Writing Exercise 140

Hello there!

I know this comes at a late hour, but I couldn't sleep so worked on this prompt by a friend from my art group. So here is this week's exercise:

2018/08/15 – “They came out of nowhere, the demons are destroying the city. This is the end” (drabble)

It all started with a dull rumble. The earth shook and trembled under the sheer force of nature. But it was no ordinary earthquake. No, it was something more sinister. Something, which heralded the beginning of the end. An abysmal rift opened and split the city in two, and from it they emerged – ghastly creatures conjured from your worst nightmares. Demons of all kinds, and they sought to destroy and kill and devour. None was safe. There was no hope to survive this horror for no man-made weapon could touch a hair on their ugly heads. The end was nigh.

Writing Exercise 129

Hi!
Originally I wanted to post this writing exercise yesterday, but due to the thunderstorm I had no internet connection. :(
But better one day late than never, right? This drabble was prompted by a buddy from my art group. Here it is:

2018/05/31 – heretic (drabble)

Do you celebrate Corpus Christi? Is it a national holiday where you live? Or do you ask yourself what this is all about and why the fuss? A lot of occidental countries are still rooted in Christianised traditions, and thanks to them we are able to have a lot of holidays – such as Corpus Christi – we wouldn't have if our nations were truly secularised or tinged in the colours of a 'heretic' credo. You may or may not believe in Jesus, but you benefit from a Christianised society as their demands are represented in for instance national holidays. Happy Cadaver!

Writing Exercise 128

Hello there!
This week I was prompted by one of my art buddies again, and the result is this short story you're about to read. Here it is:

2018/05/25 – Your guardian angel has gotten into trouble. What do you do to save them?

I had one single task.

Sure, this task involved a lot of other troublesome things. I somehow felt like a spy in those old movies as I disguised myself as a human and got close to my target. Of course I wasn't allowed to be discovered and I had to fulfil my duty unnoticed, which made it all the harder to achieve my goal. But so far it had been a pretty neat job, standing guard, making sure nothing bad happened. The target didn't suspect anything and I managed to become a 'friend', which meant I could approach my target a lot easier as we met up almost every day.

And over time my target has become quite dear to me as we got to know each other a little. Maybe a little too dear… oh, boy! What do I do?

One of the rules is not to get involved too deeply with the target, no matter what that might be. And now I'm up shit's creek without a paddle. I can't stop thinking about my charge, I can't wait to meet up during the day, and I pound the beat around the house at night. I pine for the smallest gestures of affection, a simple smile could make my day.

I am so doomed!

How am I supposed to act professionally now?

How am I supposed to act as a 'friend' anyhow?

I have no idea.

Yet here we are this evening, sitting together on the couch watching some movie as per usual, and I try to not turn a hair as I sip on my drink and eat some pizza. Then suddenly the more or less comfortable silence is broken: “You know...we always hang out together and such...”

I turn my gaze from the TV to view my target and suddenly my heart speeds up as I listen. “Of course we're friends. But I think there's more to it...you're always around and help me out when I'm in trouble. I feel just about bulletproof in your presence. And I've noticed your secret glances.”

I swallow dryly. Am I being found out here? My heart sinks as fear courses through me. I might need to wipe my charge's memory and resign so one of my colleagues can take over. I don't want that! I want to stay by my target's side forever and cherish our 'friendship'!

But then I receive the gentlest of smiles, laced with a pinch of nervousness. “So...here goes nothing.” And I'm proper surprised when suddenly soft lips are pressed to mine in a short and chaste kiss. For a good while I stare, totally flabbergasted, until my charge grows visibly uncomfortable and mumbles: “I guess I was wrong about your feelings for me. I'm sorry. Just forget that ever happened, okay?”

I shake my head getting a grip and smile. “No...you are not wrong. I was just surprised is all.” My heart is thrumming happily in my chest as I lean forward for another kiss. And suddenly, suddenly all my trouble seems to have vanished into thin air…

Writing Exercise 125

Hello again!
This week I was prompted by two of my art group buddies, so you get a drabble to read which combines both prompts. Here it is:

2018/05/02 – dark/ stroll in the park (drabble)

As he walked down the path which led him into the park, he had a strange feeling. He couldn't quite figure out what it was, but it followed him as he strolled well trodden paths. His footfalls quickened, just like his heartbeat. Familiar trees swayed in the howling wind, their branches seemed to clasp at him. So he hurried. Looking over his shoulder time and again he saw nothing out of the ordinary, yet he felt spooked. Dark thoughts haunted him. And what was supposed to be a nice little stroll became an imaginary manhunt, and he was the prey.

Writing Exercise 124

Hello there!
I recently read a good book which inspired me to write today's writing exercise. And it fit the prompt I was given by one of my buddies from the art group. So here goes this week's poem:

2018/04/23 – hollow (poem)

A gravitation so strong

That even light cannot flee

More alluring than a siren's song

Destroying every bit of me

What seems to be so hollow

Actually can never be

The truth is hard so swallow

Mass attraction is all you see

Information may or may not be lost

For what purpose if it is sole

Being drawn in comes at a high cost

The mysteries of a black hole

Writing Exercise 123

Hello again!
This week I have a little drabble for you, prompted by my dear friend and fellow member of the artist group I'm part of. Here goes:

2018/04/17 – platonic kisses (drabble)

The difference between kisses can be vast as worlds. It depends a lot on who you kiss. Your partner may receive kisses full of passion and longing or even sweet love and affection, your parents (or other family members) would get smooched with a different kind of love. Kisses between close friends would certainly be of the platonic kind, while embodying yet another type of affection – unless you are 'friends with benefits' of course. You may even kiss your enemy on the cheek, bitter and venomously. Isn't it fascinating how one and the same gesture can have so many meanings?

Writing Exercise 122

Hello there!
This week I have a German sonnet for you, prompted by one of my buddies from the art group. It is about the character of another member of this group. Here it is:

2018/04/10 – Lich King (German sonnet)

On a grim and starless full-moon night

From the graves clouds of mist arise

Haunting howls herald your demise

Glowing green eyes shine so bright

On the graveyard the Crypt thrones

From inside you hear a rattling sound

Ghastly creatures, their skulls quite round

An undead army of metal and bones

Through the halls mystic chants ring

On a throne of bones sits the Lich King

Mindless servants his will abide

His unstoppable hordes leave in their wake

Death and devastation and souls to take

He has a raven by his side

Writing Exercise 121

This week I had one of the members of the art group I'm part of now prompt me, and he asked me to write about his character, the Wood Wolf God. And this is the drabble I came up with:

2018/04/03 – “someone gets lost in the woods and a wood doggy helps them“ (drabble)

The woods were getting darker, and the underbush grew thicker. It seemed to grasp at their feet while the canopy swallowed all of the light. It was eerily quiet, no birdsong to be heard. Any rustling sound made them jumpier, scared and confused. By now they had lost any direction. Then they heard it: the ghastly howling. And as they looked about they noticed a giant wolf with glowing green eyes perched on a rock. They ran as fast as they could. Finally they reached the exit with the wolf at their heels, not knowing it wanted to help them.

Writing Exercise 120

Hey there!
I know it's late (or early), but I couldn't sleep, so I decided to write. This time I was prompted by two of my new art buddies from the art community I've just joined on discord. Everyone's so creative over there. Can't wait to show you some of the art they inspire in me.
So here is this week's drabble:

2018/03/29 – it was a dark and stormy night; You got up to get coffee. I say relax (drabble)

Heavy rain pattered against the window panes and the gusts howled around the house. The room was dark safe for the screen of a laptop. Before it she sat and stared then grabbed her mug and lifted it to her lips. It was just as empty as the page before her. And she'd just got up to make some. She sighed. “Relax,” he suddenly whispered into her ear and lay his warm hands onto her shoulders to massage her gently. She leaned into the touch and felt her tense muscles ease. “You're right,” she conceded, “let's get back to bed.”

When they sleep at night...

...I sometimes stay awake. And the result of such sleepless nights is what you're about to see. :)
I just realized, during the past few weeks I haven't blogged anything but my weekly writing exercises. Well, today I have something different for you.
The girl in the picture is a playable character (Azure Fang) from the game Naruto Online which I have been playing for a while. And as usual I used SAI to draw and colour the picture.

Old Memories

Looking through old pictures I found a black and white photograph which is about a decade old. Seeing the colours missing, I took this photo as reference to recreate it with SAI and colour it as I remember it.
Here is the result:

Midnight Art

Lately I've not been sleeping well. So during another wakeful night I thought: why not use the time to be a little productive?
Too tired to write, yet too awake to sleep, I sat down to draw. Listening to music, I used Sai to outline and colour what came to mind.
Here is the result of that sleepless night:

Just as promised...

... I'm back with the coloured picture of my D&D character Aira Hild. This Saturday we are going to start the first session of our campaign, and I'm really looking forward to it. So of course this picture has to be ready as well, right? Again I used Sai to draw and colour this picture.
So here she is:

Something Different...

Finally, after all these weeks I am able to show you something different than my weekly writing exercises. :D

As some of my dear writing buddies from the Dead Pete Society and I have decided to play a D&D campaign together I got to create a character just for that campaign.
Our group consists of D&D beginners though; our dungeon mistress has never mastered before, the players have either never played pen&paper RPGs at all or haven't played in ages (earlier versions of D&D) or -- like me -- have only experience in different p&p RPGs.

For those, who know D&D, I play the lawful neutral Razorclaw Shifter fighter Aira Hild. And for those, who don't, you can still see how she looks like as I drew her with Sai:

 

As you can see, I only did the outlines as I was too lazy to colour her.  XD But there will be another picture in the near future, which I might colour.

Anyway, this is going to be fun! And once everyone has set up their characters we can let the dice roll. :D

Travel plans

As of next week I'm on holiday in Japan. :D
So for two weeks there won't be any updates. But don't worry. I'll be back with a lot of impressions and maybe inspiration to make up for the time lost.

And I won't leave you without a little something I drew and coloured with SAI. So here I am, ready for travel. :D

Happy Valentine's Day!

I wish you all a happy Valentine's Day! <3
I hope you can spend some time with your loved ones, or at least be with them in spirit as your hearts reach out to them. :D

Today I want to share some fanart of the character I play in the browser game Naruto Online. She is a water/healing Jutsu user, which can be a life saver in this game. Again I used SAI to create this fanart. Alas, I was a little lazy regarding the coloration.
Bear with me, my mind was with my beloved fiance. XD

Royal Democrat

Following my latest writing exercise I want to show you a picture I drew with SAI. It shows a character from my dear Neverbeen Universe, the Waterfairy Kershak. He used to be a prince, but -- as you very well know by now -- he is appointed as chancellor of the newly founded Republic of the United Fairypeople.

Never too late

As I browsed through my pictures for some inspiration, I found something I drew for my good friend for Christmas, which I haven't shown you yet. But I figured it's never to late to do that, right?  ;)
The picture is some fanart of Shikamaru Nara, a character from the series Naruto. I used SAI for this. Any opinions? :D

The Art of Magnetism

My fiancé received a quite intriguing present: a cube made out of 6 x 6 x 6 tiny magnetic beads. You can rearrange them and build a lot of different shapes, both in 2D and 3D. Once you start you'll find youselves pretty fast pretty occupied with playing around and trying to form new patterns. :o

And while it is quite hard to rebuild the cube, there are geometric patterns that are much easier to form. And from them you can build almost anything.

Have a look at what I did.These are but a few examples, but aren't they some kind of art! And I had a lot of fun building them, too.

A Morning in Advent

Today is the third Sunday in Advent. I hope you enjoy this day.

As the candles burned, I looked outside to find the sky was burning, too. Not literally of course. But the sun painted the clouds in the brightest of gold and red lights, and the vista left me stunned for as long as it lasted.

Isn't it beautiful? :o
If you have to get up early you get to see the most spectacular fleeting art which nature can produce as a reward for your discipline and endurance. Revel in the views, enjoy them and begin the day with a smile.

How grim it might look in the beginning...

...it won't stay that way. Only moments later the world might look different and show its true colours. You just have to look on the bright side. ;)
That said, I wish you all a pleasant third Sunday in Advent. See you next week!