#messing around with painting old ink drawings

[ducksdontdraw]

home sweet home

[class-of-86]

dating will byers (male readers) <3

will is mlm, so this is for any male readers. love u all, muah. we need more representation for mlm will byers.

• will was too shy to make the first move

• when he first moved to california, you decided to help him out and get him settled in school.

• you showed him around the school, you see him sneaking you nervous glances

• his cheeks were pink and his hands were shaking slightly

• you were an oblivious motherfucker

• when alone in the art room, you came up in front of him and took his hands in yours

• “hey, it’s going to be okay. starting a new school is scary but i’ll be with you every step of the way” you told him, hoping to comfort him

• you SWORE you saw his soul leave his body

• after talking to your friends about it, they swore up and down he had a massive crush on you

• “what? me? no way.” you denied

• but then you started thinking about it as the day went on

• it hit you like a truck.

• you had second period art with him.

• you decided to make a small move. you took a seat next to him and started making subtle moves.

• he caught on pretty fast, desperately trying to flirt back but failing miserably (he was too nervous)

• you asked him to come over to your house to hang out that day

• he came over, you could tell he was nervous but really really excited when you opened the door.

• that cute grin and how he couldn’t keep his hands still, he kept tapping his foot and you could tell he was messing with his hair in the reflection of the window outside.

• you told him you liked DND, so he brought all of his old DND books & his old campaign planning notebooks

• the notebooks were filled, you read through them and his handwriting was so..pretty.

• he wrote in gorgeous cursive, it almost looked fake it was so perfect.

• you complimented him on it, you could see him getting flustered and he kept messing with his hands, refusing eye contact.

• once he got comfortable, he was a chatterbox.

• he talked about everything: his mom, his brother, hid brothers best friend, painting, his sister, DND, school, his old town, and some kid named mike (you didn’t like him that much already from what will had told you )

• after awhile, will was insanely comfortable around you.

• “i haven’t felt this close with anyone really since mike.” he told you, you cringed at the mention of mike tbh.

• one day after he went home after a full day of hanging out..

• you saw that he left his sketchbook.

• you knew it was probably bad to do..but you looked through it.

• you found a drawing of you, it was so detailed and his skills were amazing.

• you looked so..handsome in the drawing. did he really see you like this?

• then you noticed a little folded piece of paper in the back of the book.

• curiosity got the best of you.

• you unfolded it and read it.

• it was a love letter to you.

• “y/n, the best day of my life will always be when you came up to me and talked to me for the first time. a cautious glance, a calculated smile, my heart fluttering with anticipation and admiration. though it seemed unthinkable at the time, something tells me this was a moment of destiny. i wasn’t just meeting a handsome stranger, i was meeting the boy who was destined to love me. i was meeting the boy who would become my dearest and closest friend and my deepest and strongest desire..”

• the rest seemed unwritten, maybe like he ran out of pen ink or like he had to do something else before finishing it.

• you felt your face get pink and the butterflies swarm in your stomach.

• you looked up, seeing will standing in the doorway.

• “i forgot my sketchbook..” he trailed off towards the end of his sentence.

• you walked up to him, staring at him in the eyes.

• you took his left hand in yours, and you cupped his face with your right hand.

• you leaned in towards his face.

• his lips were so close to touching yours.

• you clashed your lips onto his, the kiss seeming to last forever.

• he held onto your left hand until his knuckles were turning white.

• you could feel his pulse pounding.

• will was in shock, his face was bright red and you could tell he was flustered.

• “i love you.” was all he could muster up, it came out in a mumble

• you chuckled, your right hand still cradling his face.

• “i love you more, byers.” you lightly laughed as you went in for another kiss.

[kbthebearcat]

An old comic from 2022, but I still like how this came out! It’s Troy and Alice just chilling in his room, but they’re getting hungry! So why not order out? 

I think they’re supposed to be on htrae, and then maybe Martha and Adam went on a mission or something, and Troy doesn’t feel like cooking this time… so the two of them decide to order some food! And of course… tacos are certainly going to be one of the things they order! 

I tried to make up something similar to Grubhub for the app, but I realized that I didn’t exactly think everything through as far as like… it being in english. Technically it should be in htraein, because it would make a lot more sense for Troy to be ordering from a htraein food delivery service in this setting, buuuuut…. Maybe he just translated it to english for Alice to read. Yeah we’ll go with that! >w>  

And on another note, I forgot how much I love drawing my characters in this line-less/painted style… 

It’s just that it takes more time, and my patience with the process still needs work. ;w; 

I haven’t minded doing more lined artwork though, that has been a lot of fun to do again too. There’s something about inking that can just feel really nice for me, and you can still do a lot with lined artwork and mess around with all sorts of shading techniques, which it what I’ve been exploring recently.  

I actually started this drawing back in 2020 I think?

But then I finally got the motivation to finish it, and I’m happy I did!

One of the things I think that made me stall was because the original idea I had for this had Troy playing a Candy Crush type game called “Taco Munch” but I ended up bailing on that idea for now, and instead went with this one. 

I would still like to explore this “Taco Munch” game though, lol… maybe do some concept art for it just for fun. 

Anyways, I think I rambled long enough here… 

[underpaid-paragon]

Your VTM comic book covers are simply GORGEOUS, I'm totally in awe! How did you get the super cool halftone/coloured dots effect? It looks super cool and realistic, I love it! Have a lovely day! :)

Thank you so much!

So to get the halftones, I use an old-ass tutorial I got off deviantArt literally....more than a decade ago? (Rosalarian's Golden Age Tutorial). The account appears to be deactivated, but I'll go through the steps here:

For reference, I bounce between Clip Studio Paint and a very old-ass copy of Photoshop, but if you're using other programs that have fun pixelate filters and you can change the color mode, you should be ok.

NOW...

Ink your drawing in straight black on its own layer

Block your colors on another layer (I hunted up some old comic color palettes thanks to madformidcentury dot com/2013/10/mid-century-color-palette-in-comics dot html)

Turn off any and all blackwork (this is INCREDIBLY important), and take your colorwork into Photoshop. (if there are any gaps in your color work, fill a separate layer with white and then merge the layers so it's all solid)

Set the mode to CMYK

Go to Artistic Filters >> Pixelate >> Color Halftone (the only thing I mess around with is the size of the dots; the default for my era of Photoshop is 8 and that's a lil big for my taste--all the VTM covers are between 4-6. It's up to your own best judgement, but I go by how "readable" things look--does the face still look like a face at a reasonable distance or is it just a smudge? If it's not readable, undo and change your dot size)

Add 3 new layers to your document and LABEL THEM: Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow

Then go to your channels panel and click on the Cyan layer to make a selection of it

Back to your Layers panel, make sure you're on your Cyan layer, and SELECT INVERSE

Then FILL the selection with the CMYK cyan that you've picked out

Deselect your selection, move to the next layer (and make sure you've got CMYK magenta in your bucket) and repeat steps 6-8 selecting Magenta and Yellow respectively

NOW you've got the beginnings of retro-feeling halftone. At this point, I import the halftone manipulation back into CSP and turn my blackwork back on.

For the ✨ grunge ✨ effect, I grab an old paper texture (after reducing its saturation and upping the contrast until it's mostly black and white splotchy) and set it to OVERLAY at anywhere from 50-20% (this is a 'let your soul decide' moment) over the whole thing

Then I grab another old paper texture and put underneath the Overlay Texture Layer, on MULTIPLY, at anywhere from 65-25% (again, let your soul decide). Both layers will give you a nice level of funk to go with your halftone shenanigans

A lot of the colorwork is going back and forth and back and forth because what looked ok in flats didn't translate after toning, but it works out eventually!

Some important things to remember:

Cool tones tend to fade back and warm tones tend to move forward if you're gonna use this method on any kind of scene

Keep your shapes SIMPLE; don't get bogged down in tones of gradients and fades and all of that because most of it WILL NOT come across once you start toning! Think of it this way: mass-production doesn't have time for fine detail, that's why comics are a lot of heavy black inks and flat color contrast

Experiment with the colors! You're working in a limited palette (if you're using any of the old Marvel/DC print books especially), and it doesn't have to be photorealistic/absolute. For instance, my Nos isn't actually green, but the tone suited the funky retro vibe so I went with it!

Let yourself fall down the research rabbit hole of pulp covers because they're both hilarious and informative. Same dot energy is an interesting collection website to go through, you can also go through your search engine (remember to add -pinterest -youtube to your search term to filter out that crapola)

HAVE FUN!

💖

[iceflwers]

𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓸𝓷 “𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂” 𝓽𝓪𝓷𝓪𝓴𝓪 !

˚✧ ₊˚ʚ THE BASICS !

— ❥ FULL NAME: Allison Marilyn Tanaka.

— ❥ NICKNAMES: Ally (most commonly used), Al, A, Princess of Darkness, Tattoo Girl (by Matthew Knies for a while), Naka, sweetheart, honey.

— ❥ DATE OF BIRTH: October 30th, 1998 (Scorpio).

— ❥ BIRTHPLACE: Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

— ❥ CURRENT RESIDENCE: Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

— ❥ SPOKEN LANGUAGES: English, French (not fluently), Japanese (not fluently).

— ❥ ORIENTATION: Panromantic, pansexual.

— ❥ GENDER IDENTITY: Cisgender female (she/her pronouns).

— ❥ OCCUPATION: Tattoo artist.

— ❥ FACECLAIM: Lyrica Okano.

˚✧ ₊˚ʚ PERSONALITY !

— ❥ HOGWARTS HOUSE: Slytherin (ambitious, cunning, determined).

— ❥ MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE: ISFJ - The Defender (observant, reliable, humble).

— ❥ ENNEAGRAM TYPE: Type Four - The Individualist (reserved, honest, self-aware).

— ❥ MORAL ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Good.

— ❥ LOVE LANGUAGES: Acts of service for both giving and receiving.

— ❥ SKILLS: Tattoo artistry, sketching, makeup, hair styling, calligraphy, jewelry-making, dancing, painting, deadpan snarking.

— ❥ LIKES: Romance novels (secretly), drawing to relax, getting her eye makeup right on the first try, when a tattoo turns out exactly like she wanted, punk music, when people give her a wide berth on the street because of her appearance, spending time with her family, laying in someone’s lap and letting them play with her hair.

— ❥ DISLIKES: Fake people, people being rude for no reason, people saying she’ll only be pretty “if she stops wearing so much black,” being scolded for things she feels justified in, her makeup or hair getting messed up, people who use religion as an excuse to be assholes, coffee, pigeons.

— ❥ FEARS/PHOBIAS: Complete darkness, getting trapped in an elevator, getting hit in the face, being left by the people she cares about.

˚✧ ₊˚ʚ RELATIONSHIPS !

— ❥ FAMILY: Hina Tanaka (mother), David Tanaka (father), Audrey Tanaka (younger sister).

— ❥ FRIENDS: Cameron Findlay, Jason Brightford, Lily Walters, Matthew Knies, Pontus Holmberg, Fraser Minten, Connor Dewar.

— ❥ ACQUAINTANCES: Remainder of the Toronto Maple Leafs roster, Trevor Zegras, Quinn Hughes, Jason Robertson.

— ❥ ROMANTIC INTERESTS: Kira Holloway (first crush), Ariana Cole (former crush), Grace Darcy (first girlfriend), Hayden Donnell (first boyfriend), Jason Brightford (ex-partner), Ayman Hadid (ex-girlfriend), Joseph Woll (current romantic interest).

˚✧ ₊˚ʚ FUN FACTS !

— ❥ Both Ally’s middle name, Marilyn, and her older sister’s name, Audrey, come from classic movie actresses - Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn, because their mother is a big lover of black-and-white movies.

— ❥ Ally has been in love with romance novels ever since she was eleven and read an old copy of The Princess Bride that she borrowed from her sister. She’s never been exactly good at sharing her love of them with people, but actually falling in love herself has been enough to open her up about it a little bit more.

— ❥ Despite the stereotype of tattoo artists being covered in ink, Ally only has two tattoos of her own: a pair of deer antlers with flowers curling around them on her ribs, and some small bats flying through a starry sky on her left shoulder. She wants some more in the future, but she also wants any future tattoos to be based on designs she’s drawn herself, and she has yet to pick any that she really wants on her body.

— ❥ In addition to her reading of romance novels, Ally is a huge Neil Gaiman fan, and has read almost all of his books and watched all the movie and TV adaptations of his works. Some of her favorites include the Sandman graphic novels and show, Good Omens, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book.

— ❥ Even though everyone who looks at her generally expects her to love black coffee, Ally actually doesn’t like coffee at all - she’s a big tea drinker, especially a nice cup of Oolong first thing in the morning.

tagging @lovings4turn, @hiya-itsamber, & @theopenlocker !

─┈ ♡ copyright © 2024: you do not have permission to copy, translate, or repost my works, nor to use my oc ideas or plots.

[shirefantasies]

Am I too late to join in on matchups? If so please just ignore this ask and know that I'm sorry

I'd like a male ship please. I'm an autistic girl with adhd and a couple chronic illnesses like joint pain especially in my hands and dyspraxia so I'm super clumsy. I'm 4' 10" tall with long wavy auburn hair, glasses, pale skin that's covered in freckles and moles and a petite figure. I'm very friendly and bubbly but I can also be kinda asocial and don't actively seek out interaction much. I enjoy writing, drawing (recently I've been getting really into MS Paint art), video games, reading, hiking and researching things that interest me. I'm very intelligent and also witty, I'm actually pretty good at making people laugh! I work as a librarian and am hoping to become a linguist someday too. Thanks!

"Hey sweetie, here's my additions for my matchup description! Thanks so much for taking the time to do all these ships, you're a true saint. I hope these don't conflict with the draft you have set up already

🪆 I’m both very level-headed and very stubborn, and I can also be quite fierce and even argumentative but that’s fairly rare. I just don’t tend to back down easily, and I’m a very resilient person

🪆 I can be a bit of a homebody, especially since I’m disabled, and I get very attached to wherever I happen to be living. I like having a garden whenever possible too, even if it's an indoor one.

🪆 I’m very friendly and sweet, but I also like messing with people a little. This is especially fun because I have unusual interests like botanical poisons or the science of decomposition. I can tend to be pretty morbid without even realizing it. That being said, my friendly side is no facade and I genuinely love taking care of people.

🪆 I especially love cooking for people and trying to recipes for others

🪆 I enjoy working out but am still very skinny. It’s actually funny how my large arms contrast with my Disney Princess-esque waist

🪆 I like to take relationships very very slowly and develop a solid friendship before considering dating someone, so I really don't want someone who takes things too fast. I'm also not a fan of overly flirty people, even if they're completely loyal to me I just get turned off by over the top displays of affection. 

🪆 I have legendary pain tolerance and tend to laugh off injuries more than anything

🪆 I’m addicted to buying new books, particularly on witchcraft and botany

🪆 I know a LOT about different types of spirits and deities, especially as a witch. I could go on and on about spirit lore for hours

Thanks, have a great day!"

Not too late at all! & I was really early on in it so this is fine! I can kind of work to combine them in fact 😁 They just take a long time lmao 😅 hope it’s ok I went LoTR because your man is…

Frodo!

You aren't used to being approached while you work; quite the contrary, in fact, many passersby almost seem to treat you like you don't exist at all when you appear in the peripheries of their vision hunched over your books and scrolls. Which, admittedly, is suitable to you as your work is quite consuming. Quenya translations do not come without focus, after all. So when a voice sounds at your back, your clumsy side emerges as you startle, almost overturning your ink pot before a small, pale hand darts out to catch and right it. “My apologies,” you hear from behind you, “I was just curious what form of Elvish that was.”

Turning around, you see a hobbit, dark-haired and blue-eyed and shyly smiling at you. He is clad in a white shirt and brown pants and something about the navy vest he wears gives him a studious air. You smile. “Quenya, very old. In fact this book,” you motion over the tome you’ve been comparing against the ancient scroll, “is a chronicle of the witches of old. Quick different from anything we see these days.” A mixture of teasing and apprehension crossed the hobbit’s visage. “And what are you doing with a book like that?” “Looking for a way to raise my undead army,” you tease back, leaning forward toward him in your chair. At that, both of you laugh and exchange introductions. His name is Frodo and it would seem his uncle is quite a student of languages as well, teaching Frodo newer, more practical forms of Elvish and studying some Khuzdul himself. In fact, he is only there outside the Shire to have an old book of his uncle’s appraised.

You can’t help the wave of distraction that overtakes you after you offer your own skills, though; adjusting your spectacles and pushing your chair back, you cannot resist asking Frodo about his Shire. He pulls back a chair of his own, taking up a spot at your side with a smile you can only describe as lovestruck. Stubborn as you can be, you give no fight to the derailment of your work as Frodo speaks of rolling green hills, warm hearths and sunny gardens and flowers hung upon fences. You understand his expression completely, a sigh escaping your own lips at his vividly gorgeous words. "We may know little of your witchcraft or translations in the Shire, but it's home. The greatest home I could ask for." He had you at sunny gardens. "I would love to see it," you reply, setting your quill down. "He isn't always fond of guests," Frodo chuckles, folding his arms on the table, "but I think someone with your knowledge and spirit would quite amuse him. Come and visit us. I will have Uncle Bilbo convinced by the time you get there." "Oh, he needs convincing, does he?" "Perhaps you could put a spell of some sort on him."

The older hobbit you quickly learn is Frodo’s uncle Bilbo still looks surprised by your presence at his nephew’s side, but he gets a glitter in his eyes you expect to be quite characteristic once you bring up your meeting with Frodo. You end up talking to Bilbo as much as his nephew at dinner, in fact, sharing many glances with the proudly smiling Frodo as you hear the most amazing tales of dwarf-song and dragon fire and even time spent alongside Lord Elrond himself in the great homely house. Bilbo chuckles at the way your eyes light up, your questions about the magic woven around Rivendell and how different it is from the small spells you’ve attempted. That certainly gets the old hobbit’s eyebrows shooting up! At the end of it, you agree with Frodo’s assessment of the Shire’s warm hearths and have continued invitations to see your friends.

And that is definitely how you see it for quite some time, after all you work with Bilbo as much as you run around the Shire woods with Frodo, dodging his cousins plucking up mushrooms and trading botany facts and tips with Samwise, Bag End’s gardener, while Frodo looks on with the smile you’ve grown to love. Suspicion that he is just teasing you rises one day when he looks at you fondly, half-asking, half making a statement to you. "You really have fallen for the Shire, haven't you?" Of course you have. The hobbits admire your strength, at least for the most part- those that poke at you about big folk disturbing the peace or the Bagginses stirring things up again risk your comebacks, after all, the bite of your wit tearing perfectly back against the bore of their lives and personalities. Every time you swivel from such interactions, there is Frodo and that fond smile that suddenly you aren't so sure how to respond to. You don't know what to do when he takes your hand to show you something or catches you when your feet slip out from under you, hands about your waist. You don't mind, especially given Frodo's knowledge that your hands get achy and cold and somehow his find them right as it sets in, and beside that he was nothing but a gentleman to you. That in and of itself seems to be the sudden source of your hysteria right up to the moment Frodo rises onto his tiptoes and presses his lips ever so gently to yours. He's told you again and again over your compared translation notes, over twisting little charms and flower crowns together, over even blood and bandages and your laughter over the way your dear hobbit frets while you feel next to nothing.

You are lucky in the gift of Frodo as you frequently tell him, as you make known when you take his arm on a hike and share in that fond smile he gives you. Frodo is a gentle soul, affectionate but not so overt in his advance as to deter you. To put it bluntly, Frodo is not a sexual person, so the nature of your relationship as it is and the love you share in your spent time are plenty to satisfy him. Forever you have someone to bring you tea and a kiss to the crown of your auburn head as you pore over documents, someone to bake for and an uncle who laughs heartily at every insistence of yours that he needs to take you to Rivendell to study their wards, throwing in the Lonely Mountain for good measure. Between the three of you, Bag End fills with books in no time, but you certainly cannot complain when some of them are quite ancient indeed, teasing challenges by your favorite hobbits, one of whom sees himself in you and the other who simply sees the beauty in you while you work. Even if sometimes you work a little too hard and he has to help you back into your now-shared hobbit hole to rest your back after a little too long sketching, weeding, and planting in the garden you are beautiful, shining with sweat and dabbed with proof of your connection to the earth. You certainly are the best thing Frodo has brought home on an errand.

Taglist: @lokilover476 @fuckyoumakeart @mossthebogwitch @ibabblealot @kilibaggins @stormchaser819 @pirate-lord-of-narnia @datglutengoblin @letmelickyoureyeballs | Reply/Ask/Message to join 🥰

[rubykgrant]

Hey, I can put all my pin-up pictures in one post now!

I spent a couple of weeks drawing these, sometimes trying multiple poses until finally they looked right, and then I had to travel to scan the pictures... and the scanner was really wonky. It washed out certain colors, while over-saturating others. It was just really weird. So, the only solution was to try to edit and fix the scanned images on my computer, and since I only have MS Paint with no layers, this was a challenge. I basically had to add the colors, then go over my lines so they would be clear, and finally erase around the edges. It took another few days to fix them all, but I did it!

(some descriptions for each character design below)

Church gave me the most trouble… and why wouldn’t he? This CHURCH, after all. He lives to be difficult. I knew I wanted him to have the “mud-flap babe pose”, but I kept messing up his face, and didn’t realize how bad I messed up until after I inked and colored it in… at one point, I tried to re-draw the face and cut out the one that didn’t work, and paste the two pieces of paper together. It wasn’t worker, so I finally just traced over my own lines, did the face all over again, and he looked half-way decent. SO, I’m done with Church! Look at that smug expression, he knows he’s a jerk. Seriously though, I love how he turned out!

When it comes to his design, I have my whole RVB story-line with a scenario in which Church and Tex get to come back with synthetic human bodies (specifically, when the Epsilon AI was deconstructed, all of the data from his memories WENT somewhere; it was downloaded back into the original AI units, which weren’t “dead” after the EMP, just deactivated. revived by Epsilon’s data, all the AI were able to reactivate, including Alpha! now HE is the one who is carrying on with the memories another part of him left behind… whoops, that’s sad, but don’t worry! he now also has the chance to feel better~). His was based on the DNA of the Director, but he’s not a clone, exactly. There’s a similarity for sure, but they’d probably look more like brothers. Church is considerably shorter, and even when he was “fresh out of the oven”, he’s more chunky too. As time goes on and he’s able to eat REAL FOOD, Church gets nice and chubby. He also wanted to be strong enough to actually pick Tex up, so that was his whole motivation for muscles. He has fairly long hair at first, and later cuts and styles it to this (imagine it feels like a silky-soft hedgehog). He wound up with some face-fuzz, and wasn’t sure of he should keep it or not… he doesn’t want to seem like he intentionally looks like the Director, but also? If he tries to avoid looking like him on purpose, he’s still letting that dude influence his decisions. Church finally asked Carolina (only fair, because she has to look at him), and she said it kinda suits him, especially since he has a squared jaw. So, the face-fuzz stayed~

*

The first rule of face-designs for RVB characters; Tucker is the prettiest. This is law. He definitely is really into the whole romantic-pose thing, so he’s both flirty and totally relaxed. “Yeah, I know, you want me. Don’t worry, plenty of Tucker for everybody!”. I like imagining his features as being a little aquiline, but still soft (he’s one of those people who looks about 10 years younger than he actually is, and even when he’s an old man, he’ll barely look 40).

He is indeed a manlet short king, thank you very much. He wasn’t always so muscular, but after training with Wash, Tucker has some definition going on (glorious calves, after all). I think the main thing with him that I keep in mind, is; yeah, in the beginning, he definitely wasn’t an “ideal fighter”, but he’s proven to not only be capable, but FANTASTIC… and it isn’t just about fighting. It isn’t just flirting, either. Tucker genuinely has so much depth, and a thoughtful side that makes him really care about people. So, even when I draw him looking strong, or confident, I want him to have a gentle touch in there~

*

When I thought about what kinda pose I wanted for Tex, I knew she had to be FLEXING, obviously. For the rest of the body, I used reference for some drawings I did many years ago in a Human Figure class, with models who posed while we sketched. I always liked the way this one sketch I did showed the line in the back follow all the way down the leg, so I elaborated on this for Tex. I really wanted something to show the full body, and standing up so you get the feel for how imposing/intimidating she is. I think she’d approve~

Like Church, I imagined a scenario in which she gets to return in a synthetic human body, hers being based on the DNA of Allison (rather than turning out identical, they simply share similarities). Ironically, Tex looks more like Carolina than Allison did (I like to think Carolina takes after a great-grandmother on her mom’s side, and Tex just kinda wound up inheriting those traits in her new body, too). Tex is very TALL, and once she was able to, she was determined to get BUFF. Tex is a built like a brick house, heck yeah!

*

I wanted to do another full-standing pose for Caboose to really show how tall he is. For a while, I wasn’t sure what to do with his hands... like, him holding them up over his head didn’t seem to work, on his hips didn’t look right... finally, I sketched them clasped behind his back, and it was perfect! Nice and casual, but also really cute. It also show’s off his arms REALLY good~

Like a lot of people, I imagine Caboose as being BIG. It just kinda fits with how strong he is, and since I made Tucker and Church both tiny, Caboose can totally life them both up on his shoulders! Little boy blue? Nah, big boy blue! Sarge is tiny too, so I love the idea of him standing next to Caboose, who is his favorite Blue (Caboose is son-boy). Caboose is also pretty comfortable with himself, so I just wanted him to calm and happy. He deserves it~

*

We never got a good look at Wash back in Project Freelancer, but at some point, somebody came up with blonde-freckle-man, and a lot of us latched onto it. I am no exception… and I really went all-out with his freckles! It was once mentioned that he grew a beard, so I decided to keep that. It is a little more full and fluffy than I usually draw it, but hey- maybe he’s growing it out a bit. That foot ticked me off, but whatever, I’m done with it. Also, yes; I gave him a catboy pose~

I imagine Wash also being tall, and fairly lean. Certainly athletic, but also agile. The dude has also been all over the map in terms of his character arc; Freelancer Dork, Mr Serious Recovery One, Villain Guy, Church Impersonator, and finally- a dork yet again, but now he’s more comfortable to be one! After living with the Reds and Blues, he’s found a way to sort of… not feel awkward about being awkward? It makes sense when you know this group. Also, I’m not sure how much I would elaborate on it in my story-line… but I kinda lean toward trans Wash~

* 

Kai was actually the first one I did (originally, the only one... but then I kept going haha). I had this specific pose in mind for her that I thought was really cute. Somehow, the sketch turned out alright on the first try, and after I added all the ink and color, it was still good! The process I used to draw her was repeated for each picture; pencil sketch, then go over the lines I like with this one almost-dry brown marker (honestly, it looks like drawing with charcoal, but thankfully it WORKS like a felt pen. charcoal is so tricky), erase unneeded pencil lines, add more defined lines with the colors I want to use for the character (for Kai, this one goldenrod pen I have), and continue with the details, mixing different pens and colored pencils for the shading. It was a WHOLE thing.

I love how her pose turned out, she really looks like she has actual form. I wanted to express the fact that she is beautiful, and she’s also chubby with stretch-marks, thank you very much. I also imagine she and her bro have like... very fine body hair that you can barely see (seriously, they have baby hair on their arms and legs). As for the hair on her head, man- I LOVE drawing hair, and hers is so pretty! I like how it almost looks like gold~

*

Sweet Caroline, bah-bah-bah! She’s one of the few characters who shows us her face, so I know what she looks like, but I still wanted to play around with my design of her. I decided short hair works for her (and although I’m just using the aqua-blue here, I imagine that she starts dying it a darker red). She’s usually very tense and tough, so I wanted to let he show a slightly more dainty side with the pose. When I finally figured out how to make legs sort of over-lap in different ways, I started having fun doing poses like this. You can still see her impressive arm muscles, though~

Carolina has definitely taken some battle-damage over the years, with a few scars here and there… also, I think she just doesn’t care about shaving, so enjoy the leg hair! She was arguably the easiest to draw. Thank you for that, Carolina~

*

I struggled with this pose for quite a while… my fault for deciding on something difficult, but come on! I had to go with a push-up. Also, a one-handed push-up at that, because Sarge has to show off. I actually showed my mom all these pictures as I finished them (and she cracked me up, she’d say “That’s a very cute naked person, honey. Now, go color another one” like I’m drawing unicorns or something haha). When she saw Sarge, she said “He looks like a big silver back gorilla”, and she had no idea how ironic and hilarious that actually is.

I imagine Sarge being the shortest of the group, very beefy and very boxy. He’s also got the most body hair of the group. Plenty of scars as well (the ones on his knuckles are from punching so hard while wearing older armor, his hands would get scraped on the inside. newer armor has better padding). I wanted his face to look smug, like he’s saying “Yes, I know you’re looking at me, I can’t blame you”. As you can see, he doesn’t have much of a butt… and what is there is a tight little brick haha~

*

Grif obviously needed to have a very chill pose, so he’s kicked-back, relaxing with his legs crossed, and arms folded behind his head. I’m so happy I’ve gotten better at drawing soft mass, because fat characters are beautiful (and as a chubby person myself, I want to do different body-types justice). Grif is indeed a big guy, and although he’s very calm here, I hope you can kinda tell he’s got some strength in that body too.

Like Simmons’ prosthetics, I wanted Grif’s limbs with the skin-grafts to be clear and easy to see. Over the years, his body has sort of “absorbed” the organic tissue Simmons donated, so Grif has evened-out (though you can kinda tell, his lighter foot doesn’t quite match the one he “grew” himself, but he’s not as lop-sided as when the surgery first happened.) Just like Kai, I loved doing the curls in his wavy hair~

*

Donut was the second one I made after Kai, because he pretty much took over my brain and DEMANDED to be drawn in a pin-up pose. What kind of pose was easy enough to figure out (imagine him spread out on a bead). I totally screwed up on his feet, and didn’t want to re-draw the whole thing… but I also didn’t have white-out, or even white paint. I wound up using this craftwork enamel stuff… which is OK, but really tacky (I don’t mean like it looks bad, but tacky as in it takes forever to dry and stays sticky for too long).

I imagine Donut is what you get if Barbie had a baby with GI Joe; totally adorable, and also impressively buff (especially his arms). His face has the scar from the grenade incident, and after having his hair lop-sided for a while, he started styling with a side-cut and letting the rest grow out. He also has a scar on one of his hands (from when he got hurt from the vehicle). His face naturally makes the cutesy kitty mouth~

*

If you want to imagine these pin-ups as being for like… and actual calendar that exists within the RVB universe, the only way they could get Simmons to be part of it was by intentionally acting like they weren’t going to include him. This would kick his fears of being ignored into high-gear, so he would INSIST on doing it too. He’s still a little uncertain… so, a shy pose for the shy nakey boy~

I wanted to make sure we could clearly see his cybernetics (and I’m so happy with how the foot turned out). Like a lot of people, I imagine red-head Simmons, and I think he probably had short hair most of his life… but around Chorus he didn’t have time to keep trimming it, and after Iris it totally got away from him. One day he pulls it back, to figure out how much needs to cut off, but instead he went “Oh, pony-tail?”. So yeah, long hair Simmons! He used to be a string-bean too, but years of running around and trying not to die helped him put on some weight (he totally doesn’t even realize he has actual muscles~)

*

When I decided to do sort of leaned-over pose with Doc, it was hard to make it work… but finally, I had something that looked decent. I also wanted to show a wink and smirk, because O’Malley is there too! He probably would have rather done some kind of pose in a graveyard to look all creepy, but Doc won with the cute pose.

I like the idea of him having really thick, fluffy, and curly hair. Also, a very defined nose. His legs are really strong (being a former track runner and all), but he not as muscular as some of the others. In fact, Grif is the tallest of the short group, with Doc just a little shorter than him (after that is Church, Tucker, Kai, and Sarge). I’m really happy with how all the shapes of his forms turned out, his tummy, his shoulders, his legs~

*

I really wanted to do an especially cute pose for Locus, because he deserves to feel pretty~ He’s probably about as shy and awkward as Simmons in certain ways (certainly confident when it comes to fighting, but social situations? he’s a dork). So, he’s sort of closed-off here, but hey- popping that leg up, because yes! Locus can have fun, too! His legs turned out really nice too~

We know what he looks like in the show, or at least, what he looked like working with Felix before Chorus. So, I had that to bas his design on. I feel like while Chorus stuff was going on, Locus actually lost a lot of weight, being so stressed-out and not even recognizing how unhappy he was. He’s always been beefy and buff, but now that he has some new friends that actually give a heck, he’s put on some weight, and is just a bit more chubby than he used to be (which is a good thing~)

[rjalker]

Here's my Flatland self insert character in a humanoid design. still making the canon-compliant version since it's not symetrical and also the power keeps flickering.

Editing the draft to say wow. Okay. This image description has now taken six hours to write because the power went out for five of them and my keyboard kept being messed up before that. Lol.

Enjoy. Assuming the power doesn't go out again before I can hit the post button.

Please tell me if the ID is missing any details, I've spent too long reading it to catch mistakes.

And yes, it picked its name itself.

[ID: An MS Paint character reference showing a Flatland style original character. The image has a white background and thin black border, with the date of "August 29th 2023" written in the lower right corner. Black text scattered around the image provides extra info for the things displayed, in an old-fashioned looking font with all caps letters and sharply curved lettering. The character's name is Hauntlight, and it uses it/its/itself pronouns.

"Literal", which is a black forked like with many small zig-zags making it crooked rather than straight, and "Humanoid", showing a stick figure with three legs, two arms, a round head, and another line straight on top of the head.

A small bullet point list in the bottom left corner reads: "Class: Criminal Job: Herbalist Age: 28 Orientation: Aroace Gender: Nunya" The character is vaguely humanoid in shape, with ink black skin with dark brown stripes on the ankles and elbows, a brown heart shape in the center of its chest, and three pairs of matching brown, stripes under the heart to form a rib cage, with the top pair of stripes overlapping with the heart on their points. Hauntlight has two arms and three legs, each bent slightly at the knee as though floating in the air. Its head is topped with a sharp point with a swooping, narrow base over its onion-shaped face, with a single large orange eye with a brown slit pupil in the center. It is first shown facing the camera, then turned to show its back, which matches the front. White cracks are visible on its hip, ankle, foot, shoulders, chest, and wrist. With its hands behind its back, Hauntlight holds a bright orange and yellow offset walking cane, which is labeled, "mobility aids required to be flourescent to aid persecution by higher classes". Two slightly smaller copies of its head show it first squinting, making it appear angry, with a question mark next to its face, labeled, "squinting because it's not allowed to wear eyeglass and it can't see". The next shows it with its eye widened again to normal, now looking off to the side. Around its eye are two circles of black and yellow, held onto its head by a bright orange diagonal strap, forming a giant monocular or single-lensed goggle. This is labeled, "Breaking the law, breaking the law".

In the top right corner, the different colors used in the drawing--black, brown, orange, and yellow--are arrayed in circles and rectangles. Two copies have been made of its three legs, with the copy for each showing the third leg recolored blue so that it is easier to see, because its skin is so dark it almost matches the black outlines. End ID.]

anyways can you believe they literally refer to disabled people as the Criminal Class™. And can you further believe there are people who read this book's blatant criticism of fascism and think the fascism is correct?!?!?!

Edit: Feel free to draw :)

[rockybloo]

Frequently Asked Questions!

Please give this a read, or at least a skim through, before sending in an inbox question!

Q. Why didn't you respond to the question/message I sent into you inbox?

Reasons vary but often it's a question I've already answered, the answer is a spoiler, or I don't have all the lore ready yet so to avoid flooding my blog with a bunch of "I dunno" responses I just don't respond. Other times it's personal reasons like I have no response to a comment, I don't think a joke made was funny, I feel uncomfortable, or I don't vibe with the message. Don't take it personally if I don't respond to you, I'm just a random person on the internet and I can be pretty picky occasionally.

Q. What programs do you use?

I use a lowkey glitchy Huion Kamvas 13 and Clip Studio Paint Ex (it lets me sort through comic pages way easier)

Q. Do you take commissions? Requests? Art Trades?

I don’t do commissions anymore, I do not take any requests (including people asking me to make a specific OC, draw more of a specific OC, or draw more of a specific story), and art trades are friends and mutuals only. 

Q. Do you have any boundaries?

I have a boundary list that you can read over here. Please respect them.

Q. Are you ok with fanart and if so, what kind?

I LOVE FANART! Fan art, fan songs, even inbox messages of people saying a specific thing reminds them of an OC of my makes me happy.

I’m also okay with people having their own OCs interact with my own (so long as it stays platonic tho Husky is an exception to this rule) . I only ask that you keep my OC couples (Red Beans, Licorice, Blackberries, etc.) together.

I used to be fine with fanfics but have since changed my mind on them due to personal reasons.

Q. Can we make fancharacters for your stories?

I am totally fine with fan characters, so long as no one pressures me into including them into my stories. 

When it comes to Glitter and Guilt, I ask that you do not make any fan characters if you aren't 18 or older due to the more mature content in the story.

Q. Do you have any Webcomics? 

I have TWO that I primarily update on Comicfury

Beanstalked , which follows a farm boy named Jack who lives on Lore, a world where a celestial centennial event assigns people with the roles of fairy tales from our world, and his life after discovering he is part of the newest generation.

A generation that is especially unlucky when a petty ink fairy decides to mess with the natural order of things.

During the struggle, characters run into the conflict of deciding if their happy endings are worth the sacrifice compared to the happy lives they’ve made for themselves while off the story paths assigned to them. In Jack’s case, he winds up falling in love with a lupine girl in red known as Nana who has been assigned Little Red Riding hood, actively going against the predetermined ending of his own story.

⚠️For the second, Glitter and Guilt, I preface that this story will touch on more mature themes such as violence, gore, and sex so keep that in mind before you continue reading.⚠️

Glitter and Guilt , which follows Sweetheart, a 20-something magical girl in college, who’s dealing with working solo as a hero while coping with the guilt of her team breaking apart during high school after the death of their team member, Angel.

Life has been super stressful as the landscape around being a hero has shifted until one day, her old arch nemesis and secret childhood friend and crush, Bitterbat, returns after years of being separated from her due to a barrier placed between their dimensions.

After a heartfelt reunion that escalates to a one night stand, the two wind up picking up their relationship and dating in secret.

Q. How many OCs do you really have in total?

TBH way more than toyhouse has listed but not all of them are super active. The ones that are the most active are the Beanstalked, Bondwidth, and Glitter and Guilt crew.

Q. How many stories do you have?

I have 3 that I really spend the most time on (which are the top 3 listed) with the others being stories I occasionally work on. I do just have little OC concepts floating around that have their own tags but are more for fun and less for story. 

Beanstalked

Glitter and Guilt

Bondwidth

Bride of Bats

Sharks and Kisses

Star-Crossed Lovers

Anvil Wings

Corroded Treasure

Q. Do you have any LGBTQ+ OCs

All my OCs are Bi or Pan as I am a Bi disaster that desires for my own food. 

I like writing them flexibly and from my own experiences so I myself can focus more on their adventures and dynamics

AND I struggle taking the unique experiences of every OC that live in a fictional and fantastical version of our universe and applying labels to them as someone who truly struggles with their own in OUR universe.

I just know for certain I am Bi and Nonbinary so I have a lotta both in my line-up as  prefer writing from experience. An experience where I tend to have to squint just to acknowledge gender because an enby be forgetting sometimes. 

If you want a more specific answer, ask me for a specific OC and I can give a run-down about them, their experiences, and their preferences.

Q. Do you have any Neurodivergent OCs?

Similar answer to the above question. Ask me for a specific OC and I will give a run-down. Chances are, many are open to interpretation as I just be writing them and giving them the same quirky behaviors as me…and lord knows whatever I am. 

Q. What stories take place where?

All my stories take place in a single universe I have dubbed “The Rockyverse”, meaning there are points characters make crossover and lore may over lap. They do take place on different worlds though. 

Stories taking place on Earth

All are located in fictional locations

Glitter and Guilt - Decking City

Star-Crossed Lovers - Safe Haven

Anvil Wings - Unnamed Town

Sharks and Kisses - Unnamed beachside town

Stories taking place on different planets

Beanstalked - Takes place on a planet called Lore parallel to ours

Bondwidth - Takes place on a manmade planet

Bride of Bats - Takes place on a Halloween-Based planet

Corroded Treasure - Takes place on a toybox-based planet

Q. Do you have any voice claims for your OCs?

I have a list of all voice claims right here.

[abhainnwhump]

IMYM Chapter 11: Perfect Backup: Nightmare

<- Previous Chapter || Masterlist || Next Chapter ->

Nightmare was in the mood to destroy something, but he took a deep breath to keep his temper in check. He was more mature and collected than that. Instead, he read a book in his library. But it failed to stop his thoughts.

He didn’t keep track of how long ago he locked Ink in the white room, but it was at least over two weeks. He didn’t care. He was sick of that arrogant, over-excited artist. Nightmare expected Ink to question him by this point. Even after months of careful stalking and planning, he was more lovesick than he imagined. He distracted himself with planning, spending almost the entire day in his office.

Yet despite the lack of suspicion, the skeleton still wouldn’t break. He thought he would at least. Nightmare knew he needed to destroy Ink’s pride to make him obey, but his methods weren’t working. Pressuring him into admitting secrets, overworking him in battle, degrading him, it wasn’t working.

The love potion was working well up until he reduced the amount. Ink was so well-behaved until then, at least by staying and listening. Of course it was the oneday he decided to reduce the amount of paint, of course it was. His attitude and behaviors were annoying. Nightmare had a few ideas for new plans. An amnesia spell, memory replacements, or mind control.

But, as did the love potion, all these had problems. With Ink’s forgetfulness, amnesia might take away his basic functions. Nightmare didn’t want to bother teaching him how to learn those again, as beneficial as it could be in theory. He's seen it happen. The more complicated spells to adjust memories required power not even he possessed. He wasn’t strong enough. And there was no fun in plain mind control. It was like putting a bandage on an infected wound. It was tempting to kill him at this point.

If Ink wouldn’t do what he wanted out of love, he’d do it out of fear. Pain was an excellent motivator. Ink seemed to react more to physical pain than emotional, taking from when he hit him. Nightmare needed to try something else . . .

Nightmare flipped the page of the book he was reading. He sat in a large crimson armchair, sipping on a cup of coffee and trying to get his mind off the weapon in the dungeon. The old pages and cover hanging by only a few threads, fair given it was almost two hundred years old. His angry thoughts were stronger. Perhaps . . . it wouldn’t hurt to destroy one thing of Ink’s, a drawing, a photograph. Nightmare sighed and bookmarked his place, standing up.

The white room had been silent for days. Ink must have run out of paint. Good, he was getting annoying. The screaming and crying were so loud it could serve as its own form of torture. He could almost hear it from the second floor. Despite knowing of Ink’s leukophobia, he didn’t expect it to be this severe. His fear of the color white was as severe if not worse than Error’s fear of touch.

Ink hadn’t even eaten since he went silent. The only reason he was provided with food at all was that Horror insisted. He said starvation was too far. Nightmare still only gave Ink the barest minimum so he wouldn’t die on him. Hm, starvation. That could work as another way to convince him to listen . . . the starving could be useful. Not having enough food and energy in his body would mess up his thinking. That was his plan and theory.

Nightmare opened Ink’s door with one tendril. A cold gust blew through, dark on the inside. Nightmare turned one the light. No one dared to enter Ink’s room since he was locked away. He looked around for something to try and destroy. His gaze eventually settled on Ink’s scarf lying on his bed.

His eye widened a bit and he took it. His fingers ran down the fabric, tracing over the writing on it. He picked it up and held it with his tendrils. Most of the scarf was brown, but the ends faded into a lighter cream color. It was covered in drawings and notes. Nightmare cocked his head and took a notepad and pen out of one of Ink’s drawers.

He copied down any notes he found of value, which were only a few. New AUs, battle plans, and characters Ink wanted to convince the Creators to make. The other ones were stray thoughts Ink had. He scoffed when he saw the one about their first date, hidden in the folds so Ink forgot to erase it. The words ‘Meet octopus tonite at 7:00 pm’ were written in a childish scribble. Under the scrawl was a crudely drawn picture of him with a cartoon octopus head. Given the other high-quality drawings, this was done on purpose. Nightmare frowned.

The scarf was one of Ink’s most prized possessions. Nightmare’s never seen him without it. Sometimes, he hid in it when nervous. It helped him remember things he forgot, helped him remember who he is.

He had no use for this anymore.

Nightmare held the tips of the scarf with his tendrils and tore it down the middle with a satisfying rip. He slashed and destroyed it until it was nothing but insignificant scraps at his feet. He took the pieces and discarded them into the trash bin. Smirking and sighing in satisfaction, he f-

“Boss, wait!”

The Lord of Negativity turned around to Killer at the doorway, leaning his arm against it. He pointed at the scarf remains. “Can I keep those?”

“How come?”

Killer held back a snicker and walked to Nightmare’s side. He whispered his plan into Nightmare’s nonexistent ear. He nodded along to his henchman’s plan. A malicious grin spread on his face; his tendrils swished behind him. They picked up the trash bin and dropped it in Killer’s hands. “Very sadistic. I don’t want you doing it now, but you have my permission.”

“Sweet! I already got everything else—a bucket of black paint and the dust from some rando’ monster I killed on the street.” Killer reached into his pocket and pulled out a plastic bag of dust. Nightmare could tell from the faint aura it once belonged to a Froggit, but he couldn’t tell which AU.

“I see.” Nightmare imagined the negativity that would spawn from this little scheme. A smile grew on his face. “I’m looking forward to this. But is it the only reason you came to find me?”

Killer paused and thought for a moment. “Hm? No, that wasn’t even why I came in here in the first place. Horror rented a horror movie called ‘Missy’ and we wondered if you wanted to watch it with us. It’s about a guy who moves into this town and he’s got a thing for marionettes. He sells Missy to some kid, the doll comes to life, and she grants the kid’s wish of killing his enemies!”

Nightmare blinked. “So it’s every horror movie ever made.”

“Well . . . yeah pretty much. But it might still be fun. It’s R-rated for the gore.”

Nightmare sighed. He supposed a little break wouldn’t kill him, he’s been working on planning almost nonstop. “Fine, I’ll clean up and join you, but only for a few minutes.”

================================================

“Horror, don’t take all the popcorn!” Killer snatched the bucket from him. Dust groaned, rolling his eye lights. He sat on the floor, leaning against the cushions.

Nightmare sat at the edge of the sofa, a novel in his lap. It was difficult to read since the living room was dark, only the light from the TV glowed. Though he was vaguely aware of dialogue and screams, he didn’t pay much attention to the movie. Films never interested him. He preferred books.

At around twenty minutes in, the two main leads a farewell kiss. Nightmare rolled his eye light at the positivity. Killer snickered inappropriately. Dust smacked him on the back of the skull with a bone.

It wasn’t until later did Nightmare found himself fascinated with the film. Not the plot or gore, but Missy herself. How she managed to trick her opponents by acting soft and mindless before taking them out. They never expected it because she looked so weak. The third kill was what caught his eye. The title character painted a warning with her victim’s blood. Cliche and cheap, but for only a second, he saw . . . Ink. A future for Ink.

Ideas flooded his mind, making him grin. He would need to purchase supplies to make them work. Of course he could steal, but he reserved that for his team. He had a mental image of the artist tied to the wall, gagged with a ribbon, and wearing a frilly pink dress. The same dress Missy had. Ink’s humiliation would taste divine. A killer doll would be far more entertaining than a mindless weapon. And how would the Stars react to their former friend? It would also fix giving Ink a new identity, something else Nightmare has been debating. Nightmare shook with something close to giddiness.

“Look, the action is cool, but this fake blood is sobad.” Dust complained. “It’s not that shiny and red in real life. Why can’t human movies ever get the shade right?”

“Cowards . . .” Horror mumbled.

Killer turned to Nightmare. “How would you- boss, what are you planning?”

Nightmare snapped out of his Ink fantasies, upset since he was invested in one. “Why do you believe I’m planning something?”

“I’ve worked for you for over six years, I know that look you get. Your eye narrows and you get this thousand-yard stare.” The emotionless skeleton copied what he meant and then leaned in close. “So whatcha plotting?”

There was no reason to hide it, so Nightmare answered. “There’s been a change of plans involving the weapon in the dungeon. He will no longer become a hollow soldier, but rather a . . . pretty killer doll.” His eye darted between the TV and the MTT as he waited for their reactions.

They stared at him with expressions ranging from shock to confusion to eagerness. Dust was the first to verbally respond, tilting his head as if listening to someone. He turned around and hit the ghost of his brother.

“You’re seriously goin’ to try and turn Ink into Missy?” He asked.

“Mm-hm. A cute little toy who can switch between sweet and murderous at the drop of a hat. Dream and Blue would never see it coming." He was confident in his tone.

“Ergh . . .” Dust and Horror looked at each other. Dust sighed. ”Look, if you think-”

“That sounds hilarious. Do it, boss. Do it!” Killer grinned with an evil glint in his eye sockets. But then he paused, grin shaking. “Wait, but does that mean, if you want a doll . . . we don’t get to use him as a punching bag?”

Nightmare didn't even consider that. “I’m afraid not.”

“Not a single stab? One little cut? Brush him with a bit of poison ivy?”

“. . . no." Nightmare sighed. "I will make up for it in time, but no torturing Ink. Perhaps . . . I could find someone else to take his place.” The king wasn’t certain who he would choose, but he would make it up. Someone important.

Nightmare stood up. The movie played another murder scene. The light from the TV reflected onto his face, lighting the left side of his face white and red. But not for long as he turned around and away from his team. He decided to do it now while his adrenaline and ideas were still high. "Pardon me."

He left the room and grabbed his jacket off the hook. Nightmare wore a jacket over his shoulders as he created the portal to an AU. He wasn’t certain which one in particular, but he needed an AU that would have the supplies he needed. A positive one, a cute one, a doll-like one. Stitchtale is perfect.

Nightmare sliced open a portal and walked inside, trying to keep himself from smiling. He looked around the disgustingly positive AU. It had nowhere as much negativity as he would’ve liked, but it was . . . tolerable. The AU creator made it out of fabric, yarn, and fluff, every surface felt soft. The monsters had stitched smiles and button eyes. If the place was ripped straight out of a child's playroom, it wouldn't surprise him.

Nightmare kept his aura low and raised his hood. He searched the town for what he needed. Luckily, he didn't need to waste too much time as he spotted a shop with a pink bow over the name. The front windows displayed mannequins of dresses with pastel and white petticoats. The left one was almost an exact copy of the one Missy wore in the film. And that's how Nightmare knew it was perfect.

A jingling bell rang as he walked into the store. It had a sickening sweet smell of cotton candy and vanilla. The lighting was the same obnoxious white light as the average department store. But the important part was that it had exactly what he needed.

Nightmare took his time to browse. Some of it was so cutesy it made him sick, but that was almost a good thing. He chose the cutest dresses he could find. The ones in bright pastel colors. He’d destroy Ink’s current wardrobe and replace it. Who knows. If this went well, he could even decorate his room in pink, like a living dollhouse.

He picked out a few dresses to start with, sticking to pastel colors of pink, white, blue, and brown. He picked some accessories to match, and a few extra items. Ink was going to hate it, and that's what made it fun. It was almost fun shopping.

Nightmare was about to pay for the clothes when a voice muttered at the back of his head. He sighed and took a bar of milk chocolate and added it to his bag.

The dark king paid for his purchases and walked out of the shop. The bags dangled in his tendrils. He stepped two feet out and turned, hearing a scoff and feeling an inconsistent aura. He stared into the half-lit alleyway. "I know you're standing there, Error. I can sense you. Were you stalking me?"

Error stepped out of the ally, a smug smile on his face. "Nah, I was browsing AUs and I felt your stupid negative aura. I wanted to know why." Error looked at the pastel pink bags and the shop brand. "What the hell were you doing? Besides getting me my prize."

"Shopping. And . . . yes, you won the bet, there." Nightmare moved his hand through the bag until he pulled out the chocolate bar and gave it to Error.

The destroyer wore a shit-eating grin as he took it. He licked his teeth with his five tongues before slipping the bar into his pocket. “Thanks. What’s in the rest of the bags? Why were you shopping at . . ." He looked closer at the labels and raised a browbone. "Wait what?"

“I decided to take a page out of your playbook and try doll-making.” Nightmare reached into his left bag and pulled out a set of pastel head bows.

Error peered into the other bags. “Geez, these are girly for your taste. What the fuck are you up to? Wait . . .” Error paused and looked up at Nightmare. “Nightmare, are you going to make Ink wear these?"

"Yes, I am."

Error stepped back like he would get sick just from being around Nightmare. "Why? Do you want him to be pretty for you? What, do you want to enjoy the view while you laugh at him? Do you like him more than that?"

Nightmare scrunched his nasal bone. “I don’t love him, nor will I ever love him. What is there for me to love in the first place? Ink will still be terminated once I finish with him, don’t worry. But I'm taking a new approach, both with the torture and how I behave around him."

Error's expression slacked, but his eye lights were still judgemental. The chocolate was his main priority at the moment, not the life and well-being of his sworn enemy. "Fine. Don't bother me until you do . . . but tell me about it when you break him. It's going to be hilarious."

"I will, oh I will. Trust me." Nightmare winked at Error. How could he wink with one eye? A mix of tone and body language. Nightmare melted through a portal.

================================================

Secretly switching the clothes in Ink's closest, He took out his uniform and lingered on it for a moment. He had a new one now, this no longer meant anything. Nightmare took a long look at it, considering the plan Killer had. He ripped the brown sleeve off Ink's jacket. Hm, the amount of dust would be small, but Killer wouldn't be against murdering another monster. It was in his name.

He stepped back to admire his work. Everything was hung up and Ink had two gift presents in the corner. One was his new uniform in a box, the other was a weapon to replace Broomie. He couldn't have a living weapon without something to fight with. Nightmare stuck Ink's old clothes in a large garbage bag while his uniform was in his hand. He walked across the room and set it in front of his door. His right-hand man would get the message.

Trailing down the steps of the dungeon, Nightmare knew what he would say and do. In a way, he realized Ink was right. He hasn't been very loving now, has he? He needed more care, more love. And Nightmare would provide that. In a sense.

At last, Nightmare tossed the garbage bag in the corner of the dungeon and stood in front of the blank wall. He pressed his skull against the wall and listened for any sound. Nothing. He pulled his head back and put on a smile. He chuckled to himself. His entire life was about to change forever and he couldn't wait. He pulled down the lever, opening the door.

[wintershades]

Thinking of Persuasion, my brain went: “Anne and Captain Wentworth, but make it Jester and Fjord.” So here’s my favorite scene, Fjorester-style: A surprise encounter many years after Jester was persuaded to break their engagement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“If I’d known you’d be in Palma Flora, I’d have gotten you an invitation to dinner,” Veth said as she entered the sitting room, her favorite button earrings in hand. “We could have had a Chaos Crew reunion!”

Jester smiled at the thought. She’d offered to stand in for the Brenattos’ nursemaid, and so, there’d be no evening gowns or fine crystal for her that night. Instead, she’d sit at a halfling-sized table, and she’d clean halfling-sized brushes, and she’d help Luc paint a picture of the harbor.

“We’ll all catch up soon enough,” the tiefling assured her. “Who are you going with, anyway?”

Veth made a humming noise. “Beau, as I told you,” she said, “and Caleb Widogast, a scholar from the Empire.—Yeza, you met him once, didn’t you?”

“Yes, at a lecture,” Yeza said as he draped Veth’s shawl about her shoulders. “Mr. Widogast is the brilliant, melancholy sort. You’d have fun trying to make him laugh.”

“I’m sure I would,” Jester said wistfully. It’d been a long time since she’d had the pleasure of old friends or new acquaintances. A very long time.

“And there’s another fellow,” Veth continued. “The captain of their ship . . . Oh, what was his name?”

At once, Jester perked up. Matters of the sea were always of interest to her; every week, she perused the naval columns until her fingers were stained with ink. No one knew she was looking for a particular name. A name she’d rarely heard in years, ever since she sold her first painting. The name of one—

“Captain Stone,” said Yeza.

The tiefling froze. Her paintbrush tipped forward and nearly tumbled from her fingers.

“S-Stone?” she repeated aloud, just as a knock came at the door.

The noise sent the Brenattos hurrying out to greet their companions. Luc raced off to join them, his laugh echoing down the hall. And for her part, Jester sat in stunned silence, her heart in her mouth.

This was a coincidence, of course.

It must be.

Don’t be foolish, she thought. Stone was a very common name! Why, there must have been a hundred Stones captaining ships on the waters of Exandria—fifty Stones who might make port on the Menagerie Coast at any given time—a dozen Stones who might encounter and socialize with her friends—and certainly not the one Stone that she knew—

Suddenly, there were voices in the hall. They were inviting the others in. Jester jumped up and instinctively turned from the door, and as she did, she caught her reflection in the window.

And she thought: What if it is him?

The way she’d imagined it, they’d cross paths in a distant ballroom. There, she’d be arrayed in her finest, and the setting would lend her the courage to speak with him again. She’d draw him away from prying eyes, and she’d confess that she’d never forgotten him.

She’d share every regret that weighed on her heart.

She’d apologize.

Instead, here she was: Wearing the plain frock that she’d hurried over in—her hair a mess of fly-aways—trapped in this tiny room, with no hope for private conversation. As Jester pulled off her apron and threw it behind the nearest houseplant, she considered making an escape through the window.

But the footsteps were drawing nearer, and nearer, until—

“Jester!” Beau exclaimed with joy. And what could Jester do? . . . She had to turn around.

So, she did.

At first, all she saw was Beau rushing forward to embrace her. In that whirl of greetings and laughter, she looked over the woman’s shoulder, and she noticed a red-haired gentleman speaking with Yeza. Another fellow stood in the threshold, listening.

Finally, Jester looked to this “Captain Stone”—or rather, to the collar of his coat, as she’d forgotten just how very tall he was. Because it was him—it was the Captain Stone she knew—only, he hadn’t been a captain back then. To her, he’d been “Fjord.”

She lifted her gaze, and their eyes met.

It only lasted a second. Perhaps two. But the sight of him put a wild rush of emotion through her, and Jester was grateful for the support of Beau’s embrace.

Fjord was safe and well.

Fjord was here.

And how did he feel, seeing her? . . . It was difficult to tell. Fjord’s gaze swept over her from head to toe—a quick flick of his golden eyes, performed with scarcely a hint of interest. He gave a slight bow, as if he didn’t want to interrupt.

Of course, Jester knew better.

“It’s been forever!” Beau exclaimed. “What are you even doing here?”

The tiefling managed to answer this question—and she hoped her lie was convincing, as she could barely hear herself speak. Her mind was all abuzz; her attention was pulling toward the others. Beau took notice and began to make introductions, starting with the captain, but Jester stopped her short.

“We’re acquainted,” she said softly.

“What? No way!” Beau crossed her arms and gave Fjord a look. “I talked about her all the time, and you never told me that.”

He offered an easy smile. “Acquaintances, Beau. It’s been at least six or seven years since she and I crossed paths.”

“Eight-and-a-half,” Jester blurted out. When they both looked at her, she gestured awkwardly. “I remember because there was another thing that happened, and—that was—. . . that’s how I remember.”

She pushed a stray curl behind her ear, only for it to immediately pop back out. Beau raised an eyebrow, but Fjord’s expression remained unchanged.

“I defer to Miss Lavorre’s memory,” he said, all pleasantness. “She seems to have more to recall from that day than I do.”

. . . Miss Lavorre. He’d called her Miss Lavorre, and that stung like nothing else. When Beau took her by the arm, Jester allowed herself to be led toward the group, and a blur of conversation followed. Now and then, she dared to steal glances at the captain, to see how he’d changed.

Fjord was—tall. Yes, of course he was tall, he’d always been tall. But he was broader about the shoulders than Jester remembered; he stood up straight, and he no longer seemed afraid to occupy space.

And look! His forelock fell in a neat wave, behaving as it never had before; she used to twist those strands in her fingers and laugh when they held a curl. His beard was thick but precisely trimmed; she used to rub her face against his cheek and praise the progress of his stubble. His tusks peeked over his bottom lip; she’d told him once, tearfully, “You’re perfect with or without them. But please, Fjord—don’t hurt yourself anymore.”

Yet, it was his voice that surprised her most. He was using his real accent, not that ill-fitting drawl. All together, it conveyed a sense of self-confidence that he’d struggled with as a younger man. Looking at him, Jester felt a glow of pride.

He was himself. How wonderful.

Her friends were in such a hurry, though. When they gave their regrets and departed, it was like being shaken from a dream, but Jester was very much awake. Everything about her was sharp and bright. She’d not seen color so vividly in ages—a striking realization for an artist.

They’d met again. They’d been in the same room.

And they hadn’t even said hello.

“I want to add a ship,” Luc announced as he returned to his painting. It took her a moment, but finally, Jester tore her gaze from the empty doorway.

“Yes,” she said. “Let’s add a ship.”

[sammyboiocs]

forget-me-nots, wilting in my garden

A writing piece from an alternate reality where my eah fankid Benicio figured out the way to stop the curse on Verona would require a sacrifice, and gave himself away for the lives of his loved ones. This was a prompt passed around between I and other R&J fankids, and I’ve only just realised I never uploaded my piece :]

This is what he wanted, exactly what he was looking for. Through years of searching and desperation, combing through tombs and sneaking through archives. No scolding nor slap dissuaded him from his efforts. The school librarians' side eyes or prying professors couldn’t convince him. Not the countless paper cuts winding his fingers or the cool ingrained press of an old key in his palm.

He found the answer, the cure, the saviour to his loved ones' plights. Laying in a small casement at his fingertips, stolen away under his careful grasp with little thought to the consequences. It wouldn’t matter once he’s done what he has too, no punishment will ever reach him for the theft. Even still he would gladly take on any repercussion for them, any one of them.

He hopes they will live with his passing, surely they understand the death of one to break the cycle is ever worth it. Malvolia will move on, forever gifted with the years to love Venetta, and her in turn. Marcello will have support from the Capulets no doubt, and he hopes Mal will have it in her to offer him her own as well. They are more alike than they could realise, and he knows they would get along if only given the chance. Lucio will get his time, he will heal eventually. Not taken so soon as his brother. That’s all Benicio can hope for him, all he can hope to give to the young Escalus. He hopes he will accept the gift, if it's the only thing he can offer anymore.

They will have their deserved time. For all her help he hopes Florencia isn’t too upset he didn’t share his final findings with her. It wasn’t a risk he could take, her getting her hands on this ending. He feels guilt for overlooking her before, and really maybe he deserves this. He gave himself so entirely to his story and yet Florencia never got anything but hardship from him, he’s sure. He does not wish for her forgiveness, only her own resolve. 

No more will have to suffer. The only burden he carries is that of his father, who he leaves knowing loss and anger he had only learned before from his own father. He only hopes with his death that his family sees peace, an end to the generations of bloodshed they’ve been forced to witness.

He will be found surrounded by his research, all neatly stacked and organised in walled pillars around him. Sorted between library and archive tombs, old scrolls and his own pile of notetaking. A key rests amongst it all, a small note in hopes Flo or his father will share what it means. Ever organised is it all, helping to clean up his mess even after he’s gone. The broken feather and ink soaked blood are the only regrettable cleanup he dares leave behind.. The bags under his eyes thankful for their eternal sleep.

He did not give an explanation, no goodbyes or warning. He caused no fear in his farewells and left all the clues to explain his doing. Sat cleanly apart from him the journal kept close to his chest. Marcello, Malvolia, and Venetta paint the pages in broad strokes of  joyful memory. Records of fights, and shopping, and sparring, and homework warming the pages so kindly. Ever fleeting are mentions of Sabre and Lucio, of avoidance and subsequent respect of that boundary. Not until the pages of hurried writing of every conceivable memory comprising hallway glances and childhood games scrawled in tears marked in late October. 

By the end it is so clear what Bennie had thought of the world. His friends are where his world starts and stops. For every move they make, Benicio’s world revolves. 

He saw Malvolia in the earth itself, his cousin, his friend. The surety in her stance and the winning draw of her bowstring before the cheering grew wild. He hopes she knows how sorry he is for his selfish abandonment. Bennie has always cared for her, even when trying desperately not to. 

He saw Marcello in the ocean, his roommate, the altering of his worldview. His temperament and more importantly the size of his heart. Benicio hopes he understands the potential he has, even if not now. Bennie has always believed in him.

He saw Venetta in the flora, a beautiful concept, a second hand affection. The cadence of her voice and the excitement of a shopping mall. He wishes he had more time for her, had got to know her better sooner. He hopes it was enough for her to know he would have had her blessing with Malvolia-- as if ever there was a question of it.

He saw Lucio in the stone, a bygone moment, his regret. Distance memories of a boy far too young overshadowed by the nausea of who came before. He wishes he could have given him more, he deserved so much more from Benicio. Both Escalus’ did. 

He saw Florencia in the air, overlooked and vital to it all. A confidant in his final moments, rushing together towards an answer she never got to consider. He hopes she is happy, that for all the years he passed her by and for how hard they pushed together without a glance, a lifetime with her loved ones is enough repentance. 

With every page one could be assured they knew the people carved with the words. Too clear the intentions were, to not leave as a single person forgotten in their finality. 

So fully where these people cherished and realised in this journal that it comes as a surprise- with all his records the one person Benicio failed to remember was himself..

[mikkolyytinen]

Dig Boy Dig

Is my new time based artwork the image changes hourly on a 24hour cycle

check it out on the link below

My earliest memory of an excavator is from our summer cabin with my father is next to me as I am in the sandbox playing with a green metal toy excavator, which was just a mechanical digging arm with a seat on it. You would operate it by pushing and pulling on the handles you were holding on to. I remember the joy of discovering how it worked after the initial struggle, and how satisfying it was just to dig and move the sand around. Much later in art school, I started doing ink drawing between painting sessions. I did a little bit of it in my teens when I was enthusiastic about making comics, though without much patience for it. And then, few years after my graduation I would pick the pens again, with more definite goals. I was often drawing just random things in my sketchbooks. I did not think much of them then. They were an excuse for the line as I wrote on a notebook once. I was trying to learn the medium. It was awkward first. I had wrong kind of paper, and the ink would splatter as the nibs scratched the paper. Then again, I cherished it and often abused my pens on purpose creating a big mess. Looking back, I see frustration of all kinds. I remember that my eyes got very tired quickly from drawing. I was not very good with expressing myself with words and especially dreaded writing, It is all in there. At some point the excavators started to appear. I found them fascinating to look at, If saw one on a construction on my way to college. They reminded me of some ancient dinosaur, perhaps because of association from the Flintstones cartoon. I still stop to admire them sometimes. The drawings were not trying to be actual representations of the machinery, though I did study them a little bit. The excavators were turning out to become a part of a system of symbols, same as with the repeating letter “a”, I was drawing with something of a built obsession as method to discover meaning with absurdity. The idea began with the launch of the 24h feature on AsyncArt. It has changed a lot since, but it was always going to be something with excavators. Some of the watercolor works were made for this piece in particular. Though I forgot about them for a while until finding them in box stored away. Some are old ones all the way from my first exhibition. I put them all together and arranged them randomly. The runes I painted myself just for fun, let’s say, not intended to be used in art. As the time arose, I felt compelled to use them. I cast them randomly for each picture, as a symbolic gesture. The runes can be representing many things, from actual letters to wisdom and magic. There are many things we can see but don’t understand and then ignore until we learn their meaning, like words of a foreign language. The old drawings from my sketchbooks were placed on the image transparently showing the inverted colors of what is below. I still feel ashamed about a lot of them, the silly puns and visual jokes, mundane scribbles, desires, and struggles contained within the pages, but it was necessary to the turn the ground for this work. Some of it I can appreciate more now and feel proud of things that I have made progress with. This makes me think of history and archaeology. the act in time, digging in the present to gain knowledge of our past and creating it for the future, while we are constantly producing new material to be dug up later. The feel for material is very important to me. whether digital or traditional, it takes time to get acquainted with it. With this piece my material is beyond the changing images and the technology making it possible - it is almost as if it is time itself that I am digging away.

Dig Boy Dig Mikko Lyytinen 2023

[winters-sketches]

some drawings of the beans with experimental styles! i'm not too happy rn with my art cause it either a) looks weird with too much soft shading or b) takes waaaay too long

thus, style shenanigans. you can use these as icons if y'all want, just be sure to tag me!

analysis for myself under the cut:

Aubrey: slightly thicker lineart with hard edges and inked shadows; half-painted shading with harder edges

+ combination of graphic contrast and painted strokes which looks awesome to me

+ QUICK!! very fast and easy to do, took like 30 minutes

+ works well with airbrush effects while preserving sharp edges

+ so much room for color shenanigans

there are no cons i love this one

Basil: thin penciled lineart with detailed coloring and shading

+ textured and full of detail

+ highly conducive to airbrush effects and shading because the details make up for the loose shading

+ it just looks really pretty and intricate

- takes. so much time. too much time.

- cannot be paint bucket filled easily at all

Kel: semi-simplified lineart style with hard shading and strong focus on color vibrancy

+ great result with the near-lineless look

+ very vibrant and colorful

+ graphic vibes, which i like; seems to be from the simplicity of the lines and shapes

- few issues with contrast and the whole image feeling a bit dull

- takes VERY LONG to do the whole colored lineart thing, along with just coloring in general

- doesn't work super well with airbrush effects because of the low contrast

Sunny: old style with airbrushed shading and thin minimal lineart

+ works well with airbrush effects and layer modes

+ easy to paint bucket fill

- lineart isn't detailed enough to accommodate for airbrushed parts; looks blurry and lazy

- not much room for color experimentation and difficult to shade without layer modes

- takes kinda long to do

Hero: slightly thicker lineart with soft edges and transparency; painted shading and color

+ beautiful painted textures...

+ open to color expermentation

+ also easy to line

- more difficult to ensure contrast due to softer edges

- takes a long time to color

Mari: loose thick "lineart" with round brush painted coloring

+ extremely open to color experimentation, i can mess around with this as much as i want

+ very fast lineart

+ works pretty well with airbrush effects

- coloring takes a while cause it's painted

- may not work as well for more "realistically" lit pieces

[astaroth1357]

Demigod MC Series: Athena

So. I have to deal with the virgin goddesses… By mythos, there really shouldn't ever be children of Artemis, Hestia, or Athena (yes, Athena was a virgin goddess). PJ got past that by making it canon that Annabeth and her siblings were born from cracking open Athena's skull (yes, that's also more or less the canon explanation). They gloss over it real quick but I remember, Rick. I've always remembered and that mental image has haunted me for years...

I can't, in good conscience, ignore the history around Athena's worship (call it an academic restraint) but I REFUSE to do the skull thing. So, since I make the rules here, I'm going with magic adoption. They still get magic powers, they're just more human than demigod. Cool? Cool.

Demigod MC Series: Intro, Aphrodite, Hermes, Hades, Dionysus, Demeter, Athena

Lucifer

The human that popped out of the portal seemed to have enough sense not to attack everyone in the room for a change, but even Lucifer could tell that was more of a strategic choice than for lack of ability...

Their very existence was highly unusual… and quite worrisome. He wasn't even aware Athena could have "children" of her own, but apparently she had been taking in some particularly bright humans to raise and train like her own...

Unbeknownst to him, a surprising amount of human scholars, diplomats, and generals have her to thank for their trade… and that alone should speak to the level of intrigue at play here. 

Was this an accident or Athena's attempt to plant an Olympian spy in the Devildom too…? Either way, he didn't trust them from the get go…

Look, Lucifer isn’t stupid. Athena is a goddess of Wisdom and War and war happens on more than just the battlefield… 

Since they've shown up records have been going missing, official documents keep getting misplaced, and he swears that there's some kind of bug in the student council room...!

It's infuriating watching the MC suck up to Diavolo when he's almost certain that they're running their own agenda behind the scenes! And he can't prove any of it!! They cover their tracks too well!

Lucifer has one of those corkboards covered in newspapers and string in a secret wing of the Castle - 100% dedicated to just tracking the MC's activities…. The longer they're there, the more obsessed he becomes...

He swears between Simeon, Solomon, and MC he feels like a shepherd wondering why the sheep are growling… The Devildom has never been in more danger than it is right now... Send help.

Mammon

To be honest, he kind of thought that they were just going to be Satan 2.0 but that's not really true.

They're more than just a book sponge! Though they do read, like a lot. Let’s just say from one schemer to another… Game recognizes Game.

They come up with plans and ideas soooo fast, it’s insane! Honestly, there are times where he has a new money-making plot and he just brings it to the MC first to run it over. 

Nine times out of ten, not only do they sniff out any problems but they have a solution for him in a matter of minutes! His scheme game has been on point since they’ve shown up!!

They’re also even better tutoring than Satan is, so he’s even managed to get a couple A’s for the first time in his life! Lucifer actually told him he was proud (which he secretly recorded and now uses as a ringtone much to his brother’s regret...)

So yeah, he likes them... buuut that doesn’t keep him from thinking they act a little weird sometimes... 

Mammon: *points to a unused tower close to the RAD building* Over there is the Tower of Sorrow. We use it for storage.

MC: Ah. Interesting… *starts writing in a notebook, muttering* It may need a few minor tweaks but the location is defensible...

Mammon: *stops* Ya say somethin’?

MC: *looks back up* Nope! Say, you’ve been to the Castle a lot haven’t you? Do you know any good ways in?

Mammon: Uhm… Why do ya want to know that…? *starts looking around for Lucifer*

MC: In case of emergencies. I like being prepared. 🙂

Mammon: Look, I don’t know what Lucifer might’a told ya…

MC: I’ll pay you a thousand Grimm for it.

Mammon: Well shit, ya want those maps with or without color?

... Yeeeah, that’s pretty weird… But it’s probably fine. I mean, as long as they keep giving him money, who’s he to complain? 🤷‍♀️

Leviathan

Also thought that they’d be a lot more like Satan but was pleasantly surprised that they were into more than books.

What else did they like exactly? Military strategy!!

It’s been a looong time since he’s been able to talk to someone who’s actually interested in all the battles he’s fought, both in the Celestial Realm and the Devildom, and their curiosity is kind of flattering...! Not a lot of people take his strategic prowess all that seriously anymore...

Plus, they are the BEST partner to have any turn-based strategy game. Hands down. He once got stuck on a level of D-COM for weeks until the MC walked in and mopped the floor with the AI!! They have a serious head for probability and tactics.

The House once made the mistake of letting these two be on the same team during a Hell Game and they absolutely demolished the competition. Mammon didn’t even get a single shot off before half his team was lost to a rigged paint grenade… It took a whole day to clean up… 

However, Levi’s also noticed some odd things about the human… He likes that they’re interested in his past but maybe they’re a little… too interested?

Levi: -and that’s how we defeated the Four Horsemen before they escaped from Purgatory. 

MC: Wow, Levi that’s seriously impressive!! *furiously scribbling on a notebook*

Levi: Well t-thanks… 😅 But, uhm... are you writing that down…?

MC: Hm? Oh no, just doodling. *they lift up the notebook to show a bunch of cute little sketches on the page… and not the magic-based invisible ink all over them…*

Levi: Oh you draw too? Can you do fanart???

MC: Eh, sometimes. But say Levi, can you tell me about your naval ranks again? I’m still really curious… *gets the pen ready again with a smile*

Satan

Oh, it's been a long game of cat-and-mouse between these two… and unfortunately, it’s been pretty addicting too.

He honestly had every intention of tricking the human into making a huge mess do he could bother Lucifer, but at every turn they proved just a hair too clever for him...

He once gave them a cursed book to “lend” to Lucifer, but they saw through it the moment they touched it and lifted the spell before handing it over.

He rigged a podium to spray glitter during one of Lucifer's speeches but the MC disconnected the trigger mic before he even got on stage. It was pretty dang frustrating...

At one point he got so desperate that, just as a test, he tried to trap them in the House's Music Room. Fortunately for them, it only took a few minutes to work out an escape. They even passed by him in the hallway with a wink!

It's confounding! It's infuriating!! 

...and it's so damn sexy... He should be furious but he’s just in awe!!

Add on that they know their art, literature, and multiple different crafts thanks to the tutelage of their adopted mother and that’s it. He’s finished. This boy is in love.

Truthfully though, a part of him is 90% sure that they’re also gathering state secrets… Like, they’re watching Barbs and Diavolo far too close for comfort - but he just can't bring himself to care. 🤷‍♀️

The MC could walk into his room one day and say, "Hey, do you want to help overthrow the monarchy with me?" and he dreads it because deep down he knows that he wouldn’t say no…

Take some notes, kids. Some bad influences get you to drink or do drugs. Others pull you into a centuries long conspiracy to destabilize and topple rival realms from within… But he has fallen for their brain hard. Devil help them all…

Asmodeus 

They’re pretty clever, he’ll give them that, but uh… Are they a little off to anybody else?

Asmo is a charmer by birthright so he has a bit of nose for when someone’s just a liiittttle too nice… Not much of a nose mind you, because he can be thrown off by compliments himself, but enough to think that the MC might be a little too… “kind” for their own good...

First off, who wants to spend that much time with Levi?? They don’t even seem that interested in anime! They just keeping asking him for old war stories…

Then all the sucking up they do to Diavolo and Barbatos? Look, he gets it. Diavolo is a delicious piece of man-hunk and his butler could give him a lesson or two in sweet-talk (and he has), but they seem to be just a little too… nosy.

Of course, Asmo’s suspicions disappear pretty quickly after they start to spoil him with spa nights and beauty secrets they picked up from “casual research” into the subject.

And you know, get a little Demonus in Asmo and start massaging his back? Oh, sweetie he’ll sing like a bird!! … with gossip. Singing with gossip.

Asmo: So I’ve heard that Lucifer has been spending more time at RAD than usual… His whole club is talking about it, they think he’s meeting with some witch!

MC: Hm, is that so? *works on a knot near his shoulder blades* What do you think?

Asmo: Ooh~! Right there, MC! *purrs and lays his head on his arms* Well come on, this is Lucifer we’re talking about! I’m sure he’s just working.

Asmo: Hmm... though come to think of it, I think I heard him asking Barbatos for the spare keys to the Tower of Sorrow…

MC: Oh really? Huh. *works out the knot and gets up* I just remembered that I left some papers with Satan... I’ll be right back.

Asmo: You’re going already??

MC: *waves him off quickly* I’ll be right back, Asmo. *hurries out the door to do totally on-the-up-and-up things… surely*

Beelzebub 

Honestly he doesn't like this one… But not for the reasons you'd expect.

He agrees with everyone else that they seem a little shady, but Solomon and Simeon are too so it's not like that's anything new... 🤷‍♀️

No, no. He dislikes them because they're the person who FINALLY figured out how to keep him from eating all the food in the kitchen!!

Turns out that the trick was to put a teleportation charm on the fridge door that would send all the food away if it’s opened after a certain time of night… 

And where does it go? The Purgatory Hall fridge. And where does the Purgatory Hall food go…? The HoL fridge…

It doesn’t sound so bad until you remember that it means half of their fridge is now Solomon’s leftovers…. 🤢

After they put the same kind of spell on the pantry, it was all over… He couldn't get midnight snacks from the House anymore… Everything was contaminated by Solomon…

The MC is a nice enough person, he doesn’t have a lot of complaints about them, but he wants them to leave. Now. This is inexcusable… He’s so hungry… and he doesn’t want to die by “goulash” or whatever Solomon calls his latest culinary catastrophe… He’s still too young for death… 😓

Belphegor 

In a way, he absolutely could not have asked for a better person to help him get out of that attic.

… In another way, he got one of the worst possible people to try and kill... Like. They saw through his scheme sooo fast…

How was he supposed to know that the human had training in body language and sniffing out lies???

Getting the door open was a piece of cake for them. They knew enough magic to undo the seals and just rummaged around Lucifer's stuff long enough to find the key to the door. He could not have found a more competent individual for a break out, really.

It’s just… well he didn’t expect to go from locked in a room like a prisoner to tied up in enchanted rope, still like a prisoner but now mobile. 😑 

They even used his own hug ruse against him! They caught his wrists when they got close and tied him up before he could shake them off...

Admittedly, it wasn't exactly the best look for them either - what with walking Belphegor downstairs to the others like a one-man-prison-caravan but they're as silver-tongued as they are sly so they talked their way out of it beautifully… 

And like hell was he going to trust them after that!! And not even Beel liked them so something had to be up...

Well, you want a detective? Look no farther than Belphie (no seriously, it’s in the canon). He can put things together pretty fast when he puts his mind to it and watching the MC for a while gave him enough proof to work off of...

He always knew that, humans were bad news and the MC just proved it to him all over again. They are bad news, bad bad news and they’re going to-!

Overthrow… Diavolo…? Is that what he is getting from them…? Huh…

Wait a second, MC. You might just have him interested… 😏

[wolfcamellias]

How do you think Wukong bonds with each kid? I feel like all of them have a different way of doing so.

Especially Mk, the boy needs some bonding with his dad lmao

Idk this is just the only thing I can think of because dad wukong lives in my head rent free

OH?? I THINK IT’S TIME FOR A SUN-KID ROUNDUP! (SUN-KID ROUNDUP!)

Nezha This is simple: from the way that the two of them were already close in their younger years as gods, the two of them managed to form a bond via trying to behave like normal humans, snickering when they got away with things that a normal person wouldn’t be able to do or managing to eat a plate of ghost peppers without their immune systems dying after thirty minutes. They actually also bond with animals; they’re both very affectionate with their pets and often end up convincing the other to foster certain animals when they know they don’t have the space for another permanent resident in their homes. Nezha convinced Wukong to get him a bunny, his own cat and a cow. Wukong kept a lamb, another cat and his two chickens. They both love each other’s pets though and absolutely send each other videos and pictures of cute animals in the groupchat. Spamming it all day.

Xiaotian A little difficult but: Singing. Consider this: Sun Wukong’s mandarin VA was the one who sung the Song of Wine and MK seems to be the type of guy who sings old 90s songs mixed in with the most recent remix of a popular song all jumbled together in the midst of training, studying or cleaning. Wukong will be on the other side of the house, humming quietly and then MK will chime in, poking his head through the door and go, “But now it isn’t true, and everything is new.”

And Wukong will pause and then go, “And all I’ve learned has overturned, I beg of you.”

And both of them will belt out, off-key or in-tune, “DON’T GO WASTING YOUR EM-O-TION! LAY ALL YOUR LOVE ON ME!”

They also go “adventuring” together and do crafts; Sun Wukong teaches MK how to do paper figurines and then MK teaches Wukong how to use watercolors and chalk to draw on the mountain sides and pavements to decorate the temple grounds. They’ll get paint on their faces and blotches of ink on their clothes but they don’t mind it since, in the end, the tapestries they painted are beautiful and messy and perfect with all their little imperfections.

Their connection is through the form of various arts and I think that’s beautiful all things considered.

Xiaojiao “How does it feel to be beaten by your old man?”

“I wouldn’t know,” hums Xiaojiao, picking up her remote controller, “I haven’t been beaten yet.”

Video games is a given; Wukong has his own goddamn video game after all and it’s even hinted that he made it in a way so that means that, somehow, the fucker knows how to program. Xiaojiao has a hard time focusing on one task unless she’s really into it, so when she picks up a favorite game it’s hard for her to put it down when she’s already into level fifty or so, thus Sun Wukong simply joins her and only pauses for breaks, stretches and eating food and sleeping.

He also enjoys teaching her how to dance of all things; the girl has had so many types of “formal” dancing lessons when she lived with her parents so for her to witness Wukong do something that isn’t used for grand parties and galas? She’s intrigued and then joyous at the end of it, hair a mess and out of breath as the music continues to play in the background as she holds her dad’s hands and is spun around wildly to the beat of the soundtrack.

Bai He Not yet; but it’d be really quiet forms of bonding. She gets stressed easily and has a hard time connecting to people because of this (Macaque and Tang are rlly the only people she fully trusts even after befriending MK and Mei); so she’s pleasantly surprised when Wukong takes her out to a meadow overlooking a river that leads to the city and lays down on the warm grass to sunbathe. She joins him and looks over curiously to which he says, “Close your eyes and listen,” and when she does, she listens to the birds chirping and the river flowing, the way the city’s nothing more than a distant hum in the background—it’s nice and they do it often when it’s his weekend time with her.

Eclipse Twins They’re babies.

He just plays and cuddles them I’m sorry cksnckndc