best way to figure out how you want to draw a character: make an 8 page comic
(Transcript under the cut in case my handwriting is # bad . Edit: ok nOW its under the cut)
(via litches-get-stitches)
Tumbl'd 3: Forever TAZ - Chapter 9 - InterNutter - The Adventure Zone (Podcast) [Archive of Our Own]
In this chapter: more of the aftermath of the luume episode that made Taako a deity.
TAZ Prompts Remaining: ONE
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Reader Request #96
Aliens vs Dragons – @jazzmaster009
“One small step for an Elf… one… giant leap for Elven kind.”
“Taako, do you have to do this every single time you put first foot on another world?”
“It’s luck, homie. Every time I say those words, my sister and I don’t beef it that year.”
“Oh, so you’re fine, the rest of us can go hang.”
“Dude, as long as one of us is alive to fly the Starblaster, we’re all fine.”
“Just leave him alone, Magnus-dear. My poor dumb baby brother does like his superstitions.”
Lyyrn peeked out from the shrubbery in which she was hiding. So far, these invaders weren’t doing anything worse than arguing with each other. But that didn’t make them any less strange and frightening.
They were peculiar things. Bigger than her; but everyone said she was still a baby. They walked on two legs like a trained bear, and only two among the seven were alike. There was the big hairy one, the small really hairy one, the small not-so-hairy one with the flame-red tuft of hair. There was the really dark one with the really pale hair, the really pale one with the sort-of dark hair… and then those two.
They all had really weird skin that flapped around them as they moved. Red and shiny with gold. The two almost-identical ones had long hair that flowed out and over the red, but some of it was under a different container of some sort. A big red cone on top of their heads.
They all had funny black feet. Really weird black legs, too. Lyyrn was fascinated by the way they walked around without once needing to drop to all fours. But then, they didn’t have tails like Lyyrn’s tail.
“I am liking this planet,” said the one they called Taako. He was reaching up and plucking fruit off the trees. Sniffing their flesh. “Nice landing area, plenty of forage…”
“No light,” said one of the small ones. Lyyrn had to wonder if they were like babies. They were smaller even than her baby sister, and she was tiny.
“Oh sure, sure. Rain on my fuckin’ parade. Make the best of what’s there, I always say.”
“Is that a Taako Original?” teased the one who looked just like Taako.
“Eheheheheh,” mocked Taako. “You’re so funny.”
Then the big hairy one parted the bushes where Lyyrn had been hiding. His weird, flat face split open to show even weirder teeth. “Guys,” he whispered, “I found a dragon…”
“We are not taking it with us,” said the little one with the red tufts. That one sounded so much like a Mama that Lyyrn really wondered what was up with these alien creatures.
She froze, resorting to baby instinct and not even thinking about her elemental breath.
“Aaw, did I scare da poor widdle ting,” cooed the big hairy one. “Iss okay… iss okay.” It put its paw by her nose, and a very odd smell invaded her nostrils. Not like anyone or anything she knew. That paw ran gently over her scales as he cooed, “There, there, there… I won’t hurt you.” And let her sniff again. Its scent and her scent mingled.
That was a trick for animals. “I’m not an animal,” she said. “Lea’me alone or Mama’s gonna get you.”
“Oh tits,” said Taako.
“Fucking run!” yelled the copy.
Mama came to the rescue, swooping down and making all the aliens rush for their silver… thing. A thing that lifted off from the ground and sailed to a safe distance in precisely the way that clouds didn’t.
Mama scooped her up and flew her back to the nest and spent most of the evening watching the night sky for silver things.
Three days later, the silver thing hovered like a cloud. Right where Lyyrn and Mama could see it. It was not doing anything at all. Just… staying there. Carefully out of breath range.
If Lyyrn squinted, she could see the small really hairy one being held up on the front of the silver thing by the big hairy one.
Mama made Lyyrn stay in the nest as she did a fly-by. There were words. The aliens talked low and soft and so did Mama. No matter how much Lyyrn leaned on the edge of the nest, she couldn’t make out what was said.
Mama came up to the nest, and the silver thing followed. Lyyrn hunkered back down in the nest, watching as they both flew closer. She feared the thing, but Mama trusted it enough to let it come close. Mama knew what was safe. Lyyrn had to trust Mama.
The strangers were… weird… but they were okay. They were friendly aliens. The big, hairy one - Magnus - apologised for trying animal tricks on her. They told all kinds of wonderful stories, and even though they were odd, they were nice.
It took Lyyrn all of two hours to forget about being afraid of them.
[TAZ Prompts Remaining: 6]
[Be sure to visit internutter (dot) org for details on how to support this artist]
Still Tumbl'd, Still TAZ - Chapter 95 - InterNutter - The Adventure Zone (Podcast) [Archive of Our Own]
In this chapter: Luume shenanigans on the Starblaster.
TAZ Prompts Remaining: 6
[Be sure to visit internutter (dot) org for details on how to support this artist]
[AN: (Still Alive playing in the background) Taagnus isn’t my favourite but I can see how they’d be FWB during SC]
Magnus was used to being strong for Taako. That was how it worked. Then Taako was feeling weak, lonely, or emotionally tired. It happened more often when Lup died. He really had to be strong then, because Taako was most likely to go off the rails when his sister was dead.
Today, though, some random virus had managed to assault him. Something that had killed Barry and was close to killing Luce… and now had got to him despite their best efforts to prevent it.
He felt like dog shit that had been dragged backwards through a hedge and set on fire. He felt weaker than a newborn kitten and less able to focus on the world outside his bed.
Hot soup and cold water kept appearing by his bedside. Cold compresses and hot water bottles eased his discomfort. He was dimly aware that someone was sponge-bathing him.
It was a sweat-soaked and uncomfortable time, but someone was invested in his survival and, given that Merle was shitty at that sort of thing. The weight he sometimes sensed on his bed was too heavy to be Cap’n’port. He hadn’t thought anyone else was even bothered with his continued existence. He’d be back next year like nothing ever happened to him.
Why should they care?
His name was Magnus Burnsides. He was eighteen. He’d been eighteen for twenty-five years. As time slipped out of his grasp, he didn’t know whether to curse this attempted saviour or bless them. It all depended how shit he felt whenever consciousness wrestled with him and won.
Blink.
Retching into a tub. Someone’s hand was stopping him from falling out of his bunk and into his own puke. Soaked in sweat and down to his undies under a sheet that had been tossed on and off.
“Let it out,” said a voice on the edge of his awareness. “Don’t hold back i’morko.”
A glass of water. Cool and fresh. Pressed to his lips. “Rinse. Spit.”
He did that.
The form that leaned him back on the mess of pillows was a blur in the reds and golds of the mission uniform. Couldn’t be Taako. Taako always ditched the uniform at the first opportunity.
“…who?” he croaked.
“Don’t sweat it. Here.”
A concoction of milk, herbs, and honey. Comfort-warm and a blessing on his ravaged throat. The stabbing in his stomach eased.
“Just rest.”
Blink.
Shivering in the darkness. So cold. A presence leaning over him Snuggling up close. Whoever they were, they were a furnace. Someone moved around the hot water bottles. Someone brushed his face. Calloused hands.
“Sssh. Sshh-shh… Deep breaths, now. Deep breaths.”
He tried his best until he sank back down again.
Blink.
The soup had chunks in it. “You remember how to chew, right?”
He did that. The meat was spicy and soft. The liquid around it was warm and comforting. The blur in front of him was a little clearer. Darkish skin with lighter patches. Golden hair tied up in a red kerchief. He couldn’t focus on the eyes and easily tell which twin had the tonic.
“…lup?”
“Guess again, homeslice.”
Blink.
It might be daytime, but he was alone. Sprawled out on his bunk and unable to lift a finger. Running footsteps coming towards his position and he couldn’t even move his head.
The red blur was back, fiddling with his button fly and muttering under his breath. “…stoopid-ass fashion designers, those assholes never had t’ pee in a hurry in their lives…”
Magnus smiled. He knew that complaint. By heart. His voice was a rough and ghostly rasp. “…hey taako…”
Taako finished wrestling with is upper buttons. “Hey. Feeling better yet?”
“I feel like wrung-out laundry after it’s been beat on a rock.”
“Yeah, that’d about get it. Luce said that’s how she felt when she beat it. You’re on the way back up. So there’s that good news.” He made to feel Magnus’ brow.
“You wash your hands?”
Now he could focus on Taako’s mismatched glare. “No, I stuck both hands up my ass and came straight to you.” His hands were damp and smelled of the lavender soap they made on weekends. “Fever’s broken. Want help getting into the shower? ‘Cause you smell like boiled ass.”
“You’d know what boiled ass smells like,” quipped Magnus. Which was a cue to the usual joke.
“Of course I do, I boiled your ass the last time you died. Stank up the ship for two weeks.”
He laughed so hard he fell to fits to coughing.
“Easy, now. Easy. No joking for another week.”
“What? No sponge bath?”
“Naw, ya gotta try an’ walk as soon as you can. You got some atrophy going on, and -uh- don’t look.”
Given how weak he felt just sitting up, he decided not to look at how bad he’d got. The crew had taken to covering any mirror on board when disease or injury ravaged the survivor’s bodies and faces. There was already a cloth over the mirror in the bathroom.
Close to, Taako also looked like hell. There were signs of Blight up his neck and his eyes were hollow. He had a kind of boiled ass aroma to him and his hair was kind’a greasy.
“Were you looking after me the whole time?”
Taako rolled his mismatched eyes and scoffed. “No…” which was Taako-ese for ‘yes’.
Magnus didn’t argue with his horseshit. He just said, “Thanks,” and added, “Maybe you should help me stand in the shower.”
“Eh. Whatever.”
Which was Taako-ese for, “Sure, but don’t make a big deal out of that.”
They showered together with a few more hugs than necessary. Just two people surviving the disaster together. He didn’t say a word about them sharing a bed to rest. He didn’t say a word about how often Taako actually showed he cared during his recovery.
That was how they rolled. That was how it worked. For them.
[TAZ Prompts remaining: 5]
[Be sure to visit internutter (dot) org
Challenge #02175-E346: A Trail a Mile Wide
Elves. they come in all shapes and incarnations from Lord of the Rings to Santa’s little helpers. What if they all got together for ElfCon. – Anon Guest
Welcome to Warpvale. The impossible happens daily.
In this case, the ‘impossible’ is a wide and varied range of Elves, from all over the multiverse. All possible hues of skin and more than a few that aren’t. All possible sizes of ear, too. From 'vaguely human but huge’, through 'human with a point stuck on’, to 'actually impossible if you bother with physics’.
There were short Elves, tall Elves, large Elves and small Elves. All with different demographic traits. Elves that rode on enormous wolves, Elves who flew as casually as anyone would walk. Elves so tiny they were barely visible to the untrained eye, Elves so gangly and awkward that it amazed the eye to see them move.
[Be sure to visit internutter (dot) org for a link to the rest of this story, and details on how to support this artist]
@good-night-starshine sent me these absolutely adorable pics based on chapter 13 of my Amnesty/SC crossover fic Babes in the Woods and TBH it’s all I can do not to gush, right now.
[’cause EEEEEEEEE I got fanart! I got FANART you guys! I GOT FANART! (rant rant, rave rave, foam faint) this is so awesome)
+Follow’d, hoping for more. :D
Babes in the Woods
The Pine Guard are almost used to dealing with Abominations, by now. But this one isn’t acting like your average bom-bom. Older people are going missing, and there’s a sudden influx of children turning up lost.
And there’s something… else… with glowing eyes in the night…
YUS!
I finally finished writing _Babes in the Woods_, a Stolen Century/Amnesty crossover.
At. Firkin. Last.
Shall commence posting tomorrow.
Challenge #01852-E028: Once Upon a Stolen Century — Steemit
[AN: My site’s down again, so I’m mining the #prompt tag on Tumblr until normal services resume. We apologise for the inconvenience]
Lucretia groaned. On one hand, she knew which twin this was. On the other, it was devastatingly shocking how quickly certain types amongst the crew got used to the annual re-set. Two dozen worlds, she reminded herself. Two dozen realities, and some of us are already flippant about death.
Beside her, Taako cast Minor Illusion to make them look like a bunch of rocks, just like the rest of the random scramble of stones where they were hiding. “Gotta laugh at it or I start screaming, Luce. My sister’s out there.”
If it was Lup in his place, she would have incinerated the guards, blown their cover, and literally burned a path between them and their goal. The Light. Which was now in a heavily-guarded keep in a civilisation more advanced than the one their crew had started from.