a couple years ago, i started writing a graphic novel. this week, i drew these spreads to pitch it at Kids Comics Unite. i worked incredibly hard to get these spreads done on time, and i couldn't be more proud of the result. here's some basic info about the story in a mini WIP intro post that also functioned as a place for progress updates. while i'm not actively working on Mothwing, it's a project that's been present in my mind all the while and an important step in my journey as a storyteller and artist.
Two journeys, intertwined. Two fics, one story. Join Silver and Blaze on the night of the Last Masquerade as they discover new facets of their identities and strengthen their friendship.
This is a collaborative project between myself and @franticmelody and a love letter to transgender and nonbinary folks discovering themselves and finding strength in each other every day.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
When a fight with her mother goes too far, a young girl meets Death, who gives her a curse: a cloak made of moth wings. Desperate to break the curse and escape her mother, Mothwing goes to the Land of the Fae in search of the Silver Door, a place rumored to cure all ails. With a devoted squire as her guide and friend, Mothwing navigates dangerous Faerie courts, ever-changing labyrinths, and the darkest corners of the realm as its denizens try to stop them at every turn, and the cloak plagues her with visions of her mother, threatening to transform her into a creature of grief.
Genre: Teen/YA Fantasy, Graphic Novel
Status: Second draft
As of April 23rd 2025, Mothwing has undergone some visual development and the second draft is in progress. A pitch and some sample pages have also been created.
Sample pages | Old intro
tags: #mothwing, #mw inspo
It's time: Tails is leaving to start his own adventure. He's going to miss his big brother, but it's time to see what he's capable of alone. And what better way to start than by investigating an anomaly in his cutting-edge research into interdimensional space?
But though Tails is ready to take on the world, is he really ready to take on two?
Tails & The Jade Bridge is an indie fan comic/passion project about siblings, coming of age, and the limits of what one person can do on their own, loosely inspired by Sonic Frontiers, the 1996 OVA, the IDW comics, the Sonic Riders series, and everything else I love about StH!
Will be released on tumblr, one page at a time, as I finish them.
related tags, taglist, characters, and related art below
(images below need IDs, will add them when i have time. sorry!)
tags: #nimbus jade, #tails and the jade bridge, #tatjb comic, #tatjb
Original Characters
Trace the Wolf
pronouns: he/she/they
Genderqueer wolfboy who's a little obsessed with her image. Trick's older sibling. (desc unfinished)
Trick the Wolf
pronouns: she/her
Trace's enthusiastic little sister. When she knows what she wants, she won't take "no" for an answer! (desc unfinished)
Metal Trace
pronouns: she/it/any
Has one real goal.
Related Art
taglist: @pastelspindash, @silvers-starrway, @franticmelody, @raven4172, and maybe you! Ask to be added or removed by responding to this post, DMs, askbox, or any other way.
Far flung in the blankest reach of space,
I’m careening at the mercy of
unwieldy momentum.
At the edge of hope,
you catch my hand with a
clap of silver energy
that radiates, reflecting off the flecks
of space dust chasing us
invisibly.
Our trajectory’s altered,
a spiral ‘round each other now,
lines in the darkest reach of space.
There’s something holding onto me.
Starlight, following and to follow;
A comet trail.
You’re farther than you let on,
whispering in my ear from lightyears away.
If you had a mechanical body, you muse,
you wouldn’t mind it breaking
to keep someone else whole.
But that body’s still you, I think,
no matter how many pieces it’s in,
scattered over however many hypothetical cosmos,
and I couldn’t bear to see it shattered like
glass specks,
you who shared my name in another time,
my heart-sister.
I see myself in those million pinpoint reflections.
When there’s a closeness stretched by distance,
you’re perpetually reaching.
The starlight in my heart will always be
filtered by space dust
by the time it reaches you.
I’m breaking bottles over it,
as if shattered glass (or steel) would
make a difference,
as if breaking things will somehow
bring them back together,
as if feeling something hard enough could
change reality.
I wish I could love you hard enough
to shield you from every suffering,
Envelop you in starlight
instead of watching it reflect off your
sadly smiling silhouette.
Starlight is just a pretty word for photons, after all.
At least, this way,
both of us can glow.
art by @futuristichedge
words: 1363 (1739 with alt ending)
this is a little WIP about a pivotal moment early in loop and scarab's relationship. hearkening back to sonic's 'fuck the cops' attitude from SA2 etc hehe
this takes place in Metal City, and begins partway through the chase.
Grabbing the center railing, Loop swung themself up the low concrete stairs towards the buildings. Behind them, Scarab skidded and corrected with a fiery jet. If they were going to get away, Loop had to trust that Scarab could keep up, even skating at full tilt. And so far, it seemed like they were right to— the robot wasn’t as graceful, of course, but it wasn’t as if grace would win them any points over effectiveness. They just had to escape.
Sirens blared as a car slid across the road in front of them, screeching to a halt. Loop squinted as the flashing lights nearly blinded them. Stop? Turn? No. Can’t sacrifice any momentum. Loop leaned forward and jumped, light skates carrying them right over the hood of the car and off the other side. Behind them, a metallic thump and shouting meant Scarab followed suit. Loop slid into the alleyway they were aiming for, slivers of blue and red lights hitting the wall in a bright strip. A chain fence— they glided onto the wall to gain some height and flipped over it, hearing another crash as Scarab shouldered straight through it moments later. The sirens grew in numbers and thundering footsteps echoed in pursuit as Loop skidded around the corner.
Dead end. But not for us. There was a dumpster, just under a balcony— path for Scarab. Loop darted up the wall, coming to rest on one of the landings. Scarab wasn’t far behind. It saw the path too, jumping onto the dumpster to grab the floor of the balcony. It pulled itself up, legs swinging only as much as mechanically necessary. Its every movement was measured and surprisingly quick, but the police were right on its tail. Loop had to think fast.
Where next? The balcony wasn’t a fire escape. It couldn’t take them all the way up the building. There was an adjacent building that was shorter— Loop could probably land on the wall and skate up. But Scarab! The balcony rattled as the robot climbed the few short stairs towards Loop, reaching all too quickly the end of the line. There was only one thing to do. Loop stepped onto the railing and leapt, riling a few shouts from the officers below.
Perpendicular landings were always hard. They put their feet forward to hit the wall first, bending their knees as the light skates engaged with the wall. They twisted around to face the ground, sliding about a foot down as the gear worked against gravity. Once they were stable, Loop thrust their hands out towards Scarab, still standing on the balcony.
“Here!”
Scarab seemed to hesitate, like it was calculating its chances, assessing risks. But there was no time to think. The police were on top of it, one of them trying to tackle Scarab in a bear hug. Scarab shoved him away and, bracing against the railing, kicked him into the cop behind him. Without another second of hesitation Scarab mimicked Loop’s jump, leaping, reaching.
Catch! Loop held onto Scarab’s metal hands with all their strength as it clanged against the wall, once, twice. Loop cringed at how rough the impact sounded. The anti-grav of the light skates wavered under the sudden extra weight, gear working overtime to stay engaged. Scarab turned its head away from the exhaust, and its fingers tightened around Loop’s wrists. They silently thanked Phos again for making them wear those thick, protective gloves. Straining, Loop dragged themself more upright and inched towards a windowsill. Scarab reached for the tiny ledge, and Loop helped it haul itself up. Below, the police were scrambling up to the balcony, some talking into communicators. Loop only took a second to catch their breath before backing up over the lip of the building. They leaned over to pull Scarab up the rest of the way with another grunt. It felt like they had to flex every muscle in their body to drag it over.
“You’re considered light-weight?” Loop panted, falling back.
“You should see my friends,” Scarab replied, peeking over the edge. “Assessment: We should keep going.”
Loop got to their feet and tightened their skates. “Right. Not over yet—!”
Loop’s sentence turned into a yelp as three cops with hover wispons descended onto the rooftop. The two broke into a run, jumping to the next building over, which was a little taller. One of the officers shouted, “Freeze!” and Loop’s heart skipped a beat as a wave of green energy zipped past close enough to ruffle their fur. Peering over the edge, there were more cars and officers surrounding the block.
A whir from Scarab’s ocular sensor. It pointed to something a couple blocks over. “If I can get there, I think I can get us some cover.”
“How are you gonna get down?” Loop said, glancing over their shoulder at the cops closing in.
“I can take it.” Scarab stepped over the edge. Loop followed, letting gravity build their momentum as the skates engaged with the wall of the building, ready to hit the ground with a burst of speed. Scarab’s jets kicked in, slowing its fall a bit— but not enough to prevent the roof of the police car it landed on from completely caving in. Without missing a beat, Scarab launched itself off the car and sprinted down the street, unfazed. Loop sighed in relief and tore after it.
It took just seconds for the police to converge. Time to make a scene. Loop peeled off and headed towards the buildings on their right. They swooped along the walls as the officers shouted before kicking off and landing just out of reach. Dodging cops and the occasional wispon fire, Loop zipped onto a stoplight.
“Evening, officers! Anyone else having fun yet?”
“Miss Lemur!” a uniformed badger shouted in response. “You’re under arrest for possession of an illegal and armed robotic unit! Come down immediately!”
“Woah, I’m not a girl, a lemur, or in ‘possession’ of anything,” Loop scoffed. “Last I checked, it’s not even armed. You guys make a lot of assumptions, don’tcha?”
This was dangerous. If Loop made it out of this, they’d never be able to show their face in this city again. The whirling lights from the sirens and the stoplight cast everything in an intense red, and Loop felt the officers’ eyes on them from every angle, waiting for them to make a move.
“Come down with your hands up on the count of three, or—”
“Nah, I’m over it.” The light changed green. Loop swung off the streetlight, landing in the middle of the intersection with a burst of light. The police response was immediate. Suddenly, Loop was dodging reaching hands and wispon fire from all angles. They swept the leg of an officer and had to roll away from another diving for them. Springing to their feet, they jumped over a wave of wispon energy and kicked an approaching officer away. Another siren was approaching from somewhere. Okay, that’s probably enough distraction, Loop thought, trying not to panic as they looked for a way out. A moment ago there had been plenty of space to slip away, but everywhere they looked the door was closed as the police moved steadily closer.
Then, with a dull groan that rang from every part of the city, all the lights went out. The sharp headlights of the police cars cut across the intersection, silhouetting everything. For a second, everyone froze in confusion, until a shout from the darkness made all heads snap towards the corner. As if the shadows themselves had shoved him aside, a cop in front of Loop cried out and fell to the ground, and there was Scarab, lunging out of the darkness to grab Loop’s hand and drag them after it. The intersection broke into pandemonium, some officers giving chase, others shouting, car doors slamming as sirens restarted. What few lit windows remained smeared the city into a streaky, mismatched blur of color as Loop and Scarab dashed away.
“I didn’t know you could operate a substation,” Loop smiled when they’d gained some distance.
“I don’t. They just leave the conductors out in the open.”
[ALT VERSION]
“Come down with your hands up on the count of three, or—”
“Nah, I’m over it.” The light changed green. Loop swung off the streetlight, landing in the middle of the intersection with a burst of light.
They skated off down the road, dodging off as many walls, cars, and streetlights as possible. This part wasn’t new to Loop, the rush of cool night air, the hum of their skates micro-adjusting with every step and lean, the rhythm inherent to free-running. The only difference was being pursued.
Up ahead, Loop could see Scarab nearing their destination— an electrical substation. If there had been any other cops giving chase, Scarab must have dealt with them already. The robot threw itself over the fence, landing on the gravel with a crunch.
“So what’s the plan, S?” said Loop swerving in, watching the street corner.
“Turn out the lights.”
“Wait, you know how to do that?”
“No.” Scarab grabbed an exposed conductor. Crack! Loop flinched and covered their eyes as a huge flash of light erupted from Scarab. Sparks flew. The city uttered a loud, dull groan as, grid by grid, the lights went out.
Loop opened their eyes and gasped, grabbing onto the fence.
“Scarab?!”
The soft glow of Scarab’s ocular sensor appeared in the darkness as it turned towards Loop.
“Scarab? Are you okay?”
Scarab’s already staticky voicebox sounded a little more fried as it replied. “Never better.” It turned around and climbed back over the fence like nothing had happened.
“You sure you’re not, like, zapped or something?”
Scarab landed next to Loop. “I think it recharged me, actually.”
Bright headlights hit them like a spotlight as police cars rounded the corner. Time to go. Loop and Scarab sprinted past the nearest building, away from the street.
The whole city looked different in pitch darkness. Some windows still radiated light from backup generators, creating a streaky, mismatched look across the skyline. The only other light came from cars, driving slowly beneath quiet, flashing red stoplights, and Loop’s own light skates that illuminated the ground in front of them as they ran. They cut through alleys and side roads, sometimes doubling back, making their way towards the delta, the echoes of sirens and silhouettes threatening every shadow.
