cherrycoloredphoenix

[cherrycoloredphoenix]

Tis the season

https://artfight.net/~cherrycoloredphoenix

[cherrycoloredphoenix]

Some low stakes sillies for today

[cherrycoloredphoenix]

Yang Jian gets to do a little dancey dance, as a treat.

I just found this bit in Fengshen Yanyi so endearing

[cherrycoloredphoenix]

Be careful who you make fun of in high school

Im really good at art guys

[cherrycoloredphoenix]

Im really good at art guys

[cherrycoloredphoenix]

Animated Nezhas of my childhood (+1)

left to right:

Nezha Naohai/ Nezha Conquers the Dragon King

Legend of Nezha

Journey to the West: Legends of the Monkey King

Nezha 2

[cherrycoloredphoenix]

I’m cooking

[cherrycoloredphoenix]

How can we tear through the web of fate So that no one in this world can stop us?

[cherrycoloredphoenix]

First time not finishing the kiss week 😔 brain got gooped, sorry folks

[cherrycoloredphoenix]

Day 6: Forbidden - Ai Chang, Jia Ziyin, and a life that can never be

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To tie Ai Chang to him in that way would be like caging a nightingale, damming a mountain stream. It would be keeping all of that beauty and charm and clever mind to himself, dimming its brilliance for anyone else... And eventually, the nightingale would cease its song, and the stream would become foul and stagnant. Better to let things be as they were. But oh, how one could dream.

[cherrycoloredphoenix]

Day 5: Worship, or rather the opposite - Harmony and the Alderking

When you've been working together for this long, the mystique and reverence of having an archfey for a patron fades somewhat.

[cherrycoloredphoenix]

Day 4: Reunion - Two lifetimes of Qiaohua and Ai Chang

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2000 years ago a girl and a fox become dear friends.

2000 years later, the fox welcomes the girl back once again.

[cherrycoloredphoenix]

Day 3: Stolen - Chrysanthemum and Plum, in a quiet moment

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Plum, fresh out of the shower and ready for bed, drifted to a halt in the hall. Her eyes widened with potential mischief. Was that Chrysanthemum - asleep?

In their sister’s tidy living room, she could see a kicked-out foot, a hand draped loosely over the arm of the chair, a lolling head. Someone had turned on the fake fireplace, which was emitting realistic crackling sounds. Rain drummed against the windows. The pleasant ambient noise rolled around her, settling into her skin and bones and wires and masking the cautious steps she took into the room.

She rounded the armchair, her smile widening. This guy…

He’d been up for the last two days straight with only intermittent naps, wound tighter than a spring ever since they’d brought him home, jumping at shadows and half-convinced that the apartment was somehow bugged despite the fact that Plum lived there full-time. And she would have assumed that Chrysanthemum was taking a catnap again, ready to startle awake at the slightest disturbance, but sometime in the last hour he’d finally relaxed his deathgrip on his firewalls and she could feel him again: their third eyes had pinged each other the moment she got within twenty feet, and his told her in no uncertain terms that he was out cold.

Finally.

Though he still hadn’t removed the mask, what little she could see of his face was slack, his brow relaxed. He’d sprawled down in the chair a little. A sliver of neck cable was exposed over the turtleneck.

The urge to drip cold water from her shower down his neck faded the longer she looked at him. Even she wasn’t that mean. He needed the rest.

And she hadn’t seen him like this - up close, vulnerable - in nearly a decade. She wasn’t sure when she’d get to see him like this again. Things were going to get real hectic, real soon. He still thought of her as the baby of the family, someone who didn’t need to see him weak or uncertain. He’d probably be upset, embarrassed, if he woke up in front of her now.

But she wasn’t the baby anymore. Never really had been. He didn’t need to hide from her, and she’d earned the right to comfort him. But of course he’d never let her normally, so she was more than happy to steal this opportunity now.

She glided closer, keeping her senses attuned to his breathing. Smoothed a hand over his hair, brushed his bangs out of the way. And gave him a little peck, right on the third eye, just like he’d done for her so many times when they were kids and she was stressed or depressed or worse.

May your mind and your sight be clear. May the dark thoughts fade with the morning mist. And know, now and forever, that we are with you. Be at peace.

[cherrycoloredphoenix]

Day 2: First - Ka and Adaene's first "real" kiss

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The deep yawned beneath them, the surface sparkling above. Adaene drifted to a halt in the middle of the current-path, her tail swaying hypnotically behind her, and clasped her hands. She seemed nervous.

Ka couldn’t imagine why. They’d swum this road before. It was well-maintained and, especially up here, well-lit and artificially warmed to keep High-living merfolk comfortable. The continental shelf with its abundance of citizens was just a little further along the path and Tivanu, the in-between city, was just below. Regardless, she scanned the empty waters around them for anything out of place, then drifted next to Adaene and offered a hand. “All right? We’re almost there. Do you need to rest?”

“I’m not so fragile as that,” Adaene said, laughing, but she took the proffered hand and gave it a companionable squeeze. “Just thinking a little.”

“Oh?” 

“Mhm.” She gazed upwards. Her expression was odd. Ka couldn’t read it. “You know, I did enjoy this outing.”

“I’m glad,” Ka replied sincerely. 

It had taken a few days’ worth of letters back and forth to coordinate, what with their busy schedules and living in opposite ends of the water column, but… it had been worth it. A day spent in Tivanu’s well-curated museums and bubble parks, Adaene able to marvel at the architecture and local cuisine, Ka getting to watch Adaene smile.

She was still smiling now, though there was still something tentative in her eyes. “You know, maybe next time you can come up to the shelf.”

Next time. Ka flushed. “I’d like that.”

“Settled, then.” Adaene swam a little closer and put a hand on Ka’s cheek. She leaned into it obligingly, her lateral line pinging gently at the contact. As a general rule, Highs were touchier than she was used to, even by octopus standards. “Thank you very much for the date, Ka.”

“You’re–”

Adaene leaned in and pressed their cheeks together, luminescent scales singing where they met. Ka broke off, startled. It wasn’t their first kiss ever, but she hadn’t been expecting it.

“–welcome?”

Adaene giggled, pulled back a few inches, looked her in the eye, and pressed their foreheads together next. And this time Ka did freeze.

“Oh,” she said weakly.

“Oh?” Adaene teased. Their noses were almost touching.

Ka took a breath. Put a hand on Adaene’s waist. Spread her web so that they could stabilize in the current. And gently pushed back in reciprocation. 

Adaene’s smile was as dazzling as the sun.

[cherrycoloredphoenix]

Day 1: Desperate - Wildwood!Ai Chang and Teo

"Come back," he orders. "I can't read the story books without you. You're better at the voices." Mateo nods. "I will," he says, face a bright red. But he is smiling. - "Disreputable Men", vaguelybearshapedanimalcracker

Nothing like a first-and-last kiss farewell before you both run off to fight nightmarish Fey abominations that take the form of your worst fears and are trying to kill/torture/eat/assimilate you and everybody you love

Further context if you are so inclined:

Wildwood was an Original Character Tournament (OCT) where characters were competing to become a ruler of a changeling court in a magical wood (grossly oversimplified but you get the gist).

Teo and Ai Chang (my character, white hair) made it to the final round of the tournament. I ended up winning the tournament and my entry became canon, while Teo's round did not. However, it was so well written and fascinating and such good grimy horror that it has stuck in my head ever since, and so, art!

And also these two got to kiss in that one which makes it a 100/10 in my books.

[cherrycoloredphoenix]

Calling it for the day

[cherrycoloredphoenix]

Spring days and warm suns, come quickly now

and ensure that his journey is free of gales and waves

My white horse, please run a little slower

This time I can't bring you home

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The life that almost was