could hear the echoes of the dead despite their voices laying dormant for what felt like a lifetime now. This was so much more than he deserved ---

He started when those gentle hands moved to the sides of his face, Byleth’s thumbs smoothing over the worry lines that marred his face. “You were losing yourself there, love.”

Her voice was gentle, so full of understanding and love Dimitri could do nothing else but cling to it. She hummed a simple tune while Dimitri used it as a lifeline to pull himself back from the darkness. The voices of the past were never fully silent, they would rear their ugly heads again, but he was learning to step back from the edge. He was only grateful that this time it was easier to do so than others.

When he was once more relaxed in her embrace, Byleth moved her hands back to play with his hair. “You should sing more often,” Dimitri whispered, the barest quiver breaking his voice at the last word. “I always forget how soothing your voice is.” He opened his eye again to be met with the sight of Byleth smiling down gently at him.

“I already receive enough attention,” she answered. “But I will sing for you if you want my to.”

Dimitri reached up to place a hand at the back of her head. Byleth, needing no further urging, leaned down and brought their lips together. It was soft, a reminder that she was there and always would be, containing all the little things Dimitri loved about her.

A shriek caused them to tear apart, adrenaline pulling their muscles taunt as they reached for weapons that were not there. Trained eyes scanned the garden for signs of trouble.

Trouble turned out to be a child Claude was currently lifting over his head. The young boy shouted again, laughing and tangling two small hands into Claude’s hair. A gaggle of other small children surrounded him, all laughing and smiling in obvious delight.

“You’ll need a better plan than that if you want to defeat me!” Claude announced, being met with more screams of joy.

Dimitri chuckled as he watched his husband, a smile on his lips when Claude’s bright laugh cut across the garden. He opened his mouth to say something to Byleth, but the words died on his tongue. She looked at the happy group with sorrow written clearly across her face.

It was a look he was seeing more and more often.

This time it was Dimitri’s turn to reach up and caress Byleth’s face. She leaned into his touch gratefully. “Beloved?”

“I’m fine, Dimitri. Really.” She did not sound convincing at all. He caught the flutter of her hand before she stopped herself, her fingers twitching toward her flat stomach.

Dimitri did not remove his hand. “Marianne and Mercedes did not say you were unable.”

“But they did not say I could either. There was no conclusion at all.” Byleth took a deep breath, attempting to school her features back to neutrality. “He is so happy right now. I know he wants one. He deserves to be a father.” Byleth shook her head and lifted away from Dimitri’s hand. “We’ve tried for so long.”

“He is happy with us, that will not change,” Dimitri assured her. He moved his hand to play with the ends of her hair, passing the mint green strains through his fingers. I’m right here, he said without words, knowing she would understand his message. I’m here. “You have given us both so much already, neither of us would ever think to ask for more. You could never disappoint us, Byleth,” he told her, addressing the one thing he knew she feared about the whole situation the most. “Never.”

When she sighed and leaned her head down, Dimitri grasped her chin, his thumb pressed against her lips. She rewarded him with a quick kiss. “And goddess knows, he is only too happy to keep trying,” Dimitri teased.

Byleth gave him the smallest of smiles, but the sorrow did not leave her eyes; eyes still glued to Claude. One of the children positioned herself behind the king and pulled back her leg. Dimitri both laughed and winced as the girl’s foot connected with Claude’s shin. Claude yelped, overshadowed only by the girl’s mother shouting her name.

“MAYA!”

Claude ignored the horrified woman, instead bringing the boy he was still holding down to tuck under one arm. With a swift motion he scooped up the girl and held her under his other arm. Both children screamed with mirth, their small feet kicking out behind the king. “An ambush, huh? I’m just going to have to deal with that swiftly and severely.”

Claude ran around the gardens with the two children, eventually ending up by a fountain. Dimitri could not hear what Claude said, but based on the way the children started shrieking, he guessed his fellow king had threatened to drop them in the water.

With another laugh, like dropping honey into tea, Claude repositioned both children so he could cradle them each in one arm, both clinging to his shoulders as he marched them back towards their parents. The rest of the children who had followed him scattered as Claude neared the adult nobles.

“Maya!” Dimitri could hear the child’s mother scolding again. “What were you thinking?”

Dimitri saw Kasra come up to the woman and place a steady hand on her elbow. Standing together, Dimitri could see the resemblance between them, and guessed she was either his daughter or niece.

“I’ll overlook it this time,” Claude told her. His voice was light, and that disarming smile was on his lips, but his eyes were calculating. He leaned down, his attention seemingly fully on the girl, but Dimitri knew his words were more meant for the adults standing beside him. “With a kick like that I wouldn’t be surprised if you became a great warrior. And I need great warriors in my elites.”

Maya jumped, bouncing on her toes. “I’ll train everyday!” she promised.

Claude nodded, but held up a hand, silently getting Maya to stop bouncing (although the girl still managed to practically vibrate with energy). “But the main duty of my elites is to protect me and my family. Which means no more kicking royals, okay?”

Maya nodded, serious in only the way a small child could be. “I promise, Your Majesty.”

Claude graced her with a smile and patted her head before his attention turned to his lovers. The smile dropped ever so slightly when his eyes landed on Byleth. He excused himself from a few nobles who were trying to gain his attention and began to make his way over to them.

Dimitri looked back up at Byleth, who was scrambling through emotions, which only made Claude’s pace quicken. It was a rather upsetting sight on such a usually stoic face, even if she was more open with her emotions than she had been when they first met.

“Beloved,” he said softly, redrawing Byleth’s attention to him. “He isn’t the only one who really wants one, is he?”

Byleth opened her mouth, but no words came forth. He knew Byleth realized he was referring to her and not himself. She had tried so hard to hide her own longing, masking it as another’s want, but Dimitri had just shattered her mask.

Claude dropped down onto their blanket before she could answer. “What are you two talking about that has you looking so distressed?” He leaned in close to Byleth, trying to comfort her with his nearness.

Dimitri placed a hand on Claude’s shoulder, the pressure he exerted bringing the other man down to lay beside him, using Byleth’s other knee as a pillow. Her hand immediately began to play with Claude’s hair as well before she could even think about it.

“We’ll try again tonight, beloved. We’ll try.”

Understanding flashed over Claude’s eyes. Even though Dimitri could not see Claude take Byleth’s hand and gently kiss the tips of her fingers due to his blind eye, he could feel Claude’s other hand hold take hold of his. “It’s fun to try anyways.”

Dimitri laughed and smiled up at Byleth. “See? What did I tell you?”

Byleth finally allowed herself a deep breath, the tension releasing from her shoulders. They stayed like that until Nader came over to tell them they had to get up or else they’d cause everyone to be late for dinner.

Dimitri’s concern came back when, after he found his feet again, he looked back to see Byleth still sitting with a hint of pain on her face. “Byleth, what’s wrong?”

Claude and he were immediately at her side, but Byleth just shook her head. “My legs are asleep,” she pouted.

Dimitri blinked. Claude snorted. Unable to hide his laughter, Claude shook his head and began to massage one of her legs. Dimitri joined him, rubbing feeling back into her other leg. Byleth winced, but allowed them to pamper her.

Dimitri suspected she had regained feeling in her legs again long before she told them she was fine. Not that he minded. Not at all.

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fire emblem fanfiction #dimiclaudeth #dimileth #claudeth #my fic #my writing

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