Look, these doodles are very indulgent. Look at Mark's big meat mitt grappling Paris's face. You KNOW I drew this entirely to soothe my soul.
The closer Mark and Paris get, the less reserved they are about affectionate touches, or in Mark's case, any kind of touches. Small man won't stop talkie? Grab his face. Small man looks sad? Pet pet.
For Paris, I'm sure running his hands through dense, coarse werewolf fur feels quite nice. Mark's coat can get very thick, especially in the colder months, so in spite of the coarse hair Mark can feel almost pillowy soft.
Also Paris is wearing Mark's t-shirt in that center doodle 😊
Scribble of Mark and Sal doing Mark and Sal things.
Of the three of them, Mark and Paris are definitely bigger menaces than Sal 99% of the time. Sal is very comfortable being left unbothered and in their lane, but Mark, especially in his wereform, likes to be annoying.
Sal is yucked out by surprise werewolf kisses, which wereMark thinks is very funny. I'd imagine Sal's hair and skincare stuff tastes terrible though, so they're both suffering a little bit 😌
It's a mixed bag of an experience for Mark, holding Paris like this. On the one hand, it's nice having him close; Paris's ghostly body is quite cool and can feel very refreshing to have pressed up against his pretty warm werewolfy body. On the other hand, it gives Paris very easy access to his big dumb dog face, which he understandably struggles to keep his hands off of.
The truth is that Mark doesn't mind Paris touching his face like that. Werewolves have thick fur and thick skin, so scritches and pets with sufficient pressure feel very nice, with the understood levels of consent and closeness.
Plus Mark is always happy to see Paris being genuine and a little silly. Small ghost man puts on quite the show; it's good to see him relax.
Paris is a ghost and therefore his weight can fluctuate pretty dramatically from non-existent to a good bit more than his body's "natural" weight based on its attributes. None of that matters though when your boyfriend is a wall of fluff and meat. Mark can hold him like he's a $2 gas station burrito any day.
This comes in useful, of course, because Paris has a penchant for getting in trouble. He doesn't meant to, but he's curious and stubborn and has terrible impulse control. Those big eyes can only look innocent to a point.
Just some explorations of Mark's ability to partially transform!
It's not an ability unique to him; all of my werewolves are capable of selectively transforming parts of their bodies with enough practice. It's mostly a party trick but it can prove useful for fights, lifting large objects, or utilizing thicker werewolf skin+fur to protect vulnerable body parts in a pinch.
And then there's just changing your teeth to make your partners' knees knock together. Just Paris really, in Mark's case. Sal is not so easily flustered.
Also, Mark's bed-head in the top left makes me very happy. I should draw him disheveled more often.
I imagine that wereMark can scrunch into himself like a big ol' seal. His mane is just a bunch of fat and fluff so I'd imagine he could shrink into it. Sink into himself and take a seated nap 💤
Finally caught up with old stuff! As of right now, November 13th at 12:46 AM haha. I'll probably keep scheduling stuff afterwards just so there's some sense of chronology 💕
But meet Summer! Summer is a number of years old but she, like Sal, has been in the "Sam is too scared to draw you" purgatory for a long while. I'm glad I finally did it, though. I got very close to the look I want for her from the start!
Summer is sweet, curious, and courageous, and acts as a wonderful foil to the shy and reserved Mark. Unlike her best friend, Summer often throws caution to the wind for the sake of adventure and experience, drawing Mark out of his shell... and causing him more stress than he maybe deserves.
After an incident when they were children, Summer gained the ability of mediumship, something that rarely happens as the vast majority of mediums are born with the powers. It's a bit unclear how Summer gained these abilities, but it's had a number of other side-effects, including a prismatic distortion on her vision that needs to be corrected with glasses and/or contacts.
Summer loves nature, hiking, and the arts. Sculptural work is her favorite, and she's a rather skilled woodworker and ceramicist! She and Mark have a near-symbiotic relationship where she makes him vessels and he fills them with homemade, homegrown pickles, preserves, and other treats.
And now it's Mark time! Once again will be dumping a good chunk of info about him, so if you'd like to know about my boy you may read more 💕
So Mark is pretty old as far as active OCs go, a few years younger than Paris but still up there in years haha. Originally I developed him to be a best friend of Paris's, but as their stories developed and relationship diverged... and I broke down to my own tendencies, they ended up as a couple and Mark, the normal human man, became a werewolf.
I am nothing if not predictable.
So! Mark is quiet, shy, and a bit brooding. Due to his size and a pretty severe case of resting b-face, Mark's pretty damn intimidating, even when he's not trying to be. Maybe it's for the best, though. Talking to people is difficult for Mark, and sometimes it's nice to not have to worry about the frustration of it. He's not a lonely person by any means, his friend circle small, but tight-knit, and the time he gets to himself is precious.
With all of that said, Mark is actually quite a sweet person. He has a kind heart and an affinity for animals, children, and nature. As a member of the local werewolf pack, there is a heavy emphasis on community health and service, and Mark participates by tending to several local greenhouses, educating folks on gardening and agriculture, and coaching a children's baseball team. He spends his free time hiking, reading, and cooking. He's a very cozy kind of guy.
Unfortunately, Mark's comfortable and cozy life is greatly disrupted when a haggard, soaking wet ghost (Paris) appears on the side of the road after one of his nightly patrols. While Mark's evenings are spent ensuring that no monsters have breached the perimeters of his home town, ghosts are not deterred by scratched trees and howls.
I really love Mark a lot. I love that he's just this big scary guy that's actually very sweet and anxious and just wants to read his books and grow his plants. Good guy. 10/10.
