A scene from chapter seven of @twodiamondhoes‘ Dirges in the Dark that I felt had particular gravity, not to say any other scene lacked it! Ditd has been one of the highlights of my week since chapter 1 came out, I tried to include bunch of little details in the designs and had some fun with the lighting, hence it being extremely dark lol!
A couple of close ups under the cut!
(I almost like the partially zoomed in one more than the full image, ehh)
Go read it btw!!!: https://archiveofourown.org/works/53073316/chapters/134280217
Available as a print and sticker set this month only (November 2023) on my Patreon for Professional Napper patrons and above :)<3
As a warning, this month’s lore deals pretty heavily with death and trauma, and has mentions of war (in the past).
Shadowlings and No Magic Zones lore:
If you find yourself in a place where traces of humans are slowly being reclaimed by nature, marked by a glaringly red and yellow coloured sign that says “NO MAGIC” on it, odds are you’re standing at the site of an old battleground from the Long War.
No matter where you go, if there are humans around, you can likely find a no magic zone there too. And the reason magic is disallowed in such places is because they are the dwellings of the Shadowlings, who are said to be soldiers that fell to a curse in the war, and hence harbour very negative emotions towards those who use it. Fear, anger, grief… And all explosive feelings at that. They aren’t exactly capable of rational thinking anymore, so it’s best not to upset them, especially since they tragically harbour a lot of the Wild Magic they resent so much, and can be incredibly dangerous while emotional.
Because of their experiences that live on inside them, it doesn't matter that magic has now become a good and necessary force in human society, or that magic folks and humans have both done equal amounts of good and bad.
Using magic in their presence truly can only be done at the risk of your life for most people, and the exceptions to that rule can be counted on the fingers of just one hand.
However if you do not provoke them, they are completely harmless and very gentle - loving even.
Being a Shadowling is leading an existence that hovers between life and death, unable to participate in life, but also unable to move on from it. And yet a Shadowling is not quite a ghost either.
As newly turned, most Shadowlings retain an almost human shape, but they slowly begin lose their shape and memories with the passage of time, except for a few exceptions who hold onto them as much as possible for the sake of their loved ones.
Still, they know instinctively that they were once humans and therefore tend to seek them and their warmth out as much as possible. In the absence of humans though, they feel the safest around human-made objects that have been left behind in the zone, and with each other. Shadowling are rarely alone, instead they tend to huddle together in big groups where they do their best to comfort each other and help each other hold onto their memories, and dream of the day they’ll be able to return to humanity.
For quite some time after the end of the war, those who lived on would take care of the Shadowlings and the areas in which magic was forbidden. After all, no matter how unrecognisable they had become, they were still people’s beloved family members, lovers, and friends. And if you look into their eyes, regardless of how much they have lost, you can still see and know who they were in life.
But time is ruthless to us all, and the last living generation who survived the horrors of the war has grown old and started to disappear. For some time, their descendants would take care of the no magic zones instead, but the vast majority of these places would slowly become completely abandoned with the introduction of magic in human society.
And so, the Shadowlings kept getting more and more shapeless and wispy, clinging to the traces of humanity they can find in items that were left behind and the occasional visitor.
Few people visit these days. And even fewer still are visitors who still do not have traces of magic on them or aren’t afraid of the Shadowlings.
But maybe one day, as long as there is hope, maybe one day their curse can be lifted.
And until then, the Shadowlings will find ways to keep existing and experience joy and love even with all that they have lost.
18.06.1976 ~ You're My Best Friend comes out as single in the UK! It's the first single by John Deacon and only his second published song, and it's dedicated to his wife Veronica 💕💕💕
I didn’t make this drawing specifically to celebrate YMBF but it was fitting to be posted today so I waited 💖 This was born as a little style exercise, with "my" John and Veronica from Down In The Dungeons, my DnD AU, as they relax under the bloomed trees 🥰 I really hope you like this!
I'd also love to make this a DTIYS if anyone wants to redraw the scene and have some fun with sunlight and flowers! Which is why I did the refs as well. Tag me if you redraw it!
HEY FOLKS DIRGES SECRET DROP:
My partner, the adored (by me) author is doing research for the next stories in the series! ...by watching Scooby Doo and playing the Dishonored series.
Make of that what you will
Stove bunnies (or braskaniner in Swedish) used to be a massively popular pet back in the day in the Devil in the Details universe due to them being friendly to humans and being able to control their flames, so they would be great to cuddle for warmth in the colder seasons. On top of that, they quite enjoy living in people's wood burning stoves, which was a huge help for heating and cooking.
If you want to take care of a stove bunny however, just don't mistreat them or the people they love. If they get angry, they can and will burn your house down. For safety, if you see one of these little guys start turning blue: Run! That means they're incredibly angry. (But this is thankfully extremely rare.)
With that said, there's another fact about them that perhaps is a bit counterintuitive, which is that they also are excellent guards against accidental fires. You see, they enjoy consuming flammable things because it strengthens their own internal energy - and for that reason they're also happy to consume actual fire.
Nowadays, with magic being an every day tool for humans, as well as times changing, the practicality of having this cute fiery rabbit around has greatly diminished. But people still love having them around as pets and familiars.
(PS! If you want these as an A5 print and sticker set, as well as getting a personalised doodle, you can get them by subscribing to the Big Dreamer tier on my Patreon ❤️)
what if the thing (tm) loveless was a romance webtoon?
some au powered by my sim height chart (right in the middle, I can't unsee it), true beauty's promo and the fact they kissed the same girl more than once (actually, more than twice)
also evan wearing this exact outfit
Oh this was just a very indulgent one, but I still hope you'll like it 🙏🏻💕💖💜💕💜💖 It'll be the cover for the next chapter of my fanfic Down in the Dungeons, which will come out very soon, I promise! 🥰
This year hasn't started in the best of ways but I'm really grateful for all the support and love you gave me 💖
Please do not trace or repost. Reblogs and comments are welcomed! 💜