Hey guys! I’m back, sorta. This is a sketch/storyboard(?) of the Mind Brand Meme. After getting my graphics tablet, I thought, “Finally! I could actually get something done!”
Months later, I still find myself just doodling on Sai. Then I came across the Mind Brand meme. For some reason, this is the only meme that I was actually determined to complete? I was originally going to do the Chime meme, but that fell through quickly considering I saved that to my desktop and I always have my desktop icons invisible.
Programs used:
- Adobe Photoshop 2017 (my saviour!!)
- Adobe Premier Elements 13 (to chuck it all together)
Time: ~70-100 minutes? Most of that time was just messing around anyway...
OOO my gosh i FINALLY FINISHED the first draft of the first novella for Soft Touches, Godless Hands. Hell yeah (pun intended).
Okay okay okay oKAY
Title: Glass Nightmares and Paper Faith (Book I)
Series: Soft Touches, Godless Hands
Word Count: 32,190
Chapters: 9
Est. Page Count: 76
I know it's small potatoes compared to some of the larger projects others are working on but its been years since I finished anything so I am so beyond excited I'm literally shaking haha.
@oh-no-another-idea and @wynters-writings tagged me to share my last lines. Thanks y'all! I'll go ahead and share the closing lines for the first novella in the Soft Touches, Godless Hands series named Glass Nightmares and Paper Faith
I'll go ahead and soft tag @jezifster @blind-the-winds @vsnotresponding @ceph-the-ghost-writer and an open tag for you!
Warnings: Eldritch Horror (kinda), purity culture
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This was what Auriel was. Not a human, filled with absorption and secretions. But an angel; raw with power and fury.
And yet, despite all of time and space before them, one substance still danced across Auriel's being. That of blood. Ruby-red. Bursting with an energy and life they could not see nor understand with their many eyes. And that sensation; that push and pull of lips against lips. Hunger and fury. Hellfire and holy flames. It still grated on them. A faraway thought and memory. With no neurons to organize such thoughts, no nerves to flash with the phantom sensations, Auriel had an ache they did not know they could have.
They saw everything within the universe. And they could feel none of it.
"These are dangerous thoughts to have," Auriel told themself. Wrong thoughts. Evil thoughts.
And yet, the Thrones had not descended upon them. They were still seraph. Still good. Still pure.
"Of course I am pure. I am no demon. They are what I face. And I shall overcome such...." For the first time in their millennium, the thought paused. They could not quite finish it.
But, Auriel plowed on, "I shall overcome such nonsense. For I am a seraph. One of the most holy. And I shall not Fall nor fail."
With that final thought, Auriel shed the third dimension just as they did their human flesh, leaving it all behind to return to the Golden City. Where everything made sense, and no temptations danced.
It's funny. I try and cut back words whenever I edit and instead I end up rewording and rewriting so much I end up adding an extra few hundered of words...
For a novella I'm trying to keep around 30k words. This is. Hm. Not good?
tfw u feed ur local eldritch abomination of an angel some shitty human food
--
"I promised its not poisoned. Probably. You never had shitty convenience store food?"
"I suppose not," Auriel said, their ears still glowing warm. Tentatively, they took a bite. It tasted as it smelled; greasy, savory, and salty. Auriel nearly coughed at the explosion of flavor, not use to the chatter of their taste buds. Clearing their throat, Auriel choked more of the mystery taquito down. Each bite brought tears to their eyes as their mouth filled with saliva, breaking down the overbearing food.
"You good?" Mariah asked as they both climbed back into the car. John stood outside, waiting for the pump to click.
"Yes," Auriel said with a sniffle. "It's… wonderful."
Gonna share another longish snippet from Soft Touches, Godless Hands mainly due to the fact that I'm on the last chapter and am so excited to finally finish this project.
Warnings: Blood, Gore, and self-harm.
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CRASH!
The mirror crumbled around their fist, spiderwebs cracking out from the point of impact. The knuckles split wide open, oozing blood around the glass shards now lodged in flesh.
The pain smarted. But was nothing compared to the klaxons from before. Even now, as Auriel picked the glass out of the wounds to allow the blood to run faster, they watched as skin knitted itself back together; their own power forcing the body to stay alive. To keep them alive. A miracle that was as automatic as breathing was to living creatures. They could not fight it.
Pink. Pink. Pink. Auriel dropped the pieces of glass on the ground, not caring if they happened to step on them with bare feet. Leaning over the counter of the bathroom, Auriel pressed fingers into one of the long shards of glass clinging onto the mirror. The jagged edge bit into the pads of their borrowed fingers as they peeled it from the back of the mirror. Clenching the shard in their fist, Auriel twisted the sharp point inward, and thrust it into their sternum, piercing the diaphragm. They pushed it deeper into them until the end of the shard scraped against the front of their spine.
Immediately, blood and saliva bubbled on Auriel's human lips. They coughed, hard, as they struggled to suck in enough oxygen. Without losing grip on the glass shard, they yanked it hard out of their human body. Blood gushed out of the open wound, staining the navel crimson. The blood dripped even lower, caressing the pubic mound, until it dripped from the outer labia onto the tile floor.
Gripping the front of the bathroom sink, Auriel panted, more coughs bleeding from between the teeth. Lungs, hungry for oxygen, desperately demanded more and more air with every agonizing breath. The diaphragm trembled, unable to move properly, and so each breath caused a throb of piercing pain to shock each pain gate open, alighting Auriel's borrowed human brain with a flood of neurotransmitters. The body, too, flooded with immediate hormonal responses.
That taste of adrenaline nearly pricked their tongue, a taste so sweet against the tang of metal coating the tongue.
But death did not visit Auriel. Death did not even bother to glance in their direction. And although the heart briefly halted its insistent ba-bum, ba-bum, it, too, eventually returned to normal. Skin stitched back together. the diaphragm patched itself up, reinflating itself. The short, choppy breaths that Auriel had to fight for mere moments evened out.
The blood still dripped from the outer labia. Crimson still shone beneath the fluorescent bathroom lights. And metal still danced wickedly across their tongue. But the human body quickly returned to its balancing act of homeostasis.
The sweet taste of adrenaline. Of sweat. Of blood. Did not touch them. And even now, Auriel found the quick moment slipping through the synapses of the brain's neurons like sand through fingers.
Plink. Plink. Plink.
The blood continued to drip, even as the wound sealed itself shot, not even a pucker of scar tissue behind.
@starlit-hopes-and-dreams retagged me for this game (thank you!) I'll go ahead and tag @rachaellawrites @ceph-the-ghost-writer @authoralexharvey and @faelanvance plus an open tag.
I actually have writing to share so... here we go! Gonna be pulling from the latest paragraphs from Soft Touches, Godless Hands. This snippet is completely out of context without the rest of the climax but here we go!
Warnings: Death, toxic romance, blood
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Beelzebub's eyes burned before them, the only light at the end of the tunnel. Violet and violent. Hatred so palpable, so raw, and so sweet, Auriel could taste it on their tongue despite the bitter tang of blood and bile.
"G- God--" Auriel gasped. They could not move their legs to run away. They could not raise their arms to fight.
"He's not here, Auriel. He never was."
The words were whispered against their lips like a lullaby. Beelzebub no longer sounded gleeful. Or manic. Her voice was a soft caress, the whisper of something from so long ago.
A sigh.
"Goodbye, my dea--"
Auriel cut Beelzebub off with a crashing of too human, too demonic, lips.
Auriel is one of the remaining four seraphs, who reign over all other angels and only kowtow to God Himself. Auriel is a seraph of Chasity, one of the seven heavenly virtues, and has spent the longest amount of time within the Golden City compared to the other seraphs.
Auriel is known to be no-nonsense, clever, and loyal to other angels and God as well. They have a strong, unwavering faith for themself and others. They are a minimalist that does not care for appearances, material wealth, or beautiful visas. At least, before they traveled to Earth, that is. Likewise, due to staying in Heaven for the majority of their millennia alive, Auriel does not care much for the Third Dimension or material world. Although loyal to a fault to God and the rest of His angels, it is an intense loyalty that succeeds everything else, even Auriel's sense of self.
Despite their virtues, Auriel is arrogant to the point of prideful. Logical to a fault, Auriel knows that they are among the most powerful angels, and does not hesitate to use that fact to intimidate foes and remind friends and subordinates alike. Likewise, Auriel is neurotic, and struggle when things are not under their control. They value routine and predictability over spontaneity. They have little humor, and the majority of the time remain serious. Despite their outwardly calm demeanor, Auriel lives in a constant state of stress and anxiety.
As a seraph, Auriel does not have a true body of flesh and blood, taking on forms of different creatures mattering on the need at the time.
Appearance:
In their human form, Auriel goes by Abigail Torres. They have brown skin, long black hair, and brown eyes. Their features are plain and unremarkable with a rectangle-shaped body. They wear plain clothes in the neutral colors of brown, white, black or gray consisting of loose trousers that allow them movement, boots, and a blouse.
In their true form, Auriel is made of energy and the light of the cosmos. They do not have the same senses as material beings, but can sense other angels, demonic activity, the passage of time, as well as wrinkles and faults in the fabric of space. Their true form burns with a holy light and fire, strong enough to sear and destroy those of the Third Dimension by merely existing. In their true form, Auriel is an eldritch creature consisting of many wings and eyes which they keep tucked around themself. These eyes do not "see" as a human would; each eye is dedicated to keeping watch of different parts of the universe, Heaven, other angels, and demons. Their body is mainly quadrupedal, but they do have opposable thumbs and can still choose to be bipedal if they wish. They do not have a real face or facial features, and so it shifts constantly, twisting with their own power and their emotion. Auriel's true form is a colorful one, and alight with thousands of colors, many unseen to the human eye.
