activatethis

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wait a second...this is just like one of my chinese danmeis

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hbo rome doodle

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🤎🤍

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canon typical yearning

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This started as a joke but I think I committed a little too hard

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"It is your destiny, Brutus."

Happy Ides of March to those who celebrate 🔪 (More sketches below)

I was really inspired when I was listening to a podcast talking about Brutus's legacy, how he likely looked to the wax molds of his past relatives and remembered his duty as a descendant of those who ended the reign of kings in Rome. How conflicted he must have felt knowing he must kill his close friend Caesar who threatened what they achieved. (It just fit too well in animal form to not draw.) Bonus sketch explorations of Caesar and Brutus (ft. Cassius the snake) (Also ft. the anthem of today.)

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✨BL VN Charm Update! ✨ Dmmd and Slow Damage

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✨Squid Game Charms are here!✨ 2 inch: 8.50 USD 2.5 inch Gihun + Inho charm : 10.50 USD

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Birthday gift for my bestie @hopejes55 ❤️❤️

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Some old og pricesoap sketches that tumblr has not yet seen

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Charms currently in production!

✨ Interest Check Here! ✨

(Charms are double-sided clear acrylic, between $8 - $10 a piece)

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Guidance from an old teacher (a gift I drew for a friend ❤️)

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Locket

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Mk 2021 sketches

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> Continue?

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New DMC Charms! (store link in bio) ✨

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Oh my god, oh my god, wow. I literally have tears in my eyes, thank you so much for your beautiful writing. Their dialogue is so heartfelt and natural, the descriptions of this moment so gorgeous, exactly the tender moment between them that I wished to portray. "I was lightning in the wind, brief and singular, but continuing. And then when humans came, I was more." I am going to carry this quote everywhere I go. It's genius. Heartfelt and sincere. Liu Kang is as much of a god by Raiden's design as Raiden is human by Liu Kang's. He shaped him into a selfless, compassionate God, showed him humanity through their close bond long before the timeline reset, before he gave Raiden the gift of a human life, before their final battles by Kronika's design. Before then, he was just Lord Raiden's faithful student and champion, yet Liu Kang's absence in his life has always led him down a dark path. Liu Kang's humanity and heart is part of Lord Raiden, ingrained in the fabric of time. Raiden insists Liu Kang has outgrown him, will be fine without his guidance, but he may not realize that to Liu Kang, he will always be with him as well. Even without the color-coded blue clothing. Without the power of lightning and thunder. Without the silver hair.

A short scene inspired by this piece by @activatethis

———

“How long will I be alone,” Liu Kang asks, “when the world restarts again?”

The hourglass’s heartbeat is stashed away behind him, muffled by constructed walls and an endless, open, sky. If he had not put the threads in place himself, had not pulled the building steps from void and lit the clouds into morning, it may almost have seemed real.

Raiden hums behind him, the quiet sound of his scissors against Liu Kang’s neck drifting softly into the air. “I do not know,” he says simply.

His voice is quiet, whisper thin and worn from their months floating immaterial in non existence. Or… perhaps it has been years by now. Raiden aged much faster than either of them expected, and their lives are no longer linear. The days are only a kindness, a mimicked imprint to order the falling sands.

Liu Kang frowns, fire flickering beneath his nails as he picks at his palms.

They don’t have much time left together. He has not made any more of it to keep.

“Were you lonely before man came?” he asks next.

Raiden chuckles, his laugh still as warm and old as it’s always been. “I suppose, yes.” He pulls a lock of hair from over Liu Kang’s shoulder. “But I had Fujin,” he continues, snipping again, “and the elder gods, and every manner of creature that walked Earthrealm before you, and…” He laughs again, softer. “And I am not sure I was myself enough before humans to wish for them to be there. I was lightning in the wind, brief and singular, but continuing. And then when humans came, I was more.”

He lets the lock he was working on go, the dark strands fluttering back against Liu Kang’s cheek.

“Belief does wondrous things, Liu Kang.”

Liu Kang hums, reaching up to idly roll his hair between his thumb and forefinger. There is no silver in it now, on the ends. Raiden says he does not need it, that he has outgrown it, that he has become his own god, but… he still wishes to ask him to leave some of it. To have a reminder of this before. Of this now.

“Spend a century as a fire ball, or a volcano,” Raiden mutters humorously, and Liu Kang feels the tremble in his hand as he pats his shoulder weakly. “Befriend a dinosaur. It will do you well.”

Liu Kang smiles, despite the squeezing in his chest that knots itself up into his throat. “I will try,” he whispers. “Thank you.”

That night, when the stars pass over, winking and blurred where they are projected from Liu Kang’s memory, he sweeps the last of the silver hair off the steps, and closes his eyes quietly to try and remember the smell of the breeze.