Conflicting Lives - Character Designs 8/?

I will proceed to give all of the treats :D

please can we do inbox trick-or-treating this year. can we make that a thing on tumblr. please please please please please

BAM!!

I’m like really proud of this animation so I’m literally sharing it everywhere lol hope yall enjoy

a desertduo just chatting stream on hermitcraft would save me i think

Conflicting Lives- Chapter 9: Unlikely Friendship (NOT FINISHED)

Word Count: 1250

Scythe fumbled with his keys as he stood in front of the door to his dorm, Joel standing impatiently beside him.

“Does it really take you this long just to open your front door? I could’ve called Pearl and Cleo by now and they'd get here before you open that thing!” He said jokingly, though still definitely annoyed. Scythe just rolled his eyes as he put the dorm key in the door, twisting it and opening the door.

“Ladies first,” he said with a smirk, stepping aside to hold the door open for Joel. The blaze hybrid’s only response was a glare as he flipped imaginary hair, walking through the door with confidence.

Scythe chuckled as he followed into the apartment-dorm, closing the door behind him and pulling his phone back out. “Welcome back from patrol,” Ella said from the couch as Joel plopped down beside her. 

She looked expectantly at Scythe for an answer as to why Joel was here, even if it was a regular occurrence that the two would hang out. He sighed and responded, “I agreed to make dinner for him and invite Pearl and Cleo over for it as well since he took me home. Plus it wouldn't be bad to talk to them anyways after the patrol.”

Ella just nodded in understanding, curious about what happened, but not quite sure if she should ask. “Why? What happened during the patrol?” She asked a little hesitant after a moment. Scythe and Joel simply looked at eachother and simply sighed. “What happened?” Ella asked again, further confused by the reaction of the two men. “Was it really that bad?” 

Joel shook his head, “It's not that it was bad necessarily,” he paused, and Scythe finished the thought. “It's just something that we should probably talk about afterwards.” His gaze had drifted off to the side, and he looked hack at an evermore puzzled Ella, this time worry noticeable in her eyes. “It's nothing bad, I promise.” He measured her, walking over to where she sat on the couch and planting a small kiss on her forehead.

She visibly relaxed as soon as he did so, trusting Scythe that he knew what he was doing, or at the very least Joel and Scythe. “Alright I trust you, but don’t go too crazy. You still have classes in the morning and I don't want to have to clean up after you four.” Ella replied, a stern look in her eyes to both men infront of her. Scythe put his hands up defensively, and Joel replied “Yes ma’am. No messes are to be made.”

The phoenix hybrid nods approvingly before turning back to Scythe. “What are you planning to make?” she asked. Scythe thought for a moment before responding, “Spaghetti?” It was far more a question than it was a legitimate answer, but the pair on the couch nodded anyway. “Spaghetti is it then!” he said as he turned towards the kitchenette. As he rummaged through the cabinets to take out a pot and some noodles, Joel took his phone back out to call Pearl. He wasn’t on the phone for long before he updated the other two. “Pearl says she just has to finish cleaning a few small scrapes off Cleo and Ren then her and Cleo will head over. She was curious if you’d mind him coming over too since the three of them are at Pearl's place anyways.”

Scythe thought for a moment as the water was heating up, looking over at Ella to gauge her thoughts on an extra person coming to the apartment dorm. “I don’t think I would mind, but you guys would know Ren more than I would, so you could better judge.” she said, looking between Joel and Scythe. “I know Ren more than Scythe does, but even that's not super well either.” Joel replied, looking to the enderman in the kitchen for his opinion. After what felt like long hours, but really only a few seconds, Scythe responded, “I don’t really know Ren at all to be completely honest. The way I see it is this: I trust Pearl and Cleo. They seem to trust Ren. I think that if both of them trust him, then I can trust him for a night.”

He looked between Joel and Ella after he finished. They had yet to come to a conclusion, and Pearl was waiting for a response about Ren. “That makes sense” the two said in near-unison, and Scythe chuckled a little at it. As he turned back to pour the pasta in the now-boiling water, he said something to Joel. “Go ahead and tell Pearl that Ren can come along too. It won't be hard to feed everyone.”

“Will do,” Joel replied, and turned his phone back on, messaging Pearl the go-ahead. Ella leaned to the coffee table to get the TV remote, turning it on and browsing through shows before settling on a forging competition show.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was a knock on the door just as Scythe finished mixing the sauce into the spaghetti. Walking the short distance from the stove to the door, he opened it and was greeted by a familiar, but clearly tired, face. “Pearl!” Joel said from behind him on the couch, getting up and walking to the door.

“Elo mate!” the moth hybrid responded, walking in as the two guys stepped aside. Cleo followed right in after, greeting Ella as she found a nearby chair to sit in. Ren was a little more hesitant to follow, but seemed to relax once Scythe welcomed him in.

While everyone got situated and started chatting, Scythe went back to the kitchen, grabbing bowls and silverware for everyone. “Foods ready!” he called behind him. Almost immediately he heard the shuffling of everyone standing up and walking to the small kitchenette. He grabbed a bowl of his own to eat before quickly stepping aside to let others get their share.

As he went to sit down at the table, Scythe looked up and saw Ren hesitating to grab some food. The wolf hybrid's ears were down to the side in worry, but uneven in confusion as well. “Is there something wrong with the noodles Ren?” he asked after a moment longer. Thinking he might have done something wrong as he saw Ren's ears perked up in panic, the taller responder, “Oh- no! No, not at all!” He brought his hand up to the back of his head nervously. “it’s just.. uh what’s in the pasta? being a wolf hybrid and all i have to be a bit more careful and all…” he tried to explain.

It took a minute for Scythe to process what he did, but as soon as he did he started laughing. “Are… are you alright,dude?” Rem\n asked him. “Yeah.. Yeah I’m good,” Scythe said in between laughs. When he was finally done, he answered his concerns, “Ella and I make all our food allergen and animal safe. Her being part phoenix and me being part endermen there's quite a lot of food specifications we have to meet, and so we just make it safe for everyone.”

After he finished explaining, Ren looked as though he had just noticed Ela having wings and Scythe having a tail, key traits to their hybrid species, face flushing red in embarrassment. “Oh, uh, right. That makes sense. Like, a lot of sense. T-thank you.” he said awkwardly, trying not to show just how embarrassed he really was.

genuinely if you are scared: DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. if you are angry: DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. if you are sad: DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

this isn't just a mantra of "nothing will change if we do not persist and act", although that's true. nothing will change if we do not act. this is just also a mantra of "frequently the best way to counter despair is to simply take an action, any action at all". it is hard to feel despair when you are moving. it is hard to feel hopeless when you are moving. but you've gotta start moving first. you've gotta.

I'm Live on Twitch!

I'm live on Twitch and drawing some new character designs for Conflicting Lives!! Everyone is welcome to come in and hang out!

https://www.twitch.tv/scythe_gameing

Fanon swap!

Could you do Watcher Skizz pls

Watcher Skizz, at your (untimely) service!

I actually had a lot of fun drawing this! The concept of Watcher Skizz is new to me but I also really love it because of that!

Here's some progress pics as well, from the base I used as inspo to the final product!

I didn't have the lineart as a separate layer so I dont have that but I would've put that if I did-

Conflicting Lives- Chapter 2: Meetings and a Late Night Meal

Word Count: 1477

The meeting was… interesting, to say the least. Scythe had barely made it to the Agency building in time, and when he did he was exhausted from the running and teleporting it took to get there. Spore was waiting to make sure everyone got there in time, and held the door open for Scythe as he walked through.

“Good, everyone’s here.” Voidling said after Spore closed the door to the meeting room. It seemed as though all major heroes from all five cities were gathered in that meeting room. Some of them, like Hotguy and Stratos, he knew from elsewhere. Others he knew from missions and general public services.

“There’s been more villainous activity around the North-Western Hermiton areas,” iWork pointed to the area in the map on the large round table. “Witnesses have noticed more frequent appearances of Ender, Tanuki, and Earth in the areas of the crime, though reports of seeing Earth have lessened in the last few weeks.” he continued.

Scythe looked around the table, making short eye contact with Joel and Scar, but made sure to look at a few more people to not seem too suspicious. Admittedly, he and Joel had been out more often as college and other work got stressful.

Voidling spoke next, “I originally thought of Just increasing night hour patrols and monitorization in the area, but I’ve come up with a different plan that I would like to run by you all.” Leaning forward, he continued,

“I’ve gotten a deal with a few of the largest and most credible Informatives throughout all of our cities. They have agreed to do what they can, and get us any information about the routes and inside information on Ender and Tanuki, but it is a very expensive deal.” By the time he was done talking, his brows were close together in deep thought.

“Does anyone have any other ideas or anything they would like to ask about this plan?” iWork asked the group after a few more moments of silence.

There was a good five to ten seconds of silence and awkward looks around when finally someone seemed to speak up. “How do we know if we can trust the Informatives to give us correct information? They may be the most credible out there, but that doesn't mean they won't provide false information if they get a higher buyer, right?”

Everyone turned towards Cuteguy. After a few more seconds of silence, The Sheriff spoke up. “I think I understand where he’s coming from. Most of these guys work for money or some sort of trade right? How can we be sure that someone else won't come around and out-bid us in a way?” He finished with a look around the large, central table, his gaze stopping at Voidling and iWork.

The two looked at each other, then back at The Sheriff and the rest of the heroes. After what felt like a few moments too long, Voidling finally spoke, “I see where you’re coming from--” he looked at The Sheriff and Cuteguy, “--both of you. There is no way to know for sure, and that is exactly why I wanted to call all of you here so we may discuss this together. I don’t have much more information to give you guys, but does anyone have any questions they would like to ask?”

Scythe definitely had questions, but he only asked one of them. “If I may, who are the informatives? I’ve done my own research in the past about these informatives, and I have some knowledge that might help. Like for instance, they usually refer to themselves as Informative Operators, or IOs for short. 

They talk to eachother alot too, and have this sort of network between everywhere and everyone to make sure they all have the latest news, in a way.” He realized he trailed off a bit, and looked up to see everyone looking at him as both surprised and impressed.

Obviously, he knew this not because of research, but because of his own friends, although the people who don't know already don't need to find out.

“That… is actually really useful, thank you Lux.” Voidling finally said. “Our current ‘IO’s that have provided themselves available to us are Storyteller, Slab, Snowfall, and The Above. I have also done my own bit of research, though clearly not as much as Lux, and have found that they are known to be some of the most timely and trustworthy providers.”

All of the gathered heroes discussed amongst each other for a few minutes longer, and an endpoint was reached. Voidling would ask each IO if they would be able or willing to gather the information that they are looking for, and in turn they would each get paid handsomely.

Scythe did have a little bit of anxiety about this agreement, though he did do well to not show it to the other heroes. Two of the named IOs are close friends of his, and another is one of Joel’s partners. He wondered how Joel reacted to his partner being named as a detective of sorts for a case on himself, and made a mental note to ask him next time they saw each other outside of the Agency.

It was around 2pm when Scythe had finally gotten back to his dorm room, and he felt like he could sleep for a decade. He had exhausted himself getting to the meeting, had to still put up his full illusion for roughly 3 hours, then had to travel back across all of Hermiton to get back to his dorm room. Getting back took almost an hour and half by itself since he was so exhausted.

By the time he got to the city border of Cursia and Hermiton, his illusion was completely gone. He still had about a 20 minute walk from the border to the campus, and another 10 from the campus entrance to his dorm room. He expected to meet Ella as he walked in the door, and wasn’t surprised when he walked in and saw her sitting on the couch, turned towards the door to see who was coming in.

Scythe tiredly smiled at her as he closed the door behind him, and he almost lost his balance as he walked to the couch, though he would never admit it himself. Ella looked at him with worry in her eyes as he sat down and asked, “Are you alright? And don't tell me yes, we both know you aren’t.”

“Then why ask if you already know?” Scythe complained. “I was exhausted by the time I got there, had to hold up for hours, then had to come back while still being exhausted. Take a wild guess as to how I’m doing right now.” Even though his words and tone sounded harsh, him and Ella both knew that he didn’t mean it in a rude way.

Instead of saying anything back, Ella simply put Scythe's head on her shoulder and draped her arm across his shoulder, bringing him into a half-hug, half-cuddle pose. Scythe simply took a deep breath and leaned into the embrace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was around 11pm when Scythe woke up, and he hadn't even realized he fell asleep. He groaned as he sat up on the couch and looked around, finding Ella still asleep on the couch. He realized by the way she was lying that he must’ve fallen asleep on top of her or leaned against her, and he kissed her forehead before getting up completely. Grabbing a blanket, he made sure to softly drape it over her to keep her warm in the chilly dorm room.

Then his stomach growled. And he realized he didn't eat anything other than a very rushed and incomplete breakfast. “Shit…” Scythe cursed quietly to himself.

Making his way to the small kitchen, he opened the fridge and took out some eggs, and pancake mix from the pantry. He tried to be as quiet as possible as he started making pancakes and eggs as a late night meal, but I mean come on. How quiet can you realistically be?

It wasn't very long after he turned on the stove and got the pancakes started that he heard Ella start to stir. He turned around to see her sitting up and rubbing her eyes, trying to get rid of the sleepiness.

“Good morning sleepyhead. You up for a midnight snack?” Scythe asked as he turned back to the stove. She chuckled

“That's rich coming from you, who basically passed out on me as soon as you leaned over. But yeah, that sounds great actually.” she replied, standing up from the couch and walking over to Scythe.

“Sounds good. Could you start the eggs for me? It shouldn't be much longer until I have enough pancakes done.” he asked her, and she nodded and grabbed a pan to start the eggs. The next 2 hours flew by, and after the pair were done eating, they both went to bed, for real this time.

(AN: Scar and Joel are both heroes, and their aliases are Hotguy and Stratos, respectively)

<<<Previous Next>>>

Cobflicting Lives- Chapter 4: The Meeting (pt.1)

Word Count: 2050

As he and Scar walked into the meeting room as Lux and Hotguy, Scythe was relieved to see that the only other people that were there other than Voidling seemed to be iWork, Tek, and Cuteguy.

He walked over to where Voidling was talking with iWork, and the two older men looked at him expectantly. “Would I be able to speak with you for a moment Voidling?” Scythe asked after a second or two of silence.

“Of course Lux.” Voidling said, getting up from his chair. The pair walked towards an unpopulated corner of the meeting room. “What did you need to tell me?” the older hero asked.

Scythe took a deep breath. “You know about how I put up an illusion to further keep my true identity a secret from the public,” he looked at Voidling, who was nodding with eyes full of curiosity, “But I didn't have time to grab my uniform from my room before I came over here.” Voidlings eyes opened a bit in shock for a moment, then softened in understanding.

“So the illusion you have right now is for both appearance and clothing then, correct?” he asked Scythe. And he nodded in response.

“I’m not sure how long I can keep one up without revealing the other, either. Even just starting it I can tell that I’m not going to be able to hold both for more than like an hour or an hour and a half, max.” Scythe continued explaining. He didn't know what Voidling was thinking, and just the thought of anything being revealed to other heroes he didn't know well enough to trust very well made his stomach turn over itself.

There were only a few seconds before Voidling responded, but it felt like hours. “I can try to keep it as short as possible, but with what I’ve gotten I don't expect this meeting to be that short.” He finally said, concern filling his eyes as he looked at Scythe. “If you need to leave for a moment during it if you feel like the illusion is falling, by all means take a breather.”

Scythe contemplated for a moment, mulling over the offer that Voidling had given him. “That could work, but I also don't want to miss out on what has happened.” That much was true, but he may have told a small white lie as he continued, “The situation concerning the last meeting has been eating at the back of my head, and I want to try and help as much as I can. It feels like I can't do that if I have to leave because of my stamina capacity.” Well, maybe only part of it was a lie.

“I understand where you’re coming from,” the older hero said in a comforting tone, “But I also don't want you to over exert yourself for the sake of some information that I can get to you at a different time.” Voidling put a hand on Scythe's shoulder, and he looked up at the masked man. “Don't push yourself beyond your limit when you don't have to or aren't comfortable with doing so.”

Scythe took a deep breath and looked down once more, looking back up a moment later. “I… I could just let a little down. Not enough to be super noticeable, but enough to let off some of the drainage.”

 Voidling was silent for a moment longer, and took his hand off of Scythes shoulder. “Just don't push yourself too far. I may not be as close to you as some of the others are, but that doesn't mean I don't care and worry about you.” With that, he turned around and walked back towards the table, where the rest of the heroes seemed to be filing in.

Scythe took another few seconds to recuperate, then walked back to the table himself. As he approached, the last of the heroes to arrive walked through the door. Joel walked in, and it looked like he just got out of bed. Scythe assumed that his messy hair was from flying, as his artificial wings were also fluffed and messy from the air.

The white-winged hero walked over to the area where Scythe sat, and chose a seat next to him, moving his wings farther ti back to drape over the back of the chair. The pair looked at eachother, having a silent conversation of how much it sucks to be rushed.

“It looks like everyone is here. Thank you all for coming on such short notice. I do want to start by apologizing for the rush, especially as many of you aren't exactly very close to our building here.” iWork was the one to start off speaking, and he continued on, “however some information we've just received from one of our IOs needed to be discussed immediately.””

Voidling reached his hand under the table where he sat and the small click of a button was heard. A forgotten door in a back corner opened, and everyone's eyes went wide as four people walked out. Two of them looked well dressed and prepared, while the other tel looked rushed and a bit unkempt. And there were at least three heroes in the room that knew at least one of those people. 

Scythe felt like all of the oxygen left his body. He made eye contact with Lunar and Augustus, then with Etho and the fourth IO, his identity unknown, but something eerily familiar about them. The red highlights of their outfit and the blond, unkempt hair definitely belonged to someone he knew, the name just on the tip of his tongue.

He prayed that he hadn't gone too pale as he then locked eyes with Voidling when scanning the room for the others’ reactions. Voidling seemed to be talking to him through the silence, Step out if you need it, Lux, his eyes seemed to say. Scythe knew that he wasn't pale because of the illusion efforts, but because he wasn't expecting to see three of his closest friends infront of him, and in front of all of the other major heroes throughout the island.

Trying to gather his composure, Scythe took a deep breath and tried to calm his racing mind. His head had started to ache from all the thoughts darting around, and he took a few moments to calm them down, steady his breathing, and check his illusion to make sure it hadn’t faltered in the moment of panic.

He turned around to look at Joel, who also seemed to be a bit pale in the face, despite the light pink hue riding on his cheeks. Joel looked back at Scythe, a look of slight fear in his eyes as they both realized the situation, and the pink faded from the winged man's face. The pair then looked at scar and the three exchanged knowing glances, but making sure to look amongst the others as well. Thankfully they all seemed to be as confused as they are, if not a little pale too.

“These are the four IOs that had agreed to gather information for us at the last meeting.” Voidling said once everyone seemed to calm down and gather themselves once more. “These are Storyteller, Snowfall, The Above, and Slab,” they each waved as their name was announced, “and I feel that they each have a very valuable piece of information to give us all.” Voidling turned around to face the four IOs. “Storyteller, would you like to go first?”

Lunar, or rather Storyteller, stepped forward. “Sure. Thank you for inviting me here. I was asked to gather information about the routes that Ender takes at night, from where they split from Tanuki after any chosen activities, and figure out the area where they seem to be located.” She looked around the meeting room, meeting the eyes of a few heroes, sparing Scythe from eye contact in the already awkward situation.

Even though Scythe knew that Lunar knew what she was saying and how they were going to say it, he couldn't help but feel anxious. He was putting an incredible amount of trust in someone he knew very well, but even that didn't stop the farthest corners of his thoughts spiraling. 

“What I have found by slowly trialing Ender is a semi-consistent direction that he travels in. Oftentimes, he heads in a south west direction. This does vary a lot of however, and I've seen him go north and east before for a very long while before he eventually turned back towards Cursia.” Lunar at last looked at Scythe, then back at Voidling who was watching and listening very intently. “This leads me to believe that Ender may be staying somewhere in Cursia, though I have yet to follow him past the border line. Each time I have tried to do so, it has been far too late into the night for me to continue any longer.” 

Lunar had finished speaking at last after what felt like hours, and stepped back to where the others were. Scythe realized he had been holding his breath a bit, and let out a slow exhale. Joel seemed to hold his as Voidling spoke next, “Thank you Storyteller. What you have brought to us is greatly appreciated. Slab, would you please step forward and present what information you have to offer?”

Scythe felt bad for the winged man behind him. Slab, or Etho as Scythe knew him, was one of Joel's two partners. Void knows what he would be feeling right now if Ella was one of the IOs standing up there, so he could only imagine what Joel was feeling.

“Of course. I was asked to provide similar information as the Storyteller was, but about Tanuki instead of Ender,” Etho started. “From what I have been able to gather myself, Tanuki has been seeming to head north more often than any other direction, though I have followed him as far as the Wynnran border a small number of times. What I believe is that he may have a home in a few different cities, though they seem to be mainly in Empyria and Wynnra.”

Etho stepped back into the line, and Scythe heard Joel breath a small sigh of relief. He looked around at the others to see if anyone had noticed, but thankfully it seemed as though no one else did. “Thank you Slab. Your additional information will greatly aid us in our search.” Voidling said.

Then the masked hero turned to the third IO in line. “The Above, would you care to speak next?” Voidling asked, and Scythe could feel butterflies rising once more in his stomach.

“I would be honored,” Augustus said. “Before I present my information however, I would like to make a clarifying statement. I am mainly a weapons developer, and only gather information for others as the need arises. Information gathering is not my specialty, but I was not going to refuse someone that needed help for a good cause.

That being said, I was asked to bring information about the way that both Ender and Tanuki fight. What I have found isn't all too much, either. From what I can tell, they balance eachother out to make fighting others easy at all ranges, Ender seeming to keep a bit farther back and Tanuki seeming to keep closer in.” Augustus looked around the meeting room, pausing on a few people's gaze, including scythes. His look seemed to ask if he was revealing too much, and Scythe quickly blinked once as a way to tell him he's fine. And so the masked IO continued, “I believe they work as a team because they balance their own strengths and weaknesses with the others, proving for a force to reckon with.” 

At last, Augustus stepped back into the line, finalizing what information he could give. It was a few more seconds before Voidling spoke again, and he seemed to be lost in thought for that short amount of time. “Thank you for what you have been able to give us. We now know how we can try to combat both of these villains if it comes to a fight.” He said atlas. “Snowfall, thank you for waiting. Would you like to give us your findings?”

AN: Next chapter is going to have a TW, so enjoy the calm(ish) before the storm

<<<Previous Next>>>

Hey

Hey guys

Go drink water right now

I know mcyt fans are all dehydrated

Go drink water

Do it

You should drink water

Reblog to make mcyt fans drink water