Spooky Lurker

Little hare leaves every once in a while [much to Sun and Moon’s annoyance] while the demons eat, and so they can have a drink or a moment of privacy.

Once their stomach starts rumbling, the demons begin to wonder… what do humans eat again? Fruit? Berries! Humans eat berries.

Moon uproots an entire blackberry bush, squashing it through the entrance to the nest so little hare can have their fill. Little hare explains that they could just have some animal meat if they’d catch it for them—-they’d have to start a fire to cook it, but it’ll be easier and more filling than eating a crap ton of berries.

Sun shakes his head, “You are supposed to eat berries,” he declares, “and catch your own prey! I saw it happen once.”

Caine throws a 'slumber party' for the circus group. No one is particularly enthusiastic about it, but especially Jax.

-----

My little hare in christ, that pinstripe demon is poking at your stomach and mulling over how easy it is so eviscerate you and is judging the way your heart reacts to what he’s saying

Little hare is clearly experiencing Issues and he’s just calling them ‘a demented freakshow that talks to itself’

They’ve been watching his tail sway with each small adjustment of balance and the way it moves. They give in to their thoughts, and yank it as hard as they can.

I can just imagine the horrifying delight in a peckish pinstripe demon upon realizing that you aren’t exactly at an advantage…

Perhaps you have something as simple as allergies. You’re sneezing and sniffling, rubbing at your face and eyes… not only are you ringing the dinner bell with the noise, but you’re taking your eyes off your surroundings for just long enough for them to start creeping up on you.

Maybe you fell or twisted weird and have a sore leg or a stiff knee. That small hobble or those short breaks are going to attract some very unwanted attention. Predators don’t usually target the fittest of prey, they’ll prefer to snatch something that’ll use less of their energy. If you’re injured enough, they won’t even waste their energy on creating a disguise, they’ll just give a short chase and snatch you up.

Even something as insignificant as being a bit stuffy from sickness, having a blocked ear, colour blindness, blurry vision, etc, could probably spell out some pretty nasty consequences if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Sometimes it’s even traits that are seen as positive elsewhere! Perhaps you’re a very focused person. If you have a task to do, you want to focus hard and get it done, ignoring distractions. Perhaps many of the poachers and hikers that traverse the mountains pay too much attention to their paths, their prey, or even trying to photograph something, that it’s significantly harder to notice a snapping branch or something creeping just in their peripherals.

Anyway I went to see the Backrooms movie

So I drew mini Crow in the backrooms

Quick 20 minute sketch I did of Acorn before I go to bed

He looks nothing like I'd initially imagined, but I think he looks very kind and sweet... which he is! So it works >:D Still has an attitude though--

I still haven't finished Thistle's colouring yet, or even her markings... I might work on that tomorrow. We'll see, I've been In Pain all day so argh

[15.3k] Fic link here~

Summary:

Torn in two by your duties around the Pizzaplex and the Attendant’s need for an assistant, you begin pondering over your place in the Pizzaplex. Should you have ran away when you first thought of it? Or must you stick it out for a blossoming relationship? I think we both know the answer to that, employee. Regardless, there are conversation to be had, Fizzyfaz machines to restock, and a jester to tend to. Get to work!

Rather than go quietly, they run off and get lost in the woods. Deep into uncharted territory, the night is getting progressively colder. For someone who brags about their sense of direction, it's surely doing no favours for them now.

After a few hours of aimless desperation, they notice they aren't quite walking alone anymore. The Keeper takes them with it, promising them purpose. It mends them a hide cloak and shows them how to walk between worlds to Keep alongside it. Like an apprentice, almost.

Little hare enjoys their new life, but when they become an adult, the realization that they can't go back is crushing. Everyone assumed them dead, and nana hasn't quite been the same since. They ask the Keeper if they can go back to their life rather than wander. The Keeper tells them that they can if they wish, but they won't be able to return to what they have now---their choice needs to be permanent.

They spend their next few months wandering close to the towns in the woods, wondering how much differently their life would've been if they hadn't ran away. Are they even still alive...? For all they know, they could be a spirit crossing between worlds the way the Keeper does.

They find nana's cottage, and spend months almost haunting it. They're never seen---simply observing. Upon finding this out, the Keeper begins trying to encourage them to go home, but little hare refuses.

The Keeper reassures them that at the end of the day, they only live a single life. There's one chance at living. Then, they will meet again and wander for eternity together. They have one chance of living, and they should take it.

Little hare isn't quite human anymore. Gold pupils and ebony black tipped fingers, leading into bony claws. Strange markings on their skin. But they cave in, and agree to go home. It's difficult saying goodbye to the Keeper, but they finally leave it behind and enter the cottage.

I think Sun and Moon would fit into it by wandering alongside them. Little hare shows favorites as a Keeper, herding them to good nesting spots and trying to change their fates. And when they return to human life, they go looking for them again… well, and perhaps have to adjust to now being prey again—

I think it would be a shorter fic, but I said that about TCaTC, which was meant to end at 100k words… ahem. It’s something I might start writing on the sidelines with a pre-established story in the form of a prologue and then a big timeskip. With TCaTC, little hare is still piecing together what they found safer to forget, while ACoTR little hare would have already thought about what happened to them millions of times.

If I do start writing it, there’s a specific point that I’d want to start publishing it. There’s a lot of Keeper stuff to come in TCaTC and I don’t want to spoil it through a short spinoff. But we shall see!

With little hare's life as a Keeper, a lot changes in the [yet to be written] TCaTC story. Little hare stands in the way of a big part of the plot, but without them there, this plan can go ahead and it has the potential to kill Sun and Moon.

Little hare can't stop it, it's part of their role to guide, but not interfere.

They start looking for loopholes, watching those icy puddles of prophecy play that same sickening scene over and over again. They know where it all begins and where it all ends.

They never tell Sun and Moon about this prophecy, instead trying to lure them away from potential threats. Sun decides he wants a nest further up north, but that's where he has the biggest potential to be taken away---little hare spends the next few days trying to find a nicer place for them to nest while also being enough to satisfy Sun.

Moon wants to hunt nearer to Silkeholt City---there are plenty of people there, he has a lot more choice of prey. Little hare knows that there are dangerous people there who will hurt him, and encourages him to hunt somewhere else, or teaches him how to be stealthier.

I drew @vicaly 's mermaid Leshycat! Can't resist the buff sea snake. While I saw various designs of Big Shape Leshy™, Vicaly's one is the one that made me go "WAIT I can give him pecs and a jawline???" so a crucial elements of my current design. Say thanks Vicaly.

I said before that I really like the heat trope... But I always avoid the icky lack of consent and play it for comedy hehe (and softness) I was gonna draw smut but my love for comedy striked again...

This drawing certainly was... uh, a challenge-- AND THE OG FILE WAS TOO BIG FOR TUMBLR SO EXCUSE THE QUALITY ISSUES </3

I can't really get over the fact Celestial Scales is 2 years old now, let alone the fact that the renders for Sun and Moon were completed exactly 2 years after the originals I did for the fic!

I think in total it took me around 20 hours! I also attempted to do a timelapse, but I didn't decide to do that up until I started Eclipse's sketch, and continuously forgot to turn it back on after breaks and such... so there's quite a bit of missing content. Oops!

I felt like Sun and Moon in particular were also due a slight overhaul, giving them nicer colours, and some markings! I didn't want to overdo Moon's markings, as I sorta made that a part of his character in the lovey dovey parts of the fic~ I think I actually did a pretty decent job on it!

I'd love to learn to bookbind one day and do all my fics, perhaps once I've got a printer that actually works asdjksldlakjd

No lighting, flats, timelapse, old art comparisons and ramblings under the cut~

They're a chatty duo

It's also come to my attention *cough* @laserbobcat *cough* I have not posted any suggestive content. Apologies buff Leshy fans.

There's a collection of doodles under the cut, but I'm warning you!

I'm warning you some of it's suggestive!