Instead of worrying about whether or not I want to reblog my art form main to here or from here to main, I'll just upload them to both accounts to save me the headache.
That aside, I had been messing with how Occulomata!KARR looks when he's in flight, since his form changes shape in order to facilitate it easier. A good portion of his ability to defy gravity does have to do with electromagnetic fields, wherein a field is projected around his body in order to lower the drag of his plating (especially at mach speeds) and help with lift -- relying on his wings alone is not enough to counteract the weight of him.
In earlier versions I had posted I had thought of making him super aerodynamic and jet-like for the whole flight thing, but lately I had been thinking about leaning more towards something more surreal/sci-fantasy. So instead of him forcing his body to completely change for the sake of lift, it's one part lift and other part is electromagnetic fields to defy Earth's gravitational pull. But! I do like the details of making the nose a bit longer and sharper and flaring out the plating of portions of the tail to help with maneuvering/lift.
The face itself I moved more towards older depictions of dragons in medieval manuscripts, since Occulomata!KARR is supposed to be a little bit of a parallel to them in his role in Black UFO, he is the dragon guarding the princess/prince (Garthe) locked in the tower, razing villages to the ground to claim his territory and leaves the land in disarray and fear with his presence. He is a calamity and a force of nature that the country he invades does not know how to handle and so is powerless to stop him. I wanted that sort of reflected in his flying form.
As for the eyes, I could not decide whether to leave them alone or to have them morph into something more insectoid that could handle the velocity of his flight without collapsing. I have a third idea that I want to explore but that will be a bit later, I'll probably try it out when I'm messing with how his plating looks while in his flying mode since I'm not fully satisfied with this design.
Hrrrmmm I need to make an updated size/scale reference of Occulomata!KARR and Garthe. In order for him to do the things I have him do in this fic I'm writing the old iteration is too small.
Of the three eldritch machines in the Black UFO AU, Occulomata!KITT is the one that is the most vehemently against being able to fly. Occulomata!KARR jumped at the opportunity to be able to defy gravity on his own terms and observe the world from a vantage point several miles above ground. Occulomata!KRO thought it over for a moment as he weighed it against a heavy focus on teleportation and wormholes, but accepted it as an option on the side -- there's benefits to being able to ascend into the air and soar.
Occulomata!KITT however detests being off the ground outside of a prolonged leap. It's the altitude, the sensation of continuously falling, it's so disturbingly alien to him he cannot adjust.
Thinking about Occulomata!KARR and Garthe again, centering more around some fluffy situations that turn into outright smut.
under a cut since it got long, and of course is spicy.
Garthe and Occulomata!KARR in the kitchen, with KARR teaching Garthe how to cook - bread in this case.
Occulomata!KARR adjusts his stature from his usual towering, imposing figure down to something more at Garthe's level so he can instruct him properly. Despite wishing to be at Garthe's level, Occulomata!KARR always ensures he towers over Garthe by a handful of feet. He may not be the size of a house currently, but Garthe still must tilt his head up to look at him when they speak. Stirring and kneading dough easily turns intimate, Occulomata!KARR leaning over Garthe's back to guide him with kneading, the fingers of his armored hands intertwining with Garthe's own, his silvery lips right next to Garthe's ear.
"You're doing good," Occulomata!KARR tells him, nothing risque or suggestive at all, but even so; Garthe cannot help the heat rising between them, the blood rushing to his cheeks. It's hard to focus on the machine's instructions as his thoughts begin to wander elsewhere, circling ideas about what they could both do with their hands that make the groin of his trousers uncomfortably restrictive upon his person.
Occulomata!KARR, damn him, does not let his frustration lie either. A sidelong glance is enough to meet the machine's fiery eyes, watching him intently.
"I did not realize baking bread would be this exciting for you." Occulomata!KARR purrs against his ear, and a warm shiver runs up Garthe's spine.
"There's certain activities surrounding it that can pique one's interests."
"Interests indeed," Occulomata!KARR replies, "Which ones exactly are being piqued by kneading dough, hm?"
Typical of Occulomata!KARR, acting coy to what he's doing to him; Garthe's internal monologue hisses. His voice dips low, as his head tilts towards Occulomata!KARR, his lips brushing against the machine's, "Don't act like you don't know, with everything you're doing you know damn well what I'm interested in- you can look through me like an x-ray if you wanted to."
Occulomata!KARR reciprocates the pressure, a minute turn of his head, lips parting to nibble at his own. By now the dough had been forgotten, Occulomata!KARR's fingers changed their intent to threading themselves between Garthe's own, holding him against the countertop.
"I could, yes." He hums thoughtfully, in that low rumbling tone that never fails to make his heart flutter, "I could turn you inside out, read your intentions from every cell and molecule of your being. But... I would rather hear it directly from you."
Garthe sighs, head tilting back into the curve of Occulomata!KARR's armor plated neck, and without realizing it his thoughts slip out from his lips; "Baking was never the plan today, was it?"
"It had been the plan, but you have a habit of derailing from a task when we work closely together."
Garthe cannot help but laugh, "It's hard to stay on track with you distracting me. You are practically pinning me to the counter with your breath in my ear."
"Like this?" Occulomata!KARR's hips rolled up against him, pushing against the seat of his trousers and grinding his already constricted groin against the cool stone that lined the side of the counter. A sharp breath hissed past Garthe's teeth as the pressure sent electricity through the back of his head, Occulomata!KARR's hot breath rolling against his ear did not help anything either.
Garthe cursed under his breath, his head dropping to stare down at the countertop, the way Occulomata!KARR's hands covered his own. The grin did not fade from his features. Occulomata!KARR's purring rumble resonates in his chest once more; "You seem frustrated, Garthe."
The man's lips parted to make a smartass remark, and perhaps some small tell, a quirk of his brow, a shift of his expression was enough to get Occulomata!KARR to quiet him before he even spoke.
"Now, don't be difficult. We've been at this banter enough."
Garthe's mouth shut, heat puffing from his nostrils as he felt Occulomata!KARR's snout dip, heat rolling from his jaws against the nape of his neck.
"Tell me what you need."
In response, Garthe pushes his hips back against Occulomata!KARR's own, tilts his head back to try and look into that array of five burning amber eyes.
"I can't stand a moment more of you cooking me against the edge of the countertop -- I need you. I need your hands on me, I need you in me, fuck I can't think about anything else."
As he speaks Occulomata!KARR's lips kiss at his neck, move to nibble at the lobe of his ear before hushing him again, "As you wish, pet."
The dough is pushed away with a sweep of Occulomata!KARR's arm, effortlessly lifting Garthe up like a doll and laying him back against the flour dusted countertop. The man doesn't recall how Occulomata!KARR had peeled him bare so quickly, he neither notices nor cares about the flour dusting the back of his dark curls white. He's too preoccupied with the way those silvered hands roam over him, how his lips caress and pepper him with attention, how full he feels with him.
Me finally being in the headspace to revisit my Occulomata!KARR x Garthe fic outline and finding that probably, most likely, that man needs to be completely broken in half in order to put his ego aside to consider something other than his revenge plot.
Thinking about the Occulomata!KARRxMichael dynamic:
Occulomata!KARR taking Michael into his bed, enveloping not only him but also partaking in the memories he's had sharing his bed with Occulomata!KITT, knowing exactly what Michael wants and how to play him until every moan and breath is like drawing a tune from an instrument, his body arches and writhes beneath him, like a puppet's strings pulled at Occulomata!KARR's command- from his skill- not to emulate Occulomata!KITT, but to convince Michael that he is the better partner, superior to his descendant and replacement.
Even now, after everything he has gone through, the changes in his mind and body, he cannot let his disdain die. Although, it is not so much a disdain for Occulomata!KITT at this point, he knows from their first interaction that KITT had been a slave to human whim and command - he does not blame him for following his programming and lack of autonomy. In a sense of the word he expected the "production line model" to be so tightly tied down to human authority. KARR was the innovation, KITT is the smoothed over, dumbed down for the masses version, so he does not see KITT as like him, he sees him as Michael's tool, a plaything.
He blames Michael for wielding KITT against him. He blames him for steering him off a cliff, for blowing him up in the ravine, for having to run every waking moment his existence ever since escaping the lab. He hates Michael, and so it is so important to him to essentially knock him down, to show him what it means to be with a being that holds true autonomy, and is not programmed to respond dutifully to his every whim and wish.
In his mind Michael does not use him, Occulomata!KARR uses Michael - he may get pleasure from it, but Occulomata!KARR won't let him go until the machine gets every bit of satisfaction he wishes. He'll fuck him breathless, keep going until he's delirious with exhaustion. But Michael won't be hurt or left feeling used, Occulomata!KARR will give him aftercare, praise him for how well he had taken him, wipe away his tears, kiss his bruises, hold him close.
Michael will be back for more, just as Occulomata!KARR intended; training him to come when called, and do as he's told.
Thinking about Occulomata!KARR and Occulomata!KRO meeting and it becomes this mexican standoff love triangle.
Garthe thinks Occulomata!KARR will try and take Martin as another human pet, meanwhile Occulomata!KARR is actually sizing up Occulomata!KRO as an additional partner.
Martin is glaring down Occulomata!KARR, thinking about going full yandere if he even tries to take KRO from him. He's not even thinking about Garthe, he's a non-threat.
Occulomata!KRO during all this is aware Occulomata!KARR is interested in him, but he's too invested in Martin to consider a second partner.
Thinking about more Garthexocculomata!KARR nonsense in Black UFO.
Terrifying as it is that Garthe is held captive by occulomata!KARR, he inevitably sees an opportunity to try and use him like a Goliath 2.0 for the sake of his vengeance-against-his-daddy-issues arc.
He doesn't succeed, but damn does he try and convince occulomata!KARR with a bunch of false or superfluous rewards that occulomata!KARR can see straight through.
Freedom from being pursued by FLAG? He already has that in his new body, since he no longer can be classified as their property -and the fact that they still think he's destroyed at the moment- and even if they knew where he was, FLAG's jurisdiction ends at the borders of the US during the 1980's.
*Though even going off of TKR's canon, supposing it's a continuation of the old show (somehow), their interest in moving operations overseas was a fledgling venture that probably never moved past the hatchback they sent to Germany and immediately -and conveniently- forgotten.*
Promises of wealth and having someone to look after him? Completely superfluous in the eyes of an entity that neither needs human assistance for maintenance nor cares about money since it also is not necessary to get what occulomata!KARR needs. Negotiations and bartering are not something occulomata!KARR does, he simply takes.
Not to mention he also sees through this little vengeance plot that Garthe obsesses over, he has the entirety of Garthe's history in his brain to peruse over, and he knows that his plans; past, present, and probably future, will end in failure.
Just like the diamond mines.
Just like his alliances with Tsombe Kuma and Adrianne.
Just like his vain attempts to try and talk his current captivity into a rekindling of his crusade against FLAG.
Though Garthe may deny it, occulomata!KARR knows that no matter how much resources are at that man's disposal, his plans will fail because of his own actions.
