kaleidraws

[kaleidraws]

So glad you enjoyed the story once, and are enjoying the story again!

I started reading this again cuz why not?

I'm about to finish high school and this legit still reminds me of when I got it during my sophomore year.

Also it's a really wonderful read- [I lent it to my dad for a bit and he agrees]

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Clara and The Nutcracker belongs/is written by @kaleidraws

[Go read the book, it is actually worth the read]

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This Wednesday Lord Rayden from Mortal Kombat Conquest joins The Works. Tune in for an entertaining and informative conversation with actor extraordinaire, Mr. Jeffrey Meek!

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My girl Creza (2nd pic up top) looks amazing, Matty does great work. Please consider commissioning him!

Dungeons and Dragons commissions are officially open! My inbox is open! Feel free to send a request/questions you may have. I don't have a ton of time, so lets keep these to single character pieces/no background only. Price will vary on complexity. Thanks for your interest!

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[kaleidraws]

This time 3 years ago I thought my life was over as the Navy was destroying my career, abusing me, and forcing me out after 11 years of service with a "Fuck her, we ain't doin shit for her." as the last official words to me from my own Chief of Staff at COMSUBGRU9 for upholding my Officer's oath and refusing to follow an unlawful order.

Yesterday I climbed Mt. Kurama, received an unexpected blessing from the priest of Kurama-dera Temple, and today I received personalized Aikido training from an 8th Dan black belt practitioner at the Igo Dojo of Kurama and was welcomed like a celebrity while picking up my new dougi from the Tozando Shogoin of Kyoto.

God's path for us is greater than we can imagine. When we realize we don't actually know what we want, and decide to listen to Him instead of chasing our owned limited perceptions, everything gets easier, and life becomes more and more amazing.

Happy Easter, everyone! He is Risen!!

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this entire section of Chapter 2 of Much Ado is everything and I am begging you guys to please read it

Also, if you want to hear this comic fully dubbed featuring the official voice of Lord Raiden, Richard Epcar, head on over here to catch the premiere at 9PM EST tomorrow, April 16th!

[kaleidraws]

Much Ado - A Mortal Kombat Fanfiction

For the lady Mortal Kombat fans who would like to read about dangerous, competent men in conflict, and a woman caught in the tempest.

Chapter 4 - Mistaken

Previous --- Next (Pending)

Centuries of spring times had ushered young and old through the flowering paths surrounding Ginkakuji temple.

Raiden again found himself awakened in the wrong place. Not in the inner sanctums of the Sky Temple worship hall, but enjoying a bright spring afternoon far from the seclusion of his Earthly home. He was walking among a modest throng of mortals, all similarly enjoying the flurry of life that the warmer season brought about. The tranquility he had felt disappeared with the onset of that all too familiar irritation. It was as if someone were taunting him, playing tricks of the mind in humiliating ritual to pull him from matters of import to utter frivolities, and he was certain that he knew precisely who that someone must be.

It was that moment Raiden felt a familiar presence, and as a fan folds, each incident of his strange wanderings came into clear relief, until the whole of his encounters now stacked themselves unto his consciousness: From the first appearance on the lonely mountain temple, to today's garden stroll, this same person had been present every time…

As storm clouds began to gather, the bustle of the crowd slowed, and most took their leave before the Heavens opened with the torrential downpour that now threatened. The few remaining pilgrims and tourists opened their umbrellas or raised their hoods, happy to welcome the sky's blessing, until a massive thunderbolt struck nearby, shattering a pine tree that had been witness to the passing of hundreds of seasons.

"ENOUGH!!"

The walking path was quickly cleared as the scant remaining visitors hurried to proper shelter, commiserating among themselves as they passed the now burning tree and could see its hollowed trunk with glowing embers, others commenting on the ornery beggar in ragged robes now making a spectacle of himself.

Raiden seethed, much like the tree that had been felled by his strike, smoldering with internal fire, and set his sights on the one person that had not vacated. The woman now stood opposite him, her attention pulled from the thrice-in-a-lifetime experience of a close-proximity lightning strike to the white robed stranger.

"Why do you persist in these games, sorcerer? Why summon me here?"

The woman turned and looked for whom he must've been addressing, before looking back to the accuser with puzzled expression. "I beg your pardon?"

Raiden bristled at the feigned ignorance and kept his gaze low, the fury now glowing in his eyes obscured by his cover. "Your deceptions grow more and more tiresome, Shang Tsung!"

The woman mouthed the foreign name silently, eyes squinting with discernment as she decided whether to entertain this old beggar's delusion or turn from the strange confrontation and take her leave. She recognized the unspoken feeling of malice, and knew well that confrontation with an angry, blinded soul could turn physical at the slightest provocation. After careful consideration, she turned and walked away not with a word, but with a small smile, wishing the mad man well in thought.

The silence only served to stoke Raiden's ire further as his body thrummed with light, and he appeared now immediately before the disguised Shang Tsung, certain of his accusation and feeling the nostalgia of facing down the soul-stealer in direct kombat lifetimes ago. His presence now undeniable, he bore down on the sorcerer with terrible rage, barely contained.

"Your deceit will no longer avail you! Too long have I entertained your summons - no longer! Now reveal yourself or thunder take you!"

As this raggedly garbed beggar suddenly materialized before her in a flash of light, his eyes, now un-obscured by his hat, glowing white hot and crackling with electricity, she fell backwards in disbelief.

Stunned at what she had just witnessed, the woman hadn't the presence of mind to heed that which the thunder god had threatened, only staring agape at what she could only assume to be an incredibly immersive hallucination. She blinked hard, expecting to awaken from the dream, but only saw the man before her raise an arm to the sky and point the other directly at her.

Still thinking the "woman's" spectacle to be Tsung's shameful mendacity, Raiden narrowed his eyes and readied a ferocious volley to teach the duplicitous snake a lesson he would not soon forget.

She felt the hairs on the back of her arms raise, and braced as the realization of her current predicament coalesced with the slow of time, as often happened with the finality of mortal existence.

The thunder striking on the rainy mountain side, the tearful sea-side meditations of her homeland, the joyful pub-sings that had broken out during terrible passing thunderstorms, her brief run-in with the kindly monks of the well hidden Wu Shi academy; this same presence now before her had been that feeling at every encounter. Death appeared differently to everyone, she assumed, and had apparently tired of flirting from unseen vantage.

It seemed that it was now her time.

As the smell of ozone and loud crash of thunder filled her senses, she slowly eased her eyes open to see not the blinding flash expected, but a man in dark clothes now bearing the brunt of what was clearly meant for her.

Raiden ceased his channeled anger and took a step back, for now it was his turn to feel the unexpected shock of what stood before him. Shang Tsung grunted as he dropped to one knee, smoke billowing off of his back as the last vestiges of lightning sparked from him and grounded out. Behind him balked the woman Raiden had assumed to be Tsung's own clever disguise, and as she now called out to this stranger, begging his response and affirmation of vitality, a familiar coldness gripped the thunder god at the base of his heart.

"Impossible…!"

"Are you surprised, Raijin?" Shang Tsung coughed through the subsiding pain, reveling in the God's growing sense of ignominy. Shang Tsung then put on his best thaumaturg flair and declared "You'll find no mortals to torment here, foul spirit. Begone!"

So it wasn't death, but the old Japanese deity of thunder and lightning, the woman hemmed internally.

"You dare to-" Raiden raged, electricity enveloping his forearms as he prepared a second volley, only to feel that terrible sense of regret hobble him as the woman he nearly annihilated now stepped forth with fierce defiance, placing herself between the two rivals.

"You heard the man, Raijin. Either finish what you started, or go destroy trees elsewhere."

"You misunderstand, mortal, I have no qualm with-"

"No qualm?" She laughed, cutting short his hesitant excuse with a broad gesture to the surroundings. As if on queue, the burning pine tree's internal structure lost the last of its integrity, and fell with a loud crash just behind the woman and Shang Tsung with a resounding crash.

"The definition of "qualm" must not translate properly here," she asserted with measured amusement while maintaining fierce eye contact, ready for his acquiescence, or her end - To Raiden's astonishment, it didn't seem she would mind either way. The woman then switched languages to one he had known quite well thanks to his adopted name, repeating her ultimatum that the thunder deity either follow through with his murderous intent, or trouble them no longer.

The palpable force of her untrammeled spirit sent a thrill unlike any Raiden had ever felt across his mortal flesh, and he found himself no longer glancing hatefully past the woman to catch Shang Tsung's triumphant smirk, but looking into her eyes in earnest, and feeling that which had become a tether through the aether which pulled him time and again from his meditations.

Just as the realization that this mortal's soul had indeed been a beacon to him, she turned from Raiden with purposeful stride, and tended the man who had saved her life.

As Raiden watched her now lavish attentions on his greatest rival, paying him no more mind than one would a passing breeze, he found himself dumbstruck, unable to act nor speak through his mounting, impotent rage. Shang Tsung was similarly ignoring Raiden as he put on his best performance for this perfect stranger. When she embraced him in heartfelt thanks for his selfless act, Shang Tsung took the opportunity to give Raiden the same knowing smile that he had suffered from the storm warrior following his defeat against Liu Kang.

Raiden disappeared with a final crash of thunder, his angry shout echoing through the temple grounds, and as Shang Tsung played his act to the hilt, Raiden continued his observations from afar.

"Never have I seen such a spectacle! You put my pranks to shame!"

Raiden could only seethe as the winds danced about him before coalescing into the physical body he himself had gifted them aeons ago.

"You know, brother… I've had my share of mortal romances, but I never thought YOU the type to fall in-"

"We are NOT siblings!" Raiden finally broke, tearing his gaze from the now strolling couple to cow the impertinent gale. "Do not forget who bestowed that form unto you, Fujin!"

Fujin held his hands up in a cloying fashion, still smiling, but remaining silent until Raiden's rage subsided. He then chuckled, "And a fine form it is! I have had quite the time with it. Kombat is one thing, but it seems you are just now discovering flesh and blood's true purpose."

This barb brought a pang of agony to Raiden's heart as he felt the intimations of what Fujin alleged, but instead of turning his ire into violent retribution against the messenger, he looked hatefully to the thief who now had whetted appetite for the subtler pleasures of the mortal soul. Lightning flashed, and the skies opened.

[kaleidraws]

Had a wonderful afternoon making shimekazari with Mr. Kazuhiko Yakushiji at Masumi Tokyo. The exhibition was dedicated to three people in his life, one of which is the late Kazuki Takahashi, whose Blue Eyes White Dragon Kazuhiko has brought to stunning life in twined hemp above.

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Interviewing Sub Zero actor, professional body builder, and all around based and Christ-pilled guy, John Turk! Come check it out!

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Bugs Bunny: Rabbit Of Seville | Director: Chuck Jones Studio: Warner Bros. | USA, 1950  

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Screaming

Crying

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You draw Raiden so scrumptiously it drives me insane I’m ripping up the carpets ITS SO PERFECT AND GOOD AND HOLY MY EYEBALLS ARE BLESSED 🙏🙏🙏 (just thought you should know)

Thank you guys so much! This praise goes to @kaleidraws as well - we've been working together like an old-fashioned studio, and between her writing and comic/illustration skills and my animator brain it's been a total blast.

I'm enjoying drawing those intimate closeups in particular; ironically those are the kinds of shots I'm actually most afraid of drawing, but they always turn out to be the best ones. That's the beauty of working in a true creative collaboration - I'm getting to develop my skills (and bravery LMAO) by learning from and working with someone who does the stuff I don't (e.g. writing and directing), and whose taste and skills complement and improve mine - and we're being way more productive than I'd ever be on my own.

The result is of course that we get views of Raiden's eyes from less than an inch away from his face. :>

Kalei: Draw the details Hailey! my cowardly ass: NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO oh that's quite nice

Seriously, I'm glad you guys are enjoying it as much as we are, and please stay tuned - Metanoia Creative has more on the way!

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K I just read a reddit thread with like 3 comments using Malfurion's "routing the whole demon army by conjuring a massive storm" moment from WOTA as evidence of how TOTALLY BADASS he is so I had to draw that moment as it happened in the books:

and then he helps fix it after being emo again and then his head is hurty and he's literally just a sad wet nerd it's great.

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Bugs Bunny: What’s Opera, Doc? Director: Chuck Jones | Studio: Warner Bros. | USA, 1957

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happy birthday Women

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David Lynch's Weather Report 3/6/21, 4/10/21, 2/20/22... among others! It was a very recurring sentiment. He wanted everyone to have good luck and fun with our projects.