#shtern talks

[steadychaosdaze]

@lovelyspam-wonderfulspam tagged me to show 9 of my favorite characters, to let people guess my type, so here we are :3

in no particular order:

Anna Kyoyama - Shaman King

The Fool - Realm of the Elderlings book series

Kurama - YuYu Hakusho

Susannah Dean - The Dark Tower book series

Miles Upshur - Outlast

Jolyne Kujo - JoJo

Katsura Kotaro - Gintama

Margo Hanson / Janet Pluchinsky - The Magicians tv show / books

Kim Kitsuragi - Disco Elysium

honorable mentions:

Finrod Felagund - The Silmarillion Artemy Burakh - Pathologic

I'm gonna tag @glitterlovingdude and @homu-greenbone - you can run with it if you want

[shtern-and-art]

I have more questions because it's no longer 4am lmao.

Does Skeppy fear any animals? I just wanna know if there's any sweet moments of Skeppy clinging to Bad whilst he tries to calm him down.

I'm guessing Bad still hates things like littering and woodcutters but would he ever act particularly strongly about it or would he have more control?

I like how Rat seems to tolerate Skeppy because Bad likes him but would she ever get jealous if Skeppy started pettting another dog?

I have a horrifying image of Bad just spider climbing up a tree to fetch Skeppy. I don't know why but I feel like dude wouldn't even need branches lmao.

What other supernatural creatures/people do they come across? Were there any that were especially dangerous and did they befriend any?

Is Bad much physically stronger than Skeppy? I keep thinking of Skeppy being a little shaz and Bad just one-arm picking him up and slinging him over his shoulder XD.

Does Bad ever get nightmares of the day he became the forest spirit?

How far would Skeppy take stealing? Would he steal something he knows the owner has genuine attachment to? Would he do everything in his power to steal something for Bad even if it means getting hurt?

Who's more likely to protect the other?

Skeppy just minding his business looking at one of Bad's textbooks, turns his head and Bad's just having a tea party with a freaking bear. Surprised the man hasn't had a heart attack yet XD.

What's your favourite thing to imagine them doing?

Is Bsd an adrenaline junky? Or is he scared of more dangerous things like bungee jumping and mountain climbing.

What would their reactions be to rollercoasters?

Do they have a favourite date-night activity?

Everytime I think of this au it brightens my mood!! Thank you for making something so heartwarming!! <3

Glad to see you again :D And yaay, questions!

My pen pressure broke again, I can't finish any sketches for this ask rn, but here's a couple of old messy designs.

1) Comforting and nightmares

Skeppy has a normal, I’d even say adequate level of fear towards wild animals, whilst Bad has it in negative numbers. And, yes, this fun juxtaposition leads to a lot of unfortunate moments of Skeppy nearly dying from heart attack when some of Bad’s animal friends show up unexpectedly, or Bad goes all out for his tea-parties with wild bears or smth.

So, yes, sometimes the comforting hugs are necessary! And no, none of them ever play up the dramaticness of the situation just to drag out the nice comforting moment They do n o t. That’d be very silly and unnecessary, and will deserve a lot of teasing. So, it’s all serious. Not only for the first couple minutes. Yes.

But If you’re looking for comfort-after-actual-hurt – Bad does have to hold and comfort Skeppy, when the stress of trying to not fuck up the good stuff around him gets too strong. And after the nightmares where they are hated and chased by people. Those dreams do not come often, but when they do, Bad is there to hold Skeppy, whisper in his hair that he is alright, that they’re both alright, and that they can handle everything that’s going on right now.

And Bad himself, well. After leaving the town, his nightmares about the night of the ritual stopped almost completely. They come rarely, only when the anxiety gets really bad. Before, in the forest, Bad had them pretty often. It’s one of the reasons he mostly slept not as himself, but in the minds of the animals.

2) Littering

Bad will not maim someone for not getting a candy wrapper in a trashcan, especially if there are people around. But if someone leaves a big mess in the nature, or even (*gasp*) does it regularly, Bad can and will try and teach them a lesson. As in: pull a cautionary (and probably slightly terrifying) prank on the misbehaving person.

It doesn’t always work out as Bad intended, and may even scare some people off anything relating to nature for good, but, according to Bad, it’s still “a fun and useful little hobby to have :3”.

3) Rat

Rat takes a looong time to warm up to any other animals that infringe on her territory. And Skeppy might be a little shit (and his own rights for Bad are debatable) but he is Rat’s territory still (by approximation from Bad). So, she can gatekeep Skeppy a little bit. Not as much as she does Bad, but the man gotta know his place – Rat comes before other dogs for him too.

4) Tree climbing and strength

Oh, Bad can an will climb down a tree like a full-on creepy creature he is: head down, using only his claws, with Skeppy tucked under one arm. Maybe not even upside down, if Skeppy is lucky, and wasn’t too annoying about wanting to stay up on the tree for the night :D

5) Meeting other spn creatures

Oh, that’s a big question (: Yes, they do meet other cryptids, befriend some, and get in trouble with some, and deal with a handful of new and old spn troubles :D

I always thought that Bad and Skeppy’s life after the main story can make a series of short stories (or one big episodic one) dealing with exactly that: the guys traveling around, meeting other cryptids, learning more about themselves and the world, trying to build a life between human and supernatural crisis going on. Just like In The Dark it can based on the mix between the real life and the minecraft-verse events.

I wanted to focus more on finishing the main story first, though, so these stories are not as sought through, I didn’t even write down any of them yet :D

But if you have more concrete questions, ideas, or suggestions (about a specific person, or a specific thing happening) – write me, I’ll think about it, and how it can work with the theme and worldbuilding I have in mind.

6) Stealing + Protectiveness

Skeppy can sometimes forget about, ahem, moral principles, or human decency… emphasis oh “human”. He’s nature and different worldview it gives, it seeps through in his life and actions even more with age. Especially after he’s been away from actual people for a long while. So, I guess, he might at times steal something that is very important to someone, or do something that could be considered weird or rude in general.

And if Bad really needs something, or is in danger – all rules are down. If there is no one to reality check Skeppy, he might proceed to walk on heads, and commit risky and reckless crimes just to help or save Bad.

They both are quite bad with that, the protecting each other thing. Bad, tho, can be more fiscally violent in his protectiveness.

7) Adrenaline and rollercoasters

Well, it’s not that Bad likes adrenaline specifically, he’s just very curious, likes to try new things, and is almost unkillable. So he can just- just go for everything that’s interesting for him with reckless abandon, and if it goes wrong – welp. Bones can heal limbs can regrow, and the cool abandoned caves will not explore themselves. He’ll have to learn to ease up with lack of selfcare though. Because Bad can’t always leave Skeppy to fend for himself, while he heals, and Skeppy does NOT like seeing Bad getting hurt so much, and not caring about himself at all.

This probably comes back to Bad dealing with his spn nature and learning to make peace between it and himself. And to his anxiety, and unhealthy coping mechanisms.

And hey, it’s the same for Skeppy and his lack of adequate moral compass at times :D

There will be a lot of tension and growing they’d have to do in regards to all this.

Also Skeppy is the one who’s really into chasing the thrills :D Man spent nearly half a year annoying probably-murderous-forest-spirit just for little not-boring fun, jeez :DD

Rollercoasters are a no go, tho. They go up in the air, real high, and, once again, Skeppy and highs do not mix, they do not mingle, they will not have tea parties (with or without bears). Unless, of course, Skeppy really needs to prove something. Then he’ll go on a ride, and die an honorable death, and will never admit he screamed all the way through it.

8) Dates

(*insert an innuendo from Skeppy here*) But, ahm, actually I’d say they love going on picnics: getting food, and hanging around in the nature for a while.

And I honestly donno what I like to think about the most… I just really enjoy the vibe and the atmosphere of the whole story, and how Bad and Skeppy interact in general.

It all is a real delight to write about :D

---

In The Dark - masterpost

[alirans-s]

Now I exist in Ask on TF2 and I will answer questions. Name: Shtern Stolther(Stolzer), 37 age. ______________ Born in Cologne, Germany, Shtern lived a quiet, happy life. Parents were ordinary workers of their own interests. My father worked in a factory, as an electrician, occasionally working as a watchmaker in the shops of the nearest market, and my mother was a connoisseur of high cultures. Also, the future medical worker had a younger sister, with whom in the end his whole life will be tied. The parents paid enough care and attention to both of them, and the children were always interested in what their parents were doing. Young Shtern was always fascinated by his father's work with the clock, but the second father's profession, or what it is associated with, frightened the boy from an early age - electricity. The phobia was built up by itself from watching various movies, articles, and parental warnings about danger. By the age of seventeen, both children became independent, so left to themselves and their surroundings, the brother and sister, who began to get involved in scientific activities, did a lot of things for which they were beaten and punished, almost to the point of arrest, but the most important hooliganism was waiting for both ahead. The prank of teenagers cost the life of the one who came up with everything, despite what happened, a piece of this story in the memory of the teenager burned out, leaving only the consequences of a terrible day. From that moment on, no one else in the family or their mutual friends knew where the younger Stolther had gone. One stern, to this day, hid everything he knew. After a while, the young man reluctantly, but became interested in medicine, nuclear chemistry and electrical engineering, despite the even more raging phobia. No one could understand what this sudden infatuation was connected with. At thirty-five, the guy was able to create their own devices, firmly associated with the restoration of health, but as he claimed, it was not enough. The guy who dropped his hands began to lose any hope, but at the right moment the right person turned up to help him. This same man became his good friend, which sent him to a mercenary organization, but the German did not want to talk about the existence of this person, being a loner for others. Not surprisingly, after a short period of time, all the developments and interested in the Corporation Mann Co., wanting to invite the guy to serve as an engineer, but he insisted on medicine, giving only one argument.

[un-enfant-immature]

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A workshop with Arrive’s CEO, Yona Shtern takes a thought-provoking look at the future of seamless, urban mobility. He’ll discuss what the foundation of a connected city includes and outline the steps needed to get there.

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[mcytagere]

Heck no, you talk about r!Wilbur all you want! Somewhere out there, there's a chart of all the dsmp members faces and all the little red strings lead to Wilbur XD.

Also, sorry for going off track, I'm hyped over shtern-and-art and their In the dark au rn. It's happy duo (the source of the majority of my streamer based joy XD) and it's a cryptid au and I'm gonna burst if I don't babble about it to someone, lmao.

It's so cute despite being about spooky forest spirits and changelings, content warning for stuff associated with cryptids because I mostly get invested in darker aus but this one is pretty sweet so far!! Forest boys for the win!!!

Now back on track XD. Here's a question I think you might like XD. Where do you think r!Wilbur's favourite places to be are and with who?

Also what are your fave things about cc!Wilbur?! I like how smart he is, especially with all his plane knowledge :O

~ ^_^

I think I will talk about r!Wilbur all I want, thank you for the permission dshadgsad. And I honestly have very little idea what you're talking about but your excitement is contagious so thank you for sharing!

And !! Wilbur things!!!!!! Wow wow wow I just like that man a whole lot, but a few of my favorite things that stand out? Okay yeah. List time.

How passionate he gets about the things he fixates on

How unapologetic he is about himself, especially because he has issues with social anxiety

How good he is with people in general, and how well he can get along and make good content with just about anyone he works with

How he's so good about asserting his boundaries without being mean about it

His hair

His face

His aesthetic

Oh my god he's so pretty

His gender

Wilbur

[petrichorate]

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union: Thoughts

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union (Michael Chabon)

Chabon is really great at writing descriptions. So great that he often describes the same scene or object in three or four different ways before moving on—his images are beautiful, but I equate it to something like eating too much candy. 

I personally didn’t really like this book, even though the premise is really interesting—it’s an alternate reality novel, set in a Sitka, Alaska which has turned into a haven for Jewish refugees. While Sitka sits on the verge of “Reversion,” which threatens the residency of its inhabitants, detective Meyer Landsman sets out on a new homicide case which exposes far more than he initially expected. But I felt that the plot didn’t move fast enough for me—even though almost every scene eventually fit a new piece of the puzzle into the crime case, I just didn’t feel a strong connection with the characters or story. I chalk some of this up to personal preference, since the others I read this book with really enjoyed both the plot and the writing style. I prefer novels that intertwine narrative and some deeper message about human nature, and I felt like that type of more profound inquiry was lacking for me in The Yiddish Policemen’s Union. 

While the quotes I picked out from this book are not as representative of experiences that really spoke to me, there were some notable descriptions that I wanted to remember: 

“An old man, pushing himself like a rickety handcart, weaves a course toward the door of the hotel.”

“They shake hands again. This conversation is the equivalent of Landsman’s kissing the mezuzah, the kind of thing that starts out as a joke and ends up as a strap to hang on to.”

“Brennan studied German in college and learned his Yiddish from some pompous old German at the Institute, and he talks, somebody once remarked, ‘like a sausage recipe with footnotes.’”

“Then he holds out his hand to be sniffed. The dog clambers back into a sitting position and reads with his nose the transcript of the back of Berko’s hand, babies and waffles and the interior of a 1971 Super Sport.”

An example of, I think, too many comparisons in one paragraph: “The shammeses have interrupted their game in its dense middle stages with the Russian, playing White, holding an unassailable knight outpost. The men are still caught up in their game, the way a pair of mountains gets caught up in a whiteout. Their natural impulse is to treat the detectives with abstract contempt they reserve for all kibitzers. Landsman wonders if he and Berko ought to wait until the players have finished and then try again. But there are other games in progress, other players to question. Around the old ballroom, legs scratch the linoleum like fingernails on a chalkboard. Chessmen click like the cylinder turning in Melekh Gaystik’s .38. The men—there are no women here—play by means of steadily hectoring their opponents with self-aspersions, chilly laughter, whistling, harumphs.”

“The red-rimmed eyes widen. Wonder mingles with horror as Mr. Litvak intensifies his study of Landsman, searching for some proof of this unlikely claim. He turns a page in his pad and pronounces his findings in the matter. Impossible No way Meyerle Landsman could be such a lumpy old sack of onions ‘Afraid so,’ Landsman says. What are you doing here terrible chess player ‘I was only a kid,’ Landsman says, horrified to detect a creak of self-pity in his tone.”

“Rabbi Heskel Shpilman is a deformed mountain, a giant ruined dessert, a cartoon house with the windows shut and the sink left running. A little kid lumped him together, a mob of kids, blind orphans who never laid eyes on a man. They clumped the dough of his arms and legs to the dough of his body, then jammed his head down on top. A millionaire could cover a Rolls-Royce with the fine black silk-and-velvet expanse of the rebbe’s frock coat and trousers. It would require the brain strength of the eighteen greatest sages in history to reason through the arguments against and in favor of classifying the rebbe’s massive bottom as either a creature of the deep, a man-made structure, or an unavoidable act of God. If he stands up, or if he sits down, it doesn’t make any difference in what you see.”

“‘Mendel had a remarkable nature as a boy. I’m not talking about miracles. Miracles are a burden for a tzaddik, not the proof of one. Miracles prove nothing except to those whose faith is bought very cheap, sir.’”

“Landsman watches her walk across the dining area to the doors of the Polar-Shtern Kafeteria. He bets himself a dollar that she won’t look back at him before she puts up her hood and steps out into the snow. But he’s a charitable man, and it was a sucker bet, and so he never bothers to collect.”

“The Granite Creek Big Macher outlet died about two years ago. Its doors are chained and along its windowless flank where Yiddish and Roman characters once spelled out the name of the store, there is only a cryptic series of holes, domino pips, a braille of failure.”

“Then Batsheva Shpilman lifts her veil. The body is frail, perhaps even gaunt, but it can’t be with age, because the fine-featured face, though hollow, is smooth, a pleasure to look at. She has wide-set eyes of a blue that wavers between heartbreaking and fatal. Her mouth is unpainted but full and red. The nostrils in her long, straight nose arch like a pair of wings. Her face is so strong and lovely, and her frame so wasted, that it’s disturbing to look at her. Her head sits atop her veined throat like an alien parasite, preying on her body.”

“‘Go on. Nu. Your son was shot. In a way that— Well, to be frank, ma’am, he was executed.’ Landsman is glad for the veil when he pronounces that word. ‘Who by, that we can’t say. We’ve learned that some men, two or three men, were looking for Mendel, asking around. These men might not have been very nice. That was a few months back. We know he was using heroin when he died. So, at the end, he felt nothing. No pain, I mean.’ ‘Nothing, you mean,’ she corrects him. Two blots, blacker than black silk, spread across the vail. ‘Go on.’”

A really strange comparison: “Her hair is the colorless color of a sheet of foil under a wan light.”

“Spiro’s tone is not quite pitying but prepared to turn that way if necessary.”

“His voice seems to spend too long bouncing around in his chest before it emerges. The words come out thick, poured with a slow ladle.”

“The wastebasket is a thing for children, blue and yellow with a cartoon dog cavorting in a field of daisies. Landsman stares at it for a long time, thinking about nothing, thinking about children’s garbage and dogs in cartoons. The obscure unease that Pluto has always inspired, a dog owned by a mouse, daily confronted with the mutational horror of Goofy.”

“Landsman considers the things that remain his to lose: a porkpie hat. A travel chess set and a Polaroid picture of a dead messiah. A boundary map of Sitka, profane, ad hoc, encyclopedic, crime scenes and low dives and chokeberry brambles, printed on the tangles of his brain. Winter fog that blankets the heart, summer afternoons that stretch endless as arguments among Jews. Ghosts of Imperial Russia traced in the onion dome of St. Michael’s Cathedral, and of Warsaw in the rocking and sawing of a café violinist. Canals, fishing boats, islands, stray dogs, canneries, dairy restaurants. The neon marquee of the Baranof Theatre reflected on wet asphalt, colors running like watercolor as you come out of a showing of Welles’s Heart of Darkness, which you have just seen for the third time, with the girl of your dreams on your arm.”

[shtern-and-art]

"Skeppy will probably cry" "Bad will probably cry". Bish, screw, that I am crying!!!

This whole thing was bloody gorgeous and I wasn't expecting that ending. I had no clue what ending to expect but that was definitely better than any I could have hoped for. Forest spirit to soulmate your honour!

I was terrified that you were gonna leave it at the point where he loses the spirit and becomes mortal again. If you had I would be actively sobbing!!!! And oh my god, the art!!! I still can't get over how wonderful your style is.

Imma ask fun things because if I don't I'll sit in a puddle of emotion all night:

What's the first tech thing Bad will buy and how annoying will he be about it? Poor Skeppy trying to answer 101 questions about something he doesn't really use XD.

Is no one concerned that the odd couple from a town they never name has a pet wolf??

Do they immediately go over to a different town or do they wander for a while. Find hidden creeks and befriend bears?

Does Bad still have a connection to nature and animals, like are creatures naturally more trusting of him?

Do they ever visit the og town again?

Does Skeppy still cause absolute chaos in other towns or has he learnt his lesson and only causes minor trouble now?

Does Bad ever try and study again? If he did what would he study and would Skeppy try to study as well?

Does Skeppy steal? I dunno, he just give off the vibe of a naughty lil trickster who'll pocket something if the owner refuses to sell it him.

Immediately after leaving the forest what the first 'argument' they have (not including the car one)?

Would they ever ride horse? If yes, how terrified would Skeppy be?

Skeppy falls outta tree. I don't know why but my mind keeps telling me that this man has great balance until he climbs trees. They are his mortal enemy and Bad finds this both hilarious and terrifying because he is going to hurt himself.

I had waaaaay more questions than I intended to have. My bad '^_^ but this story was way too much fun to read and you are entirely to blame for making it so engaging!

Make sure to take care of yourself and do stretches after and during drawing. You don't wanna hurt yourself <3

AaaaI’m so glad you liked it! :D And, dang, man, I cried while writing that part too :D

And I promised a nice ending for the main story, I did, and this one also makes the most sense narratively! For the story I wanted to tell, at least. Bad can’t really become human again, he’s changed to much. He can only move on, and do something with what he is, and has. And he did! :D That’s really nice and inspiring, this story will always have a place in my heart, heheh <3

Being a guardian spirit connected to a person and all, Bad may be not as strong as before, but he can’t die unless Skeppy dies first. And Skeppy can do that, but he’s pretty sturdy, and his lifespan operates on a whole other scale than human ones. And Bad knowing Skeppy’s real name balances it all out, makes them equal in the power and influence they have over each other.

So hellyeah, soulmates for the win :DDD

I’ll answer all questions under the cut, and this close up from one of the pages!

1) What's the first tech thing Bad will buy and how annoying will he be about it?

Probably a pager! Because it’s a more feasible thing to get than a wholeass computer Bad actually wanted :D An it means Skeppy will have to get one too, and that Bad will be having the time of his life texting him and everyone he can get a number from, even if they’re still in the room with him.

Poor Skeppy indeed, he can learn to appreciate the pagers, and later phones, too, and computers, but he really has 0 idea on how it all works and why Bad is so fascinated by it all.

2) Rat and regular people

Oh, she can shapeshift, just like Bad! If they’re out with people around, she takes form of a puppy, and Bad can pass her off as a weird mix breed rescue doggo.

3) Do they immediately go over to a different town or do they wander for a while?

Oh, since they have no end destination in mind, they can ride around for a bit, go visit some cool places and roadside attractions. Sadly, Skeppy is probably not spiritually or morally ready to full on befriend wild bears yet, and they do need money for gas and snacks. So, at some point they will have to stop somewhere and find work – at least for a bit, to save up. Life’s gonna be a bit complicated with all that, until Skeppy figures out his treasure-finding abilities :DD

4) Bad and nature and animals

He is definitely still in tune with all wildlife! Even more – Bad could become a proper guardian spirit for Skeppy in part because, in a way, Skeppy himself is part of the nature.

So yeah, Bad can understand animals (and plants) and communicate with them; they’re just more free to not take his shit, and Bad’s emotions do not “possess” them unless he makes an effort to do so.

He doesn’t like doing it, tho.

5) Do they ever visit the og town again?

Hm, I think they will completely forget about it for a while, until, like, 30+ years later they will be going somewhere, and find themselves around those parts. And they try to not appear too often in the areas they’ve spent a lot of time in already (they can be pretty recognizable, and also barely show signs of aging). But it’s been a long time, and the town’s really different now… So they make a stop, and spend a day there. They walk the unfamiliar streets between the new buildings, check out the popular hiking trail, the advertisements for hot springs and winter activities. The old cinema is still there, and is hosting an all-night marathon of classic horror movies of the last century.

Bad and Skeppy leave the town after sunset – the day was nice, but they have nothing more to do there. They ride through the forest on a well paved road, with radio playing something barely above the whisper. And in the dark of hot summer night, Bad can see the white stag running between the trees alongside their car. Shadows dance over the shimmering light of it’s fur.

Somewhere after the towns border, the stag disappears back in the forest. But the air in the car stays light and fresh, saving the smell of old pines and dry leaves all though the night.

6) Skeppy and chaos

Well, after the whole mess in the main story, Skeppy definitely learned some lessons, especially about not being a dick :D

But the thing is – he can’t really help the fact that things tend to stir up around him a lot. He naturally brings in chaos into everything, because he is, in part, a personification, or an outlet for it in the world. And so, to feel, well and good, and himself Skeppy gotta do stuff that disrupts balance, and creates some mayhem. And in gave him a lot of trouble in early life, but in the course of the main story he learned that he can chose were he lets that chaos to take hold, learned what can come of that chaos, apart from utter misery.

Like, where it can help dismantle something destructive, and where – bring in the more positive change, that was already brewing, possible, but is stagnant for some reason.

Soooo, I can’t say Skeppy causes only minor chaos in his life, but he sure learns even more about not being a dick :DDDD

7) The studying

I think Bad will want to get a higher education at some point, because he wanted to, and because it’s already new millennia and all that. Bet he’ll go for something very technical and/or literature. Maybe he’ll start by piking up some classes in small time colleges, when they stop in one place for a while, and later get into an online program, because why not.

Skeppy is not a college guy at all. He’ll listen to Bad talk about it, read textbooks if he wants to, can research stuff, buuut going to classes and doing homework is definitely not his thing.

8) Stealing

Well, you’re right, Skeppy can and will steal stuff out of spite! And will be scolded by Bad for it, and will not feel (that) sorry about it. But real stealer between them will be Bad himself :D

It’s just… he has the corvid tendencies, and a hoard (a box) of sentimental mementos from different people and events, and the thrill of stealing something small and harmless is very exciting. Bad is very proud of his little collection. Skeppy finds it very adorable, a bit hypocritical, and kinda creepy. Like, that pretty box he gifted Bad at some point is now full of stuff like:

- pressed flower from the clearing they had a picnic at on their anniversary

- the button the waitress lost that one day the storm caused a black out in the whole town

- some small animal bones

- couple pretty rocks Bad stole from Skeppy’s pockets

- penny that was once glued to the ground

- a handful of teeth people (and not people) lost in fights with Bad

- pen from some fancy hotel

- rainbow dash keychain that belonged to a child

- the list goes on

9) Argument

Oh, that same day they’ll fight over whether they should stay at the really crappy and suspicious looking motel, or go sleep in a perfectly fine forest near the road. Ironically, Bad wanted to try out the motel (because, yay, first time spending the night back in civilization), and Skeppy was the one insisting on sleeping in nature (because the motel looks like it could give you 10 diseases if you even stand near it, and sleeping in the forest is kind of nice, and means they can cuddle).

10) Horses

The guys will probably ride them at some point. Well, Bad will ride, and Skeppy will sit on his horse and hope it knows what to do and where to go, because trying to make this giant thing do something seems dangerous. If they’ll have to actually go somewhere fast, Skeppy will not survive that day, his butt (and legs) will be dead for days to come.

And riding with Bad on one horse may sound romantic and nice, but all romance dies when the gallop starts.

F.

11) Skeppy and climbing

Skeppy is more down to earth kind of guy, more of a “rocks and caves” kind of creature, real-life lizard person or something. Up on the trees and in the air – not really his element, yeah. But it doesn’t mean that Skeppy will accept this fact easy. The embarrassment of never managing to safely make it down a tree is too strong, he just has to do it all over again, and again. And again. Because, clearly, he was distracted this time. And the time before that Bad was teasing him, and it “disrupted his flow”. And, really, maybe these trees here just do not like Skeppy much, and make him slip a lot. Yeah.

So, more often than not, if Skeppy climbs a tree, he will not stop climbing it until he falls, or the tree ends. Bad had to take him off high branches couple times, forcefully, because, of course, Skeppy was sitting there for 2 hours just to properly enjoy the sunset. He can climb down at any point, he just Choses not to. The view is amazing. The bark is literally part of his skin now, not because he holds on tight, no, he’s just Than Much one with the nature )<

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Don’t apologize for the questions! It’s always so fun to answer them, and it makes me think more about stuff I may have skipped, or didn’t think about before. It’s really nice :3c

Again, thank you for the ask, and for being here for this story! <3

(And I’ll try setting timers for rest breaks while I draw, mb that will help)

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Back again with more questions about the au!! XD

And don't worry, we all love your long responses!! The more you say about the au the more interesting it becomes :D

Do Skeppy and Bad need to eat? If so, do they have favourite foods and can they cook?

Does Skeppy have pets of any sort? Does he like animals or have any that he particularly fears? I find the idea of Bad comforting him after a not so nice encounter super cute!

It's pretty obvious they hate the littering teens but what about little kids. Does Bad often lure then deep into the forest to see all the prettiest flowers and cute animals? Has he ever tried to adopt one before realising that wouldn't be a very good idea.

Does Skeppy get defensive about the forrst when he's in the town, like cutting off people who try to say it's a horrible place, or is he good at controlling his emotions?

Do either of them actually need sleep or is it just for fun (or in Bad's case a way to pass time). Does Skeppy ever sneak into the forest depths to nap alongside Bad? Is Skeppy considered short by humans? I assume Bad teases him for being tiny since he's pretty damn tall/large (defending on form) himself.

Also do you have a favourite animal? N who's your favourite to draw in this au?!

Once again, so many questions '>_<. I always look forward to updates for in the dark, all the extra bits are so cool to learn about! I'll probs have even more after a while too haha. Hope you have a great day!! <3

Oh, that's a relief! Gonna ramble freely now :D

And, yes, hello, the questions! (with doodles now!)

1) Food.

Bad doesn't really need rest or nourishment (his health is connected to the forest), but he indulges in both. Sleep, yes, he uses to pass the time (or have dreams, for the heck of it). And the desire to get food or hunt is part of the instincts leftover from all the times he connected to the forest animals for a long time. Desire to eat food though is purely his own, as a person and not a spn creature :D

Back when he was a human, he could cook pretty good, and I bet his favorites were pastries and steak. Nowadays, in the forest, he can eat meat pretty much any day, raw or otherwise. So, after being awake and coherent for long enough time, and reconnecting with himself a bit, Bad will miss eating baked stuff way more than any other food.

And, yes, getting fresh muffins is one of the reasons/leverages Skeppy might try to lure Bad to hang out in the town.

Rat eats and sleeps too, but Bad isn't sure if she does it out of necessity or habit.

Skeppy, oh, he is one of those people who can burn water. In part, the blame goes to his nature - or his lack of control over it - chaos inducing tendencies do not go well with following recipes.

Which is unfortunate, seeing how he does need to eat, and sleep, and so on. Sure, he can last way longer without any of those things than a human would, but he still needs them to survive.

So, his favorite food is pizza, and all home-cooked meals stayed in the past, when Skeppy still lived with his family.

2) Sleep.

So, yes, Skeppy needs to sleep! But I'd say he will not go out to the forest at night for it. Not at first, at least.

First time, he just stayed out for a long time, very far back from the forest's edge. And the forest is so dark, it’s hard to judge the time in it at evening hours… By the time Skeppy noticed that it got very late, the whole journey back would’ve taken him too long to get a good rest at home. But, really, he didn’t have to make it. Nothing in these woods would hurt him, as long as Bad is around, and he’s… here, Bad’s around. And he knows the best moss-covered nooks between the roots, and is very, very warm all the time, and is kinda worrying anyway… Bad knows his woods are safe for Skeppy, but he doesn’t want him going around town at night when Skeppy is distracted and tired.

And this is how the first sleepover happens: with Skeppy declaring he’s stealing Bad’s cape to burrito himself in for the night, and (after the pretend-fight about it), doing so while Bad is still wearing it. It turns out for the better though, because the cape is not that warm, even if cozy, but Bad very much is. Enough to sleep nicely through the night, and dream of the vastness of the forest, the quiet peace of earth underneath, and of the tree branches reaching for the sky, to pass on the wishes tied to them further.

Bad doesn’t sleep that night, just watches over the snoring cape-caterpillar snuggled to his side (in a very not-creepy way, oh no). He puts some old dry leaves in Skeppy’s hair to make fun of him in the morning, and totally doesn’t scare him, when Skeppy half-wakes up early in the morning to a glowing milky white eyes of not really human looking Bad staring right at him.

Next time Skeppy stayed out in the forest for too long, and had to spend the night, he maybe did it almost kinda half consciously on purpose. Because he wasn’t sleeping well, and the loneliness and the stress of life were getting to him a bit, and. He is very much touch starved. And the dreams he had in the forest last time were pretty nice too. Like resting so close to Bad let Skeppy feel what he feels, perhaps? Anyway. It was nice. But he couldn’t just ask for stuff like that right upfront then, so the shame and creativeness lead his way.

At some point he will ask to sleep near Bad upfront, though (:

3) Kids.

Oh, little kids Bad doesn't mind. Also he remembers too much about being human to lure kids away, or think having one at the forest will be a good idea :D I'd say, if some little kid gets away from their parents or a common walking path, Bad could lead them back instead. Send them to chase after a bunny or a pretty butterfly, leading the child back to safety.

Bad never shows himself to the kids, and there is a bit of self-deprecation in this. Just like there is a bit of kindness in the way he treats people, despite always showing how angry and done he is with them.

That is a weird, interesting contradiction Skeppy is very fascinated with.

4) Height.

Skeppy is short by human standards :D And his less human form is even shorter, so Bad absolutely makes fun of him for that. Oh, I'm sorry "lightly teases him, with no mean intent to it at all" (c) Bad, smiling with all his long, sharp teeth

5) Skeppy and the townsfolk.

After knowing Bad for a while, knowing how Bad sees the forest, and how, despite his anger, Bad still can't help but watch out for some people of the town too... Yes, with all that, Skeppy will find himself getting angry at times over people bad-mouthing the forest.

But he can't really talk back here. After all, it was him, and his mischief that reawakened old rumors, old fears, made people more paranoid about the forest than they were before.

Skeppy's little pranks took hold, and him being in town and going around the forest doesn't let people forget how scary and dangerous this place can be.

So yeah, before he lets himself properly call out someone about being mean to the forest, Skeppy gotta face all that. Fun times :D

6) Favorite animal and fav. character to draw.

I think I like to draw Bad more, because he can shapeshift, and the horns/branches are fun to twist around :D But I liked doing Skeppy's reality breaking effects too!

And idk if I can pick one favorite animal :D I just really like snakes, cats, orcas, and all corvids.

Thank you, this ask really made my day! Even if it took me a bit to answer it XD

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Alfhfkdpgn that comic gave me forest boys brain XD.

Skeppy makes Bad mad n after he's jus minding his business in the forest but he swears the animals are mocking him XD. He doesn't think much of it until he snaps his head round the next time he sees one and catches a dear on two legs imitating an exaggerated version of his walk, lmao.

Does Bad have a favourite animal in the forest? I was jus thinking about him being really fond of a little wolf cub n calling it Rat (hehe) and she keeps tormenting Skeppy whenever he's around.

This comic/story makes me so happy :D. When Bad and Skeppy become friends, do they pull kinder pranks on each other? I know Skeppy used to put up things that made Bad mad but does he change that after befriending him?

Ooooooo. Do they get each other gifts? Sorry for all the questions, it's just so much fun to think about!!! Loving everything about it so far!! <3

Aaaaah forest boys, yesyesss, that’s what they are :DDD And don’t worry, thank you for the questions! It’s so cool to see people are interested in this story! It’s me here who’s worried that my answers are always so long, cuz I like to talk about all of this too :D

Anyways! Animals definitely act up on Bad’s behalf, they respond to his mood, and he can even control their behavior a bit! So, yeah, Skeppy gets harassed by snappy birds and rude racoons if Bad is upset with him.

But, dang, the deer encounter straight up murdered me, I just had to do a little comic about it :D It’s about the pranks too, I'm gonna publish it a bit later!

Here's a sneak peek for now:

See under the cut for the stuff about Rat and the gifts!

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About Rat: she’s there, and even plot relevant! :D It’s good that you reminded me about it, I gotta add more about her the next story notes post.

To put it shortly – she is the previous “host” of the spirit of the forest! She was a normal wolf (a wolf puppy) many, many years ago, but becoming one with the will of this specific forest turns you color scheme white/black. So she was guarding this lands long before Bad came around. Due to this, Rat is smarter that a normal wolf, but she still is mostly an animal.

She somehow survived the Lead Up and The Incident, when the will of the Forest latched on Bad, and she’s still hanging around, watching over him from semi-distance. Also she can still shapeshift into various sizes and species, and has some other spn-traits and abilities she can use to torment Skeppy :D

Bad is not sure why she’s still around, not dissolved in the forest life, like she should’ve. And why she insistently keeps him company sometimes. Maybe, disappearing takes a long time? Maybe, she just got attached, because he helped her – small, weak, and awkward like a baby rat – after the whole forest spirit switching happened? Or there is something more to it? (there is something more to it, oh yesss :DDD)

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And oh, the gifts, yes, I thought about that! Both Bad and Skeppy are quite awkward with that at first, because, like, what can they even give each other, apart from the company? What do they have, that the other might want? They do lead quite different lives. But at the very core they’re still similar, and desire to share something, and brighten the others day in return is there. So, Bad shows Skeppy all the secret places in the forest – hidden springs, and little caves under tree roots, places people have trouble getting to, or maybe don’t even know about. At some point, Bad starts leaving Skeppy little pretty trinkets and lost jewelry he found – shiny and semi valuable things people lost in the woods over the years. Just like a crow :D

And Skeppy gathers the litter in the woods – broken glass from beer and vine bottles, little scraps of metal and rocks he found lying around… And makes improvised windchimes out of them, and hangs them near the clearings deep in the woods. They strum gentle melodies over the rustling of leaves, and reflect stray sun bunnies to the places where, usually, the light can barely reach. They remind Bad of Skeppy a lot.

It’s like a piece of him is always there, even if Skeppy himself is away in the town – working or hanging out.

After a while, the new rumors spread in the town. That sometimes, if you walk alone in the deeper parts of the forest, you might hear distant, beautiful melodies flowing with the gusts of wind; and see bright, impossible lights changing shapes, dancing between the trees. People who try following them inevitably get lost, of course.

With Skeppy around, and with him and Bad getting closer, the woods become weirder… in a scary way, yes. But in a beautiful, slightly melancholic way too.

Also Skeppy definitely buys Bad new cassettes and batteries for his music player :DD

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Please Cryptid AU. Love it so much omg!!! An explanation would be awesome, I have so many questions.

Like what are Bad and Skeppy? Did Skeppy do something wrong or is he just trespassing?

No bad blood between the creatures. Is that some sort of moral code of this world?

Did Bad not know that Skeppy was a cryptid or did he just think he was too weak to fight him?

Is there a story to this? Do they eventually become friends???

My head is racing with ideas. Your art is gorgeous and you idea is fantastic!!!

Oh, wow, wow, thank you, your ask made my day :DD <3

I’ll try answering everything under the cut! (and the un-cut panels from the comic)

Bad is a forest guardian type of thing.

And Skeppy is new in town :D that sits near Bad’s forest. And he’s, well. A changeling. So, he is somewhere on the trickster-fae spectrum. Skeppy himself doesn't know where for sure. Because, see, changelings get brought up by people, and spend a lot of time near them. And some of the other (older and creepier) spn creatures may consider them too insignificant, annoying, and human-like to be a “proper” cryptid.

Skeppy messing around with local people and wildlife in the forest landed him in hot water with Bad, who just wanted to chill in his woods alone :D Big-league creatures generally try to stay out of each other’s way in this world, unless their abilities/areas of influence overlap. So Bad had his right to run Skeppy off his property.

And Skeppy trying to play “we’re the same u an I uwu” card couldn’t work, mostly because he’s “too human” and Bad is too pissed :DDD

But Skeppy probably knew all that, and just wanted to buy himself some time to create a distraction and bolt.

And, yeah, there is a story to this! C:

I wrote backgrounds/character arcs on both Skeppy and Bad, and an outline for the story waaay back at autumn (and yes, they do become closer in it, heheh). Most likely I will not be able to do it all in form of a comic, tho. And idk if my english will be good enough to write a proper fic.

BUT I still want to share more about this story. So, if you, and others want it too, I can translate and post the notes I have, throw in some illustrations mb :3 I will probably do more art for this story, too, if I have the time.

So, yeah, if you have more questions – my askbox is open! :D

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Does Bad have any animalistic character traits from seeing through animals for so long? Like purring or hissing kinda stuff?

N what will happen when Skeppy has to leave the town because they start to clue in on his nature? Will he move into the forest with Bad?

He definitely got a bunch of animal-like behaviors from that, yeah! Not only cute one like noises, but also teeth baring, and staring down, and eating weird stuff, and stealing little stuff for his hoards :D (I want to do a concept design sheet of Bad later, to explain little details like that)

He'll need to get used to properly talking and behaving around people again, for sure. If he wants to go out of forest sometimes that is :D

Plot twist, he kinda does. And Skeppy messing stuff up in town (and everywhere he goes), and his need to move around are part of the plot! Because they do get attached to each other, and also begin to understand that they want more in life than what they have. But as of now – Bad can't go too far away from the forest, and Skeppy can't really stay at one place for too long.

My main idea was that (SPOILERS and different endings under the cut)

at the end they both move out of that town, and go on traveling together. At least that’s where this specific story wraps up :D

But, from the very start, in my head this story shaped up like a perfect one for a visual novel style game with a bunch of endings, depending on your choices (with Skeppy as the main character, oh g-d). A lot of the endings would be sad, bittersweet, or tragic, cuz. Yeah :D

And one of the endings might as well be the one where Skeppy lets a lot of his humanity and care for people slip away, and stays in the forest, becoming a proper fae. More an immortal personified force of change and nature, than a person. He can still hang out with Bad, though! In this ending Bad lets his past and his pain go, and becomes a proper guardian of that land – more of a patron saint or a demigod than a living being.

They’d care for the forest and the land together for hundreds of years, until the time will wash away all the traces of this place and who they were in it. And then they’d move on to guard and protect something else.

I’d say this ending is one of the brighter ones, even if it’s still bittersweet. After all, they both will still lose a parts of themselves, and a lot of the stuff they strived for and wanted will loose it’s importance to them. But well. It’s still a valid choice they can make. A way for them to move on!

And this ending is more fun than the one where Skeppy still goes full fae, but Bad decides to forgo the whole “consciousness/personality thing” completely and strait up becomes one with the forest :D In that case Skeppy will stay in town and in the forest for hundred something years, just to watch over it – for Bad. He’ll stay until the last traces of Bad’s presence are gone, lost amongst the flow of life, and stags stop coming out of the woods, unafraid, to follow him near the old trails. After that, Skeppy will move on to wherever he will want to cause chaos next in his long, long life.

He will still come visit the forest from time to time – to say hi, and help it out, and tie a wishing charm to the branch. And eventually Skeppy will find happiness and chaotic fulfillment in his fae life, yeah…

But it’s not a game, it’s a story, so all the extra endings are not canon! :D Phew, amiright? :DDDD

Sorry, if I bummed you out, I didn’t mean to <3 Rest assured, the main ending I chose for the story is not a tragic one! It’s just, talking about other outcomes and game elements is so fun, I can’t help but swivel away to it sometimes.

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Awwww. The Skeppy burrito drawing was so cute! Look at him being all soft XD.

As promised I have even more questions hahah XD. Not so many this time because I'm kinda tired.

Do they ever hug at some point, more likely in the future when they know each other better? As in, does Skeppy's touch starved life get the better of him at some point and he just reaches to cuddle Bad on a particularly exhausting day?

And Bad in the town!!! Ooooh. Does he like visiting the town or does it bring back bad memories? N does he remember anyone there or is he much older than he looks and everyone's passed on? :(

Final one! :D Can Skeppy bring out any of Bad's more animalistic natures? I'm not sure when this is set so I don't think laser pointers/torches (flashlights I think others call em) exist but is he able to make Bad chase things? Or (I don't know if you've ever put a bell on a cat's tail and watched em jump about after it haha) but does tying bells to Bad's antlers make him react?

You have no clue how excited I get when I get the notif that you've posted! <3

Eheheh :3c

Skeppy: *snoring like hoard of zombies* Bad: adorable :3 *puts more dirt and leaves in his hair*

And, oh, yeah, they’ll definitely get to hugs-territory at some point! After they started to become friends, especially after Bad told Skeppy about his past, the trust between them grew, and so did the ease of the casual touching. Sleepover cuddles will be a thing for sure!

And there will be more about this AND the multiple visits to the town in the next story post, this is part of the plot and all. That’s actually why it took me so long to answer this ask (so sorry for that =c=) – I wanted to finish translating and prettying up all my notes to see what details will definitely go in the main post. And I finished it all yesterday! Aaaand there’s a lot of text :DDDD Here’s a sneak peek in my Word:

First post was a bit over 2k words. The rest of the text is 6.5k, idk if I’ll be able to fit it all in one post with pictures, will see. But this is everything, with flashback to Bad’s past, and the ending, and all.

I still didn’t go in all of the details, so, if after reading the whole thing you’ll still have specific questions about the visits to the town, I’ll gladly fill in the blanks. And you can keep asking about everything, while I prepare the big post, and if it’s something that I didn’t go in depth about in the notes, I will try my best to answer (:

Oh, and about the last part of your ask:

The story is set in the second part of the 90s, so laser pointers are already a thing. BUT they were invented somewhere in the 60-70s, so Bad, who stared living in the woods in the 50s, probably had no idea they exist. Skeppy definitely used this fact to his advantage for light trolling, hiding in the brush and making Bad scramble around, wondering what this little light is.

But this was more confusion and curiosity, than a roper hunt, I’d say. Rat though, Rat would hunt for the Elusive Red Light Of Doom a little bit to intensely. After couple sturdy trees fell victim to her trying to destroy The Offensive Dot, and Bad had to dig Skeppy up from under those trees, and pull a bunch of splinters from Rat’s gums… laser pointers were banned in the forest, permitted to use only in case of emergencies.

And you can tie stuff on Bad’s horns, but there’s a big chance it will fall off or disappear at some point. His horns always change shape, and the ribbons on them are the wishing charms people tie on the branches, like, exactly the ones people tied to the trees recently or in the past. They’re like little contracts for small wishes and protection people ask for from the forest.

So tying something directly on Bad’s horn will be a pretty intimate action, and may result in some unexpected wish fulfilment :DDD

If you want to see more instinctive (and cute) animalistic traits Bad shows around Skeppy, well. I’d say it happens more often when Bad just woke up from a nap; a normal proper nap, not the one where he stops being himself. Sleepy Bad can play with Skeppy’s hoodie strings, or lazily catch dry leaves falling from the trees, or hide in the piles of them to be sneaky. He’s a real delight :D

I’m really glad that you enjoy this story! It’s always a good day when I get a new ask, and my head starts swarming with all the new things I can share about it all.

Sorry again for taking so long to answer, hope you’re having a nice day too <3

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Connecticut? Like the place? I'm a bit confused but I absolutely adore the designs 😍

Thank you! <3

And yeah, like the place! :D Connecticut Clark is from there, and his and Malfina's story is a perfect fit for Skeppy and Bad :'D

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I would say you're wrong but my mother raised me not to lie XD

He doesn't even hide it at this point :'D

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Omg!!!!! The story translation is so good!! It's so much fun to see how they became friends and you better believe that I'm hyped for the second part! :D The drawings on the pages were also so nice to look at whilst you read.

I'm jus thinking about the wood logger going deeper into the woods for the better trees and just getting punted by Bad and Skeppy XD.

Love your work so much!!!, <3

AAAaaa a a :DD I am so glad to hear that, thank you! <3<3<3

And yes, something like that definitely happened at some point!

I'd say usually the two of them don't do too much bodily harm to the people they play with, mostly they just scare and confuse them. But Skeppy might or might not have noticed that Bad can be especially weird and moody if they encounter stray wood loggers specifically. He didn't press Bad about it too much tho, especially at the start of their cautious friendship.

After all, Bad is the forest spirit or something. Forests probably do not like people with axes and buzzsaws too much. And also, if you pry too much without caution, Bad can become pretty scary, - or worse! - disappear for days to sulk, and nap in the shadows.

Alternatively: in this episode Skeppy Takes Note and learns some boundaries :D

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Akdhflf. That bonus page gives off such a specific vibe XD. I can almost picture Bad poking Skeppy with a long stick like "Hey, you dead?".

On another note, the way you blend your colours is so satisfying. It gives off an almost chalky kind of vibe whilst still giving a smooth blended feel. So nice!!

*chalky/watercolour kinda vibe.

Sorry, jus wanted to correct myself XD

Aaaah!!! I figured it out. Your colouring style kinda reminds me of tv static if it was smooth and soft. Full of lots of finer details and colours that make one main picture!! It's really relaxing to look at!!

Sorry for all the ask edits, it sometimes takes me a few attempts to figure out what I'm trying to say '-_-

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Oh, it’s ok! I understand, I’m like this myself: getting additional thought after additional thoughts, and so on. That’s why I always ramble so much 9-9/

You’ve got me there with the additional page, that’s exactly what I was thinking about while sketching it! :DD

And thank youuu, so nice to hear you like how the drawings look! <33

Though, full disclosure: in my IND posts I actually painted only the cow in the last comic (semi-successfully, tbh), the flowers in the first story post (cuz I like flowers and I got carried away), and the human faces. The rest of the drawings are flat color + shadows and reflexes + different gradients.

about my drawing process + an example under the cut!

The grainy watercolor look comes from the texture I use as an overlay – it’s literally the “watercolor texture” I found veeeery long ago :D I like it a lot, and use it almost on all of my drawings. It gives everything this purple-blue hue and the feeling of watercolor paper, so even the flat plains of color look more interesting and deep.

Here’s the example:

Usually drawing takes me a long time, and I have a lot of ideas, so to not drown in everything, I always look for the ways to make the prosses faster, while still making it all look interesting and nice.

I play around with textures and overlays a lot (especially for the fabrics/backgrounds) but in the latest drawings I stuck with my minimal requirement – that one texture for the whole drawing. It does save time, but the distinct stile/consistent color palette for the story is also a bonus :D

Heh, hope this little inside look on my drawing prosses was interesting (: