Drawing for my second OCtober prompt - Firelight! (And the corresponding shading!) Featuring Zac and Joy because they're cute :)
My thought process during this drawing went roughly as follows:
Sketching - Oh this doesn't look so bad! :D
Shading - This is so tedious! But it's actually looking pretty nice.
Coloring with the colored pencils - Oh no oh no it's all so red you've ruined it oh my goodness
Finishing with the colored pencils - Actually, this is probably the most accurate firelight drawing you've ever done! Good job!
Doing the background with marker - Nope never mind you ruined it!
Trying to digitally balance the colors after getting the picture on my computer (because I use my phone, not a scanner, and the lighting is usually off) - Oh man this is terrible! XD
no-obligation tagging @hollers-and-holmes and @thethiefinwhite
I choose Joy, the female lead for my weird little slice-of-life-ish story I want to do someday, Zac & Joy.
5 words to physically describe your OC
Hunchbacked, bubbly, wide-eyed, tall, wiry
Who inspired your OC?
I don't know their names, but her very first concept, at least for what she looked like, came from the background art on a board game my best friend got out at a sleepover one time - I think it was a Pokemon game, or something similar? Anyway they were these winged, purple-haired, vampirey-looking girls. Joy started out looking a lot more sinister, like them, but was slowly phased into a friendlier, prettier girl. :) As far as personality, I'm not really sure where that came from at all, although I've more recently let her be influenced by Yotsuba from the Yotsuba&! manga series.
Give me a song to define your OC
Hmmm... that's hard. Maybe The Days by Avicii? Or Today is Gonna Be a Great Day by Bowling for Soup? (That's the extended version of the Phineas & Ferb title theme, FYI)
If I met your OC on the street, how would they greet me?
A smile at least, maybe a wave and a "Hey!" if she already knows you.
Can your OC be your best friend? Why?
Absolutely! She's very friendly, optimistic, and outgoing, and tends to be in great spirits. She might drive me a little crazy with her endless questions about the world around us, but she would also constantly be inspiring me with the wonders of the mundane.
And as far as other writers to tag, I don't know too many... how about @reneethegreatandpowerful , and @thethiefinwhite ? And anybody else who sees and wishes to participate, of course. :) (Don't feel pressured if you don't feel like it - or are too busy - or whatever! And there seem to be no rules here either so don't feel obligated to post original content either, if you'd rather do a fanfic!)
I came home to an empty house. Now that my youngest sister was bound away, I had the whole place to myself.
It felt lonely.
“Maybe you should find a nice lady and settle down,” Shala had said earlier that day, as she balanced one of her three-year old twins on each hip. “You'd be a good father – I know that from experience.”
“Nah, he's too serious,” Retsub grunted into his drink, but I could hear the jest in his voice.
Five years later, I came home to an empty house and thought, “This place is too big. Maybe I should move.”
“Don't you ever get tired of the silence?” Shishlia had asked that afternoon.
“Hey, at least he can get a good night's sleep that way,” said Erniker, who was suffering from a lack of it due to their newest addition. “But maybe it would be good only up to a point.”
What point?
Well, there was still time to change things. I had my life ahead of me.
Five more years later, I came home to an empty house. It was a smaller house, and closer to work. I had almost decided to just move into the castle at one point.
“There's tons of room here, y'know,” Aileev had pointed out that day, “and I'm always looking for somebody to hang out with. I mean, if you ever need company....”
I wasn't sure a teenage girl was quite the right “company” to keep though. I was pretty old for that.
But what about other company?
There was still room in this house.
But work was pressing. I didn't have time to look for somebody.
Rules: Share an excerpt from your WIP that describes one of your OCs.
I used to go into high detail describing each character as they were introduced... and then never say anything about their appearance again. My grandma proofread an older version of Silen Fah for me and said it was difficult to remember everybody that way, so I changed my style a bit and tend to throw in random details now and then instead, like "her green eyes flashed" or "'What can I do for you?' he asked, running a hand through his messy white hair." But! I shall scour my current draft for something. ;)
From Chapter Two:
Soon another woman came silently into the room. For a moment, I thought she was human- she had long, straight, black hair- but then I saw wings folded behind her. She glided toward us in her long black dress, her gaze on me. As she drew close, everyone, including Aileev and Veelia, sank to one knee and said “Fara Uté,” in unison. I hastily dropped on one knee as well, echoing the others.
“Gaken,” the newcomer said in a powerful alto voice. Everyone stood up again. I found her standing directly in front of me.
She was a very tall, thin woman, perhaps in her forties or fifties, with pronounced cheekbones and dark, piercing eyes. Her hair was slightly streaked with grey, and atop her head was a delicate silver tiara, a single diamond sparkling at its center.
Aileev gave what was apparently a report, only the tail end of which seemed to be about me. This women briefly spoke to Aileev, then to the others. Everyone bowed and went back down the stairs. I began to try and follow them when the woman laid a long, spidery hand on my shoulder to stop me.
“Zac?” she asked, gesturing to me.
I nodded. “Fara Uté?” I asked in turn, gesturing to her.
She shook her head. “Vellatra.”
“Vellatra,” I repeated.
Vellatra nodded stiffly. Then she took me by the hand and led me out a different door than the one I'd come from.
