user-kanra

[user-kanra]

I’m so excited to finally share the piece I wrote for @sthbigbang, a backstory exploration/character study for Rouge! The first two chapters are up now, and the rest will be released over the next couple weeks.  Go check out the wonderful art by @couch-house here and @draykin2 here, their pieces both turned out AMAZING. I also wanna thank @catboygirling who helped beta read! You guys were all super patient and great to work with :)

[user-kanra]

Snowglobe

[user-kanra]

time to get out of the pool!

[cleaned up this snippet as a fluffy warm-up!]

It was a hot summer day. The public pool was absolutely packed---the Chaotix had only managed to snag this beach chair by getting here right when the pool opened. A bunch of parents and their children had clustered like splashing, sunscreen-scented sardines in the shallow end. Meanwhile, Espio lay in his chair near the somewhat calmer deep end.

He certainly could do without the high-pitched screams of children, or the pop music blaring from the speaker near the concession stand. But this was still, for all intents and purposes, a peaceful moment to himself. It was a rarity at the detective agency. And he would take whatever he could get.

"Espio, watch me!"

Espio didn't move. He just kept lounging with his eyes closed, drinking in the sun.

"Espioooo!" He still didn't respond. Then he heard a splash, and as the drops of tepid pool water hit him, he sat up and flashed his eyes open.

Some feet away, he could see Charmy leaning across the edge of the pool and waving to get his attention. Charmy was wearing his big blue goggles that made his eyes look all the more bug-like. His wet hair was plastered to the sides of his head---it occurred to Espio that he'd need a bath tonight, which didn't help the mounting annoyance.

When Espio looked at him, Charmy grinned and buzzed his wings, even though he couldn't fly while they were wet. "Hey, I'm gonna do a trick," he said, "Can you watch me?"

Espio blinked at him, then set his gaze in a glare. "You didn't have to splash me, you know. You can't just splash people when you want something."

"Sorry." Charmy wiggled back and forth impatiently. "But just watch me, okay?"

"Whatever."

Charmy took a deep breath. As soon as he dove underwater, Espio closed his eyes and leaned his head back again. Moments later, he heard another splash and a gasp as Charmy resurfaced. Espio stirred just in time for Charmy to wipe the water from his goggles and look up expectantly.

Espio nodded. "That was very cool."

Charmy pouted at him. "Come on! You weren't even looking!"

"How do you know?"

"'Cause I can tell you don't care. I can hear it in your voice."

He wasn't wrong. Espio didn't really care. He'd already spent the morning driving here, waiting outside the pool, helping Charmy gear up for the water, buying him food---all he wanted was a moment of respite before the agency had to get back to work. Just one uninterrupted moment.

He sighed. "Well, fine. Just do the trick again, I'll watch this time."

"No." Charmy folded his arms on the edge of the pool and rested his chin on them. "I don't feel like it anymore."

As Espio opened his mouth to reply, he spotted a large, menacing shadow snaking toward Charmy underwater. His expression shifted to a small smirk. "...Careful. I think a shark is going to get you."

"What? There aren't any sharks in---"

"Raaaahh!" Vector breached the surface with a yell, and Charmy shrieked, first with fear, then delight as he splashed Vector and tried to paddle away. All the others in the pool turned toward the commotion. Good thing Espio was over on the beach chair, plausibly unassociated.

"Haha, okay," Vector gently blocked Charmy from swimming too far, "Seriously, time to get out."

"Awww, what?" Charmy's smile faded. He stopped to tread water and looked up at Vector with a furrowed brow. "No!"

"Yeah, we gotta go."

"No! I don't wanna!"

Vector's bright expression faded, too, and he sighed as he brought a hand to the back of his neck. "Agh, kid...We talked about this, remember?" He bowed his head to peer down at Charmy. "You know how I said we could go to the pool, but we'd have to leave at 2 to go to our client meeting?"

Charmy nodded.

"Well, it's almost 2 o'clock."

"Okay," said Charmy.

"That means we have to leave."

"Uh huh."

"Cool. So can you get out?"

Charmy seemed to think for a moment, then shook his head. "No." Before Vector could react, he dove into the water and looped under Vector's arm.

"Hey---!" Vector couldn't catch him before he'd slipped into the crowd of younger kids on the shallower side. Vector turned to face Espio with an exasperated look.

Espio glanced at him, then shrugged. "What did I tell you?" he said, "You should have given him a ten-minute warning. Now he'll never want to get out."

Vector glared. "Oh, yeah, sure, thanks for all the help. How come you didn't do it?"

"I already bought him french fries earlier," said Espio, closing his eyes again. "Your turn to deal with him."

"Well, I dunno how to tell you this, but if we don't hit the road in the next five minutes, we can kiss that client goodbye." 

"Maybe you should have thought of that before hiring a child." Espio lay there in silence for a second, then opened one eye to see Vector staring daggers. He sighed and sat up. "Fine. Fine, I'll go talk to him." He slipped on his flip-flops so that his feet wouldn't burn on the hot concrete. "But if you want us to be punctual, you should get out of the pool and start packing our things."

Vector puffed out his breath, clambered out of the pool, and shook off the water from his head to the tip of his tail. A couple of other people sitting nearby shielded themselves as water flew everywhere.

Espio began to walk the pool's perimeter. He stopped near the shallow end and scanned all the splashing, floatie-clad children for a familiar pair of antennae. At last, he spotted them---Charmy was floating dejectedly, alone, in the middle of the pool, clinging to the lane separating the shallow end from the deep.

Espio paused near him, crouched down, and spoke in a hiss. "Charmy." When Charmy perked up, Espio beckoned for him to come closer. Charmy's frown deepened as he shuffled over. "You know, you're not supposed to lean on the lanes."

Espio couldn't see Charmy's eyes very well behind the goggles, but from how he scrunched up his nose and mouth, he assumed he was putting on an angry face. "Don't tell me to get out."

"Listen, I know you don't want to. But we have something important to do today."

"Why is everything more important than what I want?" Charmy let go of the pool lane to tread water. "You didn't even watch me do my trick, Espio. It was a really good one."

Espio's face twitched in irritation. "You splashed me."

"Yeah, but I was bored."

"And you couldn't ask Vector to play with you?"

Charmy turned his gaze down, and his voice grew a little more quiet. "...He was on the phone earlier. He said he was doing 'boss stuff,' and...I'm not supposed to bother him then."

Espio paused to take in his words. Charmy didn't have any friends here with him---they'd asked Cream to come along, but she was busy today. And as much as Charmy loved the pool, there was only so much he could do to occupy himself before resorting to poking his coworkers. Espio was just an easy target.

So....perhaps it was best to show him a little grace in this situation. Espio let out a sigh and spoke in an even tone.

"Well, I'm here now," he said. "If I watch you do your trick, will you get out of the pool?"

Charmy brightened a little bit at this offer. It didn't take long for his smile to turn devilish, though. "Throw in an ice cream and you've got a deal."

Espio rolled his eyes---Charmy had definitely learned that phrasing from a certain someone. "All right, yes, we'll buy you ice cream after we see today's client." Charmy pumped his fist in triumph. "Now. Go ahead and do what you wanted to show me."

Charmy nodded and motioned for Espio to follow him. He ducked under the pool lane and frog-kicked his way to the deepest end.

Espio walked over to catch up with him. He watched as Charmy tightened his goggles over his eyes, then set his brow in determination. "Okay," he said, looking up at Espio, "Are you watching?"

Espio nodded.

Charmy took a deep breath, then plunged into the water. Espio watched the blurred image of his form swim down to the bottom of the pool, then rise back up. He broke the surface with a gasp and beamed up at Espio. "You see that??"

The corner of Espio's mouth curled up a tiny bit. Try as he might to resist it, Charmy's enthusiasm was infectious. "Did you touch the bottom?"

"I did! And I even blew bubbles so I didn't choke!"

"Well, look how much you've learned," Espio leaned forward to tousle his hair. "Those swim lessons have served you well."

"Did you touch the bottom of the pool??" Espio glanced back to see Vector with their beach bag all packed up. Charmy nodded, and Vector grinned. "Awesome! That's a big dive, buddy!" He leaned in to offer a high-five. Charmy delivered a sort of lackluster one first, then stuck out his tongue in concentration, reeled back, and hit Vector's hand with a good SMACK!

"There ya go," Vector laughed. "All right, let's get you out."

To Espio's relief, Charmy boosted himself and climbed out of the pool all on his own---no more nagging required. As soon as he had stood up on dry land, Vector tackled him with a beach towel. "Gotcha!" Charmy laughed as Vector dried off his hair, which now stuck up at a bunch of odd angles, and wrapped the towel around his shoulders. "Okay, kid, go put your sandals on."

Charmy clung to the towel as he made a sprint toward his racecar-themed sandals. "Yippee! I'm gonna get ice cream later!" One of the lifeguards blew the whistle at him, and he immediately slowed to a fast-walk.

As Espio stood up, too, Vector spoke to him in a mutter. "Ice cream, huh?"

Espio sighed. "It was part of the deal."

"Well, you made the bribe. You're buying." After a moment, a more good-natured smile returned to Vector's face, and he nudged Espio's shoulder. "...Thanks for the help."

Espio watched as Charmy sat on the beach chair to put his sandals on. A woman in a sunhat and sunglasses tried to sneak up to the chair with her belongings, but Charmy's antennae perked up when she stepped in a nearby puddle. He whirled around to face her. "Hey! My butt's still in the seat, lady! Wait your turn!"

Espio covered a laugh, then glanced sidelong at Vector. "...Don't mention it."

[user-kanra]

anyway thinkin about undertale

[user-kanra]

coloured headshot oc commission for @bardic-bard !

[user-kanra]

Day 3 & 4: Metal Virus and Protector! 

After Charmy becomes a Zombot, he enters a dreamlike state. However, the sound of a certain voice wakes him up, just for a little bit.

Here’s an angsty combined prompt for ya🐝

[user-kanra]

Day 1: Noir

Starting off Team Chaotix Week with a fun one! 🐊

[user-kanra]

[user-kanra]

Day 1 of trying to free myself from art block:

Doodle like it’s a dance! Instead of working towards something specific, I just listened to music and let it guide my flow, rhythm, color choice and drawing pace without caring if it would look good or if it‘s even consistent with my usual style, so that I could losen up and focus on the moment. (This time, I happened to be listening to some songs by Kikou)

So this little mischievous Fyodor came out😈

And, instead of rating whether I’m satisfied with the result or not, I want to instead highlight how I felt about the act of making it. In this case, energized!!

[user-kanra]

Florist × Bookseller kndz DTIYS entry

(Au by mocha_crexm on insta)

[user-kanra]

Found this tier list I made forever ago about how I think Three Houses characters would fair in track and field. And you know what? I stand by this.

[user-kanra]

Commission for @/bluerangoons on insta!🫶

Creantzy posts Fyolai again after quite literally a year can you believe it

[user-kanra]

I love Kunikida so much I keep giving her my life experience. She watches Moomin now. She watches moomin every night before bed. It's in Ideals dw about it.

[user-kanra]

it's ace day both for me and the various fictional characters i project onto

[user-kanra]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

more tiny sketches for my mushroom hat toadette

[user-kanra]

I've still never done real commissions I've only done shit like this