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"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
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Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
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@ringtailedrascal
????? Where did my askbox go?
[ FLUFF. ALL FLUFF ALL THE TIME. I MUST DRAW CUTE THINGS. ]
“who do you pair that character with?”
happiness. life. being happy. not being dead. i want them to be alive and safe. and happy. that’s what i’m getting at. that is the direction this is going in. that’s my only wish
[ Once I finish a quick shippy thing anyway. Keep things friendly, chat’s OOC, all you need’s a nickname. ]
[ALL MY BLOGS need new reference art - And the mun does too! Let’s see how much of it I get through.
Shouldn’t be any trigger warnings today! Lots of OCs, possibly Cole, and I’ll take little scribble requests if I get stuck and frustrated with anything.
Be nice, please pick and colour a nickname to speak (Pencil Icon under the chatbar on the right, colored box next to bold/italic/underline on the left) so I can keep track of who’s talking, and don’t mind my singing!
Chat is OOC]
[ Come and watch us draw? The rules are easy;
You do not need a log-in to chat. Hit the little pencil icon beneath the chat bar, on the right, and put in a nickname and you can talk.
The Mun would appreciate it if you would color your name too! It helps her keep up with who’s talking - use the little coloured box by the bold/italic/underline icons to do that.
Be kind.
Chat’s OOC! I’ll be doing a lot of practice - haven’t drawn with two monitors in a while. Also warning: There will be some sketches of starved bodies, close ups of eyes, hands, and other disembodied body parts, scars, mouths and teeth, and other things I need to work on. (Also facial expressions and fluffy things, but I want to warn people!)
OC’s and fandom things. Join me! ]
"Hey, li'l bit?" The pondering query comes immediately post-breakfast. Leftovers are stored or cleared away, fire's covered, and there's nothing to do but bask in the aftermath of good food. "C'mere a sec?"
"Hm?" Kate’s ears flick up, and her head cants as she blinks through the food haze. She is being called? Yes. Yes that is what is happening.
She ambles over, tail a-swish and not yet brushed, fur sticking out oddly.
"Yea-uh? ‘Chall want, Ears? Somethin’ to show me?"
"Uh-huh." Hands whip out quick as blinking, grabbing his li’l bit by the shoulders and pulling her in to a firm smooch!
"Wanted t’show you I love ya." He’s grinning his fool head off, tail wagging a mile a minute. “‘Cause guess what? I do."
Squeak! Kate's ears flick straight up, and fill with red briefly, and she pulls away laughting, resting her hands over Tai's shoulders. "Aw, Ah wouldn't have noticed if y'all didn't call me over otherwise, so Ah'm right glad yew did!"
She grins, a thing of mischief, and steals a kiss of her own. "Y'all been so sneaky-like with it! Plum took me by surprise! Does that mean y'all got an intent to go a'courtin' me?"
"Hey, li'l bit?" The pondering query comes immediately post-breakfast. Leftovers are stored or cleared away, fire's covered, and there's nothing to do but bask in the aftermath of good food. "C'mere a sec?"
"Hm?" Kate's ears flick up, and her head cants as she blinks through the food haze. She is being called? Yes. Yes that is what is happening.
She ambles over, tail a-swish and not yet brushed, fur sticking out oddly.
"Yea-uh? 'Chall want, Ears? Somethin' to show me?"
(mobile blogging achieved!)
White(lie)smithing
Kate smiles abashedly, hearing Tai likes her work. And it is with this flustered, distracted mindset that she turns to him and takes the ring back, slipping it on. “Yeah sho’. If Ah say yes, does that mean Ah get some kinda veto power over how y’all wanna go an’ cut or grow yo’ hair?”
She’s half turned away again, in fact - before the gravity of the question actually hits. And it’s a very physical thing, you know? She goes from studying her hands to jerking up her chin with wide eyes - to staring off at some point in the horizon, before she rounds on her fox again, both hands around her muzzle.
"W-wait. Wait, y’all just - "
There’s a pause, in which heat rises to her face, and tears to her mis-matched eyes. “I-if…” Quite suddenly, her voice is very faint, and shaking. “If y’all’re, serious? Sh-sho’ yew can, Ears.”
There’s a moment, a long moment, where it feels like his heart’s stopped.
A moment where he’s honestly worried she might not have got what he was saying.
Her reaction, when it seems to finally occur to her, brings a grin to his muzzle that’s as much relief as amusement. He reaches forward, taking her hand between both of his, and ever so gently kisses the engagement ring she’s slipped on.
"Y’ever known me to joke ‘bout somethin’ that matters? I’m serious as stories, darlin’. Don’t got much to offer that ain’t already yours - jus’ me, if you’ll have me?"
She is crying. Hiding behind her one remaining hand, and crying.
Crying, and smiling so hard it makes her face hurt. Her voice, while still weak, has laughter in it between the restrained sobs and tiny hiccoughs, and she relinquishes her ringed hand with ease.
"Ain't - Ain't wanted nothin' more." Her words are merely mumbles behind fingers, and her blurry gaze is locked on Tai now. "Ah - Ah ain't thought..."
"Din't think Ah'd ever get.... That yew'd ever, Ah don't..."
She licks her muzzle, falling briefly silent, before her head drops with a helpless, hopeless laugh.
A moment later, she tackles him, and buries her head in his shoulder and neck. She is sobbing - and hugging him as tightly as she can - and laughing, kissing his cheek and muzzle and forehead and face.
"Holy heck a'course Ah will!"
White(lie)smithing
"You hush!” Her ears are pink and she’s smiling into her palm, even as she casts Tai a look. “That ain’t what Ah meant and y’all know it to be so! Ah… er. Thank yew.” She adds the last bit as a sort of bumbling afterthought, glancing away for a second - then back.
The red ears flick forward, and her brows (or mask’s shape, same thing) rise. “Oh! Yea-uh, sho’!” She toss-and-catches it one more time, so Tai can get a bead on it, then tosses it his way gently. Easy throw - easy catch.
"Ah know it could be shinier but Ah kinda like it as-is. Looks a mite foggy, or somethin’."
Ring’s plucked out of the air neatly, and Tai makes a show of studying it - holding it up to the light, turning it and rolling it between his fingers. “Huh - yeah, kinda makes me think’a clouds. Reckon y’d need tools an’ stuff to get it much clearer anyhow, an’ it’s kinda nice this way.”
Ring’s maneuvered onto the tip of his thumb, and flicked, spinning in the air not unlike a coin, before he catches it in his palm, watching it thoughtfully.
Now or never - no point trying to delay or procrastinate.
"So, hey. Y’know, since we got the ring an’ all anyway…” He drawls, tone faintly lilting and mischievous. He shifts, turning where he sits to face her full on, leaning on one knee and offering the ring to her.
"Don’t s’pose I could convince you to marry me, huh?"
Kate smiles abashedly, hearing Tai likes her work. And it is with this flustered, distracted mindset that she turns to him and takes the ring back, slipping it on. "Yeah sho'. If Ah say yes, does that mean Ah get some kinda veto power over how y'all wanna go an' cut or grow yo' hair?"
She's half turned away again, in fact - before the gravity of the question actually hits. And it's a very physical thing, you know? She goes from studying her hands to jerking up her chin with wide eyes - to staring off at some point in the horizon, before she rounds on her fox again, both hands around her muzzle.
"W-wait. Wait, y'all just - "
There's a pause, in which heat rises to her face, and tears to her mis-matched eyes. "I-if..." Quite suddenly, her voice is very faint, and shaking. "If y'all're, serious? Sh-sho' yew can, Ears."
White(lie)smithing
"Aw, hush." Her tone is gentle and fond, not even the least bit snippy, as she sets with her scrap of leather to smooth and buff her work to its final luster. Not quite a mirror finish - but she sort of likes the cloudiness.
"There’s a whole world’a difference ‘tween makin’ purdy things an’ havin’a talk ‘bout ‘em fo’ hours. Druther this to that a hundred times. Heck, Ah don’t reckon Ah’d know the difference between a whatever-dollar ring an somethin’ ten times it, iff’n both are pretty and kinda the same color." She grins up at Tai, and holds up her new band.
"Might just be willin’ to learn. Could go ‘round bein’ smiths some-time. Ain’t never thought about learnin’ to make metal things! Ah mean, knew folks done it, sure, but ain’t ever crossed my mind."
The ring is tossed upwards, and caught in a closed fist. Kate is beaming. “Cha think? It fits somethin’ gorgeous.”
"I dunno, I reckon I could talk ‘bout my favorite pretty thing fer hours on end, if I had a mind to.” This is drawled, with a careful casualness, and a pointed expression, raised eyebrow and sly grin and everything.
Nudge her and wink why don’t you, earfox, be more subtle huh?
"Reckon the fit oughta be good, since we made it to yer size an’ all - y’mind if I take a looksee at it?" A hand’s held out. "Ain’t hardly looked at it since we joined it proper."
"You hush!" Her ears are pink and she's smiling into her palm, even as she casts Tai a look. "That ain't what Ah meant and y'all know it to be so! Ah... er. Thank yew." She adds the last bit as a sort of bumbling afterthought, glancing away for a second - then back.
The red ears flick forward, and her brows (or mask's shape, same thing) rise. "Oh! Yea-uh, sho'!" She toss-and-catches it one more time, so Tai can get a bead on it, then tosses it his way gently. Easy throw - easy catch.
"Ah know it could be shinier but Ah kinda like it as-is. Looks a mite foggy, or somethin'."
White(lie)smithing
Today has been, by all accounts in Kate’s mind, a fantastic day.
New things delight her. It’s why she said ‘yes’, after all, when Tai asked if she’d like to be his plus one on the endless ramble that his life seems to be - useful new things delight her. Whimsy delights her.
Shooting raw, rough bullets had been an interesting experience - and consuming enough that she didn’t notice fish until it was nearly done. Silver? Silver was fascinating.
And now she sits with a mostly-finished ring and a bit of smooth leather, buffing her handiwork to a reasonable shine. “Ah wouldn’t half-all mind learnin’ gems an’ things.” She calls, trying the ring on for the hundredth time since she took up the final task.
"But this is right pretty as is, ain’t it? It ain’t weird for to go an’ save the silver when Ah go an’ make bullets, is it? Kinda wanna get good at this….”
Mostly finished with polishing, now - won’t be but a few minutes left. She tries it on again, and beams. (A few minutes minus admiring her handiwork.) “Maybe go an’ make somethin’ nice for folks asides me.”
"Dunno why it’d be weird to use the waste metal fer somethin’. S’jus’ bein’ practical, huh?" Forge is as tidy as it’s going to get for now - he’ll dismantle it later if they’re moving on.
"I mean, goin’ outta yer way to use galena ‘steada anythin’ else might be a mite weird, but - hell, some stories, lead an’ silver go together so often it’s only common sense. Lotta things silver bullets work well on."
He strides over towards her, stretching his neck lazily and sliding to sit next to her, watching her work with a fond grin. “Almost surprised you’ve taken so nice to this stuff, honestly. Ain’t like you’re ‘xactly the type fer jewelry an’ stuff - s’pose makin’ it’s a bit more interestin’ than talkin’ ‘bout it, huh?”
"Aw, hush." Her tone is gentle and fond, not even the least bit snippy, as she sets with her scrap of leather to smooth and buff her work to its final luster. Not quite a mirror finish - but she sort of likes the cloudiness.
"There's a whole world'a difference 'tween makin' purdy things an' havin'a talk 'bout 'em fo' hours. Druther this to that a hundred times. Heck, Ah don't reckon Ah'd know the difference between a whatever-dollar ring an somethin' ten times it, iff'n both are pretty and kinda the same color." She grins up at Tai, and holds up her new band.
"Might just be willin' to learn. Could go 'round bein' smiths some-time. Ain't never thought about learnin' to make metal things! Ah mean, knew folks done it, sure, but ain't ever crossed my mind."
The ring is tossed upwards, and caught in a closed fist. Kate is beaming. "Cha think? It fits somethin' gorgeous."
[Wow Kate's about page is out of date.]
White(lie)smithing
There’s a lot of things Tai doesn’t really get about relationship rituals. One of the few things he does know is that a proposal is, generally speaking, supposed to be a surprise.
This poses a mild problem - how do you surprise an observant raccoon who takes an active interest in what you get up to and can catch you out in your usual lies?
"Hoy, li’l bit. Y’remember when we made yer knife? Never taught you how to work with softer stuff, did I?"
The answer is a distraction.
——-
Galena ore isn’t terribly hard to find. Not the best source of silver - but it’s not ‘supposed’ to produce silver, if he’s going to maintain his cover.
Bullet-casting for fun and profit’s the starter topic. Beginning with a home-made forge, smelting the ore down - showing her how the lead and silver splits off when you get the heat just right. Then tricks in making the bullets the way you want - hollowpoints, hard-core, solid rounds, simple but important stuff. Primer, too - hard to get the mix exactly right, but good enough with regular gun maintenance.
"An’ if y’ain’t takin’ care’a yer gun when you’re relyin’ on it in rough conditions like this, y’frankly deserve it blowin’ up in yer face."
Then a break - she to test out her new rounds, and feel how they differ from ‘clean’ rounds; he to scrounge up some food. Not that he told her that - first hint she got of the presence of edible things was the scent of sizzling fish on the air, cooked over the forge after a clean-up.
(Not in the forge. He tried that once - fish-flavoured charcoal was interesting, but probably not going to get very far in the common market)
And then, over a good meal -
"Hmm. Hey, li’l bit? Ever wanted to know how silverworkin’ goes?"
——-
That led to some carving - making a simple C-block, showing her the sizes and explaining what it was for, and making a couple of simple mallets.
Getting her ring size - this was probably his masterstroke, far as he was concerned. The hard bit of the ‘problem’ of surprising her solves itself - genius. Silver’s marked, cut, hammered out. She’s got her hands on the work most of the time - he takes it far enough for her to get the idea, and lets her take it over.
She’s a quick study - it’s one of the things he loves about her.
Ends are welded together - he had to fetch tools for this, mostly with the justification that “Y’aren’t gonna be bothered ‘bout workin’ silver in the wild anyhow, so.” Flux, wire, tongs.
Then more hammering, getting the ring into an actually round shape. Filing the edges smooth. Sanding.
He’s humming to himself, while she works on polishing the ring up properly. He’s working on tidying the forge up, tail wagging back and forth.
"S’actually a relatively simple job, when y’break it down, huh? ‘Course, proper whitesmith’ll do all kindsa fancy things, set gems an’ decorate an’ make all kindsa different stuff, but, simple’s got its strong points."
Today has been, by all accounts in Kate's mind, a fantastic day.
New things delight her. It's why she said 'yes', after all, when Tai asked if she'd like to be his plus one on the endless ramble that his life seems to be - useful new things delight her. Whimsy delights her.
Shooting raw, rough bullets had been an interesting experience - and consuming enough that she didn't notice fish until it was nearly done. Silver? Silver was fascinating.
And now she sits with a mostly-finished ring and a bit of smooth leather, buffing her handiwork to a reasonable shine. "Ah wouldn't half-all mind learnin' gems an' things." She calls, trying the ring on for the hundredth time since she took up the final task.
"But this is right pretty as is, ain't it? It ain't weird for to go an' save the silver when Ah go an' make bullets, is it? Kinda wanna get good at this...."
Mostly finished with polishing, now - won't be but a few minutes left. She tries it on again, and beams. (A few minutes minus admiring her handiwork.) "Maybe go an' make somethin' nice for folks asides me."
Would you choose another timeline to live in? Instead of being in the 1800's?
"Well, Ah'm kinda all-overish now, ain't Ah?" She tilts her head to one side, then clucks her teeth. "Ain't an easy question. Don't see no proof that life gets any better off later on. Y'all just went an' got weirder problems and awful lazy."
"S'pose bein' allowed to wear pants without worryin' 'bout bein' beat woulda been right nice. Coulda done without any corsets, too."