A little late, but I finally did my artfight page LMAO
Anyways this is my first artfight so I think getting it done before July 1st still counts! Also if you're doing artfight you should add me so we can have a very cool and artful July :D
ITS FINALLY DONE. For some reason decided I needed to fully colour this thing so.. it perhaps took longer than intended.
There's so many little details in here that are almost invisible, but like, how could I colour a glass cup and not add the rest of the hand in behind it??
Anyways. Ch.4 FFXIV manga highlight edit. Now in colour for your viewing enjoyment :3
Gotta stop trying to push myself to do digital I think? It can be fun when I reeeally want to, but pencil and paper just feels so much more natural rn, and I think art fight will be way more fun if I stick to it :D Anyways yeah a lil portrait of my WoL for her character page! TheLonelyCatt on artfight if you wanna take a look over there ;P
Alright back to fluff for the soul. Yes I write two things and two things ever (fluff and angst), and no, none of them are ever substantial beyond quick one shots XD If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
FFXIV Write Day 25- Perpetuity
No warnings except for like. Borderline candy sweet fluff, I guess. Cavity achingly sweet on occasion but yeah Zero connection to MSQ. Feat. mine and my boyfriend's WoLs :3
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"Li,-"
"Not my name."
A quick laugh escaped Dev at how quickly he was cut off. He leaned back on the couch, peering over its back to look across the lounge at Cattalia.
They'd slowly been making progress on decorating this room, and despite it still being partially empty, it was already feeling like home. A square of couches on one side for a sitting area, a piano and some awaiting empty space on the other, with a simple bar between them, tucked against wall.
Awash in the warm glow of the chandelier overhead, Cattalia flipped through a furniture catalog, eyeing the empty space next to the piano in hopes that something might jump out at her-- metaphorically speaking.
"What! All the Scions get to call you Tali, but I'm not allowed my own nickname for you?" Dev complains, feigning offense despite the wide smirk on his face. Cattalia scoffs, turning to raise a teasing brow back at him, barely managing to stifle a laugh as she saw his upside-down face half hanging over the back of the couch.
"That includes you, y'know. Besides-" She closes the book, hands resting on her hips with a huff. "You have an entire language of words to pick from, couldn't you pick your own pet name?"
Dev vanishes from Cattalia's sight, slumping longways onto the couch with a long, dramatic sigh.
"I did! Two letters, from our alphabet, as they appear in your name!" He protests, gesturing widely enough that Cattalia could glimpse his hands moving from the other side of the couch. She rolls her eyes, tossing her catalog onto the presently empty bar and resting her forearms on the top of the couch, leaning forward and feigning annoyance as she sighed.
"Remind me again, why I married you?" She teased, the necklace she kept her wedding ring on hanging between them like it new it was a relevant set piece. Dev grinned, one arm wrapping around her neck, the other tugging on her arm with slowly increasing force.
"Because you love me?~" He suggested innocently, still trying to pull her over the couch. Cattalia snickered, a teasing smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.
"Ah, yes, because you never leave me alone. How could I forget." She retorted with a roll of her eyes, before sighing and giving in, rolling shoulder first over the back of the couch, and into Dev's gleefully awaiting arms. He was quick to catch her, and wasted no time nestling her into a comfortable position to snuggle.
"Now why would I ever do that when it would mean parting from you?" He beamed, holding her close and gently nuzzling his forehead against hers. Cattalia's ears fluttered happily, unable to wipe the smile from her face even as she continued.
"You're not helping your case." She returned flatly, raising her brows at Dev expectantly. Seeing such a scene from the outside, one might even suspect that he was the clingy one, but nothing could be further from the truth.
"You don't seem too upset with your circumstances." Dev remarked casually, running a hand through Cattalia's hair with a teasing raise of his brow.
"Oh I'm just seething-" She started to retort, attempting to shift slightly so she could use her arms to further emphasize her point, but Dev only hugged her tighter, smirk widening in the process.
"In fact, I believe you went so far as to marry me about it, isn't that right? Mine in perpetuity and all that?" He continued with a confident wave of his hand. Cattalia groaned, facepalming into his chest for lack of other options.
"That is not what that means!" She counters, slightly muffled by Dev's shirt but still very audibly frustrated by his misuse of words.
"I'm not hearing a no my beloved~" He teased, unaffected by her attempts to change the topic of conversation.
"You're impossible." She finally relented, looking back up at him with a reluctantly fond sigh.
"Oh come on, stick the landing! Is it really so hard to say?" Dev nudged her with his arm, brows raised expectantly, still waiting to hear the words she'd been so carefully avoiding.
"You've asked me plenty of questions by now, how could I possibly know which answer you're looking for?" Cattalia dodged again, feigning ignorance with a shrug and roll of her head, before she looked back to Dev to see him in full carboy pout mode. Her act dropped, narrowing her eyes at him momentarily before breaking under his expert coercion.
"Alright, alright..." She relented, and Dev's pout quickly lit up into an eager smile again. Cattalia's expression softened, leaning into his chest with a light chuckle.
"I love you too, my knight."
---
I am only mildly embarassed to be posting this, which is better than I thought it'd be tbh, so I'll take it as a win. And in the case this is vaguely incomprehensible, you have my deepest apologies, but I had to add a few mild in jokes or else I wouldn't have done it justice XD Thanks for reading! 💙
Angst for the soul. Perfect fix for most problems I think.
FFXIV Write Day 24- Bar
Warnings: stormblood spoilers!! Early to mid stormblood timeline wise, otherwise no content warnings though. Just traumatized perfectionist angst with my favourite scion.
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Eyes closed. Focus. Feel the wood grain of the staff in your hands, the way the aether flows through your hands and out of the deep red ruby at its top. There was a way-- there had to be a way. Breathe in...- no, slower. Relax the tension in your muscles, you need to be faster. If anyone should be able to do this, picture it clearer, hit harder, it's you. So why doesn't it...
Cattalia let out a heavy breath, eyes blinking open, though half lidded with frustration. The setting Ala Mhigan sun made a valiant effort at blinding her, but she was far too busy to be bothered. Hold on.
She blinked again, mind finally returning to the present. Setting sun? Hells, she'd promised she would just be training for a bell or two, she hadn't intended to stay out this long.
Spinning around, hands fumbling for her lanner's call, Alphinaud was already walking up from the pale desert road.
"Surely the Warrior of Light doesn't need supervision while she trains, mm?" He asked, brows raised teasingly. It was a relief to see he didn't seem bothered. Cattalia relaxed somewhat, tucking the horn back onto her belt with a dry laugh.
"Absolutely not. Surely it's not such a sin to take my job seriously?" She brushed it off with another quiet laugh, but there was a flicker in Alphinaud's expression. If something had gone wrong in her absence she was sure he would've said so by now, but if that wasn't it, then what was off? His pause was only a fraction of a second, so... maybe it was nothing?
"Only if you want us to start expecting your lateness." He returned with another jab, but his playful tone had dimmed. Something was definitely off, but she didn't have the energy to pry. Talia closed the distance, walking to Alphinaud's side as he turned to start walking back with her.
"Point taken, I'll find a better way to keep track of the time." She relented with a sheepish smile, deciding it was better to ease his concern, even if she couldn't ask for details right now. His brow furrowed slightly in the corner of her vision.
"Or... perhaps a break is in order? You've been at this for days, and improvement takes equal parts rest." He suggested lightly, his logical explanation only making the gears in her mind turn faster, hardly even considering what he was actually trying to tell her. She looks over to him, pace unchanging as she considers his expression. Brow furrowed, his eyes are on the horizon, but they flit over the distant cliffs as if his mind is elsewhere. He turns to look at her in kind when he notices the movement, features softening when he tries to return his expression to its usual state.
"My apologies, if my recent habits have worried you. I've yet to make much progress, but if cutting back might help..." She apologizes half heartedly, hoping she wouldn't have to plainly admit her failures yet. She'd spent hours trying to hone her casting in the last week, but still nothing. Alphinaud scoffed, looking up at her under half lidded eyes.
"If you think that's working on me, you're sorely mistaken." He insisted flatly, arms crossing with a quiet huff. This was quickly getting more complicated than she'd hoped. "Cutting back isn't a break, no matter how little progress you're making." That cut a little deeper than she'd expected it to, hearing him mention her progress. She winced, head falling to look at the ground passing beneath their feet.
"Things are getting serious, Alphi. If Y'shtola couldn't even-" The words caught in her throat, the memory of that awful fight flashing in her eyes. Not worth it. She shook her head, trying again.
"I owe it to everyone to improve. To raise the bar." She answered, tension palpable in her simple response. There was a frustrated sigh from her right.
"That's not-" Alphinaud stopped in his tracks, quickly pulling Talia's eyes back to his as she heard his newly audible annoyance.
"The bar cannot be set at- at perfection, Cattalia!" He snapped, the grit of guilt in his voice only making it hit harder. Talia flinched at the volume. He let out a heavy sigh, voice quieting, though still just as firm. His stare practically begged for her to actually listen.
"It's only a matter of time before it crushes you."
The lump in her throat suddenly fell, becoming a dark, heavy pit in her stomach, his every word adding to the weight. Eyes wide, her ears pinned back against her head, tail curling tight around her leg; the intensity of his concern felt crushing enough.
"But I-..." She tried to resist, but the words weren't coming out. She wanted to assure him that she would be fine, or agree with him, or say anything to escape the aching in her chest. She gawped for a moment, stubbornness threatening to keep her on the path the she'd chosen, but... it eventually gave out, breaking open like a dam as she was flooded with guilt. Her teeth grit, resisting the tears starting to sting at the back of her throat.
"How long have you been...?"
"You've been completely out of sorts ever since The Reach. Needing time to process, I could understand, but this... this warpath you've put yourself on..." Alphinaud almost seems at a loss for words for a moment, before resteadying his gaze.
"No man is an island. I won't stand idly by while you try fighting this war alone, Tali." Of course he'd remind her of her own words in a moment like this. How odd it must feel, to be on the other side this time. And that nickname... he was really pulling out all the stops.
"Nothing gets past you, huh?" Her words are joking, but her voice is strained and quiet. Alphinaud only watches, letting the silence do its work. Cattalia sighs softly.
"Alright. But I'll... need some help."
"I was hoping you'd say that."
---
God the paranoia after that attack on the reach, the isolation??? I imagine it takes almost the entire rest of the expansion to tone it down, and I mean once thats over, well,, more angst fodder !!! :DD LMAO
I suppose it's time to dust off my writing brain and write something. Completely unedited, but here's yesterday's ffxiv write prompt! (I started this when it wasn't out yet alright ;-;)
FFXIV Write Day 11: Surrogate
"They're sprouting!" Cattalia cheered excitedly, hands resting on her hips with a proud grin as she looked down at the budding plants in her garden beds.
"Are you still out here cooing over your plants, 'Talia?" Dev shut the door to the free company house behind him as he called out to her, his jab not going unnoticed. Her brow furrowed for a moment, casting a light glare back across the yard at him, before turning back to her plants with a huff.
"They're not mine. Krile wanted me to germinate them for her." Cattalia corrected dismissively. Dev only scoffed, strolling up to her side, brow raised in question. His eyes narrowed, giving his girlfriend a once over, and then looking to her garden beds. He crossed his arms, visibly unconvinced.
"So you're going to be able to part with these plants, once they're grown enough for her? Right." He teased, a smirk widening on his face as he watched Cattalia gasp at his accusation, gaze snapping up to look at him. Her arms crossed defensively, mouth opening and closing a few times in an sputtering attempt to find a retort, before she managed to speak.
"O-of course I will! She needs them for her research, and I offered to help her, not stand in her way."
"I didn't ask what you offered, darling." Dev's smirk was bordering on a grin now; she was too easy to tease. Catt rolled her eyes with a quick shake of her head.
"And I'll be sure she gets them. I'm just making sure they're properly cared for while they grow-- or am I only allowed to hate them? Perhaps indifference would be better?" Cattalia asks with a testing squint, and Dev takes his cue to head back inside, but not without a comment on his way out.
"A healthy balance is important for growing things, 'Talia! Better teach 'em some swears before they go home, just for good measure. Have fun talking to your plants~" He waved behind him, lilt in his voice only making Cattalia groan louder. She looked back at her plants, still in the same well tended state she'd left them in a few minutes prior, and let out a quiet sigh.
"They don't need to know swears! Ugh, you're impossible..." Her voice trailed off, jogging to catch up with him and catch the open front door door before it closed.
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Short and sweet! Very fluffy, just me and @dev-tayuun WoL's cause I couldn't think of anything else. I was hoping this would be done before today's prompt came out, but such is the curse of writing midday lmao. Thanks for reading! 💙
Of course I like the sketch when its on lined paper, I challenged the universal law of doodle quality (and drawing too close to the archon mark I copied out of boredpm)
