Soup Is Good, Good For Your Blood

soup is good, good for your blood

Now for things from Sootear’s perspective. Quotes from the picture are in italics because I’m aware my handwriting is horrible, to say the least.

“Oh Sooty, you and Cricketleap would be such a cute couple!” “Haha, yeah...”

At least a small group of cats in Coveclan are waiting for Sootear and Cricketleap to “realize their feelings for each other” and announce that they’re mates (read as: I was originally going to pair them together once). The two would be perfect for each other, with how goofy and high-energy they both are. They’re just close friends, though. Finchwing’s comment is made extra awkward since Sootear is... already taken but nobody knows.

“When are you gonna settle down and start a family like your brother?” “Never! It’s the single life for me, Pops!”

Allow me to sidetrack for a second and say that I headcanon Sootear and Rainfoot’s dad Icetail as sounding like Daud from Dishonored. That aside, Sootear’s seen as the irresponsible, troublemaking younger brother between the two. It’s not entirely wrong, but he does exaggerate a little to keep up the charade so nobody suspects a thing.

“So who’s this bundle of crow feathers here?” “This is my apprentice, Hallowpaw. Hallowpaw, this is Sootear. He’s the cat I told you about who saved me.” “...Hi...”

To make her feel more comfortable about her place in the clan, Mallowcloud has told Hallowpaw his own story at some point. They go out to collect some herbs--conveniently close to Coveclan borders--and who should show up but Sootear. Hallowpaw has always been very shy and remains so, even though she’s been assured this cat is a friend. Not long after this she wanders off to get herbs a little closer to camp while Mallow and Soot catch up.

“Y’know, she looks like she could be our kit.” “I mean, she’s my sister’s, so close enough.”

Sootear finds it amusing when he looks at Hallowpaw: with her tall, tufted ears, amber eyes, and long fur that sticks out despite how much it’s washed, she looks halfway like his kin. Her demeanor is far more like Mallowcloud’s, though. At gatherings, Soot notices that Hallow has the same kind of relationship with her siblings that Mallow does with his (an observation that Mallowcloud is very much aware of), and in a way feels a sense of protectiveness towards the quiet molly.

So I did end up coming up with a Bristlefrost design, but only after going, “okay but what if purely hypothetical IvyBlossom” 

Basically what I’m saying is I sort of cross-referenced my Blossomfall design, giving Bristle spots on her grey patches and a similar face shape. The rest is really just winging it (most draw her as a dilute calico and now I can’t see her as anything else). Also her pupils are vaguely diamond-shaped because why not.

In which Albedo teaches the twins the fuck word because of course this is how I introduce my weird nonsense AU fanfic ideas (that never get finished). This one also includes:

-Convoluted plot revolving around 1.) the traveler introducing them and then dipping out, which results in Diluc having a stupid crush on Zhongli, and 2.) Venti swiping a bottle of a special wine that Diluc’s dad made with him in mind, then giving it to Zhongli, who loves it and then proceeds to assign himself the role of pen pal

-Despite being an accidental chaotic wingman, Venti is a good friend

-Very sweet fluff and philosophical discussions, where Zhongli dumps several paragraphs’ worth of information and Diluc says at most two sentences at a time

-Their relationship is kept mostly secret but of course Kaeya figures it out

-Diluc having to now live with the fact that he knocked up the geo archon and they’re having dragon babies, also some bullshitted dragon biology stuff

-Said archon also happens to be Durin’s biological parent (it’s complicated and depressing), and in a roundabout way kinda sees Albedo as a son because he was nice to him once haha never mind I’ve decided Albedo is his son too (it’s explained with alchemy)

And here is the concept sketch that kickstarted this whole mess:

Because of course their names are Guizhong and Crepus. I am not creative and they would probably be sentimental like that

Like I mentioned before, Mallowcloud takes Hallowpaw in as he relates to her. As an apprentice, he and his littermates decided to have a race to the top of the gathering cliff. Mallowcloud slips and falls into the water below before being rescued by a Coveclan apprentice (Sootear, then Sootpaw), sustaining an injury that leaves him with an unbalanced gait and a fear of water. He also then starts to realize that he can make accurate predictions through cloudwatching.

“What’s the report on prey today, Mal?” “Good day for birds. You get a robin, Robin.” “Oh, funny!”

Even though he’s usually a bit skittish and reserved, he’s got a dry, punny sense of humor (some cats don’t realize he’s joking). It comes out more when around his brother Robinswoop, though he remains stoic around Honeyshine. The race was her idea, after all, and he doesn’t want to get tangled up in her disastrous ideas of “fun”.

“What if they find out?” “Well, I don’t think Turtlestar will mind much anyways. There was always talk that Wavestar probably had kits outside of the clan with how relaxed things were. ‘Sides, your dad’s the leader and he doesn’t seem like the kinda guy to kick you out.”

So... this has been a pairing I’ve been thinking about for a while. After Sootear saves Mallowcloud, the two become friendly at gatherings. A playful nudge from Soot, a rare smile from Mallow... oh no, what are these feelings? Mallowcloud goes out to gather herbs and Sootear just happens to wander on by... Sootear is more calm whereas Mallowcloud tends to get in over his head with worry, so when his beloved black-and-white fluffball expresses concerns, he does his best to ease him.

Messing with styles and a few small changes to my Ashfur design. I prefer doing lines like this as opposed to doing “clean” linework generally.