#There's a few mistake here and there but I already merged the layers so

[meitoscringe]

Persia juice

[owlpellet]

If not for the 3 paged book, what details on the image itself gave it away?

Let's look at it! For those who missed it, this is the image in question:

we already have a bad habit of disconnecting this sort of over the top high fantasy work from its creators (Angus McBride, Dave Mattingly, etc), which makes it easy to pass around in a memetic manner and kind of forget it's art in the first place. We tend to think of it almost as clipart, something generic, thomas kincade for people who play d&d. this makes it easily replicable and ripe for misuse, because people are less likely to seek out the source for something that already feels familiar and ubiquitous-- surely this is just public domain stuff, right?

Well, of course not. These days its easier than ever to just slap in a prompt that gives you something ALMOST familiar but not able to be meaningfully reverse searched, and that's how you end up with the current crisis on print sites and sellers like craggyscorner dot com, from where this image comes.

So how can you tell the familiar from the outright false? Some of the other images on the site this is from have better examples, but I'll stick with this one. Here are a few things to spot!

1.) I'll get the meaty, weird hand out of the way first. Hands aren't a reliable tell every time, but the fucked-up little thumb makes this one nice and obvious for us.

2.) There is hair randomly visible despite his being hooded; the ripples of the fabric and the hair also seem to merge.

3.) The columns do not match in pattern or width, nor do the capitals on them make any sense. The brickwork also follows no pattern-- mistakes not made by someone of this ostensible rendering skill.

4.) His knees extend way, way far out from his body and he appears to have three of them.

5.) This is a big one: AI struggles with defining edges on things, and often contours edges of background items to warp and match ones in the foreground-- think of how edited instagram photos warp bricks behind the subject. The visual is similar to that. This can be seen to a lesser degree in many places on the image, such as the book by the hand, or the bricks along his backside.

6.) Escher architecture. Again, not a professional mistake.

7.) ?????? He does not appear to have feet. The image politely fudges itself behind the text.

8.) Lastly, the robes are just a mess. AI doesn't really understand seams, or layers, or really how clothes work at all, which is how he ends up with what appears to be two hoods and a chiffon wrap around his waist. The folds and shadows are busy enough to be believable at a glance but they hide that nothing appears to look.... correct.

Also just for fun I tried to do my most charitable drawover of his anatomy. Yeah.

Can you spot more problems? You probably can.

[texasthegreatdestroyer]

Ya know... I pick fun at dumb people on the internet, but uh... I don’t pick a lot of fun at myself. I think it’s time to change that...

What kind of post is this? For once, not a Sims 4 post bitching about how custom content creators are scummy, because oh my gosh Tex, how many times can you actually bitch about shit most the people who follow your blog already know? What can I say? I’m a broken record. No today, I’m doing another art drop, this time doing an art before and after, poking fun at the old piece I did over a month ago in comparison to a brand new piece I finished up just a little while ago.

(oh muh god, the cute cheak swirlies~ I do not know what eldritch Lovecraftian abomination possessed me to leave the adorable swirly cheekies out of the first design, but it’s fucking blasphemy, I am an uncultured swine! :’) )

For context, I own a role play server that is steampunk oriented of about 100 plus people, and I write for a range of characters ranging from my own original characters, to characters from other fictional works. This here is a steampunk/Victorian adaptation of Marlya Noel from the anime, Fairygone.I finished this about an three hours ago and oh muh god. She beautiful! She majestic! Her uh... grip on the rifle could be better, but at least her hands look nice, All around, the sketch was done so much better and it really shows through on this piece. (Fellow artists. The sketch matters. Never dial it in on a sketch, because while you can fix minor errors in a sketch later on down the line, you cannot fix the foundation of it without having to pretty much redo the whole thing. Put effort into sketches, don’t make the same mistake I did and have to go back and eventually redesign a piece you absolutely despise.) That and thinking back now, I could have probably done good with a black lace headband for the goggles considering how light her hair is and I might fix that since I didn’t merge all my layers, But I really love this piece, it did justice towards a lot of the issues I had with my last version of this, which I’ll go into soon. My biggest accomplishment? Her body size. I’m used to drawing very busty women, hell, my tumblr account persona is based on my main original character who is a very busty woman, so believe me when I say this character was a challenge, because I don’t draw a lot of super petite women, and uh... here’s the original piece of reference art of who I am drawing.

Uh yeah. She a stick. She a cute stick, but still a friggin stick. As you can figure, there’s a reason I made this 2nd redesign. I did not do well at portraying her body type, and there were also quite a few anatomy errors/mediocre portrayal. Allow me to just post that train wreck now and promptly tear it apart.

Right off the bat, a bunch of issues.

MUH’LADY, YOUR HAND IS BACKWARDS! WTF??? That thumb do no go there! Hands do not work like that! That do not do the thing that your thing is doing! God, she must have an awful time using that hand for ANYTHING. I’m so sorry queen, what did I do to you??? 

I absolutely failed at adapting to my paper texturing, and it shows, because everything is darker than it should be, and it’s awful. That thing I mentioned about a black lace head band in comparison to the beige one? Yeah, woulda done me sooo much better to use the beige one for THIS piece, because Marlya’s hair was made so fuckin dark that you can’t hardly tell that her goggles are put on a lace head band. And don’t get me started on the hair’s shading, it’s fuckin abysmal. What’s the point of doing lighting if it’s gonna look so damn dull and hardly there, that and it’s one flat, boring color? Her eyes, although coloring wise, I do like them, are not accurate to the actual original reference, even then though is a bit dull, and neither is her hair or skin, because I failed at adapting to the texture I frequently use to make things look nice and soft. Oh! And those boots? YEAH! THEY’RE FUCKIN STUPID :D I wanted to go the route of a lacy, curve fitting dress, with some sleek, skin tight, modern looking elements to it, so uh YEAH! LET’S JUST ADD SOME BULKY ASS, HIDIOUS, BROWN BOOTS! :D Tex, what the actual fuck were you thinking??? You’ve just committed an act of mental torture to yourself and all who bear witness to this atrocity and over all to the name of fashion...  The legs are cringe. Yall don’t have weird pointy spots sticking out of the side of your right leg? BAGH! BLASPHEMY!

“SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-”

Ma’am, you look quite perturbed and a little dead inside. It’s okay, I am too. I’ve been dead inside since I found out that Sims 4 builders think they’re entitled to money for building houses out of other people’s cc, oh and also since I found out that MAP supporters actually exist. :D

Jokes aside, her expression really isn’t that terrible, it just doesn’t work in the context of what I was drawing, but it is accurate for the type of art I was making, It’s a character ref, and I don’t want the character I’m trying to show off to be overly expressive, as I want a clear as possible image of the character I’m portraying, but like... The pose I tried to do just doesn’t work for the minimal expression. A pose like what I was doing requires more facial expression to not make the pose look super forced and stiff. It just looks really uncanny and awful. As a result of that, she legit looks fuckin dead inside. Me too Marlya, me too. The pose for the redo looks so much better, because it doesn’t require a whole lot of expression to work, that and in this AU I put her in, someone I role play with frequently expressed interest in the rifle she was using, because I described it as having a mahogany butt, and they’re like “Sounds super old, antique, and cool AF” so I’m sure he’ll be pretty stoked to see the actual rifle in question. So yeah, definitely if I’ma do a pose like I did in the 1st drawing again, it needs to be a lot more expressive. I cannot stress this enough. The FUCKIN AUDACITY to leave out the swirly cheekies. It’s a signature part of my art style at this point, and even the dudes have them, which is saying something because I try to reserve more cutesy traits for women or feminine appearing individuals, and I didn’t put it on a woman??? What crack was I on when I made the artistic decision to leave it out? Cause I need to steer clear from that shit.

As I mentioned before actually posting this shite ass pic, there was some struggles with the body type I was trying to draw. My biggest issue was that the image I was referencing made her look like she had relatively curvy hips, and so I tried to heavily emphasize those hips to make it stick out, but by doing this, she ended up bustier than she actually canonically is, and I’m trying to make a reference piece for her, not prep her for fuckin r/34. So yeah, she ended up with tigger ol biddies than she actually has, and wider hips than she actually has. Also doesn’t help that the dress I made for her does emphasize the chest a little, so I knew breast size wise, she was going to look bigger than she is, but it’s really obvious that I over did the curves in an attempt to not overdue the curves, and clearly the dress is not THAT impactful, because I managed to pull it off in the 2nd redesign. So uh, yay me for being absolutely friggin counter productive! GOLD STAR! :D

What actually really ended up helping me is that I stopped focusing so heavily on the hips and just tried to get down the basic, general, slim yet curvy feel and just left out the usual effort that I put in like when I do with drawing bustier women, and that helped significantly, so in short, I learned not to overthink it. I need to put in as much effort as there is mass. Bigger girls need more effort, smaller girls need not as much effort. I really friggin hated the first piece I did. I just pushed through it in using it what it was made for because I didn’t feel like making another one at the time, and then the thing that actually set me off and made me redo it was that hand, like that’s a fuckin rooky mistake for myself, someone’s actively been doing art every day and seriously practicing to improve since I was 7 years old and really awakened myself to my potential skill. 5 year old me be like: “Ooo! Pretty colors neat scribbles!” 7 year old me: “Oh hey! I semi drew anime! I think I can keep going with this!” and did. I’m an adult in my 20′s now. I’ve doing art for awhile, so that piece REALLY bugged the shit out of me, especially because these pieces are again a month apart. I could understand if maybe the piece was a few months ranging to a year old, but a single month?... I expect much better from myself than the garbage fire that was that first picture. That and I could tell I really got tired of that image towards the end of drawing it, because I really just fuckin threw in the towel. The Shading was so basic bitch, and the details were non existent. where as this recent one had a lot of details, the dress was made to look so much better, so much prettier and working very well with the style I was trying to go for, and you could really tell I gave a shit about what I was drawing there. There’s still some mistakes in it, I mean, no piece is ever perfect, but still, I love it for what it is, and it’s not only a testament that I can always do better, but it shows a difference between me when I’m passionate about a piece and when I’m not. If yall got any criticisms for either pieces, feel free to leave em, because contrary to some people’s beliefs, I actually am very capable of taking criticism when it’s legit actual good, well informed, criticism. But also, while I won’t be a dick about it, if I do see criticism that isn’t the best, I’ll do my best to explain why it’s not the best, because as much as some people don’t want to admit, there is such thing as trash criticism, but if it’s legit criticism, I will take it to heart and try to better myself. Ya don’t have to worry about me being a butt hurt bitch over it, OBVIOUSLY because I’ll sit here and tear my own shit apart without the help of someone else.

Oh, and I went ahead and swapped out the beige band for the black since it works for her hair color now and doesn’t get overshadowed by how dark her hair is. Feel free to tell me which one ya like better.

[ifotoeditor]

How to Remove Object from Photos on Photoshop: A Stepwise Guide

Imagine a scenario – you have clicked an amazing photo, but there are some unwanted objects that are degrading its visual appeal. Well, now with the help of Photoshop or powerful AI tools, you can easily remove any object from your pictures. From cleaning product shots to making landscape photos more appealing, there are so many outcomes you can achieve by doing so! Here, I will let you know how to remove object from photo in Photoshop using its clone stamp tool and its best AI-powered alternative.

What is the Clone Stamp Tool in Photoshop?

If you are into visual editing, then you would already know the diverse use of Photoshop. There are dedicated tools and features in the tool that we can use to make our photos more appealing. One such tool is the clone stamp, which duplicates pixels from one part of an image and applies them seamlessly to another. It is represented by a rubber stamp icon in Photoshop's toolbar and operates on the concept of cloning and stamping pixels onto desired areas.

However, the primary use of the clone stamp tool is removing unwanted objects or distractions from photographs, such as dust spots, power lines, people, etc. How does the clone stamp work? The clone stamp tool achieves flawless results by blending pixels from surrounding areas, ensuring that the edited portions merge seamlessly into the rest of the image. Using the clone stamp, you can retain the authenticity and integrity of the original photograph while removing any unwanted object.

How to Use the Clone Stamp Tool to Remove Unwanted Objects from Photos?

Now that you know the basics of the clone stamp tool, let’s learn how to use it to remove object from photo in Photoshop. Here's a step-by-step guide that can help you use Photoshop’s clone stamp tool like a pro: Step 1: Load the photo on Photoshop and select clone stamp You can start by launching Adobe Photoshop on your system and then load the photo you want to edit. Now, select the clone stamp tool from the toolbar (it looks like a rubber stamp icon as shown above). An expert trip would be duplicating the background layer (original image) before you work. In this way, you can easily revert any changes without affecting the original image. To do this, just right-click on the background layer and select the duplicate layer feature.

Step 2: Choose a sample point (source) Before you start cloning, you need to tell Photoshop where you want to clone from. For this, you have to pick a soft brush from the toolbar. Here, I recommend selecting the size of the clone stamp thoughtfully with respect to the size of the object you want to remove. If you are new to Photoshop, then picking a medium-sized brush would be best.

Afterward, you can just hold down the Alt key on Windows or the Option key on Mac. Now, click on a clean, unaffected area of the image that you want to use as your sample point. This will be your reference point for cloning. In most cases, it is the area that is just adjacent to the object you want to remove, but there can be some exceptions too.

Step 3: Paint over the object you want to get rid of With your sample point set and brush adjusted, it's time to start cloning. Simply click and drag your mouse over the unwanted object and gradually blend it into the background. Keep an eye on your sample point and adjust it as needed to maintain a natural look.

As you clone, pay attention to how the pixels blend with the surrounding area. You may need to adjust your brush settings or sample point to ensure a seamless blend. Step 4: Repeat and do a final touch-up Depending on the complexity of the object you're removing, you may need to make multiple passes with the clone stamp tool. If you have made a mistake, then you can go a few steps back by clicking on the “undo” button or pressing Ctrl + Z in Windows (Cmd + Z in Mac)

While cloning, try to avoid making patterns and make it look as natural as possible. Once you've removed the unwanted object, zoom out and assess the overall look of your image. You may need to do some additional touch-ups or adjustments to ensure everything looks natural before saving your image.

Expert Tips for Using the Clone Stamp Tool Effectively

As you can see, with the help of the clone stamp tool, you can easily remove object from photo in Photoshop. However, if you want to master its editing use and get even better results, then consider following these tips: Master the art of sampling The key to perfect cloning lies in choosing the right sample point. Experiment with different sample points to find the best match for the area you're cloning. Remember, the closer the sample point is to the target area, the better the blend will be. Try to keep it real While it's tempting to go overboard with cloning and remove every little imperfection, it's important to maintain a sense of realism. Avoid repetitive patterns and overly uniform textures, as they can give away the fact that you've edited the image. Take it slow Take your time with each clone stroke, paying close attention to how the pixels blend with the surrounding area. Don't rush it – a little patience goes a long way in achieving professional-looking results. Zoom in and out Don't forget to zoom in and out of your image as you work. Zooming in allows you to focus on fine details and make precise adjustments while zooming out gives you a better perspective on the overall look of your image. Use layers and masks To give yourself more flexibility and control over your edits, consider working on separate layers with layer masks. This allows you to make non-destructive edits and easily tweak your cloning without affecting the original image. Try blend modes The clone stamp tool works perfectly with Photoshop's blend modes, giving you even more creative freedom. You can experiment with different blend modes to achieve all kinds of effects and textures in your photos.

Use AI-powered iFoto Cleanup to Remove Objects from Photos

The process to remove object from photo in Photoshop is quite tedious and time-consuming. These days, both beginners and professionals take the assistance of AI tools to meet their editing needs. One of the most effective AI visual editing tools is iFoto Cleanup that can help you clean your photos in seconds. - Using iFoto Cleanup, you can remove any object, individual, text, etc. from your images automatically. - Simply upload your image and select the object/area that you want to get rid of to seamlessly brush it off. - Since iFoto uses powerful AI models, it will remove objects on its own and you don’t have to undergo any technical hassle. - The end results and extremely precise and effective, making it ideal for product shots and other professional tasks. - Apart from that, the iFoto Suite offers several other tools as well to remove backgrounds, swap faces, recolor clothing, generate AI models, and so much more.

How to Remove any Object from Photos using iFoto Cleanup?

Even if you don’t have any prior editing experience, you can instantly remove unwanted objects from photos with iFoto Cleanup. You can access iFoto Cleanup by visiting its website on any browser or via its iOS/Android app. Once you have logged in to your iFoto account, you can follow these steps to remove any unwanted object from your photos: Step 1: Load your photo on iFoto Cleanup Once you go to the iFoto Cleanup’s home, you can simply drag and drop your photo to its interface. You can also choose to browse your photo from your local storage and load it on iFoto’s interface.

Step 2: Select the object to remove After the photo is loaded, you can use its brush to simply mark the area/object on the image you want to remove. As you hover over the area, it will be highlighted, and you can precisely make your selection.

To fine-tune the selection, you can also go to the side panel and change the size of the brush. Once you are done selecting, just click on the “Remover” button.

Now, iFoto will do its magic and automatically remove the highlighted object from your image. Its AI algorithm will produce a flawless finish, blending the area with the background so that no one can judge that the image has been edited.

Step 3: Preview results and save your image That’s it! You can now just check the end results and even fine-tune them by making any other selection and repeating the process. In the end, you can just download the edited image to your local storage and use it however you like!

Conclusion

This brings us to the end of our guide on how to remove object from photo in Photoshop. As you can see, I have come up with a step-by-step solution for using the clone stamp tool in Photoshop that can help you remove any unwanted object from your image. Since Photoshop is not that user-friendly and can take a lot of time to master, you can consider using iFoto Cleanup instead. The AI-powered tool is extremely reliable and provides instant results for removing any unwanted object from your photos. You can use iFoto for free and leverage its AI algorithms to meet your visual editing needs in one place. Read the full article

[stormclawponyrises]

"What's your drawing process? Care to show a tutorial of how you colour, shade and render?"

I don't really have the energy to go into detail (visually at least) but I'm happy to show my general process and explain what I do for each step.

1) I draw the rough page with "prelim" sketches, using a 10px ink tool in red. These are usually just stickfigures with ears, eyes and a few features that differentiate them, in the rough poses I need them to be in. The simplicity means I can move things around easily. I also add prelim text-boxes to get an idea of how much space I need for dialogue.

2) I draw over the prelims with the actual sketch, using a 1px sketch tool in black. When drawing over sketches of any kind, I put the sketch at 9-11% opacity so it's just visible. It's harder to make mistakes that way and forces me to be more careful with my lines. Here I also add the other panel lines and keep the prelim text boxes.

3) I line over the final sketch using the same sketch opacity rule, for the character illustrations. The lines start out rough initially as I use a mouse and thus can't draw with pen pressure, so once the lining is done I erase and add to the lines to simulate line weight and make it look cleaner.

4) I begin colouring by first using the selection tool on the areas outside of the character lineart, then inverting it so it contains all of the character. This is easier than directly selecting each section of the character.

5) The selected section is filled out with the character's base/main colour. I usually do this with accessories turned off, as they are on a different layer (ie Miltei's blade and Ash's necklace). Then I make a hair layer, eye/mouth/scars layer, and 1-2 marking layers, in that order of dominance. These are set as clipping layers to the base colour layer so I don't have to worry too much about going beyond the lineart. I just use the pencil tool at whatever size needed for colouring, and at 5 px for lineart.

6) I finish the accessory layers and colour the inner lineart to simulate depth and connection between certain body parts. Eyes receive "eye lights" (white dots of varying sizes at a low opacity) to simulate eye reflectiveness.

7) I then line the background using the same lineart rules/process established earlier. (Ignore that it's been coloured already idc)

8) The base colours are added for the background. Some sections get rendering before others.

9) Final colouring and extra details added. I usually add some shading or details to suggest depth and texture.

10) Final tweaks; ambience! Skyrays like the ones shown are done by drawing a large beam of yellow light and blurring it a ton. Then I do it again. On the second layer I add thin yellow lines using the spread tool. Then on luminous layers I add little dust particles like in the sunbeams you'd see in real life (though usually you can only see the dust up close).

11) I import the page into CSP and rewrite the dialogue using the prelim text boxes as a guide. I get them in the shape I want, then draw the speech bubbles using CSP's bubble tool. It's set to a sketchy outline to make the bubbles look a bit rough. These are coloured to match the character speaking, as are the text. The text and bubble layers are then reimported to SAI and the watermark is added. And we're done!

extra notes: 1) Eyes are generally drawn on a separate layer to the rest of the lineart, and pupil lines on yet another layer. This makes it easier to edit them and colour them without accidentally interfering with the other lineart.

2) There are rules I follow with how I do eyes and eye lights, but it's hard to explain. If I make an eye tutorial I'll make sure to go into plenty of detail about it.

3) I don't usually merge layers unless I know there's no reason to keep them separate. Those eye lineart layers always stay separate from other lineart.

4) The panel/page outlines are never on the lineart layer. When selecting the lineart so I can colour, I just draw small lines to connect the lineart that goes into the panel outlines. This is in case I need to edit the lineart position or something like that.

5) How I actually approach lineart changes on a case-to-case basis. Sometimes I'll do hair first, or body first, or ears first, sometimes I draw them all on different layers because of a complex pose, etc. I almost always draw eyes and accessories last though.

6) Preferred font is comic sans (thought I use both upper and lowercase as purely uppercase is irritating to me as a writer) for readability. I use a mix of other fonts for varying purposes.

[kokodrawings]

Hi Koko!! Do you have any advice for new digital artists? I love your art so I thought about asking for some! I started drawing digitally three months ago and I barely see any improvement. It's a bit discouraging :(

Hello anon!

First of all, no need to worry! Everyone progress at different rates. There’s no rush and three months is a very short period of time. You’ll get the hang of it after a while. Practice makes perfect so keep drawing!

Also, keep in mind that most artists have been drawing for years before going into digital art OR posting online. If you’re new to drawing in general and are learning to draw along with learning how to do digital art, be aware that it’s going to take you far longer to learn than someone who was already an accomplished artist and just needs to get used to their new tablet.

Since you haven’t specified which program/tablet you have, here’s a few things I’d recommend to new digital artists in general:

1. If you have a screenless tablet, use it instead of your mouse/touchpad. Wanna watch a youtube video? Use your table. You need to google something? Use your tablet to move around. Use it as much as you can, I can’t stress this enough. It will help you immensely with your eye-hand coordination.

2. Far more important than your tablet is your art program. I don’t know which program you’re using, but watch or read some tutorials and learn its shortcuts (I do recommend getting Photoshop though! You can google how to download it for free.)

3. Layers, layers, layers. Use a lot of layers!! If, for example, you’re not sure you wanna keep blending, lock that layer and keep blending on a new one. That way you will never ruin the original piece if you don’t like the result, and if you do, you can merge them later. Never be afraid to use too many layers!

4. If you wanna mess with your layer (chage the contrast, levels, brightness, etc), copy it beforehand. Again, if you don’t like the result, your old copy will still be there.

5. Organize your layers! It’s not essential but will certainly make your life a lot easier 💖

6. Block the layers you’re not using so you don’t draw on them by mistake. It has happened us all and it’s a pain! lol

7. Always blend with a hard brush. I don’t recommend blending with a soft one at the start, it will muddy your colours (you can turn down the opacity of your brush if you’re having problem with the blending). And for god’s sake, DO NOT use the smudge tool. It is men’s biggest mistake and as such, should be ignored xD

8. I said it before, but watch as many tutorials as you can! All these people have been in your shoes, you’ll learn so, so, so much faster watching tutorials than on your own!

9. If you’re using Photoshop, the liquify tool is one of the best things the program has, learn how to use it!! It will fix so, so many mistakes!

10. Art (and digital art in particular) is a long and very exciting journey, enjoy it!! Don’t think too much about your progress, just draw. You will get better in time! 💙💙

I could keep going, but without getting into tutorial territory, I think these are the most important things that come to mind.

I hope it helps, and good luck anon!! 💖

[banabanabanabanaba]

tips for people who make custom sdr2 sprites and are trying to make them look as canon as possible (you don’t have to use these, it’s just how i do it personally)

1. shading colors located here on ref sheets, just lay them over your sprites and put them on multiply, make a new shade if needed. far right one is for standard shading (clothes, hair, etc.), middle one is for the skin (each character uses a slightly different skin shading tone so feel free to change it a bit), i havent figured out what the other two are for yet though. i’m working on it

2. you may notice a slight glow on the sprites, but only the lighter colors are glowing. here is how to do that (in clip studio paint, at least)

create a duplicate version of your sprite and select “Merge Selected Layers”. set gaussian blur on this layer to 25 (i’m using resolution 960x1920, twice as big as normal full body sprites as you will need a higher resolution of sprite than the standard full body for the bustups)

set the layer to lighten,

place UNDER your line art but OVER your coloring at an opacity preferably under 50%. boom 3. don’t be afraid to trace. but if you want to make it look REALLY good, i recommend splicing different sprites together to create a new pose so your oc’s pose doesn’t look identical to another character’s

here i spliced together a few different sprites from mikan and mahiru to create a new pose, which i traced over to get a new sprite that differed from the already existing ones while also having pretty good proportions. 4. not really a tip, but here is the fabric texture i put over the sprites. overlay mode at 5% opacity

5. don’t be afraid to make mistakes. in fact, make mistakes on purpose! just little ones. looking through sprites, you can see a variety of different mistakes made throughout them. observe to see what you can find and replicate them in your own works once in a while.  hope this helped!

[riisinaakka-draws]

Progress gif of this:  “Would you still recognize me?”

The quality isn’t the best possible, but hopefully you get the idea how things evolved... It’s made from “the preview pics” that I saved in this painting’s draft/wip folder whenever I took a break or wanted to compare/remember something special - and also so that I’d know where I left things and wouldn’t have to open the actual psd file every time, lol. To make the gif size smaller and to have it flow better (and be less eye-hurting), I left some of the frames out.

I admit it, it’s quite fascinating to watch now after everything :D *pats myself on the back*

So that the post doesn’t become too long on the dash, I put some additional notes under the cut, mainly about the refs and wips if you want to take a look! Please, do not repost elsewhere :)

(Btw, you can just read the bolded parts if you want a quick version or get tired of the rambling.)

I want to point out that the main work always happens underneath all kinds of adjustment layers because I like to test things a lot during the process before sticking on something if I don’t quite know yet what I want. Like the colour scheme or where the light comes (or if there are multiple light sources) or if something needs more contrast etc. So I paint with simpler colours first, but already have some ideas/adjustment layers over them, but hidden and waiting until the basics are done. Then I merge things and continue to paint with the “new” colour palette.

I also often test filters to have more texture or bring out some things better - or just to find something interesting to incorporate! Accented edges, crosshatch and watercolor are things that I often test in some way over my sketches and wips at some point when the basics are done or when I need/want some kind of further effect/texture or just something to knit them together better and for balance. And also just for fun!

Then I flatten the things I like (or I am “certain about” at that point) and continue painting over that ...aaaand end up testing something else, keep different versions or parts of things on separate layer groups (to compare or to bring back some earlier things that I liked or alternative lighting solution or object/body part placement, or...) and so on...seriously it’s always a mess controlled chaos! aahahahaha *face palm*

But mainly the things keep building on top of each other instead of having neat groups for sketch, lineart, colours, lighting etc. I mean, I always try to start with that but never have been able to actually keep it very long... And on the other hand I’m too nervous and indecisive to paint with only single layer/canvas from the beginning with (like a traditional painting would be painted). Or with just a few layers for background, character(s), effects on their own and so on... So I have this chaos that swirls towards that something that I had preplanned or wanted to achieve/practise until I’m happy with it.

ANYWAY, BACK TO THE ACTUAL ART :

The original “spark” for this work was Flint at the end of the episode 1 with his bloody face and white shirt, and that nice splash of light, which made me think about the aftermath and him cleaning himself in the privacy of his cabin with some nice morning light painting his beard fiery and him lost in thoughts :) At some point that made me think of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s beautiful painting “The Laundress” which I have liked since I was a kid, so I started to steer towards it.

See the resemblance? (˵ ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°˵)ﾉ ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Some of the refs for the bowl and Flint. The angle/posture ended up being a bit different and I had more refs for Flint’s face and shirt and hand etc.

Some wips:

1) basically the idea and items that I wanted to include.

2) after a break (weeks? months?) and after I had searched some more references to help. The eyes were at this point (accidentally) absolutely awful so I censored them for the sake of my own peace of mind here, lol (not sorry!)

More wips along the way, although not much difference can be seen as the pics are quite small.. :

3) I mirrored/flipped the painting constantly, to see the mistakes and also because I couldn’t decide which way I wanted him to be! This stage was aaalmost ready but I got stuck and forgot let it be for several months doing other stuff again.

4) I continued it, fixed lots of things with fresh eyes and experimented more with lighting and texture but nothing too drastic stuck in the end. I have two monitors and either (or both...) are calibrated a bit off atm, so it was quite frustrating to navigate and to know which one had the right colours that I was after... and I still don’t know but it looks nice on both screens so  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯   At this stage things were basically nitpicking and a bit too much honing.

The finished piece:

In the end I lost some of the things I actually liked more in the earlier versions (for example some had more of a dreamy feeling or better texture or more emotions/wearyness/anger showing that didn’t quite reach the end result again) and I overworked some other things, but nevertheless! I’m very pleased how this turned out! I reached the vision I wanted and learned a lot again :D

Thanks for reading <3

[grapefruitsketches]

Keep Me Warm

Rated T, 1,800 Words. Songxiao, Modern AU, Just Fluff, First Kisses, and mentioned Wei Wuxian, gremlin nephew extraordinaire

My 5th and final fill for @touchmycoat‘s Songxiao Reverse Itty Bitty Bang 2020

Inspired by aftersector‘s art on twitter at aftersector/status/1305312610389233665 (link in reblogs/notes)

Also for fytheuntamed’s Untamed Fall Fest Day 16: Bundle (I haven’t forgotten about Days 8-12 and Day 15 - they’re coming! Just had to get this one in before event end :) )

(AO3 link also in notes/reblog)

Song Lan could see that Xingchen was trying. Really trying. But eventually, the pursed lips, the shuddering chest couldn’t contain his laughter anymore.

Xingchen snorted, “I’m sorry, Zichen, really, I am but…” Xingchen looked his friend up and down, now trying to cover his giggles with a fist, “I just… where did you even get all of this stuff? I only saw you bring one backpack.”

Song Lan tried to answer, but the scarf muffled the words completely. He reached to unwind it, but the layers he wore left his limbs stiff, awkward. Then, when he finally got his arms oriented the right way, all he could manage was to scrabble at the edges of the scarf with his mittens until finally Xingchen took mercy and pulled it loose for him, “And how did you even get all of this on?” Xingchen asked, incredulous.

Song Lan didn’t immediately answer. He had been momentarily distracted by the way Xingchen’s mouth did that thing, that lopsided smile that made Song Lan’s heart quicken, made him grateful that his reddening face could be credited to the clothing he was wrapped tight in, to the overheating. Not… anything else.

“Zichen?” Xingchen prompted again, tilting his head, wrapping the loosened ends of the scarf around his own arm for safekeeping.

“Where do you think?” Zichen said, voice gruff, but unable to keep anything but a smile on his face in front of this man.

Xingchen threw his head back and let out another burst of laughter before sighing, “My nephew. Of course.”

Song Lan nodded, chuckling himself at his own gullibility.

He had never been to Xingchen’s family home before, tucked away as it was in the mountains. But when Xingchen had heard that Song Lan’s family wouldn’t be home this year, and that he was otherwise planning to stay in the city, studying all winter break, Xingchen had invited him to the massive family get together Xingchen’s mothers threw each year. Song Lan had heard so many hilarious, even if now horrifying, stories about it. Even so, he had accepted the invitation immediately.

So this morning, he had asked Wei Wuxian for help. Wuxian, despite being Xingchen’s nephew, was far closer to their age than Xingchen’s sister was. And too late he had realized his mistake, already two coats deep and in enough layers of pants that he had lost count.

“He told me I needed to be careful of frostbite,” Song Lan shrugged, “And then next thing I knew, well...” He looked down to the snow pants, ski jacket, and heavy waterproof mittens Wei Wuxian had insisted on. And this was only what Xingchen could see, Song Lan able to feel the weight of the several layers underneath, the layers which made Song Lan’s usually well-fitting jacket strain at the zipper.

“Just like his mother,” Xingchen shook his head, broad grin on his face, “We’re just going for a walk, Zichen. I live in the mountains, sure, but not the Arctic.”

“I see the error of my ways now,” Song Lan replied wryly, “But could you… ah…” he wiggled his arms helplessly, silently hoping Wei Wuxian was proud of himself, to have brought him down to such a humiliating state.

Xingchen nodded, still obviously amused, but got to work, “You know,” he said, pulling off the three toques stuffed within each other, tossing them to floor, presumably to pull back apart later, “If you didn’t know what to wear you could’ve… always asked me?” Song Lan almost thought he heard a note of shyness to Xingchen’s tone, his averted gaze.

“I would’ve… I just,” Song Lan shrugged, ignoring the feeling of Xingchen’s warm breath on his cheek as the other man carefully unzipped the jacket, avoided thinking too hard about the accidental brush of their hands as Xingchen helped Song Lan pull the jacket off of Song Lan’s well-padded arms. Song Lan sighed, “Didn’t want to bother you?”

That wasn’t quite it. Song Lan had agonized over what to wear on this walk around Xingchen’s family home, fussed over having too many, then too few, options. He didn’t want to seem not under, or over, prepared. So he had finally caved and gone to Wuxian, knowing at least then, whatever happened wasn’t technically his fault.

“Oh, Zichen,” Xingchen shook his head, voice far more earnest than a light-hearted conversation like this necessarily required. It made Song Lan’s head buzz pleasantly, as Xingchen told him, “You can always come to me. It would never be a bother.”

“N-noted,” Song Lan internally flinched at the stutter. He was sure it would let Xingchen read just how much those words flustered him.

“There,” Xingchen said, ignoring the stutter even if had noticed, casting the last of the too-tight jackets aside, “That should be loose enough that you should, ah, be able to take the rest off yourself,” Xingchen was smiling, but he was also definitely averting his eyes.

“Hmm? Oh!” Song Lan flushed realizing, “I’ll, uh… yeah, I can do this bit.”

He debated internally a few long moments whether he should go all the way back up to the guest room to change, or if he should just remove the extra layers of shirts, of pants, right here in the foyer. There were layers below everything he wanted to remove, but the action felt… odd in front of Xingchen. He didn’t want to seem so modest as to trudge all the way upstairs, but the atmosphere had grown oddly tense as Song Lan paused, neither moving away nor moving to pull the excess clothing off. He ended up compromising by shuffling over to the edge of the room and ducking halfway behind a doorway. For the next few minutes, he pulled layer after layer off, neatly folding the excess garments and coming back out to Xingchen in just a simple pair of jeans, socks, and a cable knit sweater.

“There you are,” Xingchen said in what was almost a whisper. Song Lan nodded back, the mood suddenly much quieter. For some reason, it just felt natural to let Xingchen help him back into the jacket that the man was still holding. Song Lan caught his friend’s eye as he zipped up the front, gaze lingering maybe a moment or two longer than strictly necessary.

Then Xingchen pulled away, smile wavering just a little, blinking a little faster than usual, “Your boots?” he said, his voice even lower now.

Song Lan nodded silently and pulled them on, joining Xingchen at the front door as they pushed out into the winter air, cold air greeting them, feathery snowflakes drifting lazily downwards. The wind was thankfully much calmer this morning than when they had arrived the night before.

“This is my favourite weather,” Xingchen remarked, looking around him, at the snow-capped trees, as they trudged slowly through the half foot of snow already accumulated on the path it had been shoveled he night before.

“Mm,” Song Lan said, though he felt his eyes again drift not towards his surroundings but towards his companion, “It’s perfect.”

Xingchen nodded serenely, then glanced down at his arm.

“Oh!” he exclaimed, “Sorry, Zichen, I forgot I had it,” he turned and they caught one another’s eyes again. Xingchen continued, more quietly now, “Your scarf?” He slowly unraveled the knit garment from where it was still wrapped around his arm, somehow having been woven around Xingchen’s arm even more while Song Lan hadn’t been looking. Xingchen held it out taut, head tilted, looking for permission.

Song Lan nodded in answer and ducked his head, letting Xingchen reach over his head, drape the scarf over his neck. And Xingchen was close now. Very close. Song Lan realized it, and Xingchen seemed to as well. But despite their proximity, neither seemed to want to pull away. Xingchen’s hands still gripped the ends of the scarf in some vague attempt at plausible deniability, as though it only made sense to keep holding onto the ends of your friend’s scarf, long after gravity would do the work of keeping it on their shoulders.

Song Lan felt his cheeks light up with heat again, the scarf, shifting ever so slightly in Xingchen’s unsteady touch, registering as an extension of Xingchen’s fingers.

“Zichen?” Xingchen asked, under his breath.

“Mnm?” Zichen replied, gently, trying not to break whatever delicate bubble they were now caught in.

“I’m… I’m really glad you’re here.”

“I’m really glad you’re here too,” Song Lan whispered back without pause, every fibre of his body electric at the closeness of their breath, visible, merging, in the cold morning air. He almost shuddered at the almost, but not quite touch between them. He smirked, the tension getting to be just a bit too much, “But do you know what I’m even happier about?”

“What?” Xingchen furrowed his brow, confused.

Song Lan bent just a bit closer to Xingchen’s level, the gap between them shortening. He whispered in his best deadpan, “I’m really glad I’m not bundled up like a marshmallow anymore.”

Xingchen burst out into laughter again, the sound even more beautiful this close. Song Lan beamed.

“You,” Xingchen, hands still on Song Lan’s scarf, pulled. It was gentle, wouldn’t have moved Song Lan if he hadn’t let it. Now he and Song Lan were mere centimetres apart, eye to eye, “Are ridiculous,” Xingchen concluded.

And then, quickly, easily, any chill filtering through Song Lan’s system from the winter air was expelled as the rest of the space between them closed. Xingchen’s lips soft, gentle, were pressed to Song Lan’s forehead. There was only the briefest moment of surprise. Of shock. Song Lan’s eyes were wide. They darted up, and Song Lan would be able to count every freckle dotted across Xingchen’s cheek. He had to catch himself, stop himself from falling over completely, leaning a hand to Xingchen’s chest. Xingchen’s hand, was meanwhile struggling to find purchase in the slippery fabric of Song Lan’s winter coat as though to pull him even closer.

Song Lan melted into the touch completely and closed his eyes. His own hand moved instinctively from Xingchen’s chest to his back, and Xingchen’s lips broke away, flashing Song Lan a momentary smile, before letting Song Lan’s hand pull them closer, Xingchen wrapping his own arm around Song Lan.

The snow swirled around, lighting gently in their hair, on their lashes as they held each other close. And gradually, so gradually, yet so inevitably, they turned, were now looking eye to eye again, their noses all but touching. All that would be needed was a slight tilt and…

Their lips met, found each other as though it was always meant to be this way. The two of them, pressed close together in the wind, in the snow.

And Song Lan had never felt warmer.

[ishkah]

A Love Letter To Failing Upward

Failing upward is simply the concept of failing by mainstream standards and yet achieving more fulfilling outcomes in the long run. Often this is connected to a feeling of unlocking opportunities you didn’t even know existed.

-

Power – Failing to take every opportunity to lead from the front

Due to the unfair distribution of power in society in the hands of very few, the good any one person can strive to achieve is immense, because one can imagine wielding the kind of power those at the top currently have to do good. But this power is unnatainable to many.

So, like how a figure like Bernie Sanders could have harnessed the position of presidency to do lots of good, how he did educate the masses on the positives of socialised government institutions and, if he’d gotten into power, mobilise a grassroots movement to demonstrate and strike to push through bills.

But, most importantly power can be a mirage. It’s the carrot dangled in front just beyond our reach. We need to create opportunities for ourselves, to achieve great acts of good on our own, like the personal heroism of people flying to Syria to fight Islamic Fascism or organising edible gardens in low-income neighbourhoods.

As well, even though we may cherish those opportunites to do great deeds today, counter-intuitively, the goal should be to move to a world where grand feats of good deeds aren’t necessary or possible. So that more people get a chance to strive to do good.

So a move to devolve government power to a multi-party system through preferential voting, to… Some local government positions being elected by sortition, to… The majority of society being so content with worker-co-ops and syndicalist unions that we transition from representative democracy to direct democracy. So, a chamber of ministers to federated spokes councils.

We all know the experience of living under a conservative culture that accepts bigoted assumptions.  And we all know of certain unproductive actions which some counter-cultures have dogmatically valorized as the best form of resistance.  Both cultures incuclate their members with a ‘willing epistemology of ignorance.’  That is, a conspiracy to fail to view the world as it is, in exchange for the benefits being a member of that cultural group.

In response, we can simply work hard to fail to be swayed by the fear of what embracing radical compassion will turn you into.  Therefore, we must avoid the pitfalls of an illusory politics of resistance which wears its activists out faster than it inspires lasting change.

-

Time – Failing to rush to achieve a bunch of outcomes without fully considering the value.

With the ever expanding knowledge each new generation is able to harness, the hard material outcomes of our goals in life will always be out performed better or faster than before.

So, while some people fret about failing against others, which makes them feel their life is not worth living, you, by failing to set strict goals for yourself and instead giving a leg up to those around you, can just observe everyone acting around you, contemplate your time and place in history and experience a peace of mind knowing you’re part of the fabric of everything.

We were nothing before we were born and we’ll be nothing again after we’re dead. The zoomed out size of the universe and length of time we aren’t around for overwhelms the blip of time we are here. This not-self follows us like a shadow throughout our life, like a chalk outline on the pavement, with every less able iteration of ourselves in between, refracted along a scale and merging back into the universe with other people’s similar layers.

A philosophical denial is just a view, a theory… it does not get one actually to examine all/ the things that one really does identify with… as ‘self’ or ‘I’, / This examination, in a calm meditative context, is what the not-self teaching aims at. It is not so much a thing to be thought about as to be done.

Finally allow ideas to percolate to the surface, don’t rush to nail down what an experience meant to you for time in perpetuity.

-

Authenticity – Failing to modify your behaviour to be more comprehensible

It can be annoying or hurtful for others to presume they know everything about you, but rather than assert their wrongness and make them defensive, you can acknowledge it as a common human failing and find nice creative ways to hold a mirror up to what life experiences they’ve had that lead them to jump to that conclusion.

One way is a kind of playful authenticity, telling a lie about a lie, to get back closer to the truth. So don’t outright challenge the idea, but don’t live up to it either, in fact live down to it. Playfully undermine the idea by failing to live up to the glamour of what it would mean to be that person, then find a way of revealing that it was a misunderstanding all along, so they needn’t worry about it applying to you.

-

The Middle Way – Failing to achieve short term gratification

Take satisfaction in starting a project with the tools at your disposal in which you have no idea whether it’ll ever be valuable to others, just that you learnt something new and that you really enjoyed the process.

There’s a quote I really like from the Tao Te Ching which explains how we can harness our higher inner character through acting with a conscious awareness about the way the universe works:

The way of heaven is like the bending of a bow. The high is lowered, and the low is raised. If the string is too long, it is shortened; If there is not enough, it is made longer.

The way of heaven is to take from those who have too much and give to those who do not have enough. Man’s way is different. He takes from those who do not have enough to give to those who already have too much.

.

Knowledge – Failing to keep track of every piece of information

It’s great to live with people who are observant of clues as to your mindset and can offer suggestions to help you or give you the room to learn from your own mistakes where the consequences aren’t dramatic.

It’s less useful to try and acquire every piece of gossip about a person and come into interactions with funny presumptions about who they are and why they act the way they do.

-

Meaning – Failing to live up to expectations

Through having an accurate accounting of some of the worst possible outcomes at any moment and having a healthy way of coming to terms with that, we can truly decide if the road we want to be on us is as much ‘our choice’ as anything can be.

Compassionate comedy for the wholesomeness of peoples mistakes is one really great way of feeling comfortable in your own skin. In being able to laugh at ourselves, we can feel freer to experiment and enjoy a culture with more complex forms of expression being understood.

-

Vulnerability – Failing to avoid pain

Love is the feeling that you almost had no other choice than pursuing the road you’re on. It’s both a scary feeling for opening yourself up to pain and a wonderful feeling for realising a passionate interest you may not have even been aware you had. Embrace it.

-

[monchikyun]

XX. blame

Have they really come this far? As he wanders through the endless corridor, this reality seems almost too impossible to be true, yet he feels it with the same clarity as when a glass shard split his nose in two. He tries to run at his full speed, frantically almost, all to reach his new-found soulmate who has suddenly disappeared in a whirlwind of white ash, the same one that has brought him here. But his feet are much too heavy and he uses all the energy he has just lifting them up, slowly as can be. 

Everything around him is strangely blurry and unfocused, though he doesn’t even notice, for his head is too preoccupied with its efforts to lose the heat making him imagine various inappropriate scenarios reserved only for two consenting adults, of which one of the two involved parties can classify as neither, technically. 

Gavin sweats, breathing growing rapid as he lugs his body towards the brilliant light that gets further away the closer he gets. It doesn’t make any sense, yet he’s only vaguely aware of this since there are more pressing issues to be dealt with. Like the overwhelming need making him push through this nonsense in the first place. He doesn’t think about what he’ll do once he finds Connor, just that his presence will most definitely help, somehow. Maybe the wrongness of it all keeps him from reaching that handsome android, the fact that they haven’t crossed those boundaries on the outside of this distorted world. If only his aching body cared about that at all, he wouldn’t end up in this mess then. Gavin stops his movement, although reluctantly, and sneaks his hand towards the place that’s causing him so much trouble. It’s something that he’s very reluctant to do, here of all places, in a state that knows no boundaries. Anything could happen. Countless variations of absurd events are waiting for him just beyond the veil of consciousness. That alone he could tolerate, survive too, if he’s lucky enough. But there’s one scenario that could very well end him. 

He could wake up. 

His eyelids twitch like they’re set to separate from the rest of his face, his mind returning back to the warm bed in some inexpensive motel room, and the sudden realisation comes knocking, bringing gifts of fear and anxiety. For several seconds he strives not to acknowledge any of this, but he can sense that this dream has had tragic consequences, ones which have unfortunately transferred into the waking world. Delaying the clean-up will only make matters worse, so he pries his eyes open and scans his immediate surroundings for a sign of his poor friend. 

As his sight adjusts to the dim lighting, he feels brave enough to call himself partly fortunate, for the bed appears to be empty - if he doesn’t count his sinful vessel. 

He runs his hands down his face, wishing he could just merge with the mattress because this might just be the most humiliating thing that he has lived through… since September, at least. If it were with any other guy he would just laugh and brush it off but when it comes to Connor, everything is just… different. He tries to be extra cautious with the one person he loves as if a single small mistake could sever their fledgling of a bond. It wouldn't, though, or at least he tries to wholeheartedly believe that their link can withstand almost all difficult circumstances and that he’s only overreacting because that’s just how his fucked-up mind works.

 He slides his hands away from his damp eyes and finally dares to scope the room in search of his friend, finding out that he’s the only person there. This development should be a blessing when he takes his embarrassing accident into consideration, though it worries him more than anything else. Knowing Connor and his legion of issues, he wouldn’t be surprised if the android has gone out of his way do something stupid. Especially after their little heart-to-heart of last night. His partner didn’t look so hot back then,... though only mentally, of course. Still, he chooses to implement all of the trust he holds for the person and opts to first tackle the predicament he’s been put in.

 He handles said issue with a record speed, thanks to the many years of practice he’s managed to gather. The last step is to change out of his sleeping clothes into something more appropriate, and when he finally gets to it and opens the wardrobe, he comes upon the hideous sweater that Connor threw at him a couple of days ago. He picks it up with a simulated contempt, briefly pondering whether he’ll ever be willing to put on such atrocity. To him, such a possibility is quite unlikely, though he doesn’t ever see himself discarding it. This ugly piece of garment is more valuable than anything within the endless black hole which is his closet. Maybe that’s why he can’t force himself to wear it, for fear of ruining it. Yes, that’s must be it. 

Shaking his head in disbelief of his ridiculous thinking patterns, he chuckles and chucks the sweater on the now clean bed. 

After he dons his jacket, the dread starts creeping in, faster than he’d prefer. He hasn’t had any clue of what he’s doing ever since he’s woken up from his strange dream this morning. Actually, it’s been like this for far longer. It seems like this December ushered in some kind of courage that has served as their willing matchmaker. 

He sighs and opens the front door, immediately regretting this decision. The cold wind assails him right as he takes his first step outside, but he’s too busy warding off the onslaught of snowflakes for his head to even register it properly. Maybe he should have just called Connor instead of venturing outside like the idiot he is. A few curses form on his tongue before he sets to walk away from the building. 

Something stops him in his tracks before he even has the chance to adapt to the current unfriendly environment, startling him out of his determination to brave the adjoining highway. 

His brain tells him that the sound coming in through his ears is a voice most familiar, information that supplies him with instant relief. 

When he turns his head towards the wall, his heart melts at the sight of a puppy-eyed android standing stiff, lips forming the slightest of smiles. He's covered from head to toe in snow since the small roof above them can't shield anyone from the unyielding blizzard. 

“What the phck are you doing here.” 

Gavin’s reaction is in direct dissonance with what’s going on inside of him. Frankly, he’s expected nothing less of himself. All he longs to do is to rid Connor of the unnecessary snowflake layer and warm him up. It makes him shiver just looking at the android-like ice statue. Maybe his partner can't feel cold, but Gavin, being a mere human, certainly can. 

He doesn't give Connor a space to answer, tugging him inside the moment he snaps out of the initial shock of realising he won't have to go all panic mode searching for the unpredictable tin can in this raw weather. 

“I thought you’d appreciate some privacy, so I went ahead and gave you space to… sort yourself out.”  

Gavin feels himself combust and wishes the flames would turn him into ash. Much more preferable outcome than having to confront his subconscious bodily reactions and their inevitable effect on his bed-mate. 

He squeezes his eyes shut, the last attempt to escape this uncomfortable situation or at least to postpone whatever is coming his way, ready to make him question his entire existence, he’s sure. It usually tends to go in that direction. Dealing with personal failures in a healthy manner is a skill he’s lacking, which in itself is just another of his shortcomings. His mind really does dislike him. 

“Sorry for that,” he mumbles, not facing the person to whom the apology belongs. He still has trouble putting his stupid flushed mug on display for anyone to see, but maybe he’s willing to grant an exception. There are many things he wouldn’t do for Connor, but showing him his true face, no matter how compromised, doesn’t have to be one of them. 

“I figured you’d be blaming yourself for it,” Connor says, not a speck of disdain in his voice. No pity or exasperation to be heard anywhere. 

So he turns to stand in front of him, trying hard to pretend that this doesn’t dismay him. 

“It’s a natural reaction caused by the close proximity of-”

“You don’t have to give me a presentation on how the human body works, I am very familiar with this subject.” He couldn’t help but cut him off, since the words were physically grating his skin. What a fucking joke this is. When he at long last thought that things are going to be fine, when he accepted that there’s not a better sensation than being held by a loved one, his thirsty mind had to go ahead and ruin everything. Connor won’t most likely want to sleep with him after this, a premise that stabbed him right in his aching chest. 

“I just wanted to tell you that I don’t mind. It’s only that I didn’t know how you’d react so I chose to leave instead of finding out. I should be the one to feel guilty.” 

“As if you don’t have enough guilt on your plate already.” 

Gavin dreads that this conversation will become a sex talk, something he wouldn’t be able to bear at the moment. It’s too soon. They haven’t even had a proper kiss yet, a fact that might just be one of the reasons for his intense dream.  

That doesn’t mean he plans to rush things, the pace they’ve set for themselves is surprisingly enjoyable. He’s never experienced something so cautious and yet intimate, and he doesn’t want to be the one to destroy it. 

Connor looks at him with eyes that betray just how tired he is of being reminded of the thing for which he blames himself so much. Some pleasant distraction seems to be in order. He waits for him to turn around and walk further in, a perfect opening for a surprise attack.

Gavin snakes his arms around the android’s waist, successfully halting his movement. Chest pressed to his back, he senses the outside chill that is still clinging to his body. Not for much longer, though. As he places his head on Connor’s shoulder two icy hands cover his own ones, and so he can finally share the heat that has been raging inside of him this whole time. Finally a suitable outlet,... of sorts. The problem is that the longer they touch the stronger burns the fire. 

After a minute or two of serving as a human heater, Connor sets himself free of his grasp and situates himself in front of him, taking his crimson cheeks in his now warmed-up hands. Gavin only just catches his tiny smile before he closes his eyes, getting himself ready for what might come next. 

“Gavin,” Connor whispers, which causes his heart to beat furiously like it’s trying to intimidate him into running away from this encounter. He doesn’t listen, though, too busy melting in the heavenly inferno that rages inside. 

“Go pack your things while I’ll clean the rest of the room.” 

A small peck on the forehead later, he’s left standing paralysed while the android’s already gone ahead to make the beds. He fiercely tries to cool himself down, feeling the tips of his ears still scorching, skin flushed red from the fruitless expectations. 

In all this discomposure of his, he forgot that today is their last day here. They have to leave and resume their day-to-day lives. But who says that they must go back their separate routes when all they really need is a caring family. He’s already invited Connor into his home, so now all they must do is to go through with it. It should scare him, the concept of giving so much of himself to another person, but no matter how much he dwells on it, the worry never appears. Perhaps the excitement has overshadowed all the bad and he can’t bring himself to think that it can still be lurking in a dark corner. 

Either way, he doesn’t care, since his mind is too busy admiring the view in front of him. 

He’s okay. This is okay. He’ll just smear some snow on the affected areas and his body will be fresh and ready to go. At least for a while.

[tf-guru]

From selling to building [f->Raven] MC

Isn't it crazy how one simple decision can change your entire life. Investing in the right place at the right places, losing your life savings after a shady internet deal, hell even forgetting your coffee one morning causing you to collide with a lamppost. God I would kill for even a sip of coffee, hard to get it in my current situation. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

My name was Valley Jackson, one of the most successful realtors in Southern California. I don't know why I'm creating this manuscript in my head, its not like I'll be able to write or even tell someone about it. Maybe it's what I would create if I were to be human again. Maybe it's just to keep me sane. Regardless here's what happened.

I had been traveling north to LA to secure a deal with one of my higher paying clients, normally I'd have them come to me but due to their status I decided to make the drive. I was on the highway around 10:30 at night when I missed my exit. That little mistake cost me everything...

Valley let out an exasperated curse as she looked ahead to see when the next exit would be coming up. In her 42 years of living in California she had visited LA maybe three times. Seeing the next exit approached she signaled and got off the highway. She was 5'6" with an absolutely stunning figure. At that time her auburn hair hung just below her shoulders and her nails were painted white. She looked down at her gps and saw as it started to emmit static before shutting off entirely

"Damn it" she muttered as she realized she was in the middle of nowhere. After about a half hour of driving in circles she finally was about to give up and try again in the morning when a sign glinted just ahead. It read "Pan's antique shop. Open 24 hours! Maps and sightseeing guides provided."

"Oh thank god! Kinda strange its open 24 hours but I guess when tourism is your biggest income it wouldn't hurt to take in a late night traveler."

Soon she pulled into the long driveway marked by another sign. Down the road was a decent sized rustic store. Its arched windows alight with a yellow glow. She parked her car and entered the shop. Behind the counter was a twenty something man who was reading a book. He looked up and said

"Hi welcome to Pan's antique shop. What can I help you with?" Valley replied

"Oh I'm on my way to LA and missed my exit, do you have a map I could look at?"

"Sure, feel free to look around while I get them."

As he took a door behind his desk Valley looked around. There were various items, old political pins, rotary phones, a Walkman, but Valley only saw one thing that caught her eye. It was a pair of Raven shaped earrings. She was drawn to them almost magnetically, their golden beaks glinting in the shops lights.. She grabbed them and headed back to the counter. The man had returned with a few traveling maps.

"Did you find something you like?"

"Yeah, just these earrings. I take it you're Pan?"

He gave a small chuckle with a hint of something else but Valley couldn't quite determine what

"Oh no, definitely not. Pan's the owner, I just work night shift."

"Ah, well thank you!" She paid for the earrings and grabbed the maps.

"Drive safe!"

As Valley started to leave she suddenly felt really lightheaded before passing out completely.

"We're just gonna head about a hundred more feet ahead then we've made it to the camping spot."

Valley opened her eyes to see one of the magnificent California redwoods ahead of her. Confused, she looked over to see who spoke.

"You okay Valley? You look kinda pale." The speaker was a woman around her age with brown hair and a more slim figure than Valley's

"Who are you? How do you know my name?"

"Uh Valley are you okay? Its me, your childhood friend Hailey? Do you seriously not know? Maybe we should look at that medici-"

"Im just kidding Hailey!" She was sensitive about discussing her medication. New memories appeared as she realized she did know Hailey, of course she did. She also remembered how she had decided to take this trip to celebrate Haileys 40th birthday.

"So just another 100ft Hay?"

"Yeah, if you're sure you're alright."

The pair continued the 100 feet before coming across a good enough sized clearing. Valley looked around while Hailey removed her tent bag from her back.

"You gonna help or just gawk?"

"Be right there Hailey!"

After some tribulations the pair managed to secure the tent to the ground. Valley removed two sleeping bags from her backpack and the pair began to undress. However as Valley took off her jeans something clattered to the ground. She reached down and picked up a pair of Raven earrings. Hailey turned around and froze.

"That's odd, I thought I got these on my way to-" she stopped as regained recollection of what had just been happening a few hours prior. She scratched her arm and looked at Hailey

"Oh uh silly Valley dont you remember getting those at the trail gift shop?"

"I got these at an antique shop today. In fact, I don't remember what happened after that. Did you drug me?"

"Valley you're not thinking clearly must be the medi-"

"No! Its not my medication! I don't even know you!"

"Valley I-"

"Did you bring me here to kidnapp me? Are people coming to kill me? I'm leaving!" Valley exited the tent with no pants or shirt and started to head back to the road.

"Wait!" Valley gave the finger and continued.

"I said wait." Hailey said in a dominant tone and Valley suddenly felt her knees lock. Something or someone was controlling her.

"What the hell?"

"Valley, I'm sorry it has to go this way. I was hoping-"

"Somebody help! Somebod-"

"Silence" Valley tried to scream again but no sound came out. She looked back to Hailey, terrified.

"Im sorry you're having to go through this. Here's how its gonna go, you are going to transform into a raven in a minute or two. My name is Hailey but this isn't me"

Before Valleys eyes Hailey underwent her own transformation. Her breasts retreated slightly into her chest as she lost some height. Her features softened and when it completed she looked to be in her early twenties.

"Im gonna give you the ability to speak and move but please don't scream."

She snapped her fingers and Valley fell to the ground. She looked up at Hailey and retorted

"I dont know what kind of drugs you've filled me with but-" she looked at her arm as she felt and itch. On her left arm was a single black feather. Not laying on it but actually attached to it. She pulled at it only to feel a sharp pain. As she watched more feathers sprouted down her arm. With each feather she grimaced but as soon as they reached her hand something else happened.

Her fingers merged together to form a single appendage. Only then did she realize it was real.

"P-please don't do this to me. I have a life! A career!"

"Don't worry, Pan's already sorted everything out. All your clients belive they've been using a different realtor, your family only remembers your brother. Its all packed away."

"I want to talk to Pan, please!"

She looked at her foot and saw three sharp talons poke through her sock. With her good hand she reached down and removed the sock. To her shock her ankle was covered by a corse yellow layer of a scale like texture.

"Im sorry, no can do. Pan's pretty busy and doesn't worry about stuff like this. I can take a message though."

"Please tell him to stoooaaaawk!" She grabbed her mouth and felt as her lips began to hardnen and push back against her hand.

"I'll tell him that, here's this." She handed a small mirror to Valley who looked into it. Her face also had jet black feathers on it, removing her hand revealed a small beak forming. Three more talons burst from her other foot as she pleaded once again

"I caaaaw! I caan't be a raven! I'm a human!" Hailey walked over and removed Valley's undergarments. Looking into the mirror Valley saw her face was covered in feathers and her mouth had finished becoming a beak. Her other arm followed the first as she dropped the mirror. Trying one last time she tried to plead

"Caw! Caw caw!" No matter how hard she tried she couldn't speak. So, she reached out with her wing and touched Haileys hand. But as she reached out it became harder and harder to extend her arm as they slowly tucked behind her back. She looked down with a shiver of ironic pleasure as her anus and vagina moved together to form her cloaca. Then she began to shrink. She hunched over, her body reforming so she would never stand upright again. As the transformation finished Valley looked down into the mirror and saw her eye shift from brown to purple, she fully resembled a raven. New thoughts entered her mind

'Eggs'

'Nesting'

'Flight'

'Mating'

'Offspring'

While she retained her human thoughts and mind she now had these new impulses and urges. She looked up to see Hailey writing in small notebook.

"Valley, Raven with purple eyes, room..." she checks her watch

"Room a2e365. I'm sorry this happened but try to become acclimated with your new life. Goodbye Valley."

She then faded away, leaving Valley alone.

Well, that's my story. After Hailey left I was forced to adapt to my new body. The first month I would continually hope to just wake up in my bed, ready for my old life. But that never happened. I got used to eating whatever I could find and flying oh flying. If there is any upside to the change (I still want to go back to my old life every day) its flying. Being able to soar through the skies unrestricted is freeing. The area im in is strange because if I fly more than around two miles in any direction I blink and end up back at the (now gone) campsite. I eventually figured put how to build a nest. Its not much, just some twigs in a tree but its mine.

One day I was doing my daily routine when I heard a whistle from bellow me. Soaring down I saw Hailey with a bag of birdseed. I perched on a tree branch near her and stared at her with resent. I continued my gaze until she extended some seed and my bird instincts took over and I automatically ate some.

"Thats better, I'm sorry I took so long to visit. How are you doing? I know its a big change but at least you have plenty of room to fly around. I got you this by the way, should make things easier."

She hung a small bird feeder on a nearby branch and continued

"Well, I'll be back." And she left me alone once again. She still visits every once in a while telling me more about how I'm lucky I still have my intellect and how I could behave been left as a mindless bird. I guess I am kinda lucky. Hold on, I see another Raven approaching my nest. Ooo he's a male, maybe ill get to feel the full bird experience ;)

[stardragon77]

I made a commission to JulyViolet a few months back.  I think it was around August or so because my birthday was in September.  And so, I decided to have something special done as far as art done.  Similar to how back in the 2000s I did an art piece where my favorite characters were around me throwing a birthday party for me.  This time, I decided to have my Animated Harem doing it for me and I knew that there should be a nude and a clothed version.   Probably the most expensive piece I've ever had commissioned.  

In coming up with the concept for this for JulyViolet, I already knew what I wanted to happen.  Basically Elsa would do the decorations, Tracer would be doing her victory pose, Maggie would have a present (definitely a book) ready, Aunt Cass would have a cake baked, Lilith would have the snacks, Zone-tan would be drinking a lot (according to her she can hold her liquor), and Samus would be bringing out the party game (DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS!).  

I was so ecstatic when it was finished but I knew that the real hard part of it was going to be the actual coloring.  But in doing this, I knew one really big thing I need to do; I need to get a proper desk and chair.  Sitting down for hours on end at a pub style dining table is no way to do this.  The first one I worked on was the nude one and then after that I went for the coloring piece.  At first I combined both the nude and clothed versions into one file but it was getting too damn big so I separated them out.  After finishing the nudes, I transplanted the layers and then worked on the clothes.  So the nude version has 271 layers and the clothed version has 331.  Of course, my friend, Hooksnfangs, protested this idea of, "Why have so many layers!?  Just merge them."  Why?  Just in case a mistake is made and I can go back and change it.  Especially if it's an issue of the color.  

And I would like to thank Hooksnfangs for helping with the background, making it balanced and not as crowded or distracting.  

Thank you, JulyViolet, for the work that they've done on this.  

Click here to learn more about My Animated Harem

If you enjoyed this piece, and want to see more please consider commissioning me to color a line art or become a patron at my Patreon.

Note:  All characters depicted here are 18 years of age or older

© Elsa – Frozen - Disney

© Zone-tan - Zone-archives

© Aunt Cass Hamada - Big Hero Six - Disney  

© Maggie Mui - Read or Die - R.O.D. the TV - Aniplex

© Lilith - Darkstalkers/Vampire Savior - Capcom

© Tracer - Overwatch - Blizzard   © Samus Aran - Metroid - Nintendo

[anthropologicalhands]

ceg fic: miss do it right

title: miss do it right gift for: @clemdhoffryn for @crazyexvalentine word count: 4,885 summary: Valencia is ready to propose to Beth. The question, however, of when and where requires expert advice. Valencia & Heather, Beth/Valencia. notes: Happy Valentine’s Day!

~

“I need your help,” Valencia announces, breezing into Heather and Hector’s foyer, straight into the living room and perching on the arm of the couch adjacent to Heather’s current seat. “Also you really need to get a gardener—that trellis is leaning over.”

“Hector’s getting around to it,” says Heather, looking up from her magazine. “Hi, welcome back to West Coast, Best Coast or whatever. Didn’t I tell you to start texting if you were gonna come over?”

“I told you I was planning a wedding this weekend,” Valencia says archly, as if the mere statement of fact automatically absolves her of visitor’s etiquette. “Remember? In the group chat?”

“Oh, I remember. I just kind of generally assumed it was in New York. Since you do, you know, live there.”

Valencia pouts. “Come on, aren’t we hashtag gurlgroup4evah? Physical walls are meaningless. And I totally gave you a key to my place. You could do the same exact same thing to me and I wouldn’t mind.”

“That argument worked when you were in East Cameron, not East Coast. When am I ever gonna go to New York?”

“For me, obviously,” says Valencia. “Or for a Home Base conference, I guess.”

“They’re a West Coast chain.”

“So? Weren’t you planning on revolutionizing their corporate headquarters, or something?”

“I was, but that’s like, halfway through my five-year plan that I’m going to start next year.”

“Oh. Are you really not happy to see me?” asks Valencia, and she sounds just a tiny bit deflated, like she’s actually worried that that’s the case. Heather drops her magazine on the side table (occasionally, she marvels at how adulthood came upon her so fast—these have mermaid feet, irony unintended, that make her ridiculously happy).

“I’m happy to see you, Vee, can’t you tell?”

Valencia narrows her eyes. “Usually you’re happier.”

“You literally just walked in when I wasn’t expecting you for three weeks. Let me have a reaction time. And given your stance on Hector is lukewarm at best I’m still surprised to see you here.”

“I follow Hector on Instagram, and I happen to know that he has a surfing competition in Monterey this weekend,” says Valencia knowingly. “And I definitely know that you are always down for adventures, especially if there is just the right amount of drama.” Valencia wiggles her shoulders for emphasis.

Heather leans forward, studying her friend. There’s something surprisingly spiky and Rebecca-like about her energy –not out of whack, not in a bad way, but it’s there.

“Everything all right, Vee?” Heather asks. “You’re weirdly hyped up. Are you on a Guatemalan coffee kick again?”

“Please, you know I’m on a kombucha cleanse right now.”

“Kombucha can do all this?” Heather gestures up and down Valencia, like her “this” is the new “it” and she’s Clara Bow. 

(Heather took a film class for like, three weeks in freshman year before she dropped it for being insanely pretentious.)

Annoyed, Valencia swats Heather’s hand away—all right, she’s not too far gone.

Valencia gives an exaggerated roll of her eyes. “No, it’s not the kombucha. It’s something way more important.”

There is a very meaningful pause; Heather waits, unsure whether it is done out of Valencia’s natural sense of making an entrance or for Heather’s benefit is a sincere question.

“I’m going to ask Beth to marry me.”

“Oh,” Heather blinks. “Wow.”

It’s not an unexpected announcement and given with Valencia’s usual careless confidence. But there is trepidation there, if one knows how to look for it.

“Does it seem weird? Tell me if it’s weird.”

“Uh, not weird, no,” says Heather carefully. “But given what happened a few months ago, I have to ask…”

“Yeah, we’ve been talking about it,” says Valencia irritably, waving a hand. “We’re on the same page. But I want it to be right, and I need help to make that happen.”

“Okay. And you’re asking me because…”

“Because Rebecca has a lot going on, and while I love the girl, I need someone who won’t let me get carried away with something way out of my budget.”

“That makes sense,” Heather agrees. “What about Paula?”

“She has that big case she’s presenting on Monday, and she doesn’t know Beth as well as you do.”

“True. That afternoon at the Korean spa means we’re bonded for life now, united by a great and terrible event.”

“You loved it. Didn’t you feel all nice and fresh?”

“Only because I had to grow a whole new layer of skin. I’m amazed Beth liked it; she was completely pink.”

“I mean, that happens if she steps out in the sun for five minutes without a hat,” says Valencia fondly. “But I’m not asking you to climb into a sauna, I’m asking you to help me propose to my girlfriend. Will you do it?”

“I mean, obviously. I’m a total romantic, so of course I’ll help.”

Valencia’s forehead wrinkles in a very pointed way. “You got married because of health insurance. I just need someone to tell me if I’m getting out of bounds with like, budget and expectations.”

“Wanting your partner to be healthy for the long run is very romantic.”

“Not enough to try to skip the actual wedding part,” grumbles Valencia.

“Who is asking who for help getting married, again?”

“Fair,” concedes Valencia grudgingly, though her smile undercuts some of her pretense. She kicks herself up and off the couch and gestures imperiously at Heather. “Now come on, we need to get going if we don’t want to be late.”

“Uh, we? Where?”

I have a vineyard in Temecula to make sure it is an ideal venue for my client, remember? We can multitask on the drive up.”

“Uh, now?”

“Why not?” With a flourish, Valencia pulls out a notebook that is already crammed full of post-its and other notes. “You can look at this on the way up. Plus, I can guarantee that we can ask to sample some of their viticultural offerings.”

“Well, when you put it like that.” Heather stands and stretches. “I did have a busy afternoon planned for contemplating my existence, but I’ll move for free wine.”

~

Valencia’s planner, much like her initial dream wedding plans, is elaborately and meticulously tabbed. Leafing through the pages, Heather briefly recognizes one of the strange commonalities between Valencia and Rebecca that reminds her that, as strange as the beginning of that friendship was, there’s a reason that their bond is as strong as it is. Valencia drives. It gives her a weird burst of fondness for them.

“You really thought these out,” says Heather, reading through a meticulous list of what it would take to plan a flash mob in Times Square with a reasonable budget. 

“Right? I mean, I have ideas for days. It’s what I do—dolling up other people’s bad ideas and persuading them that mine are better. I can do this forever.”

“Great. So, why do you need me?”

Valencia’s fingers drum against the wheel of her rental car, clearly annoyed. “Because I’ve been striking out. Like, these are objectively great proposal ideas, right? But I can’t decide which one is actually, like, the best one.”

“I can see that,” says Heather, eyebrows shooting up when she turns a page and sees an elaborate plan for a hot air balloon proposal scribbled out with angry red marker. “What are you looking for, then?”

“Something that speaks to both of us. Like, as awesome as my spacing is for the choreo, I know that Beth wouldn’t want a flash mob in Times Square.”

“Yeah, that seems like a you thing. A pretty specific you thing.” Heather shoots her an inquiring look. “Did you?”

Valencia shifts uncomfortably. “There was a time where I might have mentioned it to Josh.”

“Wow.”

“Hey, Josh is terrible, but if he choreographed a dance proposal, it would have been amazing.”

“Can’t argue with that.” One of the pages just seems to be a froth of white lace paper surrounding a list of names at its center. Heather squints at the neat penmanship, idly wondering if she needs glasses or if Valencia’s handwriting is just really that small. “Is this a guest list?”

“No. I also really always wanted to do it at someone else’s wedding. Preferably Denise Martinez’s—”

“Valencia…”

“But that’s also not Beth’s style,” finishes Valencia slightly irritated. “Like I said, the proposal has to match both of us. I did learn from my mistakes, you know.”

“I’m not saying you didn’t,” says Heather mildly.

“And that list is out of date anyways. Denise got married last month and I hear that her and her new husband are already fighting.”

“Don’t sound so gleeful.”

“Sorry,” says Valencia almost contritely, merging off the highway. “We have a long history.”

“So I heard. We definitely need to unpack that some time.”

~

“Oh, this is perfect,” Valencia breathes, overlooking the gently rolling hills and the rows of twining grapevines.

“It’s pretty great,” Heather agrees, coming up besides her, hands tucked in her pockets. “It’s practically worth the sticker price.”

“Nothing’s worth the sticker price. I’ll get a better deal.”

“That winery owner guy seemed pretty stodgy.”

“I have my ways,” says Valencia enigmatically, which both impresses and concerns Heather in equal measures. 

“I don’t doubt it.” There’s a pause as they survey the scenery together. 

“Why wouldn’t you propose to Beth here?” 

“Hm?” Valencia turns to look at Heather, the arch of her eyebrows more inquiring than sharp.

“You and Beth. I mean, this place makes a wicked rosé—”

“Since when do you use wicked? That’s an East Coast word.”

“’Cause it’s a great word? And I’m from Michigan, which is kind of East Coast.”

Valencia pulls a face.

Heather rolls her eyes in response. “Whatever. But seriously, this seems ideal. It has a view, it’s romantic—it’s everything you wanted. And you and Beth have family here, so you can have a big party after she says yes.”

“It has a lot,” agrees Valencia wistfully. Then she sighs. “But it won’t work.”

“Why not?”

“Josh and I used to come here. Too many memories.”

“Oh.”

“Right? Josh just ruins everything.”

“Okay, it’s been three years, I think you can lay off of Josh.”

“Nah. I’ve dedicated too much time into it. I’m going to be doing this until after we’re both married. Speaking of Josh, you’ve met Rosa, right?”

“Yeah. I like her. I didn’t know that you met her—”

“Oh, yeah. Nice girl,” says Valencia, sounding vaguely surprised. Given Josh’s previous type, Heather can’t entirely blame her. Valencia continues, “But for whatever reason, they work well together. We had a long talk - I warned her about all of his flaws, and she said that she knows and she was positive she could handle it. Then she complimented my earrings.”

Heather has to smile at that. She is the least well-acquainted with Josh of their friends (though she’s probably seen him in far more intimate situations than most people ever have to see their friends), so her personal frustrations with him tended to be from far briefer interactions, over much more quickly. She’s glad to see that Josh seems settled in a way that he hasn’t been since she’s known him.

“It’s nice, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” admits Valencia, softening a little. “I am actually happy for him. But I have to keep up appearances - we were together way too long.”

“That’s fair.”

~

Once the vineyard has been approved (and Valencia has worn down the owner to her terms), they head back to Heather’s place, open a couple extra bottles of rosé and buckle down.

“Too much hassle,” says Valencia, X-ing out what seems to be a plan for a private yacht.

“Too showy,” agrees Heather, marking off a flashing billboard. She turns the page and squints at a picture of a dark room lit by hundreds of tiny flames.

“Isn’t Beth allergic to those candles?” she asks.

“They would be soy,” Valencia protests, but rather hastily reaches across the page to mark it out. “Still, you have a point.”

“That’s also a fire hazard, right there.”

“I’m not Rebecca,” says Valencia irritably.

 “That’s still a lot of open flames. I’m just saying. Why not just go Big Fish and propose with a bunch of flowers?”

“I can’t. Beth’s allergic to flowers.”

Heather blinks.

“Seriously?”

Valencia shrugs. “Look, there’s a reason she hired me to do certain events that she couldn’t. She’s all about the hands-on activities. Pollen and natural phenomena - not so much.”

“Got it. So Big Fish is totally out?”

“Totally.”

~

Despite what Heather expected and the width and breadth of the notebook, they are burning through the ideas in the planner at an alarming rate. Valencia is clearly panicking too, if the two glasses of rosé are any indication.

“You know what would be great? The Met! Yeah, you could hide behind one of the exhibits to record, we’re surrounded by all this history, I’m sure they have something by Sappho in there, Beth loves her stuff—”

“Okay, just so we’re setting reasonable expectations or whatever, I can tell you right now that I am not going to New York just to help you propose,” Heather warns. “I have like, a household budget, and there’s only so much that I can dip into Hector’s accident fund and still have enough.”

Valencia lets out a little huff that indicates that while she respects Heather’s commitment to her budget, she continues to be less-than-impressed. It reminds Heather to text Hector and tell him that he might need to spend the night out with the guys—just because him and Valencia are no longer on murder terms doesn’t mean she can feel like she can guarantee his personal safety.

“Okay, fine. Skip to page sixty-eight.” At Heather’s disbelieving look, Valencia shrugs defensively. “What? A girl can dream in destinations.”

Heather does as she’s asked without further commentary. It’s not that Heather expected that helping Valencia plan a proposal would be simple. But Valencia knows her tastes—Heather was reasonably certain that her role would be as a yes woman and occasional financial wisdom rather than active decision making.

They aren’t using the couch or even the coffee table anymore—they’ve pulled off all of the cushions and have created a sort of nest on the floor.

“I can propose at a concert!” says Valencia, entirely too brightly.

Heather raises her head off one of the cushions. “You guys like going to concerts?”

“Not really? But everyone proposes at John Legend’s concerts, so it would work.”

“Beth likes John Legend?”

“Kind of? She doesn’t mind him but she loves Chrissy Teigen. And maybe we’d get some good karma from their marriage.”

“Not bad. You might also get drinks spilled on you,” Heather reminds her. “It could be sticky. Plus, other people might propose at same concert and steal your thunder.”

“Ugh, true. Plus, the scheduling doesn’t work out—he won’t be on tour for a good few months.”

Perhaps it is the tiredness, or remembering that she still needs to write up the shift schedules for next month, that prompts her to suggest, “Why not Home Base? I mean, you guys did agree to meet there. So, like, it’s sentimental.”

Valencia somehow looks affronted, disgusted and poorly hiding it, and despairing all at once. Heather would almost be impressed.

“I’ve been going to Home Base longer than you’ve been working there, Heather. I really don’t want to propose marriage at the bar where I used to pick up Elena from softball practice. It doesn’t feel right.”

Heather props herself up on her elbows so that she can look at Valencia properly. “Okay. What doesn’t feel right? It’s not going to be perfect.”

“I’m not going for perfect,” says Valencia irritably. “I gave Rebecca perfect, and look where that landed her. A perfect proposal would mean an island vacation, and dessert for Beth, and possibly sky writing. But it would also mean debt and she would so not be happy about that.”

 “Great. Is that the only thing you’re worried about?”

 Valencia’s hands twist against each other in her lap. Then they untangle and she dives into her purse and pulls out a small black box, which she sets on the table between them. Gone is her haughty event planner bravado, now Valencia just looks lost, more than Heather has ever seen her. 

“This proposal has to feel right because I messed up the first time.”

“The first time?”

“The ultimatum,” says Valencia glumly. “I don’t want it to be too much—it needs to be something that Beth would love to accept. Something that proves that we know each other and can be a part of each other’s lives.”

“Can I see it?” At Valencia’s nod of permission, Heather reaches over and opens the box to look at the ring.

“It’s beautiful.”

“Isn’t it? Moshe has a good collection. I’ve known this is the one for her for ages now. And…I want that feeling about how I propose. Does that make any sense?”

It does. Heather nods, waiting for Valencia to continue.

“It’s just…I made such a big deal about wanting to get married, and I want this proposal to show her that I know her, and it’s not all about me me me.”

“Of course.”

“That’s why I asked you. You might not be the biggest romantic of all of us, but you follow your gut about what feels right. And I want that confidence when I ask her.”

It’s both touching and terrifying to have that much faith in a person. Awkwardly, Heather pats Valencia’s shoulder. Valencia leans into the touch anyways, seeking whatever awkward comfort that Heather tries to give.

“You know, she’s going to love you whatever you do,” says Heather slowly. “And obviously, you know her well enough to know that these insanely awesome proposals are still awesome, just not right. We’ll find something better. And, like, I’m not gonna give up. You’re not going to leave California without a game plan.

Valencia gives her a tiny smile.

“Thank you, Heather,” she says. She looks ready to say more, but then there’s the sound of a very small gong being struck.

Valencia frowns, pulling her phone out of her pocket, scans the screen, and sighs. “I have to go. The client with the vineyard wants to meet now, of all times. I’m gonna go to her place, but when I get back, maybe we can just have a girls’ night in? No more proposal talk?”

“Sure, whatever you want. I can just duck out and like, get some more rosé. Just wines. Ablutions to drown our frustrations.”

Valencia smiles wanly and sees herself out. Heather waits until she’s sure that Valencia’s car has pulled away before hitting her speed dial. Heather is the coolest of her friends, even now that they are all responsible adults, and sometimes that means admitting that you are out of your depth.

~

Still, Heather isn’t lying when she says she needs to go pick up wines. She does.

At Il Cabino. Where Rebecca is waiting at a table for two, astonishingly early.

“You need to help me,” says Heather, not bothering with niceties. As frustrating as Rebecca’s flakiness can be, it is refreshing that she never gets insulted by Heather’s brusqueness.

“Oh, absolutely,” says Rebecca, eyes wide. “I know I haven’t been very good at that in the past, but like, right now I’m all ears.”

“Valencia is going nuts about proposing to Beth—”

Rebecca nods sympathetically. “Oh yeah, I know.”

“You know?”

“Yeah. She’s been texting me.”

Heather looks closely at Rebecca and only sees frank interest in the other woman’s gaze, no impression of jealousy or hurt. “Okay…so you know and you don’t feel left out?”

“She made it very clear that I’m not supposed to help, and given my past record for helping Valencia with anything, I figured the least I could do is let her do her thing,” says Rebecca with remarkable understatement. “Anyways, I’m actually crazy busy. My singing lessons are turning my brains to mush.”

“Hm, and I was hoping to hear that you were actually working your pretzel stand so we could swap tips as fellow businesswomen.”

“Nah, I just let AJ take care of it. His rent is less than a hundred bucks, he can manage.”

“Right. Enough about your life, back to my problems.”

“Shutting up now.” Rebecca mimes zipping her lips.

“Thank you. But Valencia is driving me insane with rejecting every single proposal idea I have. And, like, my ideas are good. I’m good at organizing events.”

“Right. You guys are crazy good at that.”

“I suggested Home Base, kind of as a joke, and she nearly bit my head off.”

“I mean, Home Base is not super romantic. I had enough sex in the back room there enough to know.”

“What a coincidence, so did I,” says Heather dryly. “Which means I probably should pay for an extremely thorough cleaning, but that’s besides the point. If Valencia isn’t feeling it, it’s not going work. So I figured, I’ve been striking out, I might as well ask our local romance expert for tips.”

“Aww,” coos Rebecca, placing her hand on her heart. Then her expression shifts from soppy to self-deprecatingly wry. “You guys must really be in a tight spot.”

“Yep. So…what do you have for me?”

Rebecca looks thoughtful, not unfocused like when she goes in her head or is too absorbed in her problems.

“I mean, Beth isn’t a total romantic, but she likes to make things meaningful,” says Rebecca after a pause. “She wouldn’t be in these kinds of events if she didn’t. Maybe for Valencia, she’s asking Beth to spend the rest of their lives together. Ask her about if there’s any specific moment when she knew that she wanted Beth to be in her life forever. Like, I know you are big on how there isn’t one moment of magical epiphany and I totally agree, for the record—but she made the decision that it was gonna be Beth at some point. Maybe asking when and where would give her a few new ideas.”

It's an almost stupefying simple idea. Heather nods slowly. “Right. Like, what do they do together that makes Valencia want to spend every day doing the same thing?”

“Exactly. Like, it’s just about finding resonance, right? Something that reaffirms how they feel, but not in an artificial or contrived way. Just love.”

“Right,” says Heather, starting to smile. “Thanks, Rebecca. That helps a lot.”

Rebecca beams. “Any time. And uh, not to be mercenary or anything, but since I gave good advice, does that mean you can pick up the tab? Music lessons have really tightened up my budget and you did offer to take me out to happy hour, so.”

~

“You’ve been gone a while.” 

There’s a faintly accusatory tone to Valencia’s words when Heather gets back. She’s already sprawled over the couch, reading the magazine that Heather dropped earlier that morning.

“And yet, you still let yourself into my house. How was the meeting?”

“Okay. Honestly, it’s a good thing I’m in a personal crisis right now or I would have never agreed to do their wedding. Ugh, what annoying people. But, I promised, no more wedding talk. Tell me what’s been going on at Home Base. Don’t spare any details—I know you love that drama.”

“I do love drama. But before we get into that, I think I have one more suggestion that might help you with the whole proposal situation. Just one.”

“Okay?”

“I’m not a traditionally romantic person. You know this.”

“I do.”

“And I married Hector when I did because he really needed the health insurance. But I knew that I wanted to spend my life with him before that. He makes me laugh. He makes things light in my life. Even when he does something stupid like almost lose his toe.”

“That’s…surprisingly sweet, Heather.”

“Don’t say it’s wasted on Hector,” Heather warns.

“I’m not, but trust me, it’s hard.”

“Good. But that was a very roundabout, Rebecca-like way of asking: maybe think about when you decided you wanted to marry Beth?”

Valencia exhales noisily, slumping back against the sofa arm. “I’m almost never not thinking about it. When we’re at work together, when we’re talking, whenever I see her when I wake up in the morning with all of the light in her hair—” Valencia abruptly stops speaking, eyes wide.

Heather takes the opening.

“So there is a moment?”

“Yes.”

“In the morning?”

“Yes!”

“So you’re basically saying that she’s your sunshine?”

Valencia is too excited to be annoyed by Heather’s teasing. “Yes, exactly. She’s my sunshine! Which believe me, was sometimes the only thing that got me through this winter. It was cold.”

“I’ll bet,” agrees Heather. “New York isn’t exactly balmy.”

“Yeah, yeah. No, this is perfect.”

“So you know what you’re going to do?”

“Uh huh.”

“Are you going to tell me? Where will this event take place?”

“Our apartment. That’s our home now. It’s a shoebox and extremely uncomfortable, but it’s also ours. And mine. And that’s the first time I ever had something like that.”

Valencia actually sounds giddy.

“What do you think?” she appeals to Heather.

“That sounds just like both of you.”

“I think so.” Valencia looks conflicted. “But I want to share it with you guys too. Like, I want a little fun, otherwise I’ll just start crying and in the sloppy way, not the movie-style pretty way.”

“Again, I can’t go to New York. Paula’s too busy and Rebecca is equally broke.”

Valencia’s eyes sparkle. “Okay, but what is the best way to visit New York without visiting New York?”

Heather has an inkling of where this is going.

“You’re going to livestream your proposal?”

“Of course not. I’m going to livestream after she says yes.”

“Oooh boy.”

Valencia flutters a hand. “I think she’ll be fine as long as the actual moment itself is private. She’s not like me—she doesn’t want to get a proposal in front of people. So…you think it’s good?”

“It’s perfect. Out of curiosity, why did you want to be proposed to in front of people?”

“I mean, it used to be a social-capital type of thing, but honestly, I don’t want all of West Covina there. I would want you guys, and my family to share the moment. Cause you love us, you love Beth…and it’s still nice to be the center of attention once in a while. But that’s me, not Beth. Now, enough proposal talk. Let’s crack these wine babies open.”

Heather nods, a little distracted, a new idea forming in her head.

~

“The drone was a nice touch,” Paula observes as the three of them crowd around Heather’s laptop in her kitchen a few weeks later.

“Not mine. That was all Valencia.”

“Oh my god, I can’t believe Valencia’s engaged!” Rebecca’s squeal is exactly what Valencia seems to want, she just beams all the brighter. From within the camera, Beth seems amusedly resigned, leaning her head on Valencia’s shoulder, admiring the ring.

“Well, since you have your girls on the line…” says Beth, and Heather smirks, the only woman of the lot of them who knows what’s coming, as Beth disappears out of their sight line, and emerges with a small velvet black box of her own.

“Oh my god!” Valencia’s squawk has all three of them jerking away from the laptop, but the general cacophony from Paula and Rebecca more than make up for it.

“A double proposal!” Rebecca’s grin is so wide that Heather’s own face aches in sympathy.

“Valencia, Valencia stop shaking me, I have a whole speech prepared, and I know it’s not a flash mob in Times Square—”

“I don’t care!” Valencia shrieks. “How did you—when—”

Beth laughs, giddy with adrenaline.

“Thank Heather,” she says, her voice clear even over the faint buzzing of the drone. “I called her for advice, and she didn’t give me any details, but she did say that if I wanted to propose, I might want to consider keeping the ring in the apartment. Preferably under the bed.”

“Heather!!” Valencia glares at her across the country, mascara running, but the smile on her face is impossible to repress.

“Told you I’m romantic,” says Heather mildly, but still smiling, pleased.

“I know,” says Valencia. “Thank you.”

She turns back to Beth. “But I thought you wanted a private proposal. Everyone’s watching us right now—”

“I did, and I’m glad I got one. But you’re not me. Valencia, you are a sun, and you draw all of us in your orbit—”

There is more, but Heather can barely hear any of it, between the screamlets coming out of the laptop and the shrieks echoing around Rebecca’s kitchen. Rebecca is punching Heather’s arm and saying something about she knew Heather was secretly a romantic at heart, she just knew it, and Paula is looking misty again, but Heather only has eyes for the two women on the other side of the screen, wearing rings and embracing so tightly it’s like the drone isn’t there at all.

What? She said she’s a romantic.

[soldez]

HEY HOW DO U DO LINELESS ART???? I swear to god I try and do it and all my boys turn out cubes with weird intersecting colors I only use one layer and make 8 billion masks am I practicing this right????? hello

HI IM REALLY HONORED YOU WOULD THINK TO ASK ME!! if youre messing around then yes you ARE doing it right bc there’s no right or wrong way to practice but i can try offering some tips?? i’m guessing you’re asking about like 2d blocky stuff and not like regular digital painting bc i can’t offer a ton of advice on the latter and theres really a million ways to draw anything but anyway heres how i do it

 actually theres 2 ways

 a) having really neat lineart that you fill in just using the bucket tool and then delete the lineart. you can either clean it up from there or just let the negative space do the lineart’s job which can kind of look like this

lol. this is usually how it looks when i draw something meaning to keep the lineart in and then realize it’s better without.fun to mess around with

b) having a simple silhouette and defining it by dividing all the parts in the middle into shapes

 OH BTW even if it seems simpler, having only one layer REALLY over complicates things and i would definitely recommend having at least a sketch to start out with because it’s way harder to fix mistakes once the colors are already blocked out. there’s not much to it after filling in those shapes so the trick is making the groundwork as fleshed out as possible.

 i just realized this whole description is really vague and unhelpful so im going to draw something right now

ok os here is this. it always looks scribbly out to start with but thats ok whatever who give a shit

then you kind of um. take that and turn it into simple shapes.also it helps to pick out your colors to start with.5 is usually good for me with one dark color one light color and 3 of a similar value and then i’ll just adjust to what looks good later on.

and from here i guess you just. fill it in. i always confuse myself here so unless there are details you haven’t blocked out yet i would just merge everything into one layer as soon as the fill tool comes out and adjust whatever you need to from there. sorry if it looks like i skipped a bunch of steps it really is just filling in and playing around from here

and THEN if you finally come to a decision on which bg looks best then that’s all there is to it. sorry if this is rambly or completely unhelpful but if you manage to read or skim all this then maybe you can pull a few things from it?

basically 1) lay out ur groundwork 2) simplify 3) follow ur heart and 4) there’s no wrong way to practice or experiment with your art. no technique works the same for two different artists and most won’t even work for the same artist twice so just goof around and draw funny shapes however you want. anyway good luck!!!

[razieltwelve]

Apocalypse (RWBY AU Snippet)

Note: This is set in the same AU as Emissary, I Am Become Death, Thunder and Paperwork, and Ice and Fire.

X     X     X

Ruby breathed a sigh of relief as her father and sister finally woke up, so she could explain to them how the goddess of bureaucracy had brought her back from the dead to help stave off a demonic invasion by increasing faith in the gods and dealing with any demons that might already have snuck into the mortal world. Oh, and the goddess had this awesome raptor as one of her assistants.

“So…” Ruby said as she finished her explanation. “That’s what happened.”

Taiyang stared at his daughter. “Are you serious? We buried you, Ruby.” His voice shook. “You… you were dead.”

“And now I’m not.” Ruby hefted the colossal book that had dropped out of the sky. “Plus, I have awesome powers now except I’m not entirely sure what they are. I haven’t had time to learn yet.”

“Ruby…” Yang pulled her into an embrace. “I’m so glad you’re back even if you’re a zombie.”

“I’m not a zombie, Yang.” Ruby paused. “At least… I don’t think I am. I mean I don’t feel like I have to eat anyone’s brains or anything…” She trailed off as a vast sphere of crimson flame appeared in the sky. The world was suddenly awash in blood-coloured light.

“Uh…” Yang pointed. “I don’t suppose that’s something your goddess did, is it?” She gulped. “Please, tell me it is because I’m really starting to freak out here.”

Ruby cringed. “I… don’t know.” She flipped through the book. There it was! Written on one page was a very simple instruction: tear in case of emergency. But was this really an emergency? She had a feeling that Weiss would be pretty cranky if she tore the page and it wasn’t actually an emergency.

In the sky, the sphere of crimson flame shattered to reveal a vast, gaping hole in reality. For a moment, all was still, and then twisted shapes began to pour out of the hole. Demons, Ruby realised. There were thousands upon thousands of demons pouring out of some kind of portal.

Okay. This was definitely an emergency. She tore the page.

And Fred appeared.

Unlike before, the raptor was no longer wearing gloves and reading glasses. Instead, the dinosaur was covered in gleaming power armour.

“Did you just summon a robot dinosaur?” Yang blurted. “Because that is a seriously cool power to have.” She glanced up. “Maybe you should tell your robot dinosaur to start fighting those… uh… things up there.”

“Silence, human.” Fred’s voice was deep and powerful. He turned to Ruby. “How were you able to bring me here?”

Ruby pointed at the book and the torn page. “With that.”

“I see.” The slits of sapphire light that served as the power armour’s eyes narrowed. “You are fortunate. I come with grim tidings.”

“Uh, dinosaur guy,” Yang said. “I don’t mean to burst your bubble. But the tidings here are already pretty grim. There are demons coming out of the sky.”

“I am aware of that,” Fred replied. “But the news I bring is graver still.” He turned to Ruby. “The Goddess of Bureaucracy has vanished, and someone has sabotaged the defences she was in charge of. The mortal realm is no longer protected from demonic invasion, and the gods have been stranded in the divine realm.”

“Okay…” Taiyang took a deep breath. “That all sounds awful, but what does that mean exactly?”

“You see those things?” Fred pointed at the demons. “Those are demons. WIthout the defences my goddess was in charge of, your world will soon be overrun by billions upon billions of demons. Worse, the other gods cannot come to help you, nor can I call for aid. The only reason I was able to make it here at all was because of the failsafe built into the page you tore. Somehow, it allowed me to bypass whatever is keeping everyone stranded in the divine realm. With a few years of research, I might be able to replicate it, but…”

“We don’t have a few years,” Yang said.

“Exactly, human.” Fred put one armoured claw on Ruby’s shoulder. “Human, your world lies under siege. There are precious few with the strength to defend it, but you are one such person. You must use the powers our goddess gave you to help drive the demons back.”

“I’d love to,” Ruby pointed out. “But… I haven’t even started reading that book you guys sent me.”

Fred stared. “That is a problem.” He growled as some of the demons in the sky began to angle toward them. “But there is no time to learn like the present. Reach deep inside yourself for the power you have been given and unleash it on your foes! I will do my best to hold back our enemies!”

“What about us?” Taiyang asked.

“Do you have arcane powers?” Fred asked. Taiyang and Yang shook their heads. “What about psychic powers?” Again, both of them shook their heads. Fred winced. “I don’t suppose either of you are demigods, spirits, or anything else exotic?” Sadly, both of them again shook their heads. “I see. In that case, I would suggest you each grab a stout stick and whack anything that gets too close. Leave the heavy lifting to me.”

As Ruby closed her eyes and searched for the power within her, Yang and Taiyang each went to grab a stout stick. Fred, meanwhile, turned his gaze to the horde of demons approaching them from the sky.

“Do you remember me?” Fred boomed. “Sixty-five million years ago, your kind overwhelmed this world! I lost countless friends and kin to your dark powers, but I stand here before you now, and I say to you, you may have killed most of the other dinosaurs, but there is one dinosaur yet that still draws breath! And I will have my vengeance!”

Fred’s claws wove through the air in an intricate pattern, and a vast, complex sigil appeared in front of him. There was a flash of light, and the air was suddenly filled with thunder and lightning. Huge bolts of electricity rained down from the sky, striking demon after demon after demon. But Fred wasn’t done yet. His hands continued to move as did his tail, and several even more complex sigils appeared before merging into a single, gigantic sigil in front of him.

The ground in front of the raptor rippled and buckled, collapsing into a sphere of incredibly dense material at the centre of the sigil. Flames whirled into existence, and the sphere grew brighter and brighter. As the demons drew near, Fred drove both claws into the sigil.

There was a great, echoing boom, and the sphere exploded outward. A cone of molten rock shot forward, each fragment heated to thousands of degrees and propelled to speeds far greater than the speed of sound. Everything in front of Fred died, shredded, burned, and exploded by the attack.

“Okay…” Yang gulped. “We’re definitely staying with the dinosaur.”

“Oh, yeah,” Taiyang agreed. “But… there’s still more of those things coming.”

Indeed there were. Fred gave a mocking laugh as thousands more demons poured out of the portal and headed toward them.

“I have studied the bureaucratic arts for sixty-five million years, demons. I have learned how to bend the rules that govern Creation from the very goddess who crafted them in the first place. You will not find me easy prey!”

X     X     X

Ruby was sorely tempted to open her eyes, but she needed to find the power inside herself. Whatever Fred was doing, it had to be cool. She could hear explosions and screeching, and the stuff he was saying just made him sound like such a badass. As if being a dinosaur didn’t make him cool enough already…

But no. She had to awaken her new power. Her family… and the entire world were counting on her!

Alas, the only thing she’d awakened so far was her hunger. She could really go for some cookies right now. No. Focus. Find her power. Find her power. Find her…

A flash of blood-red cloth.

Eyes like stars.

A scythe as black as the dead of night.

Ruby gasped was that her power? She really hoped it was. It looked awesome. She tried to reach for what she’d seen but it slipped out of her grasp. No! She grit her teeth and tried again. She had to find something - anything - to help the others.

“We are all echoes of something greater!” Fred roared. “Ruby! We are mortals here and now, but there are many worlds! Our goddess knows every loophole, every flaw, every mistake that can be turned to her advantage. You are not a god, but something within you is connected to one. Draw upon that power! You might become only the shadow of a god, but even the shadow of a god is mighty beyond measure!”

“Everything he says sounds so cool,” Yang muttered.

“Yeah,” Taiyang agreed. “Wait! Get ready. There’s more coming this way!”

Ruby’s jaw clenched. A shadow of a god? Yes. She could feel it. She could -

X     X     X

Countless worlds away, Death paused mid-stride. Her gaze shifted, peeling away the layers of the world she was in to follow the thin tendril of her power that was seeping into the great void between worlds. Interesting…

X     X     X

Ruby opened her eyes, and silver light poured out of them. The shadows around her formed into a scythe, and she grasped the weapon with utter familiarity despite never having held one before. Images from the lives of countless different Rubys filled her mind, and she found her body moving of its own accord. She couldn’t move like they could, but she wasn’t a complete novice like she should be.

“Fred,” she said. “Let’s go kill some demons.”

The dinosaur laughed and pointed at her with one claw. “Yes… that’s the power our goddess foresaw!” A sigil formed around his claw and then drifted to circle Ruby. “That sigil will give you the power of flight! Let us take the battle to them, human!”

“Yeah!” Ruby cheered. “Uh… but maybe do something about my dad and my sister first.”

“I will send them to your home.” Fred pointed again, and both Taiyang and Yang vanished. “Now, we fight!”

X     X     X

Yang and her father reappeared on their couch. Zwei trotted up to them and tilted his head to one side.

“Did we just hallucinate Ruby getting god-like powers and going off to fight demons with a talking dinosaur?” Taiyang asked.

Yang hurried to one of the windows. There were people running around screaming everywhere as demons flooded the streets, but up in the skies, she could clearly see Ruby and the dinosaur unleashing pure devastation on as many demons as they could reach. “No. I don’t think we did - gah!”

The wall of the house exploded, and a demon lurched into the living room.

“Get out of here!” Taiyang shouted as he grabbed a baseball bat and slammed the weapon into the demon’s face. It staggered for a moment before tearing the baseball bat in two. “I’ll hold it off!”

“Dad!” Yang cried. “I’m not going to leave you here!”

At their feet Zwei let loose a low growl. And to their amazement, the demon actually retreated. Was… was it scared of Zwei? No. Slowly, Yang turned her head. There was… a thing standing behind them. It was vaguely canine in appearance, but it was as big as a horse and growing quickly. Fire roiled over flesh that was seemingly hewn of obsidian and magma. The creature opened its mouth and roared, and the demon in front of it simply disintegrated. Still growing, the creature rumbled forward, ripping an even bigger hole in the house as it turned its ire on the other demons on the street.

“What… the…?” Yang stared.

At her feet, Zwei let loose a happy bark and ambled over to the giant… thing. It was bigger than a house now, but it turned to Zwei and made a sound that was almost playful. It was then that Yang realised something. It’s eyes… it had the same eyes as Zwei. Sure, they were way bigger, but she’d know those eyes anywhere.

“Are you… another Zwei?” Yang asked.

The massive creature nodded and then rounded on the remaining demons. Another bark obliterated thousands of them in an instant, and the flames rolling over the creature’s body lashed out, slaying even more. It was cleansing flame, Yang realised, because although it incinerated every demon within hundreds of yards, it didn’t harm anything else.

“What is going on?” Taiyang whispered.

“I wish I knew, dad,” Yang said. “I wish I knew.”

X     X     X

“What’s that?” Ruby asked, pointing. “Is it a meteor or something?”

Death followed Ruby’s gaze and frowned. At this distance, all Ruby could make out was something bright in the sky. Death saw far more clearly. “That is not a meteor.”

“Then what is it?”

Death’s eyes narrowed. Something was hurtling toward the ground. It was wreathed in tendrils of something that was far darker than mere shadow. It was the power of the Void, the emptiness that had come before Creation. The Salem of her world had tried to wield that power, but even she had not been equal to the task. No god was. The Void was its own entity, the antithesis of Creation that hungered only to return all that was to how things had once been: empty, barren, devoid of anything even remotely resembling life. 

One day, Death knew, she would have to confront that power. For on the day that Creation ended and the Cycle of Death and Rebirth was restarted in earnest, the Void would seek to unmake all that was, had been, or could ever be. On that day, Death would have to stand alone, the last of the gods, and if she failed…

Death shook her head. That was a thought for another time. The Void should not be here, not now, not in this world. Something must have learned to harness its power, but that should have been impossible. Then again, moving her to another world without her permission should have been impossible too, yet here she was. Her lips firmed into a thin line. This might tell her more of how she had come to be here.

But first…

Death raised her hand to lash out with her power when there was a burst of blinding radiance so bright that even she could barely stand to look at it. The Void reeled away, the tendrils of darkness beyond darkness shrivelling to reveal a god that did not come from Death’s world.

“Is that… a person?” Ruby murmured.

“No.” Death chuckled. Night had given way to day, and it seemed as though the sun had risen. “That is no person. That is a goddess. If I had to guess… I’d say she was the Goddess of the Day.” The goddess in question noticed them, and the light dimmed as she reined her power in and dove toward them. “Yang,” Death said. “You might want to brace yourself.”

“Huh? Why?”

“You know how I’m a divine version of Ruby,” Death said as Day landed in front of them in all of her splendour. “Well, Day is a divine version of you.”

X     X     X

Author’s Notes

The plot thickens as more is revealed! Whoever is behind it all has laid siege to one world, unleashing demons upon it while sending Bureaucracy!Weiss to Remnant. Meanwhile, Death’s version of Zwei has also turned up, which should help Fred and Emissary!Ruby even the odds.

Back on Remnant, Death and the rest of the gang have run into another god, Day!Yang. Moreover, Death has finally gotten a glimpse of what they might be up against. After all, if it’s strong enough to give her a challenge, you just know things on Remnant are going to get dicey. Who could be controlling the Void, and what new horror are they going to unleash on Remnant? With several gods around, it’s got to be terrifying.

You can find me on fanfiction.net, AO3, and Amazon.