#I was hoping to make animatics based off of some of these lines.

[houseofdoodles]

will we see more voice claim of your mw ocs?

Since you asked nicely. :) Here's everyone's voice claims I got for my OC's in one video!

Sorry I had to post one hefty video and not four separate ones! Tumblr can't let me do that.

Some more details about the voice claims under the read more! Because I love voice claim stuff and I am a rambling mess about it.

ISO is the only character I for sure have one voice claim for as of right now and that's Ashley Johnson. The most spot on comparison is definitely Lake from Infinity Train. Checks off all the right marks from the slight metallic sound in her voice to a lot of personality and characterization bits that I can see in ISO. Picked some extra juicy voice lines in this video that hit almost too hard with how relevant they are to their character. :') Wanted to pick some lines from Pike and Terra too since both of them have lines that I could see ISO saying as well!

I already posted Chopper's voice claim video and a little explanation earlier, but I recently updated it to include one more voice I had in mind! Essentially, Jesse Harnell is perfect for an overall smooth and humorous tone while Lance Henrikson is someone I can see for Chopper if I want him to be more intimidating.

Last one I cannot for the life of me find the name of the voice actor since it's from old video game material (cast is listed, but they don't say who voices who), but I really wanted to include it since this character and his overall theme and voice were someone I looked to for inspiration for Chopper!

Spark L was both tricky and fun for me! Being a pop star meant I also needed to find someone with a singing voice, so her reel is a smidge longer than the other ones here. :')

Nikki Simmons was the first actress that came to mind since her role in NSR is a really nice comparison to both Spark L's bubbly personality and singing voice. Buuuut. Part of me also says this kind of voice is both too on the nose and has too much energy. I wanted roles that sounded more natural in tone so I snagged some voice lines from Brenda Song and Kody Kavitha!

I'm started to lean more and more towards Brenda Song for Spark L since a lot of her sassy and enthusiastic energy are perfect for Spark L! Also I don't have any lines here, but an extra bonus to Brenda Song is her role as London Tipton because a lot of her lines are way too fitting for this girl. :]

Kody Kavitha is another I look to because her fast and peppy performance is also perfect for Spark L's personality!

Claw Jaw's voice situation is REALLY similar to Spark L's. All three voices I picked for him are all tones and deliveries I can picture for him!

Patrick Seitz was a voice claim I had in mind for the longest time when it came to CJ since he's got a really good guttural voice in a lot of his roles. I could have picked many others that he's done, but I went with Bluddflagg since his tone and use of that fun, pirate vocab are nice things to look to for CJ! Like Spark L's first voice though, I was afraid this was too much energy so I looked to two other roles to be on the safe side.

I'm debating whether or not I want to give Claw Jaw an accent, so in case he doesn't (or at least if it isn't as heavy), Clancy Brown is a nice voice to turn to! He's still got the perfect energy and deliveries for CJ when it comes to both a goofy character but also a tough sounding voice.

Grog is a character I really looked at when getting CJ's energy pinpointed, so I had to include Travis Willingham. Like Clancy Brown, a combo of silliness and seriousness is perfect for the guy!

[rileyclaw]

Hii! First off i just want to I'm such a big fan of your art and animatics! Your art is just so expressive and unique its addicting to look at 💞💞

I was wondering if you could go over how your process or tutorial in making an animatic? Whenever I try to start to make one, I get jumbled up and end up ditching it lol

I'm sorry if you get this question a lot 😭

So sorry it took me so long to answer this- I was in a Busy time (diseaseridden with covid and being punched by finals) when I got the ask and wanted to answer it with some stuff Im using for my next TOH animatic!!

I'll say one thing first: I get jumbled up and ditch so many animatics. For every one animatic I release, there are three to five more I have that have NEVER seen the light of day (yet). And that's okay!! It's fun just to make them for me, and I hope it is for you too!! Animatics are scary because if you're working on it alone, it can be really hard to be your own cheerleader to keep up the mojo to keep going. So that makes it really special when there is that project that makes it to the finish line- cuz you can look at it and go "holy crap I made this. holy crap i MADE that look how SICK that is dude!! all that work and look at the turnout!!"

The following stuffh is just my personal process and is by no means representative of a professional animation pipeline, but this works for me as a Lonely Artist! It all begins with the idea - whether it's a song, or just a story you wanna tell. In the case of the one I'm gonna demo here with , I wanted to animate Hunter's first day as Del's apprentice!

The first thing I did was write a script. Not fancy or AO3-quality, but enough that I understand the pacing and the visuals of each shot. I usually just put this in a doc or put it in a script format, if I feel fancy.

Then, I take that script and find music that I think would fit for it- and remix it (if needed) to fit the pacing/mood/etc! This is what this new animatic looked like before I began ANY artwork- this is a me thing because I'm super inspired by audio as opposed to visuals first. But you might be different- this is just how I like working personally!

Then begins the research! I find references for characters, background layouts, and create a style guide for the animatic that tells me how thick lines will be for characters, backgrounds, if there'll be tons of value or no. I make a turnaround for each character so I can refer to them because Im gonna be drawing them over and over a LOT and want to be consistent! Luckily TOH has no shortage of references, so I based my work off them.

THEN, I can begin drawing. I'm a little,,, (a lot) ADHD and may not always do this process, but if you're new to animatics or daunted by the task at hand, make beat boards of the entire project.

This is just a page of rough thumbnails that get your visual idea down - look how rough and quick these are!! I try not to spend over a minute on each beat board if I dont have to, unless it's a particularly complex shot.

When it gets to the stage where you're ready to begin the actual scenes, I personally tend to do backgrounds first because I like to set characters into backgrounds - and for every animatic, I have the Awkward Blue Sketch Stage which is basically my beat boards timed out as an animatic.

I used Storyboard Pro for this (Toonboom, not free ): icky), but the process can be replicated across most art platforms in whichever way you feel most comfy with! This is so I can time the drawings before I devote time cleaning them up-- which can make for some Pretty Funny looking little guys but theyre important!! trust!!

Once a big sequence of shots is cleaned up (I usually do 40-60 second chunks at a time), I export the .mov and send it to my editing program (which in this case is still Premiere Pro) - and then repeat this process again and again until.. it's done??

Here's like a TL;DR list of basically everything I said summed up:

• Make a loose script or bulletin of the idea! Do your research!

• Depending on what kind of animatic you're making, time it to music!

• Make a beat board of very loose gestures for your shots, and time them - then move on to refinement & cleanup!

• Combine all shots, refine music cues and timings, add any last needed VFX, and export!

There's no secret recipe or anything, it's just learning a pipeline that best suits you, whether it is for something professional or something you want to make for fun because you just love to make!!

[moreespressoformydepresso]

EPIC: The Musical has me in a chokehold so I made a TBOSAS AU where the tributes are all eldritch creatures whose true might was dormant. Maybe reaping them at the same time was a rebel plot, maybe it was divine intervention, but it happens. It happens and the stress of the situation causes one of them to snap. The others soon follow.

All have eldritch forms tied to an element. Ones that aren’t the traditional four count (so metal, void, light etc). They have minor control over that element aside from the eldritch form and can spawn whole realms where their inner creature thrives which only they can access. So a creature tied to the element fire can be resting in their own personal badass volcano lair and then spawn in the ‘real’ world via a portal in the form of a flame. They can create the flame too, but they can’t travel very far and there are ways to mess with the teleportation. Also, the kids retain a version of their human form even when they’re ‘transformed’ because their eldritch form isn’t an alternate form, it’s more an extension of them that’s hidden until they reveal them. I’m using the word transformation because it’s easier. I’ve got many ideas but I’ll start with what inspired this AU: Treech as Scylla in the song Scylla.

I’m going with snakes over the dogs sometimes used in mythology because I think it’s more terrifying (and also I’ve seen one animatic with adorable serpents and fell in love with the big eyes and boopable snouts and massive razor sharp teeth dripping with blood). Treech’s eldritch form is a base with six ginormous serpents sticking out of it. If his human form’s attached to it, he’s a part of the base, usually with only his upper body visible. He has scales with a gradient of forest green, indigo, and Persian blue. When fully transformed, all of his eyes are a glowing icy blue or maya blue (I want to make them fully black but with all the dark shades that’s less terrifying imo) and his human form has lines of scales going in spirals down his body and creeping up on the edges of his face. When Treech starts his transformation, his pupils turn into predator slits and his irises turn light blue. The blue spreads out until it takes up the whole eye. When he gets mad, it might bleed into the veins around his eyes. The serpents themselves start out as glowing outlines all over his skin like tattoos that start to peel off and slowly grow to the terrifying size of his full eldritch form.

The part in the song after Scylla says “hello :)” is the part where he transforms, his voice slowly sounding more and more inhuman (he can sound like a human but like- go big or go home right?) and instead of just killing six people he massacres whole squads of peacekeepers (though he spares innocents like kids because he’s determined to rub it in the Capitol’s face that a literal man-eating serpent monster is more compassionate than they could ever hope to be) in his quest for both vengeance and freedom. It’s not even the biggest slaughter in the big revenge spree the tributes go on together, but still. I’m giving Treech vague siren-like aspects (his singing voice can cause a loss of focus and amply emotions like fear) instead of the telepathy Scylla has in EPIC. A little nod to the song that started this AU.

I might continue this and I’m working on some art for this AU (might post, might not, I’m not sure yet).

[auxiliarydetective]

now for the chaos corner ( or part seven ) of the ask extravaganza, let's talk about my beloved little fennec fox felicity !! could i please ask after questions one, four, five, seven, and eight from that list of questions ?

can't wait to see the answers, and i hope you're doing well !! <3

Yeeessss, Lily, my sweet little baby!

1. What's an animatic about your OC / OTP that you've been spinning around your brain?

So, for Lily, I actually don't think I have a specific song animatic in mind for her, just general vibes. I feel like it would probably be an angsty one about childhood innocence and her relationship with Sanji, generally pretty happy and adorable and all, but occasionally you'll get scenes of her crying and throwing tantrums in fear... Delicious angst. Specifically, the main angst potential comes from the Whole Cake Island Arc. I know you know basically nothing about it, Dolly, but all of my OCs (except for Lux) have a deep and profound trauma from that arc, some more than others. That's because that arc is peak Sanji angst. Anyways, for some happy moments, I could see little montages of them training together, cooking together, Lily showing off her ballet skills, general crew shenanigans... It's about the contrast!

4. Give a full breakdown of one song on your OC or OTP's playlist!

*checks my Felicity playlist* Well, well, well...

I could cheat and do an instrumental one. I can’t do ones that are just there based on vibes because they're... well... just there for vibes. Most of them are just there for vibes, actually. So, we'll do this one:

"Have you heard from the news? / Clouds are falling from the sky / And everything that's pink is now blue."

... is about the scary things in Lily's life and how her world is coming apart, first because of Buggy, then because of Kuro.

"Have you heard from my mind? / We gotta find a way to cope / Or else things might not turn out so fine"

... is Lily's escapism, the way her brain cooked up the automatic response of age regression as a way to cope and make things fine again.

"And I start / To give in / To the sin / To the sin"

Lily puts up no resistance against this sort of escape but it's a "sin" because devil fruits are, well, devil fruits, and she's already a non-human freak without it, but even more so when it keeps changing her appearance in tune with her mind.

"And I start / To realize / Lullabies / La, la..."

... is Lily really falling into Little Space, the last two syllables being a sort of reference to baby speech - listen to how they sound in the song!

The chorus is filled with antitheses between childish, happy things and scary things you might encounter in life and that's also the world that Lily lives in. Sort of a childish bubble she has built for herself and the harsh pirate's life of death and fighting outside of it. There's one line that's special though and that's:

"Lollipops and cigarettes"

Lily, being half mink, has heightened senses, and she's also very emotional, so a lot of times, things just become too much for her. That's when she asks her dad Sanji for a "smoke break" which is code for "mom come pick me up i'm scared". Sanji is a smoker, so he has an excuse to just remove himself from a situation and go outside for a while and Lily copied that for herself. I think the first time she pulls this trick, it's and accident. She probably mumbles to herself "I think I need a smoke break" (copying Sanji, most likely) and everyone just looks at her as if their souls had left their bodies. But then Sanji smiles and says "You know, me too" and they leave and then this becomes actual code speak for them. There's only one thing that's an issue: Lily feels left out if Sanji is smoking and she isn't. She keeps bugging him about how it isn't fair until he gets her lollipops as a comprimise. Also fake cigarettes made of chewing gum or chocolate.

"Losing innocence is easy / But growing up is hard to face. / Give me something to hold on to / Or I'll slip right into little space"

The "losing innocence is easy" part is a reference to Lily losing her parents, an event that she can barely remember and never understood. In her eyes, they just disappeared, and she doesn't know what really happened or never quite pieces it together - because she was young, still is young and her mind refuses to recall what happened. So she just unconsciously refuses to grow up. And she doesn't have to. She's still so young but also she'd rather be this little kid again when her parents were still by her side and she doesn't want to face things like losing her second set of parents - ie. Kaya's - or getting kidnapped by Buggy or the chaos caused by the Black Cat Pirates. She needs someone or something to hold on to or she gets scared and slips into little space, basically becoming a nonverbal ball of fear.

"Remember all the rounds / When we sneaked in just to have a kiss / But now we need to keep the noise down"

In the original interpretation of the song, this is more of an allusion to puppy love vs sexuality, but in Lily's version, the last line is more related to violence and screaming, maybe also her sensitivity to noise because of her gigantic ears that she maybe wasn't so accutely aware of when she was younger.

"Remember sleepy eyes / When we see each other every day / But now this is our final goodbye"

This part is about Kaya and Lily who grew up like siblings for a long time. Granted, they are quite a few years apart, but Lily has very fond memories of just napping with Kaya and seeing her every day because they lived together, but her going out with the Straw Hats means she might never see her again - or at least not for a very long time. The "final goodybe" is also a reference to Merry's death, who was another of Lily's father figures and who was also part mink.

Chorus time! The final lines function the same way, contrasting fun, childish things and scary, adult things.

So yeah, the whole song might as well be interpreted as a look into how Lily's mind works!

5. What would your OC's tumblr blog be like?

I haven't decided on whether I want Lily to be twelve or thirteen yet, but I'm currently gravitating towards twelve and... yeah, she's too young for Tumblr XD

But if she did have a blog, I imagine it would be very chaotic. Ballet stuff, Barbie movies, children's shows, aesthetics, slime videos, kidcore, pastel stuff, Disney...

7. What's your OC's ___-core aesthetic?

Probably a soft and childish balletcore, mixed in with some more pastel-y kidcore. Also fennec fox. You cannot do Lily without a cute little fennec fox.

8. What are some TV Tropes that apply to your OC or OTP?

Oh, a lot! Here's just a little list: The Cheerful Child, Curious as a Monkey, Parental Substitute on multiple occasions (first Kaya's parents, then Merry, then Sanji!) and her and Sanji get a "Like a Son Daughter to Me" moment. She's also somewhat of an Innocent Prodigy when it comes to fighting and ballet, and Cheer Them Up with Laughter is how to stop her tantrums and breakdowns. Finally, Cheery Pink. That's it.

Sorry that this took so long. I had very little free time since Christmas and I've just been working on this whenever I had the time and frame of mind. Thanks so much for your ask!

▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄✼▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ Taglist: @starcrossedjedis @oneirataxia-girl @daughter-of-melpomene @supermarine-silvally - let me know if you’d like to be added or removed!

[doodledgalaxy]

*Implied spoilers of ending

*out of context visual spoilers for the stories of Daniel & Corinthian

*Visuals mainly based on books 2, 5, 9, and 10

*Implied deaths (and the actual death of the endless!)

I haven’t done animatics in a long while, but making this one was a really fun, but lengthy process. I worked on it on and off over two months and really like how it currently looks. Although down the line id love to do a version with color shading, and some more movement.

I’ve been really into the Sandman since hearing about its announcement and have loved doodling the characters. I thought the Hall’s part of the storyline particularly interesting. How intertwined with the plot they are, no matter how much they try to escape it and the bittersweet fate that each of them have. Lyta’s sort of an underappreciated character whose actions made through grief are really compelling. The fact she tries to protect her son so much, just to be the one who seals his fate into what he becomes and thus loses him, is so tragic. So, it seemed like a really interesting storyline to adapt an animatic into.

Originally, since this isn’t the entire song, I considered having a part more focused on Morpheus. It would have been the second chorus and possibly would reshow events from his perspective. But, his version of events already exists. It’s literally The Sandman comic. So he stayed in surprisingly brief, but important appearances and he gets a small section where he feeds the birds with Death and reminisce.

I hope you enjoy or enjoyed, this animatic. Thank you for watching.

[grizzlyofthesea]

What was said in that post unfortunately seems pretty likely. Although there is always the possibility of rise coming back in some way even if its a small one. If the post is true then its still likely that we'll see the rise gang again possibly in the form of references like how every tmnt has references to the one that came before or even a crossover. Even then, the Rise fandom are making comics, animations/animatics, fanfics, fanart and a bunch of content to be consumed even if it isnt technically canonical and the 2012 fandom is still decently active based on what I've seen even though its pretty old.

That's true. The fandom will keep Rise going in one way or another. It's just sad to see it pushed off to the side just as it was coming into its own. It didn't deserve such an abrupt death. The Rise crew did an amazing job with the hand they were dealt, though; the Season 2 finale and the movie are both spectacular.

I would like to briefly digress. With the focus shifting toward Mutant Mayhem, I'm scared that I'm going to become just like the elitists who judged Rise without even giving it a proper look. I saw the concept art for the turtles in MM, and my gut reaction was along the lines of "Ew, what have they done to my boys?" I sneered at the comments calling it a "return to form" and an "example of what teenagers really look like." But that isn't right. I shouldn't be doing that. We all have different tastes as TMNT fans, and we need to respect that. And the movie isn't even out yet. It could end up being really good.

In any case, prepare for the worst but hope for the best. Brace for official news of Rise being canceled, but hope for a Rat King movie or a third season, however unlikely it may be. Hope that Mutant Mayhem delivers a high-quality experience. Hope that the TMNT fandom never loses its creative drive or its fervent passion for all things turtles.

[nat-20s]

Hit me with those jmart tunes!

OKAY!!! so the one's I've already talked about are SOS by Rihanna for S4 Jmart, Sweet Thing that's originally by Van Morrison but specifically the Hozier naked noise cover and "Still Into You" by Paramore for post-canon Jmart, and No Choir by Florence (yes I know I just recommended this for a different character pair BUT maybe I tend to drift towards certain dynamics ok) for just them in general and even before Gabby's INCREDIBLE curses animatic Curses was a Them Song for me but now I just get REAL emotional listening to it and I will state the obvious and say "Run Away With Me" by Carly Rae Jepsen is just tma 154 and that everyone has Complete list of fears on their jmart playlists and everyone is right

So with all that out of the way here's some more Jmart songs:

"Dance With Me" by Orleans

Night is calling, and I am falling Dance with me Fantasy could never be so killing I feel free, I hope that you are willing Pick the beat up, and kick your feet up Dance with me Let it lift you off the ground Starry eyes, and love is all around us I can take you where you want to go

I know this one is more of a general love song but Idk there's something so so sweet but also a little tentative and hopeful and wistful that instantly makes me think of them in the safehouse!! I'm soft

Finding You- Kesha

I could post the whole song but especially relevant lyrics:

I wanna lay in your arms when the world is burning I wanna dig in your heart, take away your hurting Kiss me and tell me I'm fine and forget we’re dying

and I'm gonna search for your love, right through Hell and Heaven Millions of years yet to come and in all dimensions I know that you'll always be my happy ending

there's that juicy element of being together despite inevitable tragedy AND the conviction of finding each other in whatever existence you might have what more could you want babey

This Love Isn't Crazy- Carly Rae Jepsen

The other night I swear I saw you in my dream (Dream) We didn't say too much, but I understood everything That you could hurt me, baby, and I could hurt you too Oh, but love isn't cruel That's why we got to hold on, baby We could believe that this love isn't crazy This loving could save me

*insert essay about the intersection of love and fear of loss/pain and that they're invariably tied together and how that's a shared theme between TMA and Ms. Jepsen's lyrics*

and then lastly

Static - Minimall

There were twisted, grassy tongues We got too close to blood and breath Yeah those warm breezes filled our lungs Sending knives into nerves and chests

and

Even if I'm empty I can still be a home Hang your pictures on the walls of my skull Come on over, walk around all alone I hope that I'm comfortable

and

And if we're out of time You could have told me not to lose my mind And if we're done this time You could have said it was the end of the line

Ok this one is a bit of a cheat bc I think it's more of a Martin song than a jonmartin song BUT I also think it's like..a reflection of some of his feelings ABOUT his relationship with Jon so it counts! Also this one I think the music itself sounds like the character in a way I can't really describe but it's there. it's vibin

(also it's not necessarily Them but I AM convinced I could write a Touch-tone Telephone based au for Them)

[lunatic-fandom-space]

Okay, you know how I said I wanted to watch all these german minecraft series and then watch 3rd Life SMP? Yea, I actually dont have the attention span to watch a bunch of white bread boys fuck around in minecraft with little to no story, regardless of wether theyre american or european so Im just gonna write this post and them start watching 3rd Life SMP so yeah.

First, I kinda want to discuss what Im hoping for on like, a meta-level I guess. The only other minecraft RP Ive watched that seems similar to this is Dream SMP so expect lots of comparisons.

I like to split dsmp into three major parts: no story/non-rp, story/non-rp and story/rp.

The first part was literally just a live streamed vanilla minecraft let's play and it was boring as shit. It felt exactly like watching a bunch of dudes play minecraft and unless they acknowledged the people in their donations (who could uncomfortably pushy and even shippy at times) you did not at all get the impression they were even aware of the stream. And as much as I appreciate some level of authenticity in this type of content, I also expect to be entertained by it and this did not even meet my bare minimum standard of entertainment. Admittedly, my attention span is very low so that definitely has something to do with it, but still. I personally have never felt anything but boredom and occasionally intense discomfort while watching anything from this 'era' of dsmp.

The second part was the start of the first conflict, and thus the start of some semblance of a story. They were kind of 'roleplaying' already (both in the sense that they obviously have their personas for their content and in sense that they didnt actually have grievances with one another and were just playing it up for the sake of entertainment) but it was more on the fly, even less focused and less serious. However, it was already legues more fun to watch.

And then we had the third part, where, starting with Wilbur Soot joining and deciding to larp Hamilton, they started to plan things out more and have more complex and/or dramatic conflicts. Needless to say, this was/is the best part in my opinion and what made me see the appeal of dsmp.

What Im hoping for 3rd Life SMP is, that they skip atleast the first part. From what I can tell, it was created sometime after dsmp has been in that third part for a bit and it is a minecraft rp, so Im assuming the people behind it wanted to do something similar, just with the story aspect there on purpose and from the get-go, if you know what I mean. And by the way, I dont think thats wrong or even "copying" in the slightest. Dsmp very much seems like a case of "they did it first, not best" and if anything, I think it would be a shame if people didn't want to do their own spin on this basic concept.

What Im personally hoping for in terms of the 'style' of roleplay itself, I really hope that they dont seperate it as rigidly into lore and non-lore as they did in dsmp. Ideally, they would do it like Ranboo (Wilbur when he was playing Ghostbur to an extend too, but he didnt actually stream and have his own POV back then), where he's always kinda 'In-Character' even when there isnt really anything happening in the plot at that moment. Again, I just dont have the attention span for no story in series like this anymore, so I'd appreciate it on a personal level, but I also think that it could humanize the characters more and potentially add additional depth to them. Especially since it looks like 3rd Life is made by the Hermitcraft group and if the stuff Ive read about Hermitcraft (especially in comparison to dsmp) it wont thrive off intense conflicts and wars in quite the same way, so that could also be a way of making a calmer rp interesting.

And now, some actual plot predictions!

So, the way I found 3rd Life SMP was this really neat 'Pitiful Children' animatic by ZylisticArt. I didnt actually 'watch' it because when I look up animatics I just kinda stare at the screen, not processing anything because Im too busy imagining my own OC animatic to the song, but I did read the description and was mildly intrigued, and its the main reason I wanted to watch 3rd Life so Im going to properly watch it now and post my predictions for the plot below.

***

The description mentions something about the animatic being based on some kinda theory, but I only skimmed it in order to not get spoiled so idk what thats really about. Im mostly intrigued by the fact that the description mentions it being a hardcore SMP (with a twist!), that, combined with the name and the visuals of the animatkc lead me to a couple conclusions;

I dont really know how Hardcore mode works in multiplayer, but in singleplayer you just get permanently kicked out of your world when you die, so Im assuming it works like that on a server too, except on a server, Im pretty sure you have the option of being 'reinvited' onto a server by the admin(s) so you could theoretically have three lives while keeping it a hardcore project where you cant regenerate without potions or golden apples and all that. Again, idk if thats actually how hardcore works but I sure hope it is, because thats what Im basing pretty much all of my predictions on.

In the animatic there were like green people, yellow people and a red guy who was like, the antagonist I guess. I think the green guys still have all their lives, the yellow ones are down to two and the red lads are all down to their last one. Maybe theres gonna be a thing thats like, if you lose a life you lose a part of your soul and that makes you evil or something? Yknow, like the whole "character comes back wrong" thing, except its the conflict of the entire series. Pitiful Children is very much a 'Manipulating Others Into Doing Harmful Shit' kinda song, and I feel like that would be very in-line with a plotline like that, yknow?

Im not expecting there to be wars/conflicts on the scale of dsmp (no blown up countries here bois) but I am expecting to get ridiculously attached to a place that inevitably gets blown up/set on fire by an antagonist.

Speaking of antagonists, theyre definitely also doing the whole multiple POV thing, which means everyone is an antagonist in one way or another and Im a solutely watching every POV from every characters so that I know the full context and story of everything, so I can have the most correct opinions on them, which is both normal to want and possible to achieve.

Since these are the Hermitcraft guys Im expecting some beautiful builds that make me feel insanely untalented and the same thing with redstone shit.

Ghosts. If they havent added some kind of ghost mechanic/lore at the time Im writing this, they will add one in later, mark my words 3rd Life fandom, mark my words...

Thats pretty much it. This is all going under my mcyt tag too, and I dont think I'll be live blogging it, but it really depends on how interesting it is.

Also, if youre a 3rd Life fan who already watched all of it, the only thing youre allowed to respond to this with is a meme that is horribly incomprehensible to anyone who hasnt watched it.

Have a nice day!

[acaciapines]

Hi :) Happy boxing day

Please... Excuse yesterday's incoherency... My big sibling snuck whiskey into my specifically non-alcoholic eggnog... I'm very cross with them right now...

Also i found. New songs for kris. Behold:

Chateau - Angus & Julia Stone

Over the River - Pentatonix (ft. Lindsey Stirling)

Something Wild - Lindsey Stirling (ft. Andrew McMahon)

Wild Ones - Alessia Cara

A Good Song Never Dies - SAINT MOTEL

The Real World - Owl City

Also this one I think qualifies for all the kids frankly, Dess and Azzy and even Susie included:

Growing Pains - Alessia Cara (Radio version) (though the original cut off version could be Dess')

Hope everyone is doing well! Gal says hi:) Please remember to eat + drink something, take care of yourselves & each other, and have a phenomenal day! This has been a Daily Interaction Ask!

kjgjkfg oj no. glad youre okay now!

and YEAH SONGS truly i love hearing songs and going 'ah yes. that ones a kris one <3' the other day me and charm at the same time after hearing a song just yelled KRIS/CHARA and then spent like 20 minutes debating who the song fit better (charm won that one. its now a chara song).

and all of these songs. so good! they all have those kris vibes of like...loving ur friends but also kinda being just a tad lost in the world. the real world is actually on my own playlist but i never thought of how it does work real well as a kris song...its about loving the dark world more than the light world <3

and! as i did with ur last song-based ask i will now offer you some of my own kris songs.

be nice to me - the front bottoms: all i can say about this one is a heard and went 'wait. wait a sec. kris and noelle song.' idk its about 'there is very little left of me and it's never coming back' and how its very much like--these two kids who grew apart after dess left but now theyre trying to be friends again when they're not the same people and kinda need to learn the other all over again.

vagabond - wild: this one is a 'hi im kris and idk who the fuck i am' song bc. that kid truly is doing their best and that's hard sometimes. but the lines 'just tell me where do i belong? / tell me where to go from here so i / can rewrite all my wrongs' is just. that's my kris <3

this is home - cavetown: this one is actually a sneak peak at my big final deltarune fic bc i did accidentally script out an animatic in my head </3 but it fits kris's emotional arc in the fic super well and if i had the ability to draw well enough i would 100% make it.

you guys have a great day too!

[technobladetimestamps]

Nov 16 Stream Timestamps

Timestamps from Technoblade’s “THE REVOLUTION (dream SMP)”

Link to my youtube comment with all of the timestamps x

Timestamps with hyperlinks below

02:13  “This is a surprise tool which will help us later” / thumbnail isn’t foreshadowing / video thumbnails have to be big / stream thumbnails can be detailed 05:17  “The traitor is actually Jschlatt” / firework crafting 09:50  “The ratio is impeccable” 13:23  “Dream’s in the game! My audience retention rate” / vc with Tubbo & Quackity / traitor Jschlatt theory / “Are you high?” “A little” 14:47  “You’re a bit of a wildcard” “I am the most consistent character on the entire server” / “What’s this about getting into power” / “We’ll burn this bridge when we get to it” 15:54  “You really are such an English major” / “You’re an idiom” / malaphor / “I’m actually speaking twice as much English as you guys” 18:07  “I think Thunder is overcompensating in the chat” / “Where can you see me” “In my heart” (Karl & Quackity) / Karl not leaving vc 20:33  vc with Niki / “Did Tubbo just leave me? I spaced out for 2 seconds” / “You can’t call everyone the traitor” “I can & will” 22:45  “You know it’s an event when Skeppy’s here” / “You know it’s a big deal when Georgenotfound wakes up” / “Everyone leaves me” 23:31  explaining the traitor thing to Niki / “Maybe I’m a sleeper agent” / had to kill Tubbo 25:03  nothing happened with that creeper / Fundy interrogating Niki / “Why did I train her for MCC” 25:54  “Even YOU’RE leaving me” / sad music / “I’m sitting here with 203k viewers & it’s not enough for any of these streamers to bear talking to me for more than 60 seconds” / Skeppy joins vc to immediately leave 28:50  Karl has a gift for Techno / Karl is just here for the animatic 32:21  “At least the chat won’t leave me” / pays for his music 35:01  “I’m going to destroy the government so bad” / “I hate all of the farming updates on skyblock” 37:45  joining a vc / “I just got stood up in like 4...conversations in rapid succession” / “My new years resolution was to make friends & it’s november & I’ve made zero headway” / Eret switches sides 41:53  Ender chest setup / worried about hotbar management / potions > shields   43:13  vc with allies / “Karl you are literally the biggest third wheel I have ever seen” 45:03  angering the dogs / trident combo 47:13  “D!ck with one ball” (Tubbo) 50:25  “Let’s hope Wil overslept like [George]” 53:09  recruiting Eret / “If you fight on our side we’ll make you the King of Burger King” / “He’ll be an executive citizen” / “I’m surrounded by idiots” 54:58  putting Schlatt on the allies list / “Schlatt is an alcoholic high on protein power” (Fundy) 56:47  can’t trust Eret / “I hate it when you’re right” (Tubbo) / Wilbur joins vc 59:50  having a moment with Hubert / “Not even the mobs like me” / sad music / “I just gained 8k subscribers the sadness is gone” / cow pit exp farm 1:02:57  vc with Niki / “I’m going to join the other vc AHHHHH” 1:05:02  “Once everyone meets up...I have something prepared” / “Technoblade when are you not ready?” “When I joined the server” 1:09:38  “Who do you take me for? Of course I’ve read the Art of War. It’s written by Mozart” / battle planning 1:12:18  “This is the betrayal...happening very slowly” 1:13:35  Pan1 / “This revolution is so doomed” 1:15:29  Dream attack / Quackity dies 1:18:07  “Agree Retweet” / “Violence is the only universal language” / “i have a supply” / “Why do you talk in upwards inflections constantly?” 1:19:57  Techno not getting to talk / “He took it all by force didn’t he” / “Fear into Ear” 1:23:50  Techno telling everyone he has a stash twice / distributing blue / mushroom the fox 1:26:49  Tommy talking over Techno again / “Stop going off on your tangents” “We have food at home” 1:29:30  vault reveal / Tubbo stealing emeralds / secret chest 1:32:40  “Shut up bro you are green as shit” (Tommy) / “Everyone give me back my stuff you don’t deserve it” 1:34:41  no netherite swords / “Who’s the traitor” “Promise we won’t be mad” 1:36:31  battle / Technoblade trident maneuvering / giving rocket launchers to Tubbo & Tommy 1:40:27  killing Karl / Dream bringing out the end crystals / fighting invis Dream / purpled switches sides 1:43:57  Dream wants to talk / 309k / group photos 1:46:08  vc with Dream / “But only if my enemy insists” / in the van with Schlatt / “What are you doing in my drug van? It better not be drugs” / Tommy preparing to shoot Schlatt 1:54:42  “We won” / “We killed an old man with heart problems! It only took 20 of us!” / President Innit / subscribe to Technoblade sign 1:55:57  Dream & Techno talk in chat / Tommy speech / “It was meant to be” / “I don’t think anyone is bowing to Tommyinnit” / “Karl don’t be weird” / Skeppy has a disc 1:59:06  Techno being apprehensive on mute / Tommy makes Wilbur President / “I’ll be the president” “I’m gonna veto that” / “Techno...you’ve taught me that government is not the way to go” / Wilbur makes Tubbo president 2:03:20  “I’m not sure I like where this is going x2” / “I’m not sure this is a good ending” / “Team chaos” “Perhaps” 2:06:20  Techno shoots Tubbo / Philza joins / “You think Schlatt was the cause of your problems? No. It was government” / speech gets interrupted / “The government ends here, I’ll kill it myself!” 2:09:23  Phil kills Wilbur / techno yelling for silence / “Tommy you just did a coup...& instilled yourself as president” 2:12:11  “If you want to be a hero THAN DIE LIKE ONE” / wither spawning / killing his former allies 2:15:09  post fight talks / “There will be no new government today. It will be over my dead body” / “Techno was not the traitor” 2:18:50  “I need to increase the crater that is L’Manberg so that no country can rise in its place” / “Mom says it’s my turn on the flame bow” 2:23:51  “What I’m doing right now is small scale. This is the work of an individual. This is nothing compared to the cruelty governments all around the world [inflict]...systematically” / “Llamas are the primary victims of war” / “I just wanna be apart of the explosion” (George) 2:27:06  Techno joins vc / connor joins the server / “I hope you’re proud of yourself Techno” “I kinda am” / Jack Manifold (Thunder) being broke / netherite armor 2:32:30  “Beach episode” / Techno accidentally joins the L’Manberg vc 2:35:16  the base is compromised / “There’s no way Technoblade would put a clock there if it didn’t mean anything” / got robbed 2:37:37  “If you’re going to ask me how I got all these emerald & arrows that’s a story for another day” / explaining the bedrock / “I can give everyone stuff & it’ll be such a flex” 2:40:24  Greek mythology 2:41:45  The Golden Apple / “They didn’t use discord back then they used skype, so can’t invite Eris” / “Zeus the god of feminism” 2:46:02  Eret recruiting Techno to kill George / joining vc / “Let’s stop him before he gets land” / Awesamdude proposing a fight 2:49:08  “No one can kill me I’m invincible” (logs out) / Dream literally names the turtle potions Sam thinks he hasn’t heard of / “I’m at soup” / “It’s not smack talk he just has that many items” 2:53:06  “Stab him Dream, I’ll shout encouraging words” / Techno fighting Bad & Ant 2:56:23  Dream wins / “I think there was this Dream guy attacking you with some sort of weapon” 3:00:11  turtle potions / Dream hyping up Techno about fighting BBH / Badlands negotiating with George 3:04:34  vc with Philza 3:07:00  spider farm afk’ing / lagging Quackity’s computer 3:09:06  smp earth / Phil only logged on to back Techno up 3:10:32  killing George / “I’m gonna drop his armor off don’t jump me” / not fighting Dream 3:13:00  vc with Karl & Phil / Karl definitely not starting a government / “Chat that was the boring part, don’t leave” / 320k / “Why do we keep scheduling these on Monday?” 3:16:18  “I don’t even want to think about how famous Tommy will be in the future” / “I get a tad bitter” / covid is good for youtubers but obviously bad / “I’m so good at socially distancing” 3:19:51  “Aren’t you tired of being nice Philza? Don’t you just wanna go crazy” / “You should be wary of the old in a profession where people die young” / vc with Eret 3:21:47  “What if you built a slightly larger throne next to it?” /  “How are they paranoid of a mole but the guy with a track record of being a traitor gets no questions asked” 3:25:47  “I’m gonna place a block at the bottom & kill you instantly” / reverse mlg /  emerald rich even with Tubbo’s theft 3:27:57  “I’ll allow it” / upstairs chests robbed / Eret disconnects with the book 3:32:04  armor sabotage bc he thought it’d be 1v5 / crystals are mutually assured destruction / Wilbur afraid of tnt getting blown up early 3:34:11  the diary was actually Eret’s / “He’s gonna tell everyone who I have a crush on. Nooo” / reading the 100 page book / “Can I not win here?” “No” 3:40:14  “This stream has released more serotonin in my brain than the last 6 months combined” / revolution was overcrowded / could improve the crater 2:43:09  “Awkward ten minute period where I’m just sitting there watching them set up a new government but I can’t kill them yet” / Carl is missing 3:44:34  “The one time Technoblade is gonna roleplay & they talk over him” / “CARL” / “As long as Sapnap isn’t the one that took him there’ll still be hope” 3:46:10  “Once you start using end crystals it’s the only pvp that matters & end crystal pvp is so lame” / Webtoons 3:49:10  “What’s going to happen to you & WIlbur now?” “I don’t know, I think I’m chill with Wilbur” / “The only thing that changed is my voice. Zero personal growth” / lines from the first speech that got interrupted / “King George is trending booo” 3:52:00  1 million twitter followers / “O god it’s been four hours...I am not built for this” / did a 13 hour stream once / sub growth goals 3:56:30  “What the heck is Phil watching”

[rozugold]

Hello hi this is basically a small post where I point out some details from my latest animatic! I put lots of effort into it so I appreciate it if you watch it first before continuing :D

Also I’ve never really done one of these so my thoughts might be all over the place, sorry in advance

(Spoilers for the fic In Your Soul or On The Horizon)

Older Zoe!! I had doodled her with short hair before and really liked it, so it’s become a headcanon that Zoe cuts her hair when she gets older.

I’m not sure if this was very clear but this is the first scene of Zoe in the therapists office

“Zoe holds a pillow against her stomach, chipped nails tracing the threads of blue flowers.”

Ok I’m realizing it would’ve been cool if I added the flower designs to the pillows but ah well

First appearance of Fake!Connor. Since he’s Zoe’s imagination I tried to make him look a bit off (bangs are on the wrong side, additional piercings, a bit of scruff on his chin)

Throughout the story Fake!Connors appearance becomes inconsistent due to Zoe starting to forget what he looks like.

I had wanted to show that by making his design shift every time he’s on screen, but while drawing him I think I forgot and didn’t put much effort into that idea. The most I did was make his lines blurry

But actually I think I accidentally achieved that goal because my artstyle changed slightly every time I drew him.. so yay?

Fun Rozu fact: This picture frame is loosely based off a real frame I have of me and my older brother!! Except in the picture we’re not hugging and instead I’m slapping him in the face...

:D

Here’s some accidental parallels to the My Immortal animatic! Ok well, the room one wasn’t accidental since I wanted to keep Connors room consistent but the other scene is accidental. They’re two different situations but I’m just surprised I kept their designs the same

These were meant to replicate the big screens from deh during YWBF and YWBF reprise!

They flash between words from YWBF reprise and Zoe’s own thoughts in the fic

“Her Connor, just as he was the day before he died; seventeen, all sharp angles and lanky limbs, and so, so young.”

My favorite part of this fic, when I first read this line I had tears streaming down my face. I’m sure I’ve said this before but this story just hits home for me.

When you lose a loved one you dream so much about them, but when you see them they’re so far away and feel unfamiliar. But then you’ll get those dreams where that person is clear as day and they feel solid and real.

This fic did an amazing job capturing that part of grief ;;

“Then his face crumples, just like their mother’s.”

(Another subtle hint to the My Immortal animatic if ya think about it)

“Zoe wakes up.

Zoe wakes up every day, and she chooses to hope.”

Aaaand that’s all I can think of at the moment! Also cuz I realized there’s a limit to how many photos you could post haha

If anyone has any questions or want me to elaborate more on certain parts my inbox is always open :D

[simpbur]

hello! i would like ur 40 song wiblur playlist

anon thank you so much for asking <333 while it would’ve been easier to just drop the link i have so many thoughts about everything so i explained why every single song has its spot on this list which was IMMENSELY fun for me

(also: if anyone does want the link i can provide both apple music and spotify but if u would like the apple music link i’d rather it be through dms or an ask off anon that i can make private!)

another also: i bolded all the songs for ease of perusing if you don’t want the director’s commentary and bolded + italicized the ones that i think fit Very Well

another another also: wrote the second bit of this on my laptop and the keyboard is p funky so if there are any typos or things that do not make sense i will try to fix them asap haha

saint bernard by lincoln: this is one of those like. Dream SMP Songs that i added because it fits into so many different relationships and plot lines and arcs but i think there’s some connection to c!wlbur somewhere out there. idk i asked my friend and he said to add it so this one goes out to him

amnesia was her name by lemon demon: ghostbur song ghostbur song! mostly comes from this lovely animatic

o valencia! by the decemberists: okay this is one of those songs that only really has one lyric that fits but is an absolutely banger so it’s here anyway. you’ll also notice a trend of quasi love songs that i relate to c!wilbur’s perception of l’manburg and i think this song shows this in a really cool way, esp with the chorus (‘and i swear to the stars i’ll burn this whole city down’ is The Line)

achilles come down by gang of youths: another one of those Dream SMP Songs. i think this fits better with c!tommy but i like it too much to remove it. this is a somewhat common trend with the earlier songs on this playlist (i’ve been building this thing since january, for reference)

brave as a noun by ajj: another Dream SMP Song. i think certain verses fit better than others when it comes to wilbur’s character but that ones that work really work

harness your hopes by pavement: a song that is one here for vibes alone. i have no idea what these lyrics mean. all i know is that i heard it, thought of c!wilbur, and put it on the playlist. thank you all for being here

evelyn evelyn by evelyn evelyn: sad-ist made this a tommy and tubbo song (as she should) so it’s validity on this playlist is questionable but folks used to compare it to wilbur and tommy’s relationship during the pogtopia arc and i think some points were made there

the execution of all things by rilo kiley: i’m so excited to get here because this was the first song i put on the playlist that i think really works and i thumb nailed an animatic for the last verse and november 16th so! i think it’s a good l’manburg song and the last verse has some good ghostbur lines (‘and lately you’re all alone with nothing left but sleep/but sleep never comes to you, it’s the guilt and forever wakefulness of the weak’)

i’m just your problem from adventure time: this ones a bit tricky since at is my favorite show of all time and i cannot detach this song from its in-show context very well but there is a very cool animatic with this song that landed it a spot on the playlist

man burning by josh ritter: almost became an animatic but the audio i wanted to use (which i recorded at a josh ritter concert and it’s just him and his guitar and there’s echo and it’s very haunting and pretty) has my stepbrother singing in the background and i could not edit it out so. that will probably not happen. but anyways the only hole i would pick in this song is that it’s mostly about self sabotage which isn’t really applicable but i think the imagery is cool

mamma mia by abba: here me out. here me out. this is another song that fits so well and i have spent so many hours thinking about this and somewhere there is a note on my phone explaining how every single line relates to c!wilbur’s entire arc from founding l’manburg to the resurrection (made when we thought gbur was going to get resurrected in january) and just. the metaphorical ‘you’ is l’manburg does this make any sense (another almost animatic except now that wilbur’s actually back it might become an actual animatic)

the other side of paradise by glass animals: no idea why this is here other than being a Dream SMP Song. it’s good tho

infinitesimal by mother mother: they saaaaay it stared with a big bang but they saaaaaaaay it came out of a small thing latelyyyyy i’ve been feeling like a big bang You Know

curses by the crane wives: had a thing drawn out for this song showing the comparisons between c!wilbur and c!niki because of the chorus and i think the last two lyrics of said chorus are the best thing about this one

lonely eyes by the front bottoms: gotta admit that i have no idea how this song got on here but i’ve come to associate it with ghostbur based on vibes alone. it’s a friendly song he’s a friendly ghost it works. the other tfb song coming up fits a bit better methinks

king of new orleans by better than ezra: not to put better than ezra on my c!wilbur playlist but like. something about the whole ‘tasing something up to let it fall’ motif makes me think

get me away from here, i’m dying by belle and sebastian: another almost animatic song (there’s a trend here). not only does the story told in this song work i like the lines ‘play me a song to set me free/nobody writes them like they used to so it may as well be me’ in relation to my l’manburg

montgomery forever by the front bottoms: certain bits and pieces of this song fit so well, specifically the chorus and those bits in the last two choruses Yeah (’montgomery forever and ever and ever and now they’re blowing it up/(x2)/as you started laughing and crying and trying to explain how all you want to do is leave’)

don’t look back in anger by oasis: out of all my almost animatic songs, this one got the furthest. the animatic, which I got pretty far in thumbnailing, was about wilbur and tommy and kind of drawing comparisons between their characters, also about the revolution in general. maybe i’ll finish that animatic one day idk 

snow by ricky montgomery: i wish i had a link for this so bad but!! saw art on twitter!! with the lyric ‘bury me six feet in snow’!! and went ahfsdjfk!!

burning pile by mother mother: a Dream SMP Song. also a jam there’s no real specific connection for this one but i think it could fit in a couple of ways

rounds by the oh hellos: in the same position as snow except it was on tumblr..... @ whoever made this comic i saw these lyrics in your brain is massive and your art is incredible

lovely by mt. eddy: on here for vibes alone. there’s something in the lyrical content too, but my thoughts in that regard are not very fleshed out

adventures in solitude by the new pornographers: ah yes..... the song that prompted this all...... this is a beautiful and incredibly well written song and if you’re going to listen to any song off of this playlist i’d encourage you to listen to this one. it’s place of here is mostly cause of the chorus but the imagery in the verses could all represent a part of c!wilbur and i’d love to explore that more

caught in the middle by paramore: obligatory paramore song. i think it got on here because limbo = ‘middle’ but i’m not quite sure. on the verge of being deleted if i can find a better pmore song

delicate by damien rice: one of the oddest songs on this list and i am well aware that it sticks out like a sore thumb. a song that’s on here pretty much because of one lyric, which is ‘and why’d you sing hallelujah/if it means nothing to you’ which i related to both eret’s betrayal and how my l’manburg is hallelujah yknow

bang! by ajr: almost animatic song. i think we all know what the bang is here

somewhere only we know by lily allen: ik i said don’t look back in anger has the most potential to get made into an animatic but this song might actually take it place. on par with adventures in solitude in terms of how pretty of a song it is, and probably even moreso. it’s kind of turned into a ghostbur song in my head, and makes me cry like an infant child every time i hear it

a pearl by mitski: i cannot defend this song’s place on here past the line ‘it’s just that i fell in love with a war and nobody told me it ended’

eight by sleeping at last: the official c!wilbur song needs a spot on here <3 if i can dig up the clip of cc!wilbur talking about this song in relation to his character i’ll add it but until then yeah <3

always by rilo kiley: no idea why this is on here but it fits well!! could not tell you why!! banger!!

celebration guns by stars: it’s a hauntingly beautiful song about war, and kind of one of those that necessarily isn’t about wilbur but moreso his place in the story? idk how to explain it but yes

passerine by the oh hellos: it’s. it’s from the . the fic. yeah h

oh, you are the roots that sleep beneath my feet and hold the earth in place by bright eyes: added this after the real resurrection and i think it’s because fo the imagery? also the last verse

we are beautiful, we are doomed by los campesinos!: all i have to say is ‘i cannot emphasize enough that my body/is a badly designed, poorly put together vessel/harboring these diminishing, so called vital organs/i hope my heart goes first, i hope my heart goes first!’ has always made me think of pogtopia era wilbur :(

dead weight by jack stauber: no real connection other than eret played this song during a break during the ghostbur’s january ‘resurrection’ and i heard it and went :0

point me at lost lands by tired pony: gives me season on l’manburg vibes..... i love how free and passionate it sounds and that's p much the only reason it’s on this list haha

ghosting by mother mother: added this five seconds ago because i could not BELIEVE it was not on here. ghostbur song. mans sang it on that one stream with the reverb and everything. the lyrics ‘i will be kind and i’ll be sweet/if you stop staring straight through me’ hit particularly hard back when everyone thought that ghostbur was actually wilbur in disguise 

[roninreverie]

2020 Creator’s Self-Love Extravaganza!!

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 8 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 works!

Thank you @findswoman for the tag! 

Let’s see... 2020... what am I most proud of from this year???

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1.  Jacen Syndulla Sketch Dump #1 (January 25, 2020)

[Link]

The first of 5 massive sketch dumps for Jacen Syndulla. I used so...many...references... but it really helped me figure out my colors, shadows, and anatomy, plus I got really good at drawing hair even if his nose is different in every other panel. Plus, it’s just fun to have a little more Jacen out there since SW hasn’t given us any crumbs to go off of for like... 3 years.

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2.  She-Ra Mini-Comic (May 29, 2020)

[Link]

Right after She-Ra ended, I had this idea/ dream about Queen Angela and time travel, plus I like drawing Hordak, and thus this comic was born! It was well received which made me SUPER happy, plus I did all of the backgrounds from scratch which is something I usually Frankenstein together, so I am especially proud of that.

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3.  Keston John’s “Kiss the Girl” Hordak Animatic (June 21, 2020)

[Link]

Still running high on She-Ra finale fumes, I discovered Hordak’s voice actor, Keston John, had a Youtube page where he sang a few songs from the Little Mermaid. Well... my Entrapdak shipper ears heard a great animatic video, and thus weeks of drawing frame by frame on a Photoshop timeline ensued!  I spent so long making this, and it was also well-received making it all worth it! I love how complimentary She-ra style is to my style and I was able to play with so many hairstyles for the clones! This was my first-ever music animation and will always have a special place in my heart! (Plus I posted it the day before my birthday, so reading all the tags and comments the next day was really nice!)

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4.  Relaxing Beach Day (July 17, 2020)

[Link]

After the Jacen Sketch Dumps did so well, I  eventually ran out of ideas and asked some of my closest mutuals for more ideas. This is when @the-porg-apprentice mentioned a “beach day”. This was the first fanart I did with a new shadow/ light combo, and a color change over all the black lines. I was really proud how it turned out. I did a few more pieces like that, like the Tharin/Ezra piece and the Ash Dispersal Pattern band art. 

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5.  “A Burden Worth Sharing” (August 26, 2020)

[Link]

I wanted to include at least one fanfiction in this list, and I think my first Zouxie piece beats even the “Uncharted Stars TROS bonus story” because not only did it do REALLY well, but I received so many lovely comments, one even coming from Tenyai herself, which sent me on an adrenalin fueled stupor for all of work that Friday.  

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6.  Douxie’s Scar, Mini-Comic (September 13, 2020)

[Link]

The thousands of questions left inside me after watching Wizards sent me on a TOA binge HARDCORE! So hard in fact that I made an ENTIRE COMIC based on one theory I had on how Douxie got his scar, mixed with a line from the Trollhunter’s artbook (that I don’t even think made it into the show?). I tried a new style for this comic without using outlines at all, and I like how it turned out, even if I am not 100% sure I like how the text bubbles fit in. Adding text is like the worst thing I can do to myself and I usually never like how I do it! 

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7.  The Hex (Tech) Girls (October 12, 2020)

[Link]

Another wordplay correlation in my brain sent me on a days-long animatic project again in the Photoshop Timeline. This one got less views than I had hoped, but I still watch it from time to time and am still pretty proud of it given the limits I had with frame by frame and the fact I suck at drawing guitars. It gave me a lot of practice drawing Zoe at least, and that really came in handy for future projects.

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8. Douxie’s Guitar (October 13, 2020)

[Link]

Posted the literal day after the Hex (Tech) Girls animation, this one was mostly a joke and only took like an afternoon to draw, but it got over 300 notes! I think that is the most notes on any of my Wizards content so far? I was really proud of how they turned out given the simplicity of the doodles, and I especially liked that it was so well-received. It kind of shaped some of my sketch dumps after that and sometimes I stick to this style when I don’t feel like coloring. 

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Bonus shoutout to the Douxie Fashion Walk Through the Centuries, which I want to do better and add more Zoe to one of these days, and also to the Ash Dispersal Pattern art (which was my first step into making TOA fanart).

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I am going to spread the love since this made me feel WAY more productive about my year, and I will tag: @the-porg-apprentice @dreamsarelikedragonflies @fandomsunderthesun @blixeon @mandaloriandragontrainer @prismarts @racheldrawsdaily and @minniethemoocherda plus anyone else who would like to reflect. No Pressure!

[chess-blackmyre]

Dragon Age Inquisition - Cabinet Battle #1

The Inquisition leadership discusses approaching the Templars or Mages for an alliance. Elsa Trevelyan, a formerly Tranquil mage, makes sure to tell Commander Cullen what she thinks.  If you're curious to learn more about Elsa and her story, you can read more about her here on ao3:  https://archiveofourown.org/series/1795546

Thanks to @radioactivepeasant​ for being willing to listen to me rant about Elsa!

Further context (and a bit of ranting) under the cut.

So, the first thing that you should know is that my Elsa Trevelyan isn’t an entirely original character. I based her off of Elsa, Knight-Commander Meredith’s Tranquil assistant from Dragon Age 2.

[image description a young woman dressed in Chantry style robes. She has dark blonde hair, blue eyes and a vacant expression as explained by the sunburst brand of Tranquility on her forehead]

Remember Elsa? I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t, as she shows up in precisely one quest in the game, if I remember right. (My personal headcanon is that she was actually there for a lot more time as the Knight-Commander’s assistant, but Varric either didn’t notice or just forgot about her). But she seemed like the perfect person to use as a jumping off point for a formerly Tranquil Inquisitor. After all, she comes with an interesting backstory and you can fill in the blanks in an interesting way with her.

For one thing, as the King-Commander’s assistant, she goes into this already knowing Cullen. Specifically, knowing Cullen during his lowest “mages can’t be treated like people” point. Even if she was Tranquil the entire time she’s known him (which I don’t think she was, but that’s not important right now) it definitely colors her opinion of him when they meet again in Haven.

Now this whole animatic is a representation fight/debate between Elsa and Cullen about recruiting the mages or the templars to help close the Breach. But, as the song progresses, she uses this fight to basically redefine her relationship with him, and how she keeps hitting him where it hurts argument-wise

[image description: Elsa addressing Cullen with a frown on her face, before her is the sigil of the Templar Order, a giant red X over it to symbolize her disapproval and denial of ever approaching them for an alliance]

While the song is just a stylized version of the debate that actually happened between them, in both ways Elsa found it extremely cathartic to argue against the Templars, even if it was just initially just about the Breach.

It’s also right after this in the song that Hamilton--and therefore Elsa--shift from policy to personal attacks. (I skipped over the slavery portion of Hamilton’s verse because I couldn’t find a way to interpret it into the Dragon Age story. Plus, just less things for me to draw)

[Image description: Elsa walks forward closer to Cullen, a look of annoyance on her face. Cullen, Cassandra, Josephine, and Leliana have looks of surprise that she’s doing this.]

The first big change that happens is that Elsa gets right up into Cullen’s face. Up until now she’s been at the other side of the table, but now she’s crossing the divide to let him know exactly how much dislikes him and his arguments. To me, this is the moment where Elsa voluntarily gets this close to Cullen since she awoke in Haven, as every interaction they’ve had before she’s made sure to give herself some space between the sorta-Templar and her no-longer-Tranquil behind.

[Image description: Elsa is holding Cullen by the collar of his furry pauldron, and getting right up into his face. Both have twin expressions of displeasure]

“Don’t lecture me about the war--you didn’t fight in it!”

From what I understand, during the majority of the Mage-Templar War, Cullen was in Kirkwall trying to restore order. Elsa, meanwhile, was on the front lines of this, as a result of being rescued by other mages who took her along with them when they fled Kirkwall. She had to endure the same hardships as them, the freezing elements, the murder-happy Templars, not knowing where their next meal was going to be coming from, if at all. This is important to her.

Now, getting up in his face is a pretty bold move, even if you strip away the layers of the Mage/Templar power dynamics. Here Elsa is telling Cullen loud and clear: “You are not in charge here. I will not be cowed by you, or by any other Templar anymore.” And this is before she becomes Inquisitor.

[Image description: Elsa pushes Cullen away from her. A good few feet of space between the two as they glare daggers at each other]

She solidifies this by pushing him away from her. The other important thing is that he lets her push him. Because Cullen is a significantly larger and bulkier person than her, and is wearing plate armor besides. But for the purposes of the argument--plus he’s actively trying to Not Be an Asshole Anymore--he lets her push him around a little bit. She then continues on her point by telling him outright: “I’m not scared of you.”

“You think I'm frightened of you, man? We almost died in a trench, While you were off getting high with the French”

[Image description: Elsa huddled down in a trench with an elven woman and a small child, all of them trying to stay quiet and avoid notice. Above, an unseen Templar orders “Spread out and find those damn mages!”. Knight-Captain Cullen, face shrouded in shadow, holds a bottle of lyrium]

Now, here is where I really start kicking Cullen below the belt. Because the reason that Cullen became a Templar in the first place was to protect innocent people. It was no accident that one of the mages I had Elsa huddling with was a child, a little kid who had no say in being born with magic or going to war but is caught up in the mess anyway.

In his big monologue he says “Kirkwall’s Circle fell, innocent people died in the streets.” Also I can’t remember where he says this offhand, but Cullen also believed that being a Templar meant not just protecting ‘normal’ people from mages, but protecting mages as well, be it from themselves or other abuses of magic. While Kirkwall was mainly a watershed moment for tensions that have been going on for ages, it’s still pretty clear to me that Cullen feels a measure of responsibility for what happened. Now here Elsa is, rubbing his nose in his failures, both in the problems that started the war, and what he was doing while all this was happening. 

Which brings us to our next point: Lyrium.

To be entirely honest, I wasn’t even planning on bringing up Cullen’s lyrium withdrawal, but then when I was doing storyboards for the next part, the lyrics just fit too perfectly to pass up.

“Madison you mad as a hatter so take your medicine.”

[Image description: an illustration of a lyrium kit used by Templars, the same one that Cullen throws at the wall during his “Perseverance” quest]

[Image Description: An uncertain, shadowy look crosses over Cullen’s face and he crosses his arms. Elsa’s back is to him, an glib, uncaring look as she steps away]

“Damn, you're in worse shape than the national debt is in“

[Image description: a close up on Cullen, his hands shaking as he grips the hilt of his sword. Not in a threatening way, but as it he’s holding on to ground himself]

Now, to be clear, Elsa has no idea that Cullen has stopped taking lyrium at this point. She vaguely assumes that he’s still taking it. 

In the “real” version of this argument, the mage would say something like “You’re not looking so hot, are you up to date on your lyrium?” but in a snide, sardonic way; the implication being that ‘you’ll always be a Templar no matter what you do’. 

His hands start to shake and he grips the pommel of his sword. To be clear, he doesn’t want to hurt Elsa. It’s just a habit of his that we see in the game, and many people besides me think it’s a way to sort of self-soothe, if I’m using that term correctly. At the very least to keep people from noticing how bad his hands are shaking.

Elsa has turned away, not seeing how badly her words are affecting him. When she does look back Cullen has now quickly put a lid back on his reactions.

[Image description: Elsa, scowling, dramatically points at Cullen from across the room. Cullen has a much more measured expression]

But Cassandra did notice, and intervenes to separate the two before the situation can escalate.

[Image description: Cassandra and Cullen have their backs to the camera, Cassandra has her hand on the man’s back as she leads him away, an expression of concern on her face.]

Anyway! Sorry for the rant! I hope you enjoy the animatic!

[i-can-get-extra-with-my-fics]

Mischievous Function

Oh! Would you look at that! I’m finally proud enough of something to put it on Tumblr! (Legit tho. I love this.)

Based on THIS animatic.

Ship: Treebros

Fandom: DEH

Summary: Connor rethinks his life and doubts his relationship with Evan. But Evan assures him that he isn't going anywhere.

Tw: Suicide Attempt

Word Count: 1,053

There’s a lot of flashbacks. Flashbacks are italicized and separated with ~~~

Wattpad | AO3

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Connor sat on the ledge. He thought about Evan and what this would do to him.

~~~

Connor and Evan had been dating for some time. Connor still couldn't get over all the cute little things Evan did.

Like sneaking up behind Connor, wrapping his arms around the other's waist and kissing his cheek. Followed by an "I love you".

~~~

Evan and Connor were on the floor of Connor's room aimlessly talking about anything really. It was one of the rare times where Evan wasn't stuttering because he had a sudden burst of confidence.

"You know I had a thing for your sister for a while," Evan randomly changed the topic.

Connor sat up. "Wait, you had a thing for Zoe?"

"For like the longest time."

Connor shrugged and lay back down. "Well, at least you came to your senses and decided on the hottest Murphy."

Evan smirked. "Who said you were the hottest Murphy, Connie?"

Connor sat up again and dramatically gasped. Evan started laughing and Connor pouted.

~~~

Evan had just kissed Connor in the hallway at school. He mumbled something about Jared.

"Y-you're still picking me up at 8 r-right?"

Connor nodded unable to say anything.

Evan started to walk away leaving a dumbfounded Connor in the hallway before calling out over his shoulder "L-love you Con!"

Connor tried hiding his blush in his hoodie and behind his hair at the same time. It didn't really work.

~~~

Connor had come over and Evan had a surprise. He was so excited that he hadn't noticed Connor looked a little down. Evan looked back at Connor and just thought he was deep in thought. Nothing wrong.

When they got to Evan's room the doorbell rang. He told Connor he'd be back in a minute and to make himself comfortable. Or that he could snoop around or whatever.

When Evan came back Connor was sitting on Evan's bed looking through a spiral notebook visibly hurt. Evan looked over Connor's shoulder and read the first line of the page he was on. "Dear Zoe Murphy."

Evan cringed. He knew he should've made sure he had thrown out the notebook after he got with Connor. Too late now.

"Ev, why do you still have this?" Connor asked. Not angry. But more emotionless with a slight undertone of hurt.

"I-I honestly f-forgot I had that a-after you asked me out. I-I thought that I h-had thrown it out." Evan looked at the floor.

Connor grabbed Evan's wrist. "Come on."

Connor led Evan to their spot in the orchard. "Look, I know I'm not enough and that I don't deserve you but-"

"Connor you are way more than enough," Evan practically shouted, "I-I h-hope you know that." He grabbed Connor's hand and tried to look him in the eyes but Connor's eyes were not cooperating.

"I read most of the letters in that notebook Ev. Zoe has so many amazing qualities and she's so talented." Connor's eyes were glued to a small rock on the ground. "W-why are you with me?"  Connor mumbled just loud enough that Evan could hear him.

"L-look at me, C-Connor." Connor was finding that rock incredibly interesting suddenly. "Look me in the eyes, Connor Murphy." Connor knew better than to disobey the mom voice and looked into Evan's eyes. Though that Rock was still tempting.

"I'm not going to leave you for Zoe. Like ever. It's just not going to happen."

Connor smiled. He should've known he wouldn't have to worry.

~~~

Evan knew he should never let him get peer pressured by Jared into doing anything. ESPECIALLY when said thing involved Connor.

The thing is he kinda failed at that life rule. Like all of it. Jared had convinced Evan to flirt with Connor a lot. Just to see what would happen.

What happened was that Evan's face was bright red and Connor had pinned him to the same wall. Evan was looking at Connor. slightly bewildered. He decided that he was going to get Jared back for this the next morning.

You have power when you're the smol bean of the friend group.

Connor smirked at Evan. In response the other for slightly more concerned about what was going to happen. The Connor just bleeped. Evan was confused for a hot second before realizing what had just happened. He laughed for a moment and rested his forehead on Connor's.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

~~~

"C-Connor where were y-you l-last night? Y-you k-kinda stood me u-up.

Connor just cried. Sorta released the emotions of the past few weeks. With all of the feeling that he didn't deserve Evan, and that Evan deserved better. Which slowly turned into Connor noticing all of his flaws. Like how on all of his relationships he was kinda just there. On top of that, he remembered how much of a failure he was.

Evan had worried the rest of the day.

He had started to freak out more when he revived two messages from Connor.

im sorry

i love u 💙

~~~

This brings us to now. Connor's on the ledge. You're stalling. The voice that he had dubbed his depression told him. Stop stalling, you're just wasting your time by waiting. He's not coming for you.

Connor clenched his fists about to push himself off when he felt someone's arms wrap around his waist and the same someone crying into the back of his hoodie.

"P-please don't do it, Connor."

Connor recognized the voice immediately. He turned around and jumped off the ledge and onto the roof. He wrapped Evan up in his arms and cried into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry Ev."

The boys just stood there crying. Trying to get even closer than they already were. Holding each other as if the other would disappear if they let go.

~~~

*4 weeks later*

Connor and Evan were sleeping tangled up with each other trying to ignore the fact that Evan's alarm was going off and that they had to go to school that day.

Evan went to get up when Connor had started to whine. "Ev, baby, please. Just like 5-10 minutes longer."

Evan continued to try to get up. "Evan, please!!!!! You're warm!!"

Evan finally just decided to not fight Connor and to give him the 10 extra minutes and snuggled back up to him.

---

Yeah. I love this.

DEH Taglist: @thetomorrowshow

[musical-in-theory]

Legion’s Wrath Pt. 2

(You know that thing I was talking about earlier? Here it is!! This is based off of an animatic from @missksketch which if you haven’t, please go check her blog out! She is such a sweet and amazing person and makes awesome art! The animatic was based off of the stories written by @reverseblackholeofwords who is also super sweet and please please please go read her stuff right now if you haven’t yet. I’m really proud of this! Enjoy!)

The rippling black gave way to bright sunlight and numerous colors. Once Legion was all the way through the Actor’s portal, they had to shield their eyes until they could adjust to the sudden change. They looked around at their surroundings to find that they had been dropped into the greenhouse of Ego Inc. Plants of every species filled the area and emitted a pleasant aroma that wafted across Legion’s nose. They were back. They were finally, finally back.

But it appeared that they weren’t alone. Behind them, Oliver poked his head up from behind a row of sunflowers that he’d been attending to. “Legion? Legion! Oh my circuits! We were all so worried!” Ollie started to run over to them with his arms outstretched about to tackle them in the biggest hug, but he froze in his tracks as Legion turned around with a devious smile plastered on their face.

“L-Legion?” he stuttered cautiously, “Why do you have that? I thought Phantom destroyed it. How-” Oliver was cut off as Legion dashed behind him. He turned his head to follow where they went, but it wasn’t fast enough to stop them from cutting off the heads of his sunflowers and begin tipping various pots to the ground.

“Legion, no! Stop this, please! Please fight this. I know you can!” Ollie pleaded. 

Legion rushed over to the elevator leading to the rest of the building, but before they entered it they looked back over their shoulder and stared down the android. “I suppose I could… but why would I want to?” They laughed as they entered the elevator, and the doors shut behind them.

Ollie quickly picked up his phone and rattled as he dialed the number of the man he thought would be best to fix this mess. “Hello, Phantom? We’ve got a big problem.”

Legion skipped through the halls of the place they had began to call home before they were whisked away to the Void. They manifested a knife and let it drag against the walls behind them. They made sure that anything that they came across that was even remotely breakable was shattered on the ground before they moved on. Legion laughed at the thought of how ironically similar they were to a mirror. They reflected how broken they felt in the destruction laying around them. 

They sang lightly as they went, “I wanna watch the world burn. I’ve got the gasoline…” Legion giggled a bit at the image of the whole place going up in flames. After all, what was one more similarity to the Retroverse? Yan would be proud. Unfortunately before they could conjure up a set of matches, a door opened in front of them, drawing them out of their thoughts.

Legion hadn’t realized that they’d wandered a little too close to the common room. They’re mistake last time had been getting too close to people who could stop them. They’d gone down without much of a fight. Well like they had told the Actor, they weren’t about to make the same mistake twice. Two figures walked out of the Iplier door, and nearly all of the fight left Legion. It was the Host and Natemare. 

The pair locked eyes with Legion, and for a moment they looked like deer in headlights. Legion could almost hear the word “how?” running through their heads. A smirk made its way onto their face as they turned completely to face what used to be their family. “Well, well, well. What do we have here? Our own little welcoming party? How kind.” Legion narrowed their eyes at the duo. 

Had they looked a little closer, they would have seen how gaunt the Host looked. Dried blood ran like tear tracks down his cheeks. Every single button on his trench coat was gone, and the skin on his face looked sunken and hollow. He looked so tired and worn… and at the end of his rope. Mare looked a bit better by comparison but not by much. His red rimmed eyes had company in the form of the dark circles underneath which looked more like bruises. His hair stuck out in every direction like he’d been pulling at it for hours. Flecks of broken guitar littered his clothes, and his skin was about as pale as his puppet mask. Had they looked just a bit closer, they would’ve seen how different they appeared compared to how Legion saw them last in the mirror, but masks have a knack for causing tunnel vision.

“Legion?” Mare practically breathed out the name. The sight of his little sibling had knocked the wind out of him. He couldn’t count how many times he’d had dreams about Legion finding their way back to him or how many times those same dreams turned to nightmares. He couldn’t take his eyes off of them, but he knew the Host was feeling the same way.

Legion’s smile grew wider at them, but it looked all wrong. It was harsh and cold and psychotic. “Kid…?” Mare didn’t dare blink, afraid that if he did then Legion would disappear once more. “Something’s wrong.” Mare desperately wanted them to say something, anything. He wanted them to laugh and drop the act, to hug him and assure him that they were here to stay. But they didn’t. They just kept staring at him and Host with piercing eyes through the… “The mask?”

“Oh so you noticed? Yeah, we were getting a bit bored in the pit of despair that you left us in. So we thought a bit of accessorizing might spice things up a bit.” They laughed, but it was a broken, layered, distorted thing. It sounded like a thousand glitches in a thousand volumes. “Not that you truly care. This was your perfect opportunity to go back to your perfect little families and leave us in the dust. Well turns out, we have our own little family to fall back on too. One that knows how to actually have fun.”

Host let out a little gasp once he read in between the lines. “The Actor,” he whispered. 

“No. L-legion! Snap out of it kiddo… You don’t want to do this. This isn’t you!” Mare stepped forward with his hands held out in a placating fashion. At first it appeared like his pleading had actually gotten through to them. Their plastered smirk fell from their face, and their eyes had taken on a far-away sort of look. However, that was only on the surface.

Legion could feel a set of hands laid on their shoulders. A comforting whisper brushed across their ear, “You know what you need to do. They don’t deserve your mercy. No one does, my dears.” As quick as his presence appeared, the Actor retreated, and Legion’s resolve cemented. Their eyes focused back on the two egos in front of them.

They threw out their hand to the side in a flourish and concentrated on conjuring what they needed. Soon their cloak draped across their shoulders and the firm wood of their scythe dug into their palm. “Tell us, big brother,” they spat venomously, “still think we need some puppet to protect us?” Before Mare had any time to respond, Legion raced forward, brandishing their weapon.

They sprinted straight for Mare. His eyes widened as his mind tried to play catch up. He barely jumped out of the way in time to miss getting slashed to bits by their scythe. He felt the wind rush by him from its path. Nothing was making sense. This couldn’t be Legion. They would never fall for the Actor’s tricks, and yet here they were, attacking the people they cared about all in the name of his stupid script.

Mare tried to retaliate or at least immobilize them in some way, but they had moved on to take a swipe at Host. The blind man deftly stepped out of the scythe’s arc, but again it had missed only by a narrow margin. Mare could see Host’s mouth moving. He was trying to use his narrations, but as Legion kept fighting, his words kept getting interrupted. 

“Please, Legion,” Host pleaded. Legion’s smirk grew into a devilish smile as they heard the break in Hosts voice. “Legion needs to stop. They need to come back to their family.” Legion’s smile faltered for just a second. Mare could see and Host could feel the pure rage and hatred that lied behind it. Within Legion’s eyes they could sense the darkness that had surrounded, had invaded Legion for the entire month they spent within the Void.

“Oh so now you want to be a family,” they chuckled darkly, “Let us offer you a bit of advice. The next time you want to leave someone to the mercy of the Void, make sure they can’t get out.” With that they let out a high-pitched, deranged laugh, somewhat resembling what Anti’s used to be, corruption laced within every second of it.

Legion jumped back, away from the Host and Mare. They could feel the narrations tugging at them. It made their scythe feel heavier and caused their body to sag just the slightest bit, but all it really was was a fruitless attempt that worked only to drain the Host of his energy. They laughed again and raised their weapon as they eyed their prey, waiting for their perfect opening.

The Host could see Legion’s analytic stare. As much as they liked to call themselves a being of chaos, Host knew that they could be just as smart and tactical as Darkiplier when they wanted to be. He couldn’t let this go on for much longer, or Legion would win and he’d lose his child to the Actor’s darkness forever. He turned his head to Mare and shouted, “Go get help. The Host will hold them off.” 

Mare looked at Legion once more and then back at the Host. He steeled his nerves before nodding. “Right.” The nightmare dissolved into fear smoke. He tried to will the tiniest bit of it to drift towards Legion, hoping that it might snap them out of their forced bloodlust, but he couldn’t concentrate hard enough to make it happen. It took everything he had to keep form and fly away to get help.

A whirring noise behind him caught his attention. He snapped his head around in time to the spinning blade of Legion’s scythe headed at him. The weapon buried itself into the ground next to him. It missed. Some part of Mare hoped upon hope that maybe Legion missed on purpose, that some sliver of their best friend was still in there fighting to break free and save them. Mare looked away from the scythe and at Legion to see them with their arm still extended from the throw. They stood up and laughed at his scared expression. The sound obliterated Mare’s hopes and danced on its ashes. His heart squeezed with pain and guilt.

Legion moved forward is if to go in for another attack, but they were stopped by a normally reserved voice shouting with more force than they had ever heard. “LEGION!” They turn to face the voice only to find the Host behind them. His hands held a slight tremor. Legion couldn’t tell if that was from the stress of his mistakes coming back to haunt him or perhaps something else. They hoped it was the former. They stared him down with as much heat as they could muster, but Host wouldn’t back down.

“Legion must fight the Actor! They must take off the mask!” the Host poured as much of his power into his narrations as he could. This wasn’t like fighting against the power of the other egos. This was his power versus the dark influence of the Void that had already taken hold of so many. His voice tapered off as he added, “They come home. The Hos- I need you home.”

At first it seemed like the Host’s power had broken through to Legion. They stopped their advance, and their expression melted away into something blank. It left an opening for Mare to finally make his escape. Host moved cautiously to check on Legion until he noticed them starting to vibrate. The shaking increased slowly before it crescendoed and ripped a scream from Legion’s throat. 

For all that Legion had split themselves into copies, they hadn’t ever felt this before. They were a rope in the middle of a vicious tug of war game that they didn’t know was going on. The Host’s commands were strong, and Legion knew that they wouldn’t be able to stave them off for much longer, especially when it felt like part of them wanted to dive head first into that traitor’s arms. The mask was powerful as well, however. Its overwhelming influence did its best to block out as much of the Host’s words as it could. Chaos was woven into everything Legion was, but the two powers made it seem like they were being tossed around by waves in a storm.

“Control, Legion. You need to take back control. The Host is trying to revert you back to the villain who did everything for their so-called family only to receive nothing in return. Don’t let him succeed. He’s causing you to fall, and it’s not fair, is it? But when has what is and isn’t fair ever stopped you? Finish this.” The Actor’s voice cut through all of the other voices in their head, and a bit of clarity had made its way through the sea of confusion churning within. 

However the numerous souls wouldn’t stay quiet for long. The noisy opinions came back with a vengeance. Each one shouted over the others to make themselves heard. They raised their hands to their head and pushed against their skull. If they could just keep themselves together, if they could just do as the Actor said, then maybe finally they could stop hurting. They just wanted to stop all the pain. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt. The pressure kept building up until it had nowhere left to go but over the edge.

Legion’s eyes searched sporadically around the room until they landed on the Host. Red covered their vision as they saw his concerned face. He caused this. It was his fault! Before Legion could fully comprehend what was going on, they launched themselves at their former father figure in a blind rage. 

The Host tried to call out to Legion, but his voice was failing him. They stood triumphantly over him, looking ready to kill. “We’d say it’s been fun, but lying isn’t very heroic. Goodbye, Host.” They held out their hand to call for their scythe once more. Suddenly what looked like a blast of blood red fire crashed into Legion’s temple. 

The amalgamation of souls was out cold before they even hit the floor. A clattering sound nearby their body caught the Host’s attention. The mask had skidded pathetically across the wooden floor. “Phantom walks over to the Host and offers him the other end of the cane. The Host accepts it and is pulled to his feet.” Host couldn’t mumble his narrations fast enough before he rushed over to Legion. A small bruise was fast forming at their temple where the blast had struck them.

“Legion is okay. Legion is back. Legion is safe. Legion is okay. Legion is back. Legion is safe.” Host continues to mumble the small mantra over and over, cradling the chaotic being in his arms, just as he had when the Actor had first tried to come and take them from him. “I’m here, Legion. And I won’t let go of you ever again.” Tears slipped past their eyelids, but otherwise they didn’t stir. Host could only tell they were alive by the shallow rise and fall of their chest.

Nearby Mare emerged from his smoke to stand beside Phantom. The demon was still gripping his staff which had red smoke still wafting out from it. Mare looked cautiously between both the mask and his little sibling. “Are they going to be-” Phantom lifted his hand and cut off the rest of the sentence. He sauntered over to the mask and picked it up. With a flash the accursed item became trapped in one of his glass bubbles. He made a silent vow to release it later out of Legion’s sight to destroy it once and for all and perhaps dance on its ashes.

Phantom turned back to face his little brother and sighed, “I suppose that depends on whether or not they feel they deserve to be okay.“ He walked back over to Mare, whose eyes had begun to shine with an unmistakable mistiness. The demon placed a hand on his little brother’s shoulder. “But so long as they’ve got their family beside them to remind them of who they are and what they’re worth, I’m sure they’ll be just fine.”

(Thanks so much for reading!! This took a fairly long time, but I’m really happy with how it turned out! I’d love to hear what you guys think of it. ‘Til next time!)