Bottled Lightning

they/them | space for my official fic, official art, and more

[iantlycbu-official]

Welcome to the world of I Am Not the Lightning You Can Bottle Up (IANTLYCBU or Bottled Lightning for short). This is the official blog and masterpost for my fic, art, and more!

Enjoy behind-the-scenes worldbuilding, art by yours truly, animatics, AU snippets, and eventually even a webcomic!

Bottled Lightning is an original work, with all-original characters, set on an Earth that's rebuilt itself after hybrids came into existence after the first of five Cataclysms. There is a prequel fic that will eventually make its way out regarding the history of this world, but as for the timeline, it's been almost 700 years since the first Cataclysm, and the story of Bottled Lightning takes place about 10 years after the fifth Cataclysm, in the city-state of Prosper, located in the remnants of a giant crater.

The story follows Mickey, known to the public as a trainee hero [Theseus] in his last year of being essentially a sidekick to Morphos, a top hero in Prosper, as he navigates a rapidly-changing world that will likewise leave him irrevocably changed and he becomes a symbol of change and rebellion against a city that would rather get rid of the hybrids that dominate the population than continue to peacefully coexist. It is a story of rebellion, coming-of-age, and a fight against a government falling into fascism [paralleling what the current US and other countries around the globe are seeing].

I wrote the original before the rewrite you see today for fun, but this fic has quickly become a way for me to record my own feelings through the lenses of fiction, to show that it's okay to fight for your rights when they're quickly being taken away, as someone who isn't able to protest. Bottled Lightning is my way of remembering history through fiction.

MASTERPOST

LINK TO THE FIC

Art:

Animatics:

AUs:

Comic chapters:

Worldbuilding: one

[iantlycbu-official]

Part of the Crystal gems au :)

Left is design ideas

Right is some concept stuff.

[iantlycbu-official]

More doodles!

Top left is Jasper perception of being stuck inside the nest for too long.

Top right is a beach day in Perennia

Middle left is Jasper keeping coffee from Mickey because he pulled an all-nighter and refused to go to bed.

Middle right is a goofy wedding photo

Bottom trio is the distant future.

[iantlycbu-official]

I drew some stuff

Some angst and fluff all in one post lol

These top two take place about two-three years after the events of what will be the first book of IANTLYCBU. Mickey and Jasper will be secondary characters alongside the trainees and A-Team and only show up in full about halfway through the book. Spolier: Jasper and Mickey are dating by then. 😉 I don't do romance, but these two are the main "romantic" side-plot. Aka: flirtatious menaces with very nice soft fluff to counteract some of the angst of the main plot of the second book. And Jasper encounters some health issues.

I got bored and made them crystal gems, and I don't know how else to explain, but Mickey is a ruby, Jasper is a lapis (his name's a misnomer). Their fusion is pietersite (it's gold-veined blue stone that i think best puts them together) and yes, Jasper has two gems (shoulder and back) that technically means he's a fusion but an incomplete one for Lore reasons.

Basically, two gems were put too closely together on Earth's sole Lapis Kindergarten, and they formed together (the smaller Gem relenting to the big personality of Jasper), Jasper forming of the two Gems to make one Crystal Gem. He has wings and a staff (a crafted weapon custom for himself) and did fight for humanity in the Crystal war, where he met and accidentally fused with Mickey, forming Pietersite, an unstable fusion that caught both of them off-guard and Jasper dragged Mickey into becoming a Crystal Gem with him when they unfused. Over the centuries, they gradually became more comfortable fusing, but generally are seen together but separate, fusing for fights that require their combined strength. Mickey's dagger fuses with the staff into a spear they wield together in fights, flying into the fray on Jasper's wings.

Mickey is headstrong, a deep red ruby that wields a dagger/knife, and originally was under Yellow Diamond. Jasper was formed and raised on Earth, quickly separated from his Kindergarten in his curiosity and desire to see the world. His gem is a bright blue streaked with deeper veins and flecking of pyrite, which presents as freckles. Likewise, the pyrite shows as part of the veining of their Fusion in Pietersite.

For gem placements:

Mickey's gem is in his chest--he's emotional, prone to anger, and while his heart is often in the right place, he doesn't always think things through.

Jasper's main gem that he forms from is placed on his back, square between his shoulder blades--he seeks freedom, adventure, curious to a fault, tragically so, in a way.

The secondary Lapis is on his left shoulder, from which a secondary, much smaller gem forms only briefly when poofed before finding and rejoining the main form (much like Steven and his gemstone). The placement is a signal of their rebellious nature, playful but always watching for danger.

The two parts of Jasper are one in the same, and they chose the misnomer of Jasper as a way to reclaim their identity after leaving the other gems, not a singular Lapis but two individuals who are one in the same (he/they).

Mickey chose the name initially because he wasn't sure what else to call himself in order to blend in with the humans, but the name and identity would change over time.

Kind of like deadnames, really.

[iantlycbu-official]

And more!

[iantlycbu-official]

I drew some stuff

Some angst and fluff all in one post lol

These top two take place about two-three years after the events of what will be the first book of IANTLYCBU. Mickey and Jasper will be secondary characters alongside the trainees and A-Team and only show up in full about halfway through the book. Spolier: Jasper and Mickey are dating by then. 😉 I don't do romance, but these two are the main "romantic" side-plot. Aka: flirtatious menaces with very nice soft fluff to counteract some of the angst of the main plot of the second book. And Jasper encounters some health issues.

I got bored and made them crystal gems, and I don't know how else to explain, but Mickey is a ruby, Jasper is a lapis (his name's a misnomer). Their fusion is pietersite (it's gold-veined blue stone that i think best puts them together) and yes, Jasper has two gems (shoulder and back) that technically means he's a fusion but an incomplete one for Lore reasons.

Basically, two gems were put too closely together in the Kindergarten, and they formed together (the smaller Gem relenting to the big personality of Jasper), Jasper forming of the two Gems to make one Crystal Gem. He has wings and a staff (a crafted weapon custom for himself) and did fight for humanity in the Crystal war, where he met and accidentally fused with Mickey, forming Pietersite, an unstable fusion that caught both of them off-guard and Jasper dragged Mickey into becoming a Crystal Gem with him when they unfused. Over the centuries, they gradually became more comfortable fusing, but generally are seen together but separate, fusing for fights that require their combined strength. Mickey's dagger fuses with the staff into a spear they wield together in fights, flying into the fray on Jasper's wings.

Mickey is headstrong, a deep red ruby that wields a dagger/knife, and originally was under Yellow Diamond. Jasper was formed and raised on Earth, quickly separated from his Kindergarten in his curiosity and desire to see the world. His gem is a bright blue streaked with deeper veins and flecking of pyrite, which presents as freckles. Likewise, the pyrite shows as part of the veining of their Fusion in Pietersite.

For gem placements:

Mickey's gem is in his chest--he's emotional, prone to anger, and while his heart is often in the right place, he doesn't always think things through.

Jasper's main gem that he forms from is placed on his back, square between his shoulder blades--he seeks freedom, adventure, curious to a fault, tragically so, in a way.

The secondary Lapis is on his left shoulder, from which a secondary, much smaller gem forms only briefly when poofed before finding and rejoining the main form (much like Steven and his gemstone). The placement is a signal of their rebellious nature, playful but always watching for danger.

The two parts of Jasper are one in the same, and they chose the misnomer of Jasper as a way to reclaim their identity after leaving the other gems, not a singular Lapis but two individuals who are one in the same (he/they).

Mickey chose the name initially because he wasn't sure what else to call himself in order to blend in with the humans, but the name and identity would change over time.

Kind of like deadnames, really.

[iantlycbu-official]

Got myself a new sketchbook with a customizable cover, so... I'm making it a preliminary version of the comic adaptation. Here's the process!

The front cover is a redo of a thumbnail I've made in the past for the first volume. Is it yet where I want it? No, but it's a lot more dynamic and I love it for that reason. Inked with Tombow pens, colored using Staedtler douple-ended watercolor brush pens.

The back cover is a goofy little piece of Mickey and Jasper and will eventually have a blurb for the first volume in the box up top. Colored with Grabie acrylic markers and inked with Tombow pens.

The sketchbook itself is mixed media paper that's surprisingly thick and durable. The cover is cardboard that honestly is a bit flimsy but does its job.

The thumbnails I decided on and worked on designing. Not including the old thumbnails from over a year ago.

[iantlycbu-official]

Got sidetracked, thought up a new au for my blorbos to suffer through. Cue: Voltron AU.

Mickey is the red Paladin, Jasper blue, and then the [hero trainees] rest are Thorn black, Milo green, Hunter (I keep wanting to call him Henry but there's a character in future book two that's also called that and I don't want to cause confusion) yellow, and then Calliope is the future Pink Paladin. Bee is Elliot's advisor despite being the same age, and they're in place of Alura and Coran. Jasper also happens to be half Galra (gotta do it. Made the most sense to make him Keith in only that aspect) but knew the whole time.

[iantlycbu-official]

Some more doodles (close-up of Jasper with Rainbow Trout Dinner and then Ward full-body reference)

Ward is a first-gen warden hybrid. They're 9 feet tall. And 531 years old.

Ward: they/them, 531 yo, Underground, mentor to many Vigilantes and healers alongside Arawn.

Jasper met them about 2 years prior after accidentally stumbling upon a passageway to the Underground while trying to avoid getting snagged by a hero while in a makeshift vigilante costume (prior to becoming Arawn officially). He got a bit lost initially, but quickly got himself caught by Ward themself. He gave the name Arawn to Ward upon introduction, explained how he got to where he was found, and that he wanted to be a vigilante.

Ward was quick on the uptake and recruited him, and offered tips on vigilantism and connections to other vigilantes. Ward keeps him humble while encouraging the young newbie that is very quickly getting himself into hot water to keep going. All while making sure he does so safely.

[iantlycbu-official]

Drew some stuff....

A little bit of some spoilers, but...

Don't mind me... been planning the story and making art to go along with chapter planning.

Art below

[iantlycbu-official]

Recent pages in my sketchbook

Theseus' notebook entry collage

And some doodles (featuring the Syndicate and Morphos)

Protesilaus is a shifter (can go between a humanoid form and a piglin form [he's a brute piglin, so he gets much taller and pig-like in his fully shifted form])

I've also completed my first commission recently for a friend irl!

[iantlycbu-official]

Finished the page! (Meme/goof doodles)

Featuring: Protesilaus and The Director

[iantlycbu-official]

Shenanigans

I still have one more panel to draw in. I just don't know what I want to draw in the panel just yet.

Top row (left to right):

The duo is shocked. Theseus: What the... Arawn: Holy shite. That's no good.

Arawn, cradling Theseus' mask: Poor, poor Theseus. Do you need my help getting untied, Cú?

Theseus, standing over Arawn: I don't care at this point. You are a major liability for the Coalition.

Middle:

Arawn catching Mickey/Theseus while also falling.

Theseus getting help from Arawn, who has Brigadier on radio so Theseus can hear her as well while they discuss ideas and plans.

Thesus redirecting Arawn's attention and trying to make him focus.

Bottom:

Theseus got caught in the rain while going to meet with Arawn in secret. Turns out Arawn was also meeting with Protesilaus (costume design pending; this is based currently on the og design and will be updated soon). Protesilaus: He looks like a kicked puppy. Arawn: he does... So sorry, Thes.

[iantlycbu-official]

I drew a thing (distant future spoilers lol)

Warning for mild nudity below the break (free Tiddies) and very mild blood (nosebleed)

Basically, Calista and Ren (our loveable duo's adoptive kids) end up having to babysit the twins (T&J's bio kids [via surrogate]) because there was a late-night incident (T&J tried to have late-night funtime that went wrong because a trauma response, flashback, and major panic attack got triggered on J's end) that lead to a brief hospital visit (to fix dislocations) and an emergency therapy appointment on top of an all-nighter. It wasn't a complete disaster, but 8-month-old babies are messy little gremlins. But the older kids (C 20, R 16) didn't appreciate the short-notice assignment to care for their baby siblings for most of the day, despite being perfectly capable of completing the job together.

[iantlycbu-official]

Little art study/ref sheet drawn during class

Fun fact: I'm the same height irl as Bee and I keep forgetting Jasper's short at the start of everything and shoots up in height way later in the story.

Also, I need to get consistent drawing Mickey's scars and Bee's vitiligo patches. I still don't have an official idea for how her vitiligo looks other than what's on her face. She's also fun to draw/ design because of her hair. She's going to have the most hair changes out of the entire cast because she loves styling her appearance regularly. Everyone else is fairly consistent between appearances.

Jasper also goes between binding and not depending on the day/appearances, and he uses different binding methods for different purposes. But probably about halfway through, he doesn't have to bind at all (he gets top surgery!)

[iantlycbu-official]

A drawing I made in class today and colored when I got back to home base (turn your phone to see the whole image)

Doomed boyfriends I guess

Jasper's eyes are off, but so are my proportions *sobs in artist*

[iantlycbu-official]

[iantlycbu-official]

Some behind the scenes art: WORLDBUILDING

Featurung: the basic cast list, character designs, phones, the Big Three Heroes, a map of Prosper [bonus: Jasper's sound dampener earpieces] and the Crow's Collective basic layout [store on first floor, family home above]