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gmanwhore · 3 months

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I have fixed the list of Tumblr Sexyman kids for the Monster High thing. Please note that only the Sexyman parent is listed.

Name: Gigi Starman Parent: G-man Parent’s source: Half Life Pronouns: Any Height: 6’11 Eye colour: Black (glows electric blue) Hair: Black, hair pulled back in a braid over her shoulder, and widow’s peak Usual outfit: Blue pinstriped suit with a knee length skirt, black tights and mary jane heels. Extra design notes: She sometimes has faint eyes all over her. She always carries an umbrella and her briefcase. Personality: Gigi is very sweet, and she is very talkative. She does her best to make friends and believes in everyone, which can sometimes blind her to people’s true intentions. She does carry a massive grudge when she or someone she cares about is hurt, and has a very strong sense of justice.

Name: B BBBBBBBBBBBBB

Parent: Benrey Parent’s source: Half Life VR but the AI is Self Aware Pronouns: she/her in the same way Benrey uses he/him Height: 4’9 Eye colour: Yellow sclera, navy blue irises Hair: Black, in pigtails that clip through her helmet Usual outfit: Black Mesa security gurd outfit. Yeah the whole thing. Yeah even the bulletproof vest. And the helmet. And a gun, who let her have that in school? Extra design notes: She has sharp teeth and is just generally unsettling. Personality: Silly, but deeply weird and no one really gets her. Monotone and not very expressive but still very. Feeling.

Name: Naressa Arrator Parent: The Narrator Parent’s source: The Stanley Parable Pronouns: she/her Height: 6’4 Eye colour: Bright yellow. They do glow. Hair: Short brown hair in a bob cut, curls up under her ears. Usual outfit: Soft yellow button up with darker yellow spots, yellow tie, brown vest, knee high brown skirt with ruffles at the bottom, brown argyle socks and sensible brown shoes. Extra design notes: The tie is the Stanley Parable Aventure Line. She also usually carries a bag that looks like a speech bubble. Personality: Narressa in controlling, and very sarcastic. When she feels in control she is slightly cruel but very relaxed, mostly making jokes, and she gets very upset when she feels her control slipping. She can be a bit hard to get along with because she always has to be right.

Name: Troy/The Announcer [Classified] Parent: The Administrator Parent’s source: TF2 Pronouns: he/him Height: 5’10 Eye colour: Dark brown Hair: Slicked back black hair witha white streak. Think more slicked back Eridan hairstyle. Usual outfit: Solid purple suit with a blue tie and red shirt. Very shiny black shoes. Gold hoop earrings. Extra design notes: He smokes. He also always has a big blocky phone with him. Personality: Troy is only excited by competition. He is often completely cold to people, having no patience for anyone. He is an amazing sports announcer though, he has a sharp eye and keeps an eye on everything. He is also almost on the phone with his mother, though he often seems exasperated by the calls.

Name: PCRS (Pierce) Parent: GLaDOS Parent’s source: Portal Pronouns: he/her/hers Height: 6’9 Eye colour: Orange (only has one eye) Hair: White, covers where her left eye would be, short and straight. Usual outfit: White button up shirt under an orange argyle sweate rvest, very light grey pants and black shoes. Extra design notes: He has no mouth, and his body actually orients better when he hangs upside down. He also has PCRS written on his neck. Most of his body is white and segmented, but his hands are exposed metal and are black. He has ports in the back of her neck. Personality: PCRS tends to be suprisingly quiet, but he does like talking. He just doesn’t like most people and would rather not force himself to talk to people he doesn’t like, unless he really wants you to talk to her. He’s quietly in control, and needs to be included in things or he’ll freak out. He also can’t tell jokes.

Name: Willabee Parent: Wheatley Parent’s source: Portal Pronouns: she/her Height: 5’2 Eye colour: Blue (only has one eye) Hair: Blonde and in high pigtails. Someone how hair over where her left eye would be. Usual outfit: White button up under a blue argyle sweater vest with a light grey skirt, blue socks and black shoes. Extra design notes: She is completely grey, just like a core, and she can remove her head fully. She has wires connecting her head to her neck. She’s also very round. Personality: Willabee is full of energy and very friendly! She’s always ready to help but has absolutely no fliter and says whatever comes to mind. She also gets frustrated when she feels she’s left out and likes to have attention on her.

Name: Burrow Eagle Parent: Warren the Worm Eagle Parent’s source: Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared Pronouns: she/her Height:

Eye colour: Hair: Shitty blonde wig Usual outfit: Extra design notes: Look man. I gotta be straight with you she looks almost exactly like Warren just with the shitty wig. I dunno what to tell you. Personality: She is toxic positivity personified. She is the kind of person to be happy all the time and all “love each other and be nice!” but can and will talk over people and steamroll through things because she feels they aren’t important.

Name: Lester Dollhouse Parent: Lesley Parent’s source: Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared Pronouns: he/they Height: 5’6 Eye colour: Brown Hair: Chestnut brown bowlcut Usual outfit: Incredibally crazy coat filled with references to DHMIS, matching pants, white button up and brown shoes. Extra design notes: His skin is paper white and instead of patches he has doodles on his face. Personality: Lester is very sweet but isn’t all that outgoing, preferring to stay in the background and do his own things. He still makes friends quite easily. He’s almost always smiling, but sometimes he will just snap and yell at people. He hasn’t learned how to snap the mask back on quickly yet, though.

Name: Chrysalis Palmer Parent: Cecil Palmer Parent’s source: Welcome to Nightvale Pronouns: She/it/they Height: 6’10 Eye colour: Purple Hair: Chin length stright silver hair, usually curled in funny ways at the ends Usual outfit: Royal purple buttonup shirt, heather grey vest, heather grey pants and black shoes. Extra design notes: Lots of eyes. They are hidden very well but they are there. She also usually has a microphone in her bag, and has a pocketwatch with an eye in it. Personality: Chrysalis is very open and humorous, a kind of spring breeze kind of person. She somehow knows a bit of everything, and shares as she pleases. She operates on her own rules but is never cruel, her humour is dark but true. She’s very refreshing.

Name: Doctor Ludwig Parent: Medic Parent’s source: TF2 Pronouns: Any Height: 5’9 Eye colour: Dark brown Hair: Short, very dark brown. Scruffy Usual outfit: Tbh I can’t see her in anything but Medic’s outift. Extra design notes: She doesn’t wear glasses. Also notiable she has a wristwatch on the outside of her left glove. Personality: Completely insane, obviously. She likes to pretend to be a normal person, maybe even a bit stupid and helpless then she steals your oragns when you’re alone with her. I do not trust her she is just like that.

Name: Shiro Enoshima Parent: Junko Enoshima Parent’s source: Danganronpa Pronouns: he/it Height: 5’6 Eye colour: Blue Hair: Strawberry blonde, low ponytail but very clean, shiny hair. Usual outfit: Red plaid shirt with a black corset worn over it, skinny black jeans with those big spikey boots and a spiked collar. Extra design notes: I think there are monokumsa somewhere in his design but idk lol Personality: He needs things to be happening nearly constantly or he gets bored. He struggles with dealing with his problems and things happening keeps him on his toes. He also struggles with feeling completely empty when he isn’t dealing with something or getting into troule, so he’ll make sure it keeps happening so he doesn’t have to deal with the bad things.

Name: Tenris Serket Parent: Vriska Serket Parent’s source: Homestuck Pronouns: he/she/it/they/eye/8 Height: 5’10 Eye colour: Yellow Scelera, black eyes with four puils each Hair: Very scruffy black mullet Usual outfit: Blue plaid flannel jacket over a black long sleeved shirt, black jeans patched to hell and back, and doc martens. Extra design notes: Is a scorpio Personality: He has come to win. He loves the spotlight, he loves praise but he’ll look for attention anywhere. He delights in a bit of craziness, just anything to shake off the boredom.

Name: Red The-Other-One Parent: Red Guy Parent’s source: Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared Pronouns: she/her Height: 6’9 Eye colour: Googly eyes Hair: Red and yarn Usual outfit: None Extra design notes: Her yarn is pulled back to show her teeth Personality: She’s quiet and artistic, though she hates talking to people because no one is as eager over the things she is excited about. She is very flat and monotone, but again very creative.

Name: Serif Sans Undertale Parent: Sans Parent’s source: Undertale Pronouns: Any Height: 4’5 Eye colour: Sans Hair: None Usual outfit: Greasy white undershirt, tie die sweater and sweatpants. Extra design notes: She looks like Sans to the left. Personality: Very chill and casual, everyone is attracted to how relaxed and laid back she is. She tries to stay away from the massive drama at school, she doesn’t have any want to be put into things. She just wants to vibe.

Name: Doe ??? Parent: Alastor Parent’s source: Hazbin Hotel Pronouns: she/her Height: 5’9 Eye colour: Yellow scelera, black eyes Hair: Curly dark red hair with black at the bottom and black streaks through it Usual outfit: Dark red dress with a lace up back, and black lace up boots. Extra design notes: She is not deer themed sorry guy that was. Not good. She does have a rabbit foot attached to her pocket though.

Personality: She’s very guarded, hiding everything behind a smile. She is just as ruthless as her father and will do anything to be on top. She carries heavy grudges and never forgets people slightling her ever. She still knows how to deal with people and is a very smooth talker.

Name: Sil Undertale (Sil is short for Shadows into Light) Parent: Papyrus Parent’s source: Undertale Pronouns: she/her Height: 6’0 Eye colour: Papryus Hair: None Usual outfit: Ok you know the cool guy outfit? She wears that. Extra design notes: Skelet Personality: Sil is the most eager, bright eyed young skeleton. She is friends with everyone, or at least she thinks she is. She is a cheerleader type person, both for herself and others. She thinks she’s the bees knees. She does in fact say things like “The bees knees” like she’s just like that. She needs to stop hanging out with Willabee and Burrow.

Name: Kendra Hidgens Parent: Henry Hidgens Parent’s source: The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals Pronouns: it/its Height: 4’10 Eye colour: Blue Hair: None Usual outfit: Dark grey dress with blue trim, with small brown boots. Extra design notes: She is very explicitly a robot. An alexa themed robot. Personality: She’s very simple. She’s helpful and to the point, not nice or rude. If you don't say please or thank you she’ll beat you to death.

#tsmh #tumblr sexyman monster high #weeeeee

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professoruber · 4 months

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Theory on Meridian | Birds of Prey (2023-)

Spoilers ahead for Birds of Prey (2023-) #5 - Along with general spoilers for the series as a whole

So Birds of Prey (2023-) #5 released; and so I am writing this post both as a follow-up to my pre-release speculation but also to discuss a specific theory on Meridian. While I may be focusing on this one specific character a bit much; I think its worth considering how she's kinda been a major driving force of the plot despite her limited appearance and revealed motivation. So there is plenty of potential for some discussion here.

Namely; what is Meridian's true nature and motives?

So far we have not seen a direct detailed explanation from Meridian regarding her motives or why she has specifically excluded who she excluded. We do however get a bit of a hint at some stuff, which in turn also supports the idea that she is indeed from the future as she claims...

"Where the final battle always is" - Meridian.

Quite the intriguing word choice, which Cass also picked up on as being concerning. This does imply that this is not the first time Meridian has gone through this; and that in turn implies the Birds of Prey have failed in previous timelines. This could be used to explain why she did things the way she did; perhaps telling the Diana or Barbara has backfired in some manner before.

I still would like some specific reasoning for her information security choices and why she didn't provide more information apparently, but it'd still be a decent handwave at least on the part of the writers. Assuming Meridian is on the up and up of course, because...

Meridian might be evil (possibly)

I have seen it pointed out on Reddit that Meridian's speech bubbles...

Have the same reversed (black background & white text vs the typical white background & black text) colouring as Megaera...

Granted; the reversed text for Meridian appears to be a sign of her voice getting distorted by the mask (her speech is coloured normally both when her helmet is off and occasionally even when it's still on), and her speech bubbles' edges are not drawn the same as Megaera... but it's still an interesting coincidence.

And that comparison got me noticing another strange similarity in their colouring.

Both appear to have a sort of black/green/yellowish colour scheme, especially in the cover art. Those controlled by Megaera are also depicted with green eyes...

So overall it is a strange series of coincidences I think.

These panels do have Meridian helping out Cass and Zealot by fighting the mind controlled Wonder Woman, which could go against the idea she herself is under control.. but on the other hand, she's also doing it to get Cass and Zealot to go where she's telling them to; so if she does have ulterior motives this may be orchestrated to push them in the direction she wants?

Hard to say; especially since the mind controlled Wonder Woman is also shown with the reversed colouring in her text bubble as Meriden (albeit still with rougher edges) and Megaera. Her little comments like "Crap. That felt less scary in my head" also do provide support to her being genuine ("Crap" was also something of a signature expletive for Maps in Gotham Academy for that matter).

Still, I can't deny the odd coincidences. Especially since they chose to design Meridian's costume and 'aura' in a way which is oddly similar to the main villain despite the fact that I don't think think Maps has been associated with such a theme before. And if Meridian is evil or being controlled, then it could better explain why she excluded Diana and Barbara and also why things have gotten so out of control despite her foreknowledge and implied previous attempts.

All very interesting stuff.

Or maybe I'm overanalysing all this stuff and Meridian's just time travelling hero and Future Maps.

(Imagine though if this ended up being a sorta 'backdoor pilot' kinda thing for Robin!Maps; introducing her a villain the form of an evil future her? Maybe not but still).

In conclusion

I got some mixed feelings about Meridian. On one hand, scattered comments by her do admittedly point to her seeming genuine and not being controlled. And the fact her bubbles are drawn without the rough edges of Megaera and those controlled by her, and also are coloured normally when her helmet is off, could point towards it just being a coincidence; they might've just used the same technique to depict 'distorted' speech for both.

But still... this is quite the number of coincidences; between the colouring of both her costume and speech bubbles, as well as the oddly sparse information we've gotten from her and her limited appearances. The possibility of some kind of twist regarding her is something worth considering I think.

Still do hope for Present!Maps getting involved in the Birds of Prey though, that would be cool. And hopefully more Cass and Maps interactions, those are cute.

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englishstrawbie · 2 years

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#kacytober: OCT05. balloons

They walk hand-in-hand through the carnival, taking in the bright lights and colourful stalls where people of all ages try their luck at winning oversized stuffed animals. Music blasts through various speakers, drowning out the screams coming from the fairground rides that spin and whirl around them. Children (and some adults) weave their way through the crowds, hyped up on cotton candy and caramel apples. It is busy and loud and manic, and yet somehow, when it is just the two of them, everything is calm.

They had left Kai and Jesse on the bumper cars, since Kate is still fragile following her run in with Malkie. The cuts have healed but she is still feeling a little bruised after the fight. The everyday brown hair dye has started to fade, leaving a copper tone in her usually blonde hair that Lucy is obsessed with running her hands through and she is starting to wonder if she should keep it.

Lucy catches the eye of a boy of maybe thirteen or fourteen stood nearby, a cloud of balloons towering overhead, bunched together and tied around a cart next to him.

“How much?” she asks him.

“Ten dollars.”

Kate shakes her head in amusement as Lucy digs into her back pocket to pull out a ten dollar note, handing it to the boy and taking a balloon shaped as a giraffe.

“Really?” Kate says, her lips twisting in a smile.

Lucy shrugs, holding the balloon with one hand and reach for Kate’s with the other. “He’s just a kid trying to make some money – and I get a balloon out of it.”

It flies high above her head, blowing in the breeze.

“Careful, you might fly away,” Kate teases as she accepts her outstretched hand.

Lucy smiles but doesn’t spar with her and Kate notices the wistful look in her eyes as they start to walk through the fair.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Lucy says with a small shake of her head. “It’s just… my Grandpa used to say the same thing when I was little.” She rolls her eyes at her words. “Even more little than I am now.”

They both chuckle.

“He used to take me and my brothers and sister to the carnival every time it came to town and he’d always buy us a balloon each to take home. I’d keep mine in my room for as long as I could until it deflated, then I’d pin it to my wall.”

Lucy talks about her family sometimes, but only in throw away comments. Kate knows it hurts her that her family don’t support her chosen career.

“He sounds like a wonderful grandpa,” she says softly.

“Oh, he was the best,” Lucy gushes. “He always wanted to have fun, you know? He’d worked so hard building the company when my dad was little and I think he felt guilty about missing out on so much with his own kids that he tried to make up for it with his grandchildren.”

Her smiles falls a little as she turns more contemplative.

“He was the only one who understood when I said I didn’t want join the family business,” she says. “Sometimes, when I was growing up, I’d feel like the black sheep of the family. Maybe because I knew when I was thirteen that I liked girls and I didn’t know how to tell my parents, ‘cause I wasn’t sure how they’d react. Grandpa was the first person I told, when I was fifteen and had my first girlfriend.”

They keep walking through the crowds, caught up in their own bubble, and Kate stays silent, letting her talk.

“He was really sweet about it,” Lucy continues, smiling to herself. “And when I told my dad that I wanted to go into law enforcement, he did the whole ‘I’m not angry, just disappointed’ speech and Grandpa told him he was being an idiot, and that I was allowed to do whatever I wanted.”

“He sounds very wise to me,” Kate says. “What else did he say?”

Lucy looks up at her and grins, something shifting in her mood as she shakes off her melancholy. “That you should always kiss your girlfriend when she’s carrying a balloon.”

Kate laughs – and willingly complies. After all, she has always been taught to respect the advice of her elders.

#ncis hawai'i #ncis hawaii #lucy tara #kate whistler #kacy #kacytober #ncis hawai’i fanfiction #I know I’m a day late for this one #I had the idea but it took a while for the words to come #my fanfiction

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koscheyyy · 2 years

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Inktober day 17: SALTY

Oops.

[ID- A polaroid picture of two goblins in a Kitchen. In the foreground of the kitchen is a countertop with two pots sitting upon it. The left pot is a dark navy and is filled with water and peeled potatoes. The pot to the right is bigger and a grey colour. Standing over the grey pot is Kriz. Kriz is a blue goblin with darker blue patches on their ears, face and hands and they are wearing a light blue hoddie. They are stood over the grey pot and are Pouring salt into it. The lid on the salt however has fallen off and Kriz watches with a shocked and strained facial expression as the whole shaker of salt is emptied into the water.

In the background Grizzop can be seen standing in a blue apron and white shirt with his back to Kriz. Grizzop is a blue goblin with navy patches on his ears and arms. He is holding a knife up where he works over the his counter of the kitchen and above him a speech bubble is depicting a picture of the salt shaker, asking Kriz to add Salt to the pot.

The background is a pattern of black dots on a white background. End ID]

#inktober #grizzop drik acht amsterdam #kriz #the clutch #goblins #rusty quill gaming #rqg #i work with my dad in his but hers shop and this is basically exactly what its like #him asking me to do things and I immediately mess it up #ahsgsjags #my art

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interactivemediaahh · 6 months

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comic text

So the first thing that I have found is that I really do not like older comics. I believe it is because of the colours used. they are too bright. the other thing I have found is that finding one thats related to the research is even harder. I think I prefer black and white with either dystopian worlds or swords.

The beyond 9 page 5. page 8 the beyond 9 page 12 https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=23095

captions: in this comic they are the yellow boxes. From what they show they are used for describing events that may not be clear or summarising events between panels

speech balloon, internal and external. This also demonstrates the two main types of balloons used. External balloons are sharper with one or two curves round the whole bubble and is used for audible speech, seen used on page 5. internal bubbles have a larger quantity of shorter curves with smaller bubbles going towards the person. This is typically used for internal thoughts that are not stated to the environment. Usually to provide insight to the characters frame of mind.

special effects lettering. Assists with the tone being conveyed. This can be different fonts, bold lettering or words written in italics. Bold writing can shot short emphasis on a spoken word, possible with a bit more volume. italics on the other hand make a word be pronounced slightly drawn out. It is also possible that I have mis understood what the special effects lettering meant. letters that are hollow with colour filled in the middle is likely used as sound effects and are onomatopoeia.

in the examples shown above different fonts are used to show differences in speech patterns. in page 5 the writing appears shakier and more irrugular, either being more aggressive or having an accent from country areas. on page 12 however the person in the car has writing that is more uniform on a line and feel more upper class and like a business man.

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stinginthetalehalimekaraca · 1 year

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Process- Front & Back Covers

My initial idea was to have a very long illustration that would run over both front and back covers. However, I decided to go with something a bit simpler and more organised due to time and the fact that I felt like another massive illustration would take the attention from the ones inside the book.

Front Cover

I started with my night's sky. I did not use any kind of line art for this process because I really wanted to give the covers a hand made effect, as if they were made with coloured pencils or Crayola.

The white border and the messy textures everywhere is something I have done for most of my illustrations and so I have added it to the covers as well. I think it works perfectly with the style I was trying to emulate.

I have seen this kind of textures used in most children's books and I think it looks amazing and very nostalgic.

After I was done with the background, I put in my Title. I made it big enough to make sure that it would be readable. Putting in the black shadow behind really helped the title stand out, especially near the centre where all the lighter colours are.

As I was looking at the title and the background together, I noticed how the colours of the title seemed a bit off. I thought they looked a bit washed up and since the background is already formed of very cool colours, having so much green and blue sort of created a visual ''cacophony''.

So, I decided to duplicate the title and use the gradient maps option to play around with the different gradients and tones. I managed to find something I liked which made the green on the pumpkin vines look a lot warmer . I think this balanced out the cool warm ratio of colours nicely

Working on different layers was extremely important, especially at this stage .

Making adjustments, no matter how noticeable, is a lot easier when I can work on each layer separately. This is one of the many reasons why I chose to peruse digital art as my main way of making art.

After I was done with the title, I still felt like the cover was a bit empty and lifeless, so I quickly added in two little ghosts.

I have used the same method of making these cartoonish ghosts over the course of this entire project.

I simply made the shape, added in the face, then with a textured brushed, I slightly erased the bottom bit to make them look more transparent. For some more effect, I also added some blue-ish glow with the blending mode ''ADD''

Something that should never be omitted when designing a cover, is writing in the credits. Since I didn't feel like using any names and I was the only one working on this project, I decided to simply write '' Written and Illustrated by AUTHOR''

Back Cover

Funny enough, the back cover, which is usually a lot simpler and not as complicated looking in most children books, was the one that took me the longest to make.

I managed to fin a shortcut in the process by deciding to use the night background that I have used on the front cover, which saved a lot of time since I was really unsure on weather to have something entirely different or make it link with the front cover somehow.

The only difference, is that I didn't add the moon in the centre. I thought this would make the cover look too crowded since I wanted to put two, slightly see-through, boxes with writing on.

After that, I added in the boxes/speech bubbles that would hold in the information and ''synopsis'' of the book. I also added a very wobbly and unperfect border around the boxes for some more detail.

Then, I got the idea of making a potion bottle on the side that was supposed to look as if the ''speech bubbles'' came out of it. I really like this little detail and I think it is very on brand with the whole aesthetic of the book.

For the actual writing, I chose to go with the font ''cochin'' which I thought looked very similar with the fonts I saw being used for a lot of children's books.

I decided to have the ''synopsis'' on top, and then, some information regarding the reasoning behind the book and why it was created, as if the writer had an interview and that specific bit was added on the back of the book.

for the bottom box, I simply wrote in the first verse of my story. I have seen this on books such as The Stick Man and pretty much any books by Axel Scheffler.

After that, I started making all the little details, such as the bar code. I have done this for projects in the past and it is always a very satisfying process, since they are very easy to do and hard to mess up.

I simply used the rectangle tool to make thin , black stripes on a bigger, white rectangle. After that, I simply added a few random numbers.

The process of making small, technical details like these ones is always so simple and straight-forward thanks to Procreate. I have all the tools I need at my disposal without overcomplicated commands or anything like that.

I thought it would add to the credibility of the covers if I added the actual price as well so I did, I tried to keep them credible so I looked at how expensive most children's books are and made a US and UK version.

I also added a fake ''E-Book'' version as well as a way of filling in space and adding variation.

I also added the age rating. At first, I wanted it to be for older audiences (12+) but then, I realised that the book itself and the way I constructed it seemed to be for children a bit more on the younger side.

After I was done with this section, I moved onto logos and sites. Before informing myself on how the publishing house Penguin worked, I wanted to add it onto my book without realising that they don't usually publish children's books (I have seen a few graphic novels but those were targeted for older audiences).

I decided to make some research on publishing companies, and so I found out about companies such as Puffin, PeachTree, Holidayhouse etc. I decided to go with Puffin because I thought the logo would be the quickest to be recognised.

While analysing one of the covers for The diary of a Wimpy Kid, I noticed that they were associated with a ''Carbon Capture'' Company.

I thought that would be a very nice thing to have in my cover as well since this is a huge issue at the moment and spreading awareness about carbon emissions and global warming through a children's books seemed like a very good idea.

I also did the same thing as on the front cover, by adding a few ghosts here and there.

Overall, I am beyond proud with how these turned out. I think they turned out looking genuinely like something you would find on the shelf of a library.

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safereturndoubtful · 2 years

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Book Review - Lip Hook by David Hine and Mark Stafford

This was my fist graphic novel, or comic as they used to be called. A reason I had put it off was that almost all of my reading is on a black and white e-reader, and I had wrongly assumed it would be detrimental to the experience. Colour would have been better, and the speech bubble writing is small, but perfectly possible to read and enjoy.

This is folk horror, populated by a set of grotesque characters whose images verge on the disturbing. Straight away it’s a whole different experience to a novel, for which one’s mind does the job of conjuring that image.

Vincent and Sophia are hoodlums on the run from some unspecified crime. Their pursuers, who we never see, present such a threat that it results in them veering off the main road to the remote, forgotten village of Lip Hook, a place shut off from the rest of the world, caught in another twisted reality. As suggested by the subtitle, the sense of unease grows as we learn more about the isolated village, and its surrounding marsh with vast swarms of flying insects, and the seemingly ever present fog.

Illustrator Stafford perfects the technique a film maker might use, of letting the camera dwell to create a sense of dread and yet it is completely compelling. Surely his is the harder of the two roles.

From cricket on the village green, to the masks the villagers wear to protect themselves against the mist, the apparent idyll of rural village life contrasts with stranger practices. The atmosphere builds as it becomes clear something is clearly wrong, and a rewarding climax ensues.

For lovers of folk horror, this is a treat not to be missed.

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booksandwords · 2 years

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The Wicked + The Divine: Commercial Suicide by Kieron Gillen. Art by Jamie McKelvie. Coloured by Matt Wilson. Lettering by Clayton Cowles.

Series: The Wicked + The Divine, #3 Read time: 3 Days Rating: 5/5

The quote: The patriarchy hurts everyone. And patriarchy isn't ruled by men. It's ruled by fathers. Most men will never be the fathers. They're just sons, and sons get sacrificed to keep the old man in port and cigars. — Woden

With Laura's death at the end of Fandemonium she is no longer our eyes. It could be argued we no longer need her in a way, we've had our introduction to The Pantheon and their world. So now we have switching perspectives allowing us to see more of the alliances and the world. Honestly, it's smart. Events are ramping up for The Pantheon with two of them dead by they think one of their own questions are being asked. We get to learn more about the characters. I quite like it as an addition even if I did have a bit of an issue with one major element. This volume is very different to the two before it and Rising Action it is not a gap filler it is an explainer. If you gon into it with that in mind it does make more sense. For me, this felt like it was wrapping up loose ends. Woden's alliances and true colours weren't really a surprise but it was nice to see them.

The cover of Commercial Suicide a mask, that glowing maybe smoking mask belongs to Tara. This volume lets us see her and see another side of the godhood. So far everyone we've seen has been mostly enjoying it, Minerva I'm still a bit concerned about she's 12(nearly 13) she won't live the life the others will. Tara, Tara is an exception she's depressed and is ready to end it. Commercial Suicide does need a warning for suicide/ murder, murder is not uncommon in this situation it is different. Tara is stunningly beautiful and quite confusing. Given the role of Tara in Hinduism and Buddism as the fundamental female aspect, she has had a hard time in the digital era. Tara is always dressed in red so "Red Tārā, of fierce aspect, associated with the attraction of the positive. She teaches discriminating awareness about created phenomena, and how to turn raw desire into compassion and love." (source: Kasgar). One of the most impressive things about the whole introduction aside from her outfits which are fantastic and totally unlike any of the others is the inclusion of tweets. These are tweets that are hate-filled and exactly what you would expect sent to a beautiful woman in the limelight. Her end is awful and manipulative and bullshit.

So questions, questions... did we know Wodon had a lover? We've seen some of his colour palette before black and fluoro green. In this volume, we see a presumably female character (look there is a bit of bisexuality in The Wicked + The Divine) that he vowed his protection to. Her speech bubble is black with fluoro pink to his black and fluoro green, her helmet matches his though it does have horns so she's not a valkyrie. The events with Brunhilde from Fandemonium play an important role in Commercial Suicide. It causes Mini (Minerva I kinda adopted Baal's nickname for her) to spiral into the guilt trip from hell. It's another painful reminder of exactly how young Mini is to be carrying the weight, knowledge and power she is. The Pantheon leaders try to protect her from the worst but sometimes she has to see it.

All right a bit of a problem with this volume. The art. It is all over the place in some ways it does work we are seeing the world according to a number of different characters. Particularly the art of Sakmet is problematic. For context, Sakmet is troubled she was "raised" on the street and was near broken when Ananke found her, her level of formal education and well everything else is a true unknown. Her art is totally at odds with everything else and is really quite offputting. It looks a bit like clay or stone or possibly even wall paintings at a stretch not smooth. But given Sakmet it does work. Other styles we see are the reds and oranges of Tara, the computer appearance and neons of Woden and slightly more realistic but Asian appearing Amaterasu. A lot of these are providing background for the characters, their origins or how they got here. Oh and another warning you need... cannibalism, no I'm not kidding.

#the wicked and the divine #kieron gillen #jamie mckelvie #matt wilson #clayton cowles #the wicked + the divine #mythological #graphic novel #queer #book review #ktreviews #read 2021 #booklr

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rockingrobin69 · 9 months

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Colour-full

It was the hottest Saturday in July and Teddy had been climbing the actual walls before Harry broke and said, “Okay, okay, to the park then.”

(The wall thing was new. Ron said it was quite ‘Spider-Lad’ of him; Hermione laughed so hard she kinked her neck. Teddy’s magic, still so new and boundaryless, often manifested in ways that were either literal, or just plain wild).

And so to the park they went. To ride the stupid ‘pirate ship’ (“just one more time!”) and chase after dogs (“Teddy, no, it’s their ball!”) and get ice cream (“Please please please Uncle Harry”). Harry was, at his core, a big softie, and for Teddy all the more; so, yes, he located the nearest stand, and marched to take his place in the queue with all the resolve of a godfather on a mission.

Waited a veritable ever with Teddy’s order on repeat in his mind (chocolate with strawberry syrup, chocolate with strawberry syrup) until he was face to face with the ice cream display and—oh no, he felt faint.

Draco Malfoy should not be allowed to wear magenta.

Not because he looked bad, per-se (he looked ridiculous, like, fuck-me, ridiculous. With the hat, magenta, and the uniform, magenta, with his hair and his nose ring and a thick black choker). Mostly because the effect was a bit much, and Harry lost his ability to form speech when grey eyes finally deigned to grace him with a look.

“What can I get you, Sir?”

Blinked and blinked and sweated and blinked. “Malfoy,” Harry tried. “It’s me.”

“Indeed. So, ice cream, or…?”

Like a kick to the shin. “What? It’s—what are you even—it’s me. Harry Potter. Your, er, I mean, what are you doing selling ice cream in my park?”

One pierced eyebrow hitched. “My apologies. I wasn’t aware they’d made it your park.” With an overly-dramatic huff: “am I still allowed to work here, Mr. Potter?”

“What?” was really all he could give.

“Tell you what. Why don’t you order your ice cream, I’ll get it for you, and even refrain from spitting in it, as a personal favour. Then off you go on your merry little way and maybe get a new shirt because, sorry to say, but this one is painful on the eyes.”

“This shirt is painful on the eyes?” Harry growled, pointing at the magenta uniform, the magenta hat, the magenta backdrop of the cart.

“You’re right. Probably not the shirt. The face attached to it seems to be the problem. Now, Potter, there are people behind you, and it’s hot as fuck, so. Ice cream or sod off?”

For the longest moment he considered sodding off, but Teddy was sitting on that bench and looking very hopeful, and—charming little bubbles in rainbow colours all around him? Shit. “Erm, chocolate with raspberry syrup. Please.”

“Always were a man of high tastes,” Malfoy smirked, but he gave Harry a couple of scoops and a generous dousing of syrup, then charged him something exorbitant, then winked. Harry—had no time to deal with this.

Running back to Teddy (“hey, buddy, so, those bubbles, are you making them on purpose or…?”) with an already-dripping ice cream cone and a strange, swooping feeling in his belly (not hunger). By the time he’d spelled Ted’s hands clean, he already forgot about Malfoy and the whole thing.

Only remembered that night after bedtime. The back of his eyes when he shut them shone oddly magenta.

Went to the park the following week without Teddy (spending some time with Remus’s cousin). On his own, in a fairly-nice shirt and smart shoes. Not because, erm, just, he had to make sure. Right? Had to make sure.

The cart wasn’t where Harry’d seen it last week. Possibly he imagined the whole thing? He was overheated and terribly sleep-deprived. But on his way back to the car park, a different ice cream stand, where the staff seemed to be dressed in neon-green, and one of them was flipping Harry off.

Oh. It felt just like that in his chest: an oh. There he was.

Marched over with wholesome indignation, fist ready for the shaking. But Malfoy stepped out of the cart, leaning in its shadow. “Back for another go? We’ve got a new apple-kiwi flavour.”

“What happened to the,” big hand gesture, “magenta place?”

“Hmm? It’s still there. I just think green’s more my colour,” head titled back, long throat bare. “What do you want, Potter? Don’t tell me you came here for ice cream.”

“What if I did?” asked Harry, who didn’t.

Malfoy sighed. His eyes opened, large and startling. “Then I’d recommend you get in the queue and leave me the fuck alone.”

“And—” hand reaching out to stop him, no, Malfoy can’t leave, that’s not how this worked, “and what if it wasn’t ice cream I came for?”

“Then you need to make a decision. If it’s a brawl you want, you’d have to wait till after my shift. If it’s—something else,” suddenly he was very close, huffing warm breath on Harry’s face, “then you should really get here earlier.”

“What? Why?” paralysed by the proximity, buzzing on Malfoy’s sharp smell, apple and citrus and—kiwi?

“Potter, this is the ice-cream world. First come, first serve.” And he was off, back to the cart with his choker and his arse, for which such tight trousers should be made fucking illegal. Put his arm around his coworker, winked again. Harry didn’t like it, didn’t know what to do with the whole thing, with any of it. Took himself back home and sulked at the walls until too late at night.

Decided. It was even fairly easy. Fell asleep and dreamed of a forest, of the sea.

Continue reading on Ao3 - or below the cut

“Brawl,” he announced when he finally found Malfoy, now wearing all yellow. “I want a brawl. You need to be punched, and I could take a few kicks, I reckon. Let’s brawl.”

“Hurray,” Malfoy smiled. “I finish at six. Meet me behind the pirate ship. And, Potter, you should probably wear something a little less nice if fisticuffs is what you’re going for.”

Not grinning (Malfoy thinks his shirt is nice?) Harry went back home, made lunch for Teddy, dreamed a little with his eyes open. Cleaned the debris of the cabinet Ted’s magic accidentally exploded, releasing candy flying everywhere, changed into joggers and a tee.

“Where are you going, again?” asked Ron, who came by to babysit. He settled down in the living room with a hand on the remote and the other around a huge bowl of popcorn.

“Nowhere special. Just a little walk in the park or something. Going to watch the new Spider-Lad?”

“Paw Patrol!” Teddy exclaimed, his whole face a toothless grin.

Ron rolled his eyes. “Paw Patrol? Again? Teddy, there’s a whole world of cinematic goodness for us to discover, and Auntie Hermione still thinks I’m full of it but there are whole films about animals who can talk!”

“Full of it,” Harry said.

“Shut up, mate, I’m serious! What do you say, Ted? A lion that can sing, or those pup detectives again?”

“Paw Patrol!”

“Okay. Paw Patrol it is.” A desolate, commiserating look to Harry: “Honestly, what is it tonight? You can’t stop smiling.”

“Nothing, nothing, I promise.” Nearly ran to the park, was there well before half-five, antsy and giddy and nervous. Walked around and around in circles, oblivious to the kids and families and shouts from the pirate ship. To anything that wasn’t—

Malfoy appeared, still in yellow, making him look slightly sallow and lanky. Coming closer. Harry’s heart was rioting in his chest, was going to deafen him.

“You came,” Malfoy said. He looked pleased. It was shaded behind the ride, a grassy area empty of trees. Malfoy dropped his backpack to the ground, pulled something out of it. Still crouched: “Do you want to count us down, or…?”

“Erm. Sure.” Harry’s never really done it like this before. Scheduled like a play-date or something. Malfoy was still on his knees near the bag. “Three… two… one?”

What attacked him was too soft and too cold to be hands—oh, Malfoy just dumped ice cream on his head, quickly melting into his hair, sticky down his throat, under his shirt. Tongue darting out to taste it: yuck, lemon.

“Bastard!” Harry cried, half-blinded with the soft substance, lunging at him with his eyes closed: “come here, you fucking, arsehole, let me,” found Malfoy’s hair and pulled. “You think this is funny?”

“Ow, ah, ha ha,” fucker, he really did, folded nearly in two in Harry’s arms, “it, gods, just too much—”

“Yeah? How would you like it if I,” scooping a dollop out of his hair and shoving it in the general area of Malfoy’s face, hopefully where the choking sounds were coming out of.

“Potter, stop, stop, I can’t,” laughing like a maniac, not even trying to kick Harry off. “Potter!”

Harry somehow managed to shove them both to the grass, where they’d started rolling, sticky and covered in horrible melting cream, both of them swimming in it, both of them laughing. “You’re such a git,” smearing as much as he could on Malfoy’s face, on his uniform, on his neck. Climbed atop him and pinned him down, laughing, laughing.

“You,” Malfoy sputtered, “P-otter, ha, I can’t, ow, ah—”

“Am I hurting you?” asked Harry, who only earlier today planned on punching him. Slid on top of Malfoy’s slimy clothes until he had one sticky cheek in his hand. “Malfoy, are you okay?”

He was still laughing. “Is this,” his chest heaving, “is this what you, ha, wanted?”

“No,” empathetically, laughing too. “You’re a lunatic. It’s—grand.”

“Honestly, when you came and, haha, brawl, I couldn’t—” wiping his eyes, it must sting, all this melted ice cream where it really shouldn’t be. “Ow, this was a terrible idea.”

Harry didn’t know if he agreed. Sticking his pinkie finger in the welling of liquid gathered under Malfoy’s collarbone, bringing it to his lips: “It’s actually not that bad.”

“Hmm?” looking up at Harry, those bright eyes. “Yes?”

“Here, have some.” It was half surprising, how gentle his finger was, tracing Malfoy’s bottom lip till it opened. How carefully he fed Malfoy his own ice cream. Half a surprise and half… not.

Malfoy licked his lips, made Harry’s whole body shiver. “Mm. Not the best. Come back tomorrow and I’d give you something really nice.”

“Can it maybe come in a cone?” this hopeful thing igniting in his belly. “You know, like normal ice cream?”

Malfoy was still laughing. Harry could feel it between his knees, where Malfoy’s ribs were shaking. “Sure. In a cone. You chicken.”

“I’m the—” incensed, Harry leaned down to swipe a big lick from Malfoy’s neckline all the way to his jaw. It tasted awful and slightly electrifying. Forgetting all about the rebuke, Harry did it again.

“Po—Potter,” a moan, when Harry sucked the salty-sweet skin. “Potter!”

“Sweet,” Harry said nonsensically. “You—it’s sweet.”

His smile, when it stretched in yucky, sticky lines on his face. Made Harry’s chest sort of spark. “I can be sweet, too. Just you wait.”

When he kissed him, he tasted like lemons.

The next day Teddy accidentally grew a tail and two ears while arguing another rewatch of Paw Patrol. The nice witch from Mungo’s said it was no issue, that they would probably spell off in a day or two. Gave them a very odd-looking hat and advised them to go out and enjoy this brilliant, sunny day.

What else could they do, then, but go to the park?

Walked around and around, rode the pirate ship three times, searched in every ice cream stand until, by total accident: “Potter,” with a tilt of his head. All in blue, a truly unfair sight. “And his little monkey, too.”

“I’m a pup!” Teddy shouted, running towards him. “Paw Patrol!”

“Indeed,” Malfoy agreed with a strange smile. “It’s good to meet you, Edward. I’m—”

“Draco Malfoy!” Teddy already knew? Somehow? “Uncle Harry talks about you all the—”

“Ha ha,” covering the whole little face with his hand, “he’s joking, of course. No, I, erm, probably told him a thing or two about the—ice cream, or something. Teddy, do you want some ice cream?”

“Mm-hmm!” from behind Harry’s hand. Pointing at a flavour that didn’t look much like anything, a blue blurb.

Malfoy nodded, considering. “Excellent choice, young pup sir. Blueberry bubble-gum, coming right up. And for the gentleman?”

Teddy pointed at something that looked even less like it should be edible. Malfoy’s devilish grin told him he was correct in that assessment. “Hmm. Naturally, naturally. In fact, and if I might add—sprinkles?”

Ted started jumping up and down. His hat shifted slightly, showing what now were—

“Oh my,” Malfoy covered his own mouth, and what turned out to be laughter, “blue ears, Edward? That’s not something you see every day.”

Teddy came forward to watch how Malfoy scooped up the ice cream with the big spoon, eyes round. “Can I do that?” he turned to Harry. “Please, please, can I—”

“Why not? Hop in. I’ll show you how to do it so even your Uncle Harry is impressed.” And he guided Teddy’s hand to scoop up Harry’s ice cream, in what had to be at least twenty different health-code violations. “Do you want to do the sprinkles too?”

Was how they all ended up covered in sprinkles, and Malfoy closed off the stand (“smoking break, something, whatever,”) and they took a walk around the park till they found a slightly shaded area.

It really was a brilliant day. Teddy was happy enough even with the weird, itchy hat, and Malfoy was—bright blue. This thing melting in Harry’s chest felt uncomfortably close to ice cream.

On his lunch break the next day, Malfoy was wearing orange. He wondered if it was his ice-cream business, and he’s the one who changed colour every day; or if there truly were so many rivalling stands, each with their own theme. It didn’t matter. None of it did, besides for Malfoy’s lips, which stretched into a smile, and his eyes, crinkling with it too, and his hands, reaching out for Harry.

“So?” he asked when Harry was close enough to take one. “Did I pass. The test. The—dogged deliberation.”

“What are you talking about?” Harry laughed, pulled him closer.

“Teddy, of course! You brought him as your expert judge, I expect. What did he say? Am I allowed to do this?” brought Harry’s hand to his mouth, kissed it. “And, this?” pinched his side painfully.

“Ow! Bastard! I didn’t—Teddy was just off because of the whole, ear thing. I didn’t bring him to judge you or whatever.”

“So why did you come here?” eyebrow rising, rising. With that piercing that made Harry want to lick it. “I mean, there are many other things you could do on a day off, but you keep coming—here.”

“This is my park,” Harry reminded him gently. Malfoy scoffed, turned his face away. “Hey—”

“No, no, you’re right. Your park. I suppose that makes me your employee? Kinky shit, Sir.”

“Malfoy.” Tugged his chin up, made him look. “I keep coming here because I like you. Because you’re deranged and I don’t get you half the time and I like you. Is that enough, or do you want the whole song and dance?”

This half-smile he kept chewing on springing loose. “Ooh, there’s a dance?”

Harry kissed him, helpless with it. “You’re such an arsehole,” into his neck, and today Malfoy smelled like orange blossom and like mango, something addictive and crushing, unbearable. “How do you even,” inhaling deep, deep, “do this?”

“Magic, of course,” Malfoy laughed, and kissed him back.

The problem was it was magic. The problem was Harry couldn’t get enough. The main problem was, he couldn’t remember why that was a problem.

The next day he couldn’t go to the park again (something about staying an hour past his lunch break? Something about barely showing up to work in a week. Something about being an adult and having responsibilities, something silly). Harry texted the number Malfoy gave him, which might have been a joke, or a hoax, didn’t hope for much.

Got a reply a little too quickly. A photo of an ice cream stand, all in pink. Then an emoji with the tongue sticking out. Harry thought: this man is mad, and I might be head over heels for him. Smiled into his coffee cup and thought about what to cook for Teddy tonight. Maybe he’d invite Malfoy over? Maybe it could be a thing. God, could he make it a thing, could he build something out of it, this colourful whirlwind of a spark?

Closed his eyes: everything was pink, like a mouth puckered for a kiss, like cartoon hearts. Decided, and it was even fairly easy.

“You have to try the lavender.”

“Yes, Uncle Harry, try it, try it!”

Harry rolled his eyes, prayed for mercy. “Awfully suspicious, the two of you are being.”

“What! Teddington, I think your uncle just insulted us. Show him how we feel about that.” Teddy tried to pout, but he was smiling too much. “Very good. Now, come on, Harry, we made it especially for you!”

It was purple. The whole cart, the whole world, behind his eyelids and the silly suit Malfoy was wearing. Harry opened his mouth and let them stick a spoon in. Swallowed: lavender. Oddly nice, just a little sweet, just the way he liked it.

“You both are,” Harry tried, couldn’t find the word. Mad and brilliant and purple. “Ach, come here.” Wrapping his arms around all the sticky limbs he could find, this rumbling in his chest still, to this day, close to toppling him over.

It was very colourful, being alive.

In the distance Ted’s bubbles were distinctly purple, too.

For the brilliant @purplehotmess who gave me such a sweet prompt!

#drarry fic #3k #SWEET FLUFF WARNING #Harry raises Teddy #Draco is an ice-cream maker #accidental magic #rockingrobin69

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welcometogrouchland · 3 years

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[image ID: fanart of characters from tbe Magnus archives as superheroes, styled like a comic cover. Characters separated into two rows, bottom row left to right shows Melanie, Jon and Tim. Notable details include Melanie having red eyes with effects around them and a military inspired costume, Jon having a long hooded cloaked styled like moth wings and a full-face mask, plus effects on his hands, and Tim having an axe on his back and a logo depicting a clown with an X over it. Second row shows Basira, Martin and Annabelle. Basira wears a brown hat and coat, Martin is coloured in blue tones, and Annabelle wears a cloak and has a blue/purple helmet with six eyes. Each has their hero name written next to them. Text from top to bottom reads: "find out the secret origins of...The Magnus Archives. Behold tales of mystery and terror! Featuring: Basira Hussein, Weaver (Annabelle), The Forsaken Man (Martin), War Ghost (Melanie) Archive (Jon) and Stranger Slayer (Tim)...and Sasha!". Bottom right has a cutout showing Sasha with headphones on. End ID]

I'd like to formally introduce you to my most self indulgent au, in which I give the tma characters silly costumes and even sillier names. Lore/doodles under the cut (click for quality)

[image ID: page of doodles for the tma/superhero au. First two doodles show Jon, with and without his mask. It's labeled "pros of Spidey mask: pretty boy face reveal". It's accompanied by martin blushing. Below it is two drawings of Melanie. They're the same except in the first, melanie's hair is black. There are two speech bubbles from an unseen person. First one reads "YouTuber Melanie King dresses as war ghost?". Second reads "SUPERHERO WAR GHOST?!". Below that is a drawing of Annabelle's full costume (notable details: tall boots and full sleeve, the helmet only covers half of her face). Below that is text labeled "lore". Transcript follows: - Gertrude was the first archive, and when she died, Jon got her powers/mantle passed on (not really by choice on either Jon or Gertrude's side) making him a legacy hero. Annabelle's a sympathetic anti hero type, and Elias is also there and evil

- Tim became a hero to avenge Danny, with Nikola having killed him like in canon. Idk she runs an evil circus full of shape shifting clowns Sasha WAS going to take up Gertrude's mantel as archive but after being traumatized by the not-them she decided to become the Guy In The Chair for Tim instead

- Melanie was still a YouTuber/paranormal investigator, but in this universe the whole "shot by a ghost thing" happened in England and gave her superpowers! She lost her sight in the same incident. Georgie is kind of her Lois Lane/Jimmy Olsen (significant supportive character)

- the branch of the Lukas family that was into the science part of terror (i.e the ones that contributed to the Daedalus in canon) in this au ran experiments that martin got wrapped up in. Now he's got some of his canon lonely powers (being where Other People Aren't, for example) plus minor telepathy (compelling/ making ppl forget). Home-made his costume! End ID]

#the magnus archives #tma #magpod #Jonathan sims #melanie king #tim stoker #sasha james #martin blackwood #basira hussain #annabelle cane #superhero au #GD why does this one make me feel like i'm gonna be executed by the cringe police! i hate it here (here being my brain)#ANYWAY the lore for this au is so vague. it's so vague and undefined you guys #it is literally all about putting tma characters in brightly coloured spandex and poking fun at comics/the industry #i think at one point the au was WAYY more meta than it is now?#bad things happen to jon because he's the legacy character that fans are split on because ppl were attached to the original iteration #not-sasha was a retcon after og sasha got fridged and the creators tried to bring her back to make people happy-#-but she was too different and fans didn't like her so they retconned it as a shapeshifter who took her place #all the timeline inconsistencies were because of reboots #stuff like that that was...really ambitious looking back on it #idk it's fun! maybe works in the context of a ''leitner-ed version of action comics no.1'' type story #(also i don't think sasha was fridged in tma canon i just like to make mean jokes at the expense of the comics industry dw)#design wise jon's inspired by the spectre/the spoiler a little bit #melanie is vaguely inspired by black canary/wonder woman but not really #tim is. tim is just nightwing. i could make a power point presentation on the similarites between those two tho so i don't feel bad for it #uhh martin is just martin. he's kind of inspired by those low-tech jeans and a hoodie superhero designs you get! love those #annabelle is a little inspired by minor batman/robin character nobody? with the helmet and all #basira is. just renee montoya #god i hope i don't clog up tags with those comparisons yeesh #also yes i know the names are silly! i'm fine with that because comics are very silly

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outtamywayskinny · 3 years

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Zuko does NOT appreciate the misuse of his ceremonial attire !

My piece for the @atlanewyearexchange. A gift for @emperormomo who requested ‘wintery stuff’ with Zukka. I think this is a bit goofier than you might have expected but I hope you like it!

EDIT: Bonus scene found here! :)

[ Image Description: Three images of a digital drawing in a cartoonish style of Sokka and Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender. The first image is the whole drawing, which is in a horizontal format. The shading is done simply with a rough texture. It depicts Sokka and Zuko in a snowy setting in chunky, Water Tribe winter clothes in varying shades of blue. Zuko is standing on the left, looking towards Sokka with a grumpy expression and tightly folded arms. His hair is styled with bangs like in Season 3. Sokka is standing on the right with his gloved hands on his hips and his legs spread in a wide stance; his eyes are closed and he is smiling widely, looking pleased with himself. Between them stand two snowmen, each representing the other. Zuko’s snowman of Sokka is neatly built of three distinct balls of snow; it has a smiley face made of black stones, hair and arms made of twigs, and a necklace made of ivory-coloured stones. Sokka’s snowman is more messy, and consists of an irregular mound. It depicts Zuko as he appeared in Season 1, with no hair except a pony tail made of twigs, Fire Nation-style pointed red shoulder plates, and an angry expression. The Zuko snowman also has twigs for arms, but the ends are covered in pieces of orange cloth to represent firebending.

The following two images are close-ups of the drawing. The first shows Zuko’s face in close-up; his cheeks and nose are flushed from the cold, and much of his face is obscured by the hood of his parka, which is particularly fluffy. Next to his head is a white speech bubble with a blue outline, which contains a cartoonish picture of a skull and crossbones. A symbol commonly used in manga to indicate annoyance appears in red next to his head.

The second shows Sokka’s face in close-up. His cheek are pink and his hood is up, but it is not as fluffy as Zuko’s, and his ears are visible. Next to his head is a similar speech bubble, which contains a cartoonish picture of a love heart. Yellow sparkles as commonly used in manga appear on either side of his head, indicating self-satisfaction.

End of Image Description. ]

#zukka #zuko #sokka #atla #avatar #atla art #zukka art #prince zuko #avatar the last airbender #atlanewyearexchange #emperormomo #atla fanart #fanart #my art #sokka's white boots inspired by abba #ugh should have made them platform #next time #also i know this id is long so i hope it's okay!

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aquitainequeen · 3 years

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All Is Bliss (Until Someone Loses An Eye): Chapter One: This Is A Glorious Day/Nightmare; Strike Out As Appropriate

Special thanks to @fairy-anon-godmother and @yototothelalafell for being rubber ducks to my rant about this chapter, and to @ellynneversweet for so kindly reading it through several times as it hinged on completion!

(Previous Chapter)

When Vlad closes the doors behind Marial, that’s when Catharine asks her, ‘The Sun Summoner. Is she the real thing, or a fake?’

Marial halts so quickly that the items on the breakfast tray rattle. ‘Really? You’re asking me this?’

‘’Well, yes. Of course.’

Marial sets down the tray and promptly starts raiding it. ‘Real. Kirigan wouldn’t have any part of this if she were a fraud, and he would’ve tested her the moment she was brought before him. She’s real.’

So: Yes, yes, yes! Catherine finally releases all the bubbling joy and it’s flowing everywhere like sparkling wine foaming out of her glass . It’s like the time when she was lording it over Angelique about going to the East to be Empress; it’s the moment she went to her knees and first kissed the ground of East Ravka, greeting it, marrying it. Saints, saints, thanks to you all, how you love me!

What to say, how to say it? Upon this cornerstone she’ll build her claim. ‘The Sun Summoner. Ravka’s shining blazing hope, rising to banish the darkness and the divide in our beautiful land.’ Catherine thumps her clenched first against her breast, that will be most affecting. ‘So soon after I crossed the Fold from West to East, the Sun Summoner rose up to help me light the path ahead, for Ravka and my people —’

‘Who are you talking to?’ Marial says through a mouth full of soft cheese, lounging against the settee. It does not bode well for future speeches.

Nonetheless, Catherine persists: ‘Practising. For when the time is ripe. This is an auspicious beginning for my journey to true power. Ravka’s saviours have emerged together to free our land and our people from tyranny and shadow.’

‘Maybe get some food in you, before you go any further with the speechmaking and the grand plans?’

Impudent; but, Marial is right. This is going to need a full belly and some careful thought. She will have so many blinis with sweetened soured clotted cream and jam, oh, and some tea filled with more jam, sweetness galore!

Marial sticks with the cheese and a plain cup of tea. ‘What did Kirigan say about her? In his letter?’

‘Apparently not much; Orlo says he likely dashed it off before starting back to Os Alta from the Fold. He’s sent the Sun Summoner ahead of him, heavily guarded. Her name’s Alina Starkova, isn’t that just so perfect? She’s young, she’s a cartographer in the First Army. Or,’ Catherine’s throat twitches, a gulp of tea to moisten it up, ‘she was a cartographer. She’ll never have to sketch a map again.’

‘So…’ Marial makes Catherine wait while she takes her own sip of tea. ‘The Sun Summoner just happens to emerge, right at this point, after escaping notice in the First Army for years?’

‘Evidently. What about it?’

Marial fusses with her cup. ‘Seems a bit convenient. How was she able to go without being discovered for so long?’

‘By the Grisha testers?’

‘They test every child in Ravka. Every child. How did they miss her? How did she hide her powers for so long?’

Catherine swallows more of her tea and her why does it matter? because clearly Marial thinks it does and if she’s going to be Empress in her own right, she needs to start thinking beyond the first flush of joy, the fantasy of a storybook romance and a cute pet bear. ‘Maybe she wasn’t tested. There are so many people in East Ravka and the records are shoddy, some people are bound to slip through the cracks.’ Not that this will happen in the future. When she is in power there will be bread, freedom and security for all, never mind what Marial and Orlo say, and all voices will be heard.

Marial sits on the chaise’s arm. ‘And she’s never shown her powers before now? The baby Grisha in the Little Palace are always losing their tempers and causing uproar. One of them killed a man by accident, once, right in front of me.’

‘You’re not serious.’

‘I’m absolutely serious. Though admittedly Count Kireyev was an absolute cunt, and the Emperor thought it was hilarious, so all was forgiven.’

Catherine is not going to ask what exactly happened to the cuntish Count Kireyev , if Peter of all people found it amusing. ‘Well. If she couldn’t control her powers, then she would have been found before now.’ She twists about in her seat and manages to catch and hold Marial’s eye. ‘And if you’re suggesting she’s a spy, then she wouldn’t have survived in Fjerda and in Kerch they’d have enslaved her.’

‘Granted. What do you think she’s like?’ The last question is a little less sour and more intrigued, so it deserves some consideration.

Cuddling into cushions, Catherine licks up jam and thinks. All those old performances of Sun Summoner plays from her girlhood, before the independence movement began stirring and they fell out of fashion. A girl in yellow, fighting and bashing other dancers in black, and now the story those girls performed has stepped out of myths and legends! It’s all too much! What’s most important now?

‘She will be… tall. Golden haired,’ as she tucks her hair strand back in place and takes up her cup again. ‘Graceful...polite, delicate, refined, poised, punctual.’

‘Did you get that from another one of your books? What was it on, deportment?’

‘From my mother. She gave me a grand speech about how I should make myself pleasing to my husband. She said they were the ideal qualities of a perfect wife.’

Catherine could picture her mother’s face. She could imagine her standing tall, golden and graceful, refined and poised, splendid and outshining her scant finery. She’d rather fantasize about grabbing her mother, shaking her, knocking her to the ground, getting in her face and screaming what were you thinking to send me here, to him, so unprepared; did you know, did you know what he was?

Best just to focus on the bright sunshine coming through the window, and to sip her tea.

They both chew and swallow several times before Marial speaks again: ‘If the Sun Summoner’s from the First Army, she’ll likely be none of what you just mentioned. Chances are she’s a foul mouthed, filthy peasant, with mud coloured hair underneath all the dirt. You really want to ally yourself with something like that?’

Marial’s only being her usual sour and snarkish self, true, but Catherine bites down hard on I’m allied with you right now, aren’t I? Marial might technically be all of those things at this very point in time (save the filthiness) but Catherine herself is not one of the bitchy court ladies. Though, need Marial be so sour and snarkish about everything again?

‘Of course I do. And why are you so determined to be gloomy, when a new hope has dawned over Ravka?’

‘Gloom is my refuge, Empress. A servant has no right to react, even to the country’s salvation.’

Catherine’s fingers are sticky from the jam, but Marial needs a hand on her wrist to shake her out of staring at nothing and her desolation, right now. ‘You’re not going to be a servant for much longer, Marial. Don’t let it grind you down.’

Marial smiles all sharp. ‘I’m already placing my hope in you, Empress. Placing it in the Sun Summoner as well is deadly. Hope’s such a dangerous thing.’ And she’s keeping her hand limp in Catherine’s, like a loose glove filled with long stones, too wary to grasp.

‘I will kill Peter. And you will be free.’ Catherine tears off a bit of blini with her teeth, just to prove her point, and it does get Marial smiling a little softer!

That’s enough touching, now; time to let Marial go, time to be Empress again. ‘And if Alina Starkova has served in the First Army, she’s no doubt brave, noble, bold, courteous and devoted to her mother country.’

‘No doubt. Have you ever spoken to one of the First Army’s soldiers, Empress?’

‘No?’

‘Then you’re in for a treat.’

Catherine sniffs and looks back to the window, the sunshine quite lovely on her cheeks. ‘Alina Starkova will also naturally be tender, compassionate and joyous.’

‘That I do doubt. It’s been a long war, Empress, and no one has gotten much joy from it, save the Emperor.’

‘Then that is one more thing I will have to remedy, when I take the throne. I should make some notes. Where’s the paper? This is a glorious day.’

***

‘This is a fucking nightmare.’ Thus, Orlo opens their latest council of war. It is not glorious.

‘Orlo, not you too! She’ll banish the Fold, she’ll help me reunite Ravka.’ And when Orlo raises a finger to try and cut in or tell her to just wait a moment while he waffles on, Catherine only says louder, ‘In what way, pray tell, is this a nightmare?’

‘It’s!’ Orlo actually seems close to panicking; listen, listen. It must be important. ‘It’s not the Sun Summoner, that’s actually very good. But I hoped we’d have months. I thought you would be far more established at court by the time Kirigan got back, you would have been able to meet him fully secured in your role. Right now Peter’s only barely been persuaded out of killing you, the Apparat’s support is fleeting, all the court ladies are wary of you, and the Little Palace thinks you’re an utter joke.’

Well. Hardly a pleasant thing to hear, but regrettably true for his first three points. Marial gets there before Catherine when it comes to the fourth: ‘How the fuck do you know what they’re saying about her in the Little Palace?’

Orlo clearly already regrets everything. ‘I. Well. I have a few acquaintances there.’

‘What kind of acquaintances? Is it a Heartrender? Big, beefy Heartrender? I can see the appeal; the best ones can make you come without even touching you.’ Marial tries her best to bring her lips to Orlo’s ear as he tries his best to get away. ‘Multiple. Times.’

‘Fuck’s sake!’ Orlo decamps to a place of greater safety, so Marial gets the whole of the settee to lounge upon. ‘I have to discuss aspects of Peter’s policy with Kirigan’s delegates on occasion. You know, my job.’

‘Oh, disappointing. Once again I’m reminded just how boring a life you lead.’

Once Marial shuts up, Catherine can finally get her word in. ‘So, wait, you actually talk to the Grisha, Orlo?

They stare at her like she’s a pet bear.

‘Well, yes. Of course. If we wish.’

‘They can even talk back, if they wish. They’re not servants.' Marial stands up all of a sudden at that, just in case someone bursts in and catches her lounging.

‘Do you not talk to them? Empress?’ This from Orlo, beginning to look most worried. Is Catherine the cause of that? She can’t lose him now! What does he want her to say?

‘Our estate wasn’t near enough to the border, or wealthy enough, to merit one being in residence. And any children on our land who were discovered were sent to the Little Palace right away. The first time I ever saw a Grisha up close was during the journey through the Fold, and then I wasn’t allowed to talk to them for fear they’d get distracted and we’d all die with the Volcra chewing our guts.’

They all nod. Indeed, something to be avoided at all costs.

‘And then I saw some of them were at the wedding banquet, but none of them got near enough.’

‘Empress, may I just ask –’ No, no! Orlo is worried by her now. By what she’ll say. What did she do wrong? ‘What are your attitudes towards the Grisha?’

Careful, careful. ‘How do you mean?’

Marial, casting her eyes up in thought: ‘Well, let’s see; do you think they’re demons walking around in human skins and devoid of souls?’

‘What? No!’

‘There, you see?’ Marial ignores Catherine to look at Orlo. ‘Already she’s doing better than the Church.’

‘Oh saints, do people here actually still believe that?’

‘A few.’ Marial considers. ‘Mmm, more than a few. Most of the peasants. Some of the more devout and stupid nobles. The Apparat, on his bad days.’ She spots Catherine’s face and grimaces. ‘Yeah, he and Kirigan don’t really get along.’’

This from Orlo, clasping his hands like he’s ready to rub them in glee — not worried now, is he?! ‘What is your position on the rise of indentured servitude inflicted upon the Grisha in Kerch, and particularly Ketterdam?’

‘Abominable, of course!’

Orlo hisses Yes! and pumps his fist. ‘And if Kirigan should ask what you think of the fact that General Zlatan’s likely turning a blind eye to Fjerda raiding West Ravkan ports, and abducting Grisha?’

Catherine bites down hard on He’s fucking doing what? because she isn’t talking to Orlo now, this is merely a prompt for when she will be speaking to Kirigan, who will be judging her and cannot find her wanting when it comes to the Second Army, his army, her army. ‘I would say that — that Zlatan is a fool and a traitor towards Ravka, to not only let her subjects be captured and slaughtered by her enemies, but to actually permit it.’

‘All right. That’s wonderful! Oh saints, that’s such a relief.’ Orlo almost falls into a chair, takes off his glasses and rubs away the sweat.

While he recovers, Catherine turns to Marial. ‘I just thought, because Peter was the only one to speak to them at the banquet, no one else was of high enough rank? Or we both are, as Emperor and Empress. But the nobility can talk to them as well?’

Marial shrugs. ‘Even we servants can; but, that’s the thing. You can, but why would you want to?’

Catherine meets Orlo’s eye. Once more she feels his kindred spirit, how he pleads with all his soul for her to deliver him from this uneducated hellhole, he hates it here too.

‘Aside from the fact that I need to get the Second Army on my side, why would you not want to? When they practise the Small Science? When their existence so thoroughly shapes and affects the universe, and they have fought so hard to protect Ravka against her enemies?!’

Marial, she who has no romance in her soul, snorts. ‘Again, watched a baby Grisha kill a man before my very eyes. And they’re all arrogant pricks.’

‘Which you clearly have plenty of experience with.’ Orlo stands and twists out of reach of Marial, snarling and trying to land a blow on his arm. ‘The Grisha rarely come to the Grand Palace save on official business, and non-Grisha are only welcome in the Little Palace by special invitation. I was hoping we’d have a chance to improve your reputation with the Grisha, before Kirigan returned; I know certain of them will have written to him about your — ’

He gestures helplessly at the entirety of Catherine. ‘Your everything.’

‘But now he’ll return to find me with a husband who barely tolerates me. A court that hates me.’ Strange, that Catherine only really starts thinking of the Black General himself when he’s opposed to her, rather than serving her. She should be terrified. Should she be terrified?

‘He’ll judge you, and – forgive me, Empress, but he’ll find you wanting. And you’ll be a weakling in his eyes forever. He might not be able to fob off Peter, but he’ll never allow you to touch the Sun Summoner’s train if he deems you worthless.’

Think of being the object of disdain, for a man like that! Enough to make one shrivel and die. But if she’s going to be Empress she cannot be afraid of anything. She especially can’t be jumping at, hah, at shadows. Not when the sunlight is so warm on her hair and skin, even through a window and her gown.

Marial breaks the silence in her own special way. ‘Besides which, he’ll be inclined to fuck you over regardless, since he can’t get at General Zlatan.’

Ah. Zlatan. Of course he would still be cocking things up for her, even on this side of the Fold. ‘Zlatan protested my betrothal at every turn, and I shall see him dealt with. But why would Kirigan hate me, if my marriage unifies Ravka?’

‘Therein lies the problem-’ This from Orlo, palms facing upwards and empty- ‘-he dearly wants West Ravka brought back into the Emperor’s bosom-'

‘Brought to heel, ‘ Marial mutters.

‘-but not at the expense of the East. Peter’s already far too obsessed with the West and western thinking for Kirigan’s liking as it is. He’ll worry that you’ve brought dangerous ideas to court that could threaten his position.’

‘Plus his Little Palace and his army.’

Orlo nods agreement with Marial. ‘The General is a most fervent protector of the Second Army and the Grisha. When the search for Peter’s bride moved to West Ravka, Kirigan did voice his concerns about an Empress with western attitudes towards Grisha.’

Frankly, Catherine’s flattered that Kirigan might think her attitude has any weight whatsoever right now; and more flattered Orlo believes that Kirigan would think it. ‘His concern is misplaced. All people of Ravka are my children, West and East, Grisha and non-Grisha alike. Every Ravkan child has the right to live without fear, in the knowledge that Mother Ravka is their staunchest defender.’

Marial groans — she actually rolls her eyes, the cow. ‘Pretty words, but he’s heard such things a thousand times before, signifying nothing. You’ll need to back up all your grand speeches.’

Catherine marches over to the table so that she can at least finish her bloody breakfast. ‘Fine. Then how am I to do that, if he’s apt to “fuck me over ” rather than listen to me?’

‘Marial’s being ridiculous; there would be no fucking.’ Orlo pauses, distracted, and shudders like a startled horse. ‘And you do have some advantages — the chief being that you aren’t Peter.’

‘That is not the least bit encouraging, Orlo.’ Catherine bites into the last blini, looking him dead in the eye and chewing hard.

‘I meant that Kirigan’s known Peter for nearly all of his life, and any hopes he had for him are thoroughly burned. You, now, are an entirely new and unknown factor. You can woo him with your ideas and plans. You need to show him that when you take the throne, you have the drive and capacity to bring about the change he desires.’

‘Right.’ Catherine nods, swallows, sets her best foot forward in her mind. ‘So. What exactly does he want?’

‘Basically, just promise him whatever he asks for when it comes to the Grisha, and you’ll have him eating out of your hand.’ Marial’s voice gets lighter as she stares off into the distance: ‘Maybe even eating from further down.’

What?

Orlo chimes in thank the saints. ‘Whatever he asks, within reason. Remember, it has to be believable. And you do not want Kirigan angry at you, if you fail to keep your promises right away when you come to power.’

Catherine waits for the terror to finally arrive. Think of one of the most dangerous men in Ravka, in the world, furious with her! And yet think, too, of making deals with the Black General, of being able to lure and hook and reel him in, of having the ability to grant his desires! ‘He’s the leader of the entire Second Army, he won’t be satisfied with small promises.’

‘All right then. Forget wooing him, try seducing him.’

Catherine glares at bloody Marial. ‘Two minutes ago, you were saying he’d gladly fuck me out of spite because he can’t get at Zlatan. Now you’re saying I should spread my legs for him? How is this in any way an improvement?’

‘This is quite different . Make him want to fuck you out of raw desire, as opposed to revenge by proxy.’

‘Yes, because that worked so well last time.’ And they both look at Orlo. Who looks at his shoes and also looks like he wishes to shrivel up and disappear, but he manages to squeak, ‘He’ll never go for it.’

‘Unlike some people around here, Kirigan actually knows what to do with a woman. And he has a definite taste for royalty.’

Not Peter. Don’t let it be Peter. Please, Sankt Valentin, don’t let her have to compete with her husband over another one of his bed mates.

‘Supposedly he was one of Elizabeth’s lovers for a time, back in the day.’

That…is marginally better. ‘Really?’ Somewhere behind Catherine, Orlo’s saying ‘oh saints’.

‘Oh, yeah. Sometimes when she’s more off her tits than usual, she says he ruined her for anyone else, no matter how she searches, and I do believe she’s serious. So, he must have left quite the impression.’

Which means Catherine might have to try and seduce the deadliest man in Ravka, who is also old enough to have swived her aunt-by-marriage in her girlhood…so, old enough to be her own father, at least. Saints. At least Peter’s young and easy on the eye, and he smells like something living. Plus Kirigan was able to satisfy Aunt Elizabeth; who knows what kind of bizarre tricks he’ll expect in bed, or against a wall? And she fucked it all up with just virgin Orlo, fuck.

Orlo breaks out of whatever had him so horrified and enthralled (likely also the act of satisfying Aunt Elizabeth) to say in desperation, ‘Why does she have to seduce anyone?’

Catherine suddenly might just love Orlo, though not enough to kiss him.

Marial hmms and nods. ‘That’s true. If you threw yourself at Kirigan right now, with how little you still know of sex, you’d just look utterly desperate.’

‘…as opposed to when I threw myself at Orlo?’

‘Orlo knows nothing of sex and was far more frightened of you than you were of him. The General, now, would either be amused or despise you, and we’d go right back to “being weak in his eyes for eternity”.’

‘Well.’ Her voice cracks, shit. Catherine swallows and tries again. ‘Well, first I must meet with him, and then I can decide if it is a route I will take. In due course.’

‘No, first you must decide on how to win back the approval of the ladies. Get your court in order before you start courting the armies!’

‘Fine; but, Orlo, I cannot lose sight of the Sun Summoner. I will not let Peter take the credit for her!’

‘I know, I know. We can plan for that, we’ll start right now, she’s not going to arrive for at least a few days yet. Where’s the paper?’

‘And there is this.’ Marial goes to tidy up the breakfast tray and clear the table for plotting purposes. ‘Kirigan’s going to hate sharing his big find with Peter and the Apparat. You’ll look like a saint incarnate when the Emperor starts screaming and throwing a tantrum.’

‘Indeed. Praise saints for once that I’m married to a fucking moron.’

(Next Chapter)

#shadow and bone fic #shadow and bone #the great #the great fic #catherine the great #count orlo #marial #the great hulu #hulu the great #cw language #fic: all is bliss #alina and Kirigan will be in the next one

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