#He might just easily be mt favourite to draw as well!

[snoocupz]

Last months Apollos! 🍎

I need some time to draw him,,, again,,,

[landeg]

31 Days of Apex: A Retrospection

I participated in the incredible #31DaysOfApex challenge hosted on Twitter, where fans created new content for every day of July based on a one-word prompt. I’ve signed up for/started lots of similar challenges in the past but always ended up having to drop out or trail off before the end... but this time, I managed to complete something for every day of the challenge!

My only goal was to make something by each day’s deadline, and it was a really interesting exercise both in technical skill and also in my management of not only my time, but my expectations and energy. Below, I go into more detail behind each piece.

To preface; the beginning of this challenge coincided with the beginning of a new personal time-management exercise where, for 5/7 days a week, I would only go on the computer at night. Combined with the deadline, this had an interesting effect on my time management and the quality of certain pieces.

Day 1 - Memory

From the start, I wanted to use the challenge as an opportunity to do more studies and to push myself wherever possible. This was the first piece I did and I had more time to work on it, so I used it as a digital painting study. I still think it’s a strong piece and it’s probably my favourite of the month. Symbolically, this character’s backstory doesn’t match up with her own memories, so the idea is she’s missing information she can’t quite place or remember, and this both scares and comforts her.

Day 2 - Blood

Another digital painting and lighting study that didn’t work out as well as the first, mostly due to time constraints meaning I couldn’t scrap it and start again. While I don’t like how it turned out, I did learn a lot. The character on the right is a field medic, and my intent was to show the calm after a successful rescue.

Day 3 - Mercy

Some days I relied more on the humour of a piece’s concept than the skill of its execution, though I also liked how this piece turned out artistically. After two days of intense studies, though, this was very quick and easy for me to turn out as it relied on existing skills.

Day 4 - Prize

This one thankfully came together very quickly, which I credit to the two previous painting studies making it much easier to achieve what I wanted. The character is searching for the disembodied head of the man who killed her parents, who is now acting as a robot, hence the vaguely half-machine-half-human silhouette in her hand.

Day 5 - Family

Another quick, simple illustration under a time crunch. The character framed by the nameless foreground figures has no memory of herself or her family.

Day 6 - Noise

For some pieces where I was under a time crunch, I experimented in an opposite direction; instead of studies, I played loosely with different techniques/brushes/etc to see what came out. This was a lineless style I ended up employing a lot when short on time. The piece pictured here was just one of four alternate colourways, presented in a pop-art style. The character is almost always depicted with thick coverings over her ears, so I thought she might be sensitive to auditory overload. This particular piece was retweeted by the character’s voice actress!

Day 7 - Mask

More relying on humour for lack of time/a better idea. A fun experiment in colour, though.

Day 8 - Healing

Another technically “easy” piece but with a stronger concept. It was actually pretty hard to get the reflection & condensation elements balanced right. The character pictured has a narrative thread relating to an old ex he has trouble moving on from.

Day 9 - Weapon

While obviously another joke, and made to be finished quickly, it was surprisingly difficult to get the duct tape and knife to read clearly without over-cluttering the lineless image. This little ‘bot is a drone used by one of the playable characters to hack areas of the map; it’s not NORMALLY an offensive weapon. This image was promo’d in a video stream by the character’s voice actor!

Day 10 - Truth

I only had less than an hour to finish this one by the deadline, but I still tried to experiment with silhouette and colour. It was surprisingly hard to get the interior silhouette to be legible. The outer silhouette is a playable character (not easily readible unless you’re familiar with his design) and the inner silhouette is his sister, whose disappearance he is trying to investigate.

Day 11 - Shield

A fun, self-indulgent one. Had a blast simplifying the game’s characters down into little caricatures. The character in the centre has abilities related to shields and protection, so many other people were drawing him for the prompt; I wanted to try and flip it, so I picked other characters he would be friendly with, and picked a non-lethal, lighthearted setting.

Day 12 - Ruins

Short on time so did a quick lighting study. A recent game plot has changed one of the areas of the map, submerging it in water and leaving it to “ruin”.

Day 13 - Hero

Another painting study. Really didn’t like how this one turned out, but had to turn in something, and I did learn a lot in the process. If I’d had more time I probably would’ve scrapped it and started again. This characters had recently been revealed to have been manipulated by another character who used gas-based offenses, whom she admired.

Day 14 - Rest

I was going to be away from mt computer until after the deadline, so I decided to make a traditional piece. I ended up enjoying it so much I tried to take the time to do a few more traditional pieces later. This piece was sort of a comedy of errors; I had to do it while I was out, and the pen I had brought with me to ink my sketch ran out, so I had to make do with a blue ballpoint pen, and I was missing several colours of coloured pencil. I think the finished piece reflects how rushed it was, and it did’t meet my concept, but I do still like it.

Day 15 - Skull

Another quick one but I wanted to experiment with a different line style. Wanted a sort of “graffiti” effect. One of this character’s skins includes a skull-shaped mask.

Day 16 - Growth

Extremely quick play on words because I didn’t have the time to work on anything meaningful and couldn’t think of anything better!

Day 17 - Home

Another traditional piece, this time by choice and with more time. Markers. It looks extremely like some janky art school homework on 2 point perspective because it extremely is. Perspective and backgrounds are very difficult for me - they just don’t “click” - but I had a lot of fun with this one. I kept my mistakes intact because I didn’t want to edit it too much. A lot about the technical perspective is wrong, but I think I achieved the “mood” I wanted. This location is a bar owned by one of the player characters where many of the other characters are shown to meet.

Day 18 - Sky

Very happy with how this one turned out, even though there are still lots of problems. Markers again. There’s a lot I would fix next time, and I think technically it’s lacking, but there are some specific areas I feel happy to have achieved, such as the almost brushed texture of the curved metal above his shoulder and the values of the shadow/reflections on the underside of the head piece. I’m also happy with how I was able to draw from my shoulder rather than my wrist when inking the curved lines, something I struggle with.

Day 19 - Target

An experiment in pushing the lineless style I’d already been playing with for a stronger likeness. The pose and expression in this could both be pushed more but I like the result. This character had just learned that one of the other players, whom she had trusted, was actually sharing her secrets with her enemy, and she didn’t know which one it was.

Day 20 - Friendship

I had this one concepted from when I first looked over the prompts. It was a fun challenge trying to simplify all the elements into the lineless, blocky style while being legible. This character has a strained relationship with one of his friends, and finally pushed her too far with his selfishness, and she now no longer responds to him.

Day 21 - Scar

Quick joke. This character was introduced briefly as a red herring for another character before being killed off. He was stabbed through the chest by another character’s hand, hence the scar pattern.

Day 22 - Dream

I wasn’t sure about this one while I was making it but I ended up liking how it turned out. I wanted to capture the character’s robotic legs bent at an unnaturally straight 90 degrees, like a Barbie doll. The flat background and lighting make it feel like an indoor stage. The little “electric sheep” are inspired by iDogs.

Day 23 - Meal

After a few days of not having time to really spend on any piece, it was fun to get to spend time on concepting and composing this. I always admired these kinds of watercolour-like food illustrations and this is the first time I’ve had any success in creating one myself. I concepted and sketched out the individual items traditionally before working out the composition within the box digitally. Each food item/utensil is inspired by the different characters’ design elements. Only two of the now-current characters are excluded due to plot reasons. In particular, I like how one of the character’s dome-shaped shields acts as the base and cover of the box.

Day 24 - Hobby

Wasn’t a fan of how this one turned out. I think the likeness is a bit off, and his facial anatomy is skewed. But I also like how the general composition, tone, and bee turned out. This character’s concept art originally imagined them as a beekeeper who would use smoke to fight.

Day 25 - Fear

An incredibly rushed piece that I intended to go back in and add more detail to, similar to day 4, but I actually took a step back and decided I liked the blocky, flat-colour version. This character is the youngest of four, all of whom are MIA or worse, along with his father, and his mother is losing her memory. He’s talking to her through a handheld holographic device. This piece gained more traction, most likely thanks to the subject matter since this is a popular character.

Day 26 - Holiday

I didn’t want to do a religious holiday like Christmas or Easter. A lot of other people also interpreted the prompt as a vacation, but I had already done a sort of “beach vacation” piece for day 11, so I instead went for a “public holiday” and chose NYE/NYD. This was fairly quick but the lighting was an interesting experiment. I knew this one wouldn’t be as popular because it wasn’t as “flattering” but I personally really like it. The girl on the left is kind of goofy and completely un-self-conscious and I think it’s captured here.

Day 27 - Music

Really didn’t like how this one turned out. I don’t think the likeness is good at all, the lighting is poor, and the gold detailing feels lazy. But I liked other elements, such as the pose and the clothing.

Day 28 - Treasure

This is my least favourite of the entire month, but I also had the least time available to work on it before the deadline so I had no opportunity to scrap it and start over, which I sorely wanted to do. The likeness is terrible, but more than that the base anatomy is off, the pose is stiff, and the lighting/colours are cheap. I wish I could’ve done better by this character; but, I am glad I had something finished at all.

Day 29 - Skin

This was probably my third attempt at this picture and I’m still not happy with it, but again, I had to finish something. I almost considered scrapping the concept entirely and choosing something easier but ended up seeing it through. The concept itself is actually recycled from an older piece of mine for an entirely different fandom, because I didn’t think I did it justice then, either. Would still like to revisit this concept with this character and take more time.

Day 30 - Trust

After a few days of feeling really dissatisfied and uncomfortable with the art I’d been making, I finally more time to dedicate to a piece, and I’m overall happy with how this one turned out. I decided to go for a different medium entirely with pixel art, which also gave me the opportunity to try and animate it. I started off confident and then started to get worried towards the end, but all the elements came together when I added the portal colour effects. This is an alternate reality version of one of the player characters, who appears through a portal and allows that character to escape the facility she’s being kept in, encouraging them to trust the “voices” she hears which are actually versions of herself trying to help her. This piece was retweeted by the official Apex Legends Twitter account!

Day 31 - Freestyle

I had this planned out early in the challenge and I’m really, really happy with how it turned out. It’s probably tied with my favourite along with the very first piece (how fitting). I was worried about how I was going to capture the movement without over-complicating the lineart, having so many people in one image, etc. before I realised the focus was entirely on gesture, and then everything clicked. I went for a thicker brush, which forced me to conserve my lines, and tried to simplify each character down to the bare minimum needed to recognise them. They’re also all wearing new non-canonical outfits so I used their familiar colour schemes for the same purpose. It’s not perfect, but I love it, and it’s everything I’d hoped I’d be able to end the challenge on.

I really, really enjoyed the entire month and the way it tied in with my new time management schedule. It gave me some achievable short-term goals which added up to this long-term achievement I can now look back on; I learned a lot both about balancing my energy and about technical skills, I found ways to stay motivated, and most importantly I learned to not get caught up on the individual slip-ups and pieces I didn’t like as much and to instead focus on the bigger picture. Thank you to everyone involved in organising and supporting this event! I found so many other incredible fanartists, writers, and content creators through this challenge and I can’t wait to see the bonus content released over August!

[myhelrav]

In Search of Wellbeing

Tales of Transition #3

As I started assembling my words and pictures for this post, it was 6 months to the day since Rod and I left Wellington, one of us heading north to to start the hard work of turning this beautiful renovation into a home, the other detouring to the South Island. That felt like quite a milestone. It was wild and wet here in the Bay of Plenty. It felt wonderfully appropriate for an anniversary of leaving windy Welly. 

While I was contemplating this particular post, the words of the Navajo Prayer, In Beauty May I Walk, played through my mind over and over. Reminding me that I have indeed walked in beauty since I left my beloved city. Telling me how much the everyday beauty of our new home has helped ease transition.

A while back I read a piece suggesting a difference between happiness and wellbeing. A lightbulb came on! It’s no secret that I struggled for happiness as Rod and I adapted to the many changes of the previous 6 months. Yet in the midst of bouts of unhappiness, I was experiencing moments of what I have come to identify as wellbeing. Almost always outdoors, it might be feeling the mild northern winter air, soft on my skin. Revelling in the novelty of rain falling vertically (!), often so gentle it could barely be heard. Feasting my eyes on treats such as sparkling blue waters, our garden glowing golden against a dark sky to the east as the sun dropped in the west, yet another treasure discovered in that garden as the seasons started to unfold... Breathing in the heavenly aroma of our own citrus fruit. For however long that moment lasted, I felt at ease. 

Those moments all felt like gifts, as did the notion that wellbeing and happiness could be separated. Letting go of happiness as a goal was liberating. It was a remarkably helpful strategy in helping me begin to deal better with the emotional conflict that, somehow, didn’t magically disappear after the excitement and turmoil of arriving in Eleventh Ave. And if you know me well, you know that I like my strategies! Here are some of my other strategies for this phase of Project Tauranga:

To create a sense of peace and order so as to counteract the many ways in which lack of peace was frustrating me

To attempt to forgive myself for the ways I was not coping and to concentrate instead on the ways I was contributing

To focus on gratitude

To seek out beauty

Peace and Order

Box city is not a peaceful place in which to live. No surprise there, but what did surprise was how long it continued to be a struggle to adapt. 

Initially nothing had a place so nothing looked out of place. Locating phones, keys, or any other random thing put down “for now” was the first challenge. The pace at which we could create order out of chaos was limited. How fast could Rod could build shelves? How many chests of drawers - an item of furniture we’d had no need for in Karepa Street - did we need to find?

My heart was aching for the sons and friends I’d left behind, my resilience was undermined by week after week of very poor sleep, my body was wearied by prolonged hay fever - the legacy of dusty downsizing, cleaning product overload and far too many flowers in far too many rooms while Karepa Street was on the market... The energy and team work that brought us this far took a big hit. Rod, although faring better than me, was also exhausted. It took far longer than either of us anticipated to find our mojo as a team again.

We had also both anticipated that we would quickly adapt to the background traffic. “You’ll get used to it” everyone said. Except some don’t get used to it. Yup, it seems I’m one of those. The noise intruded on my thoughts, affected my moods and, even through earplugs, disturbed my sleep. 2 miserable months passed before I managed a decent night’s sleep. It was even longer before the noise stopped feeling like a malignant foe. In the wee hours I’d find myself staring down at the trucks that drive through the night, angry and hating them, wanting to scream back at the road, just shut up!

It probably sounds overly dramatic and I did feel as if I was becoming unhinged. Strategies were desperately needed! And so we set to work. To help turn my ears away from the traffic we put gently ticking clocks in the rooms I spend most time in to listen to instead. After months of investigating and pricing our options, I’m thrilled to report that work on double-glazing our windows will start in the next few days. Changes are also happening within. Rod and I started doing yoga and our lovely classes have helped calm my mind. I am learning to listen to my breath rather than the noise when it wakes me at night. My foe is shrinking...

Box city shrank too, but gradually, wearyingly, and not completely. In the garage, wardrobes and upstairs rooms, it still lurks in wait... As it retreated, we were able to create ever larger pools of calm beginning with my favourite corner chair, where I look out into the garden on two sides and back at the beauty that surrounds me indoors.

We may not have peace and quiet but we do have spaces that look peaceful and calm. I am working to keep them that way - in this new life of ours I am reinventing myself as a much tidier person! 

Contribution

Forgiving myself is such a hard one. Luckily I have an ally in making this strategy work. Rod is thriving on the freedom to beaver away at his enormous list of home handy work but sees our physical environment as just one piece of the home-making puzzle. For him, making connections with new people and places is of equal value and he is very generous in treating the time that I spend seeking these as important work. Who knew that my addiction to Facebook and love of cafés would be seen as useful?   

And so I ferret out new things for us to do. From watching live music in tiny venues to watching ride-on mower racing at a huge school gala - with a variety of weekend markets in between - Rod has cheered my efforts and said yes to most of my suggestions as we try to get used to life in this very different town.

We were incredibly lucky that I stumbled across an active women’s social networking group on Facebook early on. Thanks to this group we learned about the yoga class, joined a pub quiz team, hosted a book club, helped cater for a fundraiser, found friends to join me and my mother on a garden jaunt to the Waikato, found someone new for Rod to go biking with…  

I am, of course, getting to know Tauranga one café at a time. All with Rod’s blessing and support. Go Team Tauranga!

Gratitude

I am grateful that Rod shares the need to go back to Wellington often. To drink in the comfort of familiar places and to wrap ourselves in the aroha of beloved family and friends. To lay aside the task of reinventing our lives and just be ourselves for a little while in the company of those who know us well. 

We both feel very fortunate that we had time and means to say yes to nearly every opportunity that came our way to catch up with old friends, not only back in Wellington but in other parts of the country too. We are especially grateful to those who took the trouble to come and add to the new chapter being written in Eleventh Ave. Each visit replenishes our kete and feels like a blessing on this house.

Oh, how much I miss my “posse” of friends, to quote one of my new friends. I am so grateful for the women I have met here who help ease that ache. Who don’t expect that we can possibly take the place of old friends overnight but who are here for each other in very meaningful ways in the meantime. Who might just feature in a blog post all their own one day… 

I feel very blessed by how much easier adapting to change has been for my partners in this venture. To be able to focus so much on putting myself first with Rod’s help is an enormous luxury that I have seized with both hands. Seeing how happily my mother potters around her “Little Nest” has given me and Rod profound joy every single day since she arrived.

And we are all grateful for our bountiful avocado tree. It has been delivering a big dollop of wellbeing every lunch time for weeks and weeks now. How lucky is that!

Beauty

The natural beauty of the Bay of Plenty is one of the things that drew me and Rod here in the first place. Has it ever delivered! Being so spoiled in the choice of beautiful things to see and do has helped immeasurably whenever I’ve tried to focus on the positive and give less energy to the negative.

We thought we’d miss our dramatic Wellington view but very soon discovered that our Tauranga view is equally mesmerising in a different way. Mauao, the iconic volcanic cone at Mt Maunganui, is a constant presence, drawing our eye and grounding us. We’re intrigued by unfamiliar patterns of clouds above us (we truly are living under a different sky.) We love to watch the ever shifting patterns of light and tide in the estuary that’s close enough to escape to for a very nice bike ride or walk. 

Walking on the beaches at the Mount is also an easily accessible treat. Closer to home, trees and flowers provide endless inspiration to reach for my camera. The photos with which I bombard my friends on Facebook are but a tiny fraction of the ones I have taken, feeding my soul even while my spirits sagged. The variety of species that thrive here means there is garden colour to be enjoyed everywhere we walk or drive, no matter the season. We are beginning to learn the pattern of the seasons and are looking forward to next year’s arrival of feijoas and mandarins, magnolias and cherry blossom.

And the tiny first steps we have taken in growing vegetables fill us with hope that our dreams of a garden to nourish body and soul will come true.

To quote another of my new friends, “being out of your comfort zone is not comfortable!” For what seemed like the longest time, I felt lost and broken. Now that I find myself able to look back and write about those bleak times, I cherish the fact I am feeling more whole and more at peace. 

This new sense of peace feels fragile. Bad days still strike without warning. Knowing that they’re not guaranteed, I am all the more grateful for the good days. For the beauty that cushions us through good days and bad.

In beauty may we continue to walk as Project Tauranga moves into a new year.

Arohanui

[mintchocolateleaves]

Black Feather (2/?)

Summary:  Kuroba Kaito has a plan. Find the people responsible for his father’s death, branded within the magic community as a traitor, and make them pay. There’s just some things he needs to do first. (Set in the HP-verse.) Slowburn KaiShin.

Notes: Yes, it seems I’m uploading fics that seemed like they were being forgotten. First delinquent au, now HP au? Oh wow. Many thanks to @bakathief for creating this wonderful au with me!

[Part One]

Dragons.

When he’d been a child, Kaito had been obsessed with them. His father had taken him to see them at mount Fuji once, the only dragon reserve in Japan, back before Kaito had attended wizarding school. There, Kaito had seen the Ukrainian Ironbellies, with their metallic scales reflecting the sun’s light, red eyes staring down at him.

He’d seen a few Antipodean Opaleye’s as well, from where they’d migrated from New Zealand, never really flying back overseas after the winter had ended. Their multicoloured eyes had been beautiful, had stolen his breath, but they’d never been his favourite.

No – Kaito had always loved the Ukrainian Ironbellies the most. Had wanted to breed them, wanted to tame them and spend every passing moment with them as loving friends.

Then his father had been killed, burnt alive by the Japanese ministry in response to his ‘treason’, and Kaito hadn’t been able to bring himself to go near things that could create fire so easily.

“I’ve not been near dragon’s since back then,” Kaito says now, to himself, tapping against his trousers. His voice sounds almost wistful, as if he realises just how much of a shame it is. “I guess we’ll just have to change that then.”

He’ll have to apparate to Mt. Fuji. And make his way up to the reserve. From what quick research he’d managed to do before the Aurors had come to arrest him, the reserve is currently home to roughly forty dragons.

Over half are Ukrainian, the breed that he’s searching for.

Now, he just needs to apparate there, grab a sample of blood without injuring the beasts. Or getting killed in the process. God, Kaito’s already excited at the concept of this. Dragons bring a spark of life to him that leave him feeling giddy.

He just wishes he could find some unknown properties to them that could help him during his heists. Dragon blood, for one, is highly volatile, and he could use it for offensive potions. It’s also got medicinal properties, except no one’s found a way yet to harness it for human biology without it burning people alive.

Well, that’s what experimentation is for, Kaito supposes.

“Okay,” Kaito says, nodding his head. “To Mt. Fuji.”

Apparating isn’t necessarily difficult. Kaito had gotten his license shortly after finishing school, just before he’d gone travelling. The spell isn’t difficult, nor is the wand incantation.

It’s just getting to the right place that’s the issue.

There’s only so far the spell will work, for one. Most transport spells only work within the confines of a single country. Portkeys are necessary for travelling abroad, things that Kaito’s had to pay out a lot of money for during his travels.

Maybe he should invest in a few self-taught lessons on how to make them? It might help him with KID related jobs.

“Stop,” Kaito says to himself. “Dragons first.”

Apparating takes effort to get where one wants to go, mainly because it requires visualising the area that’s required to travel to. Kaito would be able to travel to his family home without an issue, because he can remember the room’s layout, the dimensions of where he wants to go.

But going somewhere he’s never been before? Or worse, somewhere he can hardly remember – a layout that has probably changed since then?

That’s how patients wind up in hospital with splinching injuries from the spell. There’s an element of danger that not everyone is willing to risk. Kaito knows he could just as easily travel through fireplaces, with floo-powder, but that method of transport is a lot more traceable.

Even though his wand will register the fact that he’s travelled somewhere, it won’t be able to direct to anyone who investigates him, where exactly he’s gone.

Which is probably for the best, because people asking him questions about dragons is not something he typically enjoys.

He really needs to hurry up and find some dragons though, because just standing outside of the Japanese ministry of magic is gaining him quite a few looks.

~~~

Mt. Fuji: Realm of dragons.

Kaito is practically breathless as he glances around. Most of the Ironbellies will be inside of the mountain, living in caves that are charmed to go overlooked by those who aren’t looking closely enough.

The Opaleye’s are probably down by the lake nearby the mountain, lapping up water. The dragon tamers that preserve the safety of the sanctuary, use cloaking magic to keep the dragons out of view of those who aren’t wizards. Keeping the dragons safe from those who’re likely to attack that of which they don’t understand.

There are probably alarms fitted around the caves for the Ironbellies, to keep those with harmful intent away from the dragons, but Kaito’s pretty sure he can get through.

His hand reaches in to his pocket, a hidden sleeve obscured by the heaviest illusion spell he’s ever had the pleasure to create, pulling out his second wand.

It’s a taboo, Kaito knows, owning multiple wands. But it’s easier in the long run, with his extracurricular activities, so he doesn’t really fret too much about it.

“Okay,” Kaito says, “let’s send out a quick tracking spell. Revelare.”

He flicks his wrist upwards twice, and then downwards. It sends a small pulse through his wand, and down into the ground, creating small spider’s veins in the earth, blooming outwards in search for any hidden spells.

It reveals two. Both are entries to caves, except at first glance, the one nearest to him is too thin to be the nest of an Ironbelly. No, Kaito’s going to have to go to the next one then, if he wants to produce good results, then he’s just going to have to put in the work.

“Okay,” Kaito says to himself as he looks at the second cave. It’s bigger. The entrance is probably the width of two fully grown dragons. It should make for the perfect nest.

Now, he just needs to search for any alarms.

There are two. The first is easy, just a simple spell measuring the heat that passes across it. Dragons are cold blooded after all, so only mammals – like wizards – will set it off. Kaito applies a small cloaking spell to himself, something that lowers his external temperature enough to go untraced and heads inside.

The moment he is past, Kaito casts a dull Lumos with his Kaito-wand, keeping his KID wand out for use against the second alarm. It’s not something that’s easily seen, and Kaito strains himself to find it, but he does.

It measures the magic of a person – of course it does. Wizards can get past the cloaking spell into the caves if they want, and anyone competent at magic can also use a cloaking spell of their own to get past the heat measures.

But this. A spell recording just how much magic is filled in a person’s blood. It’s going to be high in comparison to a dragon’s, something that’s going to cause alarms to go off.

And trying to cloak the magic? Well, that only causes the introduction of more magic to a person’s surroundings, triggering the alarm even quicker.

Well, Kaito thinks. Maybe there isn’t exactly a way past this alarm. He’s probably just going to have to risk it, and make sure he apparates away before anyone comes looking for him.

That’s alright, he supposes. He just needs to force himself to work quickly. And Kaito’s always been efficient, so he knows he can work that angle. Probably.

Well there’s no problem in trying, right?

Kaito steps past the alarm, wonders how long he’s got to figure things out, and makes his way further into the cave. There are two dragons inside. One older dragon, and one hatchling.

The hatchling is the one which Kaito immediately decides he can go nowhere near. Dragons might not be highly territorial in the same way as Centaurs are, but they are highly protective of their young.

Trying to draw blood from one of their young – even if he’s not harming them – would be like stepping on a live wire, waiting to be ripped apart by a stray reicio spell. No, he’ll have to go to the mother, which, is definitely also risky but not nearly as immediate in its danger.

He heads forward. The older Ironbelly is curled in on itself, a watchful eye glancing between it’s child and towards the end of its tail where there’s-

Fuck. How are people here already? Surely the alarm hadn’t sounded so quickly. Kaito quickly pockets his wands, tries to seem as unassuming as possible.

She looks up at the sound of his footsteps scuffing out.

“What’re you doin’ here?”

The woman pales almost, to see him stood in the middle of a dragon’s nest. Understandable really, most people don’t show up alone to see dragons without the degree of safety the dragon tamers in the reserve can offer.

“Oh,” Kaito says, by way of introduction. “I… seem to have gotten a little lost?”

He receives a look that could not be any more displeased. The woman’s pretty – with bright eyes and an ivory complexion. Her hair is pulled back into ribbons, and she wears the bright, golden robes of a dragon tamer, with shimmering bangles down her wrist.

“I’m sorry,” she says, “but I don’t think I believe you. There are alarms to keep people from getting lost in areas like this.”

Kaito takes a few steps nearer, glancing between the woman and the dragon. He meets the Ironbelly’s gaze, watching and waiting for any signs of aggravation. They’re not the most volatile of dragons, but Kaito knows enough about living things to know that they can be cruel on their own volition.

“Right,” Kaito says, “isn’t that why you’re here? Because I set off the alarms?”

She shakes her head, stands from where she’d previously been sat down. “Of course not! I’m just here for th’ maintenance of th’ dragons that have recently had their eggs hatch!”

Dragon eggs? God, Kaito hadn’t thought of the properties of their eggs. If they’ve recently cracked open, then surely, he can grab the shells – Dragon eggs are practically impossible to crack open. The defensive elements that he could gain if he could experiment with the empty shells…

“I see,” Kaito says, and now, he makes his way towards her, offering what he hopes is his most charming smile. “How exactly does a person maintain a dragon?”

He comes to a stop beside her, glancing at the tail of the dragon. Now that he’s nearer, he can see the Ironbelly’s scales are jagged instead of the smooth they should be. It seems almost unnatural.

“When dragons are readyin’ to have their hatchlings,” the woman whispers, “they grow more scales, as a defence tha’ will keep their children safe if attacked by other dragons. But this dragon has laid a lot of eggs this year, an’ has grown too many new scales that it’s causing her pain.”

“So you’re removing the excess dragon scales.” Kaito says. He leans down, and sure enough – there in a small pile, are shimmering scales of metal, things that would cost him thousands to buy in the back alleys of Tokyo’s magic industry.

Here… well, Kaito could just take them, obliviate the woman and no one would ever know.

“Exactly,” she continues, and almost as if she’s not worried by his presence anymore, she lowers back down to the dragon’s tail, wand out, watching the slow flicks of the dragon’s scales with a careful precision that tells Kaito she is good at her job.

“I’m Kaito,” he says, as an introduction, “and I know I shouldn’t be here, but do you mind if I watch?”

Her eyes flick to him for the shortest time, weighing up his sincerity, before she nods. She says, “you can stay until th’ alarms bring someone to escort you out.”

Kaito raises an eyebrow.

“…And I’m Kazuha. Now lemme do my job, okay?”

He nods. And he watches. She brings her wand up, and with a flick, mutters incisura. Kazuha has to use the spell four times on the same scale, before the cuts leave it loose enough for her to pry it out from between the other ragged scales. The dragon lets out a growl.

“She’s just bein’ moody,” Kazuha says, as she places the scale amongst the bucket of others, “because she wants this to be quicker, ya know?”

Kaito nods, although he doesn’t really understand. He’s not spent enough time around them to understand the complexity of a dragon, and so – well, it’s probably best to just take the professional at her word.

“The scales,” Kaito says, “what will you do with them?”

Perhaps it’s too much of a conversation changer, because Kazuha stiffens, caught off guard by his question.

“We dispose of them,” she says once she’s back on balance again. She continues pruning the unhealthy scales, placing them among the others. “Sometimes the apothecaries buy them, but they’ve stopped recently, because there’s not a high enough demand for scales.”

Well, Kaito thinks, now he knows where he could buy some scales.

“Everything has it’s uses,” Kaito says. And then, looking up at the dragon, he lets out a small sigh. “I’d be able to find a use for them at least.”

Kazuha stills. She says, “that’s why you’re here, isn’t it? To take advantage of my dragons? To steal from them.”

Oh dear. Kaito seems to have walked straight into that one. He just needs to rework it a little bit.

“You don’t steal from dragons,” he says, reaching forward to brush his fingers against the dragon’s scales. It’s rough enough that it cuts into his hand, leaving a small dribble of blood running down his wrist as he lifts it up. “They only let you take what they have no need for.”

He grabs his wand – his first wand – and mutters the healing spell episkey, to close the small cut. After, with a small wave of his wand, he siphons the blood away with a wordless spell.

“Right,” Kazuha says. “Well, if all you’re here for is dragon scales, then take them and get out.”

“Hey now,” Kaito says, lifting his hands up in surrender, “you said I could watch. I like dragons okay. And as much as I’d like having some scales to experiment with, I’d rather just observe the dragons.”

He does not mention that learning how to gather scales of his own will be much more useful in the long run, than simply taking the scales now and having no idea of how to prune them if he goes looking for wild dragons later.

“I guess I said ya could stay until security came…” Kazuha says, shrugging. “But you do know… it’s the Aurors that escort you out, right? Not our staff?”

Kaito offers a small smile. “Well. That’ll be interesting, I suppose?”

It will not. It most certainly will not be interesting at all. He’d only left the auror’s station behind no less than an hour ago and he’s already going to have them looking at him again.

Oh, the KID half of himself is raging already. Aurors and the ministry are on his ‘things to avoid’ list. Which, quite frankly, is quite short, consisting of only those two things, and merfolk.

“Startin’ to wish you’d taken the scales an’ just gone?” Kazuha asks.

“not yet,” Kaito says, “but I will be when they show up. Probably. Don’t worry about me though, keep going.”

Kazuha grumbles but continues anyway. She has a way with dragons that is almost mystic. Maybe this could have been him, in her place, helping dragons with maintenance and ensuring they remained healthy.

What a shame, that it isn’t.

“Why would you want dragon scales anyway,” Kazuha asks, as she continues removing them. Some of the scales are harder than the others, tougher, requiring five repeats to break away from the others. “There’s not really any use for them.”

Kaito glances at the scales and shrugs his shoulders. A little honesty couldn’t really hurt, could it?

“I’m an inventor,” Kaito says. “I like creating things from seemingly impossible equipment and ingredients.”

Kazuha looks at him. “Create anythin’ interestin’ recently?”

“A spray,” Kaito says, sitting back, “which makes people admit to the truth when asked questions. It was pretty interesting.”

“It was also illegal.”

Oh, Kaito thinks, that’s not Kazuha’s voice. He groans, turns to face the Auror who has made himself known.

Should have expected that Kudo would be the one sent out. The man he’d offered a small wave to before, the dark-skinned Auror stands beside him, glancing towards Kazuha.

“Just because something’s illegal, doesn’t mean it can’t be interesting.” Kaito chirps. “I wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon, Auror Kudo.”

The dark-skinned detective lets out a sigh. “Kuroba Kaito right? You’ve been caught trespassing in one of the restricted areas of the dragon sanctuary without any formal permissions. We’re going to have to take you back to the office for you to sign the relevant paperwork.”

“Oh,” Kaito says. “Can’t you just owl it to me, like you would anyone else?”

He supposes it’s his surname that causes such treatment. And his record of moving from country to country – they probably don’t trust him to stay in one place. Which… is fairly understandable.

“Kuroba,” Kudo says, shaking his head, “this is the second time you’ve been caught doing something illegal, so procedure says we’ve got to take you in for the paperwork.”

Procedure. What a horrid word when used in conjunction with the law.

“This seems horribly unfair,” Kaito says, glancing back at the dragon, “I just came to see some dragons. People usually just get warnings, Auror Kudo. I mean, this hardly seems fair.”

“You left our offices an hour ago!” Kudo sighs, “this is the second time today I’ve caught you doing something you shouldn’t be doing!”

Beside him, Kazuha lets out a small giggle. Kudo’s eyes cut to her, almost scalding, but she doesn’t react to his exasperation. She says, “jeez, you’re going to be trouble, aren’t you?”

Kaito offers her his brightest smile.

“Just go with ‘em,” Kazuha says, “you can have th’ scales if you do.”

He perks up, smile brightening even more so. It’s not quite the dragon blood he arrived looking for, but it’s a start. And then: “can I have the dragon egg shells as well?”

“Don’t push your luck.”

~~~

[Part Three]

[rex101111]

001 for Kingdom Hearts, My Hero Aca, and Hamilton (if you've seen/listened to it)

Have not, in fact, listened to Hamilton (except for a few songs), but I’ll do the other two!

Kingdom Hearts:

001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my:

Favorite character: Aqua, beautiful, buxom, badass lady who did not deserve an inch of the shit that happened to her and her loved ones. Like seriously what an icon and I do not kid in the slightest when I say she’s the biggest reason I bought 2.8

Least Favorite character: No one, really. I mean, Braig was a titanic asshole, and Vexen was a major creep sure, but other then that this series is just full of characters I very much enjoyed watching. 

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Sokai (big shock I know), Larxel (largely due to the efforts of a single fanartist on DA, but their personalities really do compliment each other), RokuNami (it’s just cute honestly), Aqua/Terra (also, just cute), and if i’m being honest Sorikai is a minor guilty pleasure.

Character I find most attractive: AQUA. lord have mercy that BACKLESS GOODNESS

Character I would marry: Kairi, total sweetheart.

Character I would be best friends with: Riku, purely for the fact that I get to shit on him 24/7 with the knowledge he can take it and give as good as he gets. 

A random thought: If the whole “kill heartless then nobody to regain self” thing happens, does the newly reborn person gain the the memory and knowledge of they’re other two lives? Or do they simply just, pop right back where they were as if nothing happened?

An unpopular opinion: The section with Roxas in the beginning of KH2 is not nearly as bad as people make it out to be, okay yeah it’s a bit long, but even without any info on who this person is, I got invested in the mystery of it all and wanted him to find out the truth about what was happening to him, and was honestly sad when it ended. Twilight Thorn is more then ample reason for me not to hate having to repeat this section everytime I start a new game.

My canon OTP: Sokai, even though Sora is a slow dumbass. JUST LOOK INTO THE CAVE, SHE COMPLETED THE DRAWING, KISS HER YOU SILLY BOY. Seriously though I am predictable and easily swayed, the scene of Kairi completing that cave drawing was…a memorable even in my childhood let me tell ya.

Non-canon OTP: Larxel, if only because Larxene is dead as a particularly bitchy door knob, and that isn’t looking to change anytime soon. (fingers crossed though) 

Most badass character: Aqua, surviving in a place that corrupts most people in a second, for an entire decade, is more then enough evidence to that.

Pairing I am not a fan of: Sor//iku, blame the yaoi fan girls for this one, by itself the pairing…well it’s fine, but the shippers…turn me off, putting it plainly. 

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): (echoing you on this) K A I R I

Favourite friendship: Sora, Riku, and Kairi. The destiny trio can’t be beat!

My hero academia:

Favorite character: It fluctuates honestly, every now and again the manga gives me a moment that changes my whole-oh who am I kidding MY TWO DAUGHTERS ERI AND OCHAKO ARE THE BEST THINGS TO EVER HAPPEN TO ME.

Least Favorite character: It used to be Bakugou, but he’s grown on me ever so slightly because he’s genuinely become a better person…and because that ROTTEN BIRD FACED BASTARD is a million times worse then he is.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Izuocha (who would have guessed?), Kamijirou, Todomomo, Tokotsuyu (severely underrated in my book), and Mt. Kamui. 

Character I find most attractive: Ryuukyuu, the dragon lady is purdy ~^~ (Nana shimura though WOW)

Character I would marry: Hmmm….Ms. Joke honestly, love me a woman who can make me laugh XD

Character I would be best friends with: Kaminari honestly, he’s already a lot like my IRL best friend, so this ones a no brainer.

A random thought: Did Tokoyami have a phase where he was afraid of the dark because of of an accident that happen with Dark Shadow?

An unpopular opinion: Mineta isn’t that bad a character…he is bad true, but not that bad.

My canon OTP: Izuocha all the way baby!! (even though technically they aren’t…yet)

Non-canon OTP: Toshinko, cute parents are cuter when they are cute while being together.

Most badass character: ALL MIGHT BABY. 

Pairing I am not a fan of: Baku///deku, also Kacc///hako, which I have both expressed my thoughts about at length in the past.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another):…no one springs to mind honestly.

Favourite friendship: I am torn between Izuku, Ochako and Iida, and the big 3. SO GOOD.

[persona-m4a]

Some random info of a few characters from bnha + creator’s insights!!! I cant find the English version of this so here’s the translation from yours truly, youre welcome. But can we just stop for a sec and appreciate bakugou in normal clothes, I can die happy now.

 Midoriya Izuku

Birthday: 7/15

Height: 166cm

Favourite things: Katsudon

Insights:

·      Originally wanted to reuse a character from another short, so the character design is the same. The plan was to make the main character look uninteresting so wanted to draw him with bangs that covered one of his eyes, but then decided not to so he’s back to the initial design. I still think he looks pretty plain.

 Uraraka Ochako

Birthday: 12/27

Height: 156cm

Favourite things: starry sky, Japanese food

Insights:

·       Because she and Izuku interacts a lot, so she has to have a talkative and preppy personality

·       Unexpectedly offensive. This is the proof of you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover

·       Originally Mt. Lady is the female protagonist, but cant think of a way to let her grow as a character plus Uraraka’s character slowly formed, so changes were made.

·       When naming her, first time in my life as a manga artist I thought I might be a genius. Because of the meaning of the words.

 Lida Tenya

Birthday: 8/22

Height: 179cm

Favourtie things: studying, beef stew

Insights:

·       The character was created near the end of the meetings. His growth as a character is completely opposite to what I imagined, even I was surprised. I might enjoy drawing him the most. Lida’s quirk was planned to be very “business like”, after some thought, his quirk became what it is today.

 Bakugou Katsuki

Birthday: 4/20

Height: 172cm

Favourite things: anything spicy, mountain climbing

Insights:

·       Originally designed to be a prodigy, but very ignorant/innocent in terms of his people skills, the kind of character that unintentionally offends others. But this makes the story line very uninteresting. After giving him an explosive, angry personality, he can now be easily hated.

         (speech bubble) “this is so easy, anyone can do it!!”

         Original design. Isn’t he annoying?

 All Might

Birthday: 6/20

Height: 220cm

Favourite things: Yakusugi (Japanese Cedar), movies

Insights:

·       It takes 1-2 pencils to draw him every time he goes into super mode, he is burning my money.

·       Although I thought his original design was already really cool! But editors in meetigns said “No one would look up to this kind of old man” “Why don’t you try making him more handsome”. Other artist friends also said “He looks like a happy old man”, so I tried to change his design. Thank you for all your comments, now I put more thoughts into my drawings.

Side note:

·       When he’s in normal mode, his eyes are black from the shadows of his sunken eyes because he’s too skinny, but his pupil still shine with the pride of being the “symbol of peace”.

             Wanted to show that while he is in super mode, you can still see the same person from his eyes.

             Not skilled enough to represent it well. Sorry.

 Aizawa Shyouta

Birthday: 11/8

Height: 183cm

Favourite things: cats

Insights:

·       calm and logical, but action-taking kind of person

This is what a person would look like when they constantly get bogged down by the facts and logics. But this is only a sketch of him in those occasions when you don’t have to mind how you look anyways.

Side note:

·       Apperently there’s nothing in his room

 Aaaaand that’s everything. Pls excuse some of my clunky wording, new to translating plus I’m bad at switching between languages. Hope you still get an idea of what’s going on. I find Bakugou’s section the funniest, and yes, it is canon that Aizawa sensei likes cat.