Sleeping Beauty (part 2)

The tale continues…

It’s late in the day when Jun finished sitting at his father’s bedside and was shooed out of the room by his other father.  Disinterested in dinner, he instead wandered the castle, surprised at how much he recalled from his early childhood. In all, not much has changed aside from a new tapestry or suit of armor or display of valuable artwork  or piece of furniture. The castle servants and guards waved and bowed whenever he ran across them, barely able to suppress their smiles at seeing their prince in the hallways once more.

Climbing a tower he remembered quite well because it housed one of his playrooms at the top, Jun passes through layers of dirt, dust, and cobwebs not found anywhere else in the castle.  One of the maids had mentioned before he’d walked through the door downstairs that it was no longer used, so they didn’t bother cleaning it more than once a year or so. She offered to round up a few other servants and some cleaning supplies to make it presentable, but he’d waved her off, promising it would be fine and he didn’t mind getting a little dirty.

Sleeping Beauty (Part 1)

Last year for Valentine’s Day I wrote stories from my characters to their significant others and this year I decided to write one again.  Coming on the heels of Christmas, this essentially means that I spent 3.5 straight months writing and drawing gift art, but the outcomes forth both holidays was worth it.  VDay 2019’s story is a retelling of a classic fairytale with my characters and Nezumi’s playing all the roles.  Due to length, I’ve split the post into two parts.

 

Angel Hunt and Streifen present:

Sleeping Beauty

[a retelling]

ooO~~~*OO*~~~Ooo

[Professor Sowerby sits by a large stone fireplace in the Castlekeep, a thick, leatherbound book with gilded edges open on his lap.  Snow flies in the night outside the cased window, and frost rims the glass panes in swooping swirls of white. Sprawled on a bed before the wizened dragon professor are Mitten, Ikiri, Captain Sassy Pants, and Lock.  Wrapped in an array of blankets, the children wait intently for the Professor, but the elder dragon doesn’t move.]

Ikiri: Professor?

Mitten: Hello?  Story?

Sassy:  [flings the blankets aside and scrambles up to her knees, peering at the Professor] He’s… asleep!

Ikiri:  Professor! Sir! [He reaches out toward the dragon.]

Professor Sowerby:  [startles awake]  Yes, yes, where were we?  Right: And they all lived happily ever after.

Mitten:  But you didn’t even start the story!

Professor Sowerby:  Well of course not, child.  I was just checking to make sure you were paying attention.  [Mitten frowns, but gathers up his plush star toy and hugs it to his chest.]  Yes, now… This story is a time-honored tale of the realms.  A story told and retold through the ages, but diminished nonetheless.  

Sassy: Is there treasure?

Mitten:  Sword fights?  Flying bears? Dragons?  No, better yet, stars? Are there oceans of stars?  

Sassy: Aren’t you a Dragon?  Why would you want to hear stories about them?

Mitten: Because Dragons are awesome! [Sticks out his tongue, and Sassy sticks her out right back at him.]

Ikiri:  Are there sorcerers?  Gods? Fey creatures?

Professor Sowerby:  Let us hear the story and we shall see what happens.  [He resettles the book on his lap and prepares to begin the story.]

Lock: Emilies?

Professor Sowerby: [turns his ancient gaze on the youngest child]  No.  There are absolutely no Emilies allowed in any stories.

Sassy, Mitten, and Ikiri:  Oooooohhhhhh…

Professor Sowerby:  But this story does have many things, so let us begin…

A (Not So) Silent Walk in the Woods

From the 2018 Christmas Collection..

Monthly Art Challenge : June

I’ve recently jumped in on a monthly art challenge.  One of my goals this year was to produce more art, so I’m excited to be part of a challenge that will ensure I produce at least one piece of art a month.  It may not be colored, but it will at least be inked.

There’s no set list of themes, but every month, one of those of us on the challenge pick a new theme.  June’s theme was “Oh Pepe,” and I chose Arch for the first idea that came to my mind, which of course was a rather famous Pepe: Pepe le Pew.  Who else but my shapeshifter to rock a cute skunk look?

HP AU Sketch Project

Right around New Year’s I began working on a project to draw several of Nezumi’s and my characters in the Hogwarts houses they would have been sorted into if they were in a Harry Potter AU story.  It took me until this month to finish because I’m a slow artist and because I drew lots of sketches that ended up getting tossed out for various reasons.  Eventually, however, I had to stop being so hypercritical of my artwork and go with what I had, otherwise the project would never get finished.  Most of the sketches I like quite a bit and am happy with, but with any project, there are some I don’t like quite as much.  Overall I’m really pleased with this project and am happy that I managed to stick with it until completion.

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Gryffindor

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Arch

Valentine’s Day Collection (part two)

Wrapping up the mini story collection from Valentine’s Day are stories from Sashi to Lan and Hyx and Vale to Nexus.

Valentine’s Day Collection (part one)

This year instead of normal valentines, I wrote a mini short story collection from my boys to their significant others.  These first two stories are from Arch to Roin and Zeph to Jun.  

Sketches

A variety of sketches from last year.

Carrow

2017 Creators Meme

I was tagged by Nezumi for this meme, so here we go ^__^

Rules: it’s time to love yourselves! choose your 5 favorite works you’ve created last year (fics, art, edits, etc) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you’ve brought into the world in 2017. Tag as many writers/artists/etc as you want so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome work.

Last year was a mixed bag for me in terms of creativity, something I’m working to remedy in 2018.  However, there were a few bright spots.  I drew a lot more than I have in the past few years.  Not colored, finished pieces, but lots of sketching and lineart, which I found to be quite enjoyable.  There was also writing, both the regular rps and another Christmas collection that was gifted to Nezu.  So even if I didn’t photograph my dolls as much as I wanted or managed much else in the way of creative production, the year wasn’t a total wash.

Two Sides

From the 2017 Christmas Collection…

Angel Hunt | Streifen

Side One.

The teahouse is reminiscent of Meiji-era Japan, replete with shoji doors, decorative screens, tatami mats, and wood paneled walls.  In the private dining room reserved for the restaurant’s elite, a low, rectangular table is bordered by zabuton on each side.  The merry trickling of water comes from the small bamboo fountain in one corner, and the air is rich with the scents of what remains on the two daily trayed sets – miso broiled fish, tofu and seaweed salad, seven grain rice, and various accompanying vegetables.  Beside the trays a pot of gyokuro sits on a warmer, the expensive tea brought by the hostess herself.