a blue pen and ink drawing on a boy with black hair and a turtle necklace perched on a rock in a desert setting.

meet Tombow, possibly AuDHD but in this post-post apocalyptic world, a diagnosis would be hard to come by.

#stories #fantasy #queerartist #noai #nogenai #madebyahuman

I'm so ugly to have found this story near it's beginning. Thank you Paddy, and I can't wait for the next one!

1 of 4 panels of a comic's page Zöe, a young kabouter with bows in her hair, walks up to a rock she seems to recognize.

2 of 4 she touches the rock and looks around as if confirming her surroundings.

3 of 4 Zöe leans against the rock, her nose at the edge.

4 of 4 looking over the rock, her nose hanging over a la her Kilroy poses, she sees a bed of river rocks and sitting against the rock is a stone triskelion. the text at the bottom reads "Not the end... P" alt-textra: this panel might look familiar to long time readers. it's a bit of a nod to James Joyce's "novel?" Finnegans Wake. the first word in the book is the mid-sentence noun "riverrun" and if you want to fully enjoy the reference you need to go to the last page of Finnegans Wake, read that last sentence which seems to end in the middle and then go back to that first word riverrun again and hopefully my little joke will be appreciated. 🙃 see the cool things you can find out in the alt-text, friends? what's most important, tho... thank you all for reading this. the joy i feel at getting to tell this story and seeing it to it's end is inexpressible. the sequel will be Her Secret Name. and i'll get to that. it might take me a while. i'm slow. 💜🥲

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thank you everybody for reading 💜

#stories #fairytale #fantasy #queerartist #comics #noai #nogenai #madebyahuman

1 of 4 panels of a comic's page Zöe, a young kabouter with bows in her hair, skips along singing a line from Thomas the Rhymer "-do you see yon bonnie, bonnie road, that lies across the ferny brea?"

2 of 4 she passes by some large rocks. "that is the road to fair elf land, where you and i this night must go-" she continues.

3 of 4 "harp and carp, come a-" she stops mid refrain, "Hey!"

4 of 4 she turns to what is apparently a familar rock to her, "i know you!" she says. alt-textra: Zöe would probably leave human child psychologists scratching their heads and suffering terrible insomnia trying to figure her out. but luckily we know that she knows and she's just fine how she is, now.

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one more page to go

#stories #fairytale #fantasy #queerartist #noai #nogenai #madebyahuman #comics

1 of 4 panels of a comic's page. Alisha, the Fae with pointed ears and maroon hair is slipping through a magic door. Zöe the young kabouter with bows in her hair bids her farewell. "hey-when you get to Druidia, tell Bob i said Hi!" Zöe tells her casually dropping one of the big four names. "will do!" Alisha laughs, not quite getting it immediately.

2 of 4 the door is now closed, Zöe is no longer in panel. from behind the door, it dawns on Alisha just what happened. "wait" she says.

3 of 4 flinging back open the door, Zöe is absolutely nowhere to be found. Alisha stares in disbelief.

4 of 4 realizing Zöe has indeed pulled the ultimate prank, "of course she knows" Alisha says. alt-textra: the next page will be around noonish mountain standard time. and of course Zöe always knew. though she mighta forgotten that she knew for a while. i did say whoever learns the names of the Four becomes a force of Nature, and Zöe is most certainly that.

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she knew 🙃

#stories #fairytale #fantasy #queerartist #comics #noai #nogenai #madebyahuman

1 of 4 panels of a comic's page Zöe the fairy with bows in her hair showing Alisha the fairy with curly maroon hair a special magic door. "you are oaken folk" Zöe tells her, "a new yet very ancient kind of Fae. you have a human side, too. hold on to that." "so am i part of some prophesy, then?" Alisha asks.

2 of 4 "Prophesies are only true well after the facts." Zöe explains, their faces now zoomed in, "the only reason my lucky guesses work is cuz i can see the patterns in motion. but i HAVE been wrong!"

3 of 4 Zöe continues "i was wrong about Randy not being able to open portals -and the whole bit with Harvey turned out totally different than i expected- he still hasn't gotten the cups!" she smiles and Alisha giggles.

4 of 4 "two outta ten thousand is still a good track record though, right?" Zöe quips. "it ain't bad!" Alisha confirms, arms out and a big grin on her face. Alt-textra: look forward to friday! it's gonna be a big day! i'll be posting all three final pages throughout the day on BlueSky and Cara. as for that number, i pulled it out of thin air. 🙃

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10,341 to be exact, but who's keeping count?

#stories #fairytale #fantasy #queerartist #comics #noai #nogenai #madebyahuman

1 of 4 panels of a comic's page. a two-fer! Zöe the fairy with bows in her hair is showing Alisha the fairy with maroon curly hair a door, "you can not, must not use portals ever agin." Zöe tells her, "but this door will take you to Druidia-"

2 of 4 "this was the door that brought you to this world" Alisha states, not asking, referring to how Zöe first came to the human world. "yes it is" Zöe confirms with a small smile.

3 of 4 wistfully Zöe turns away for a second, "i had forgotten about it for so many years-" Zöe, though she looks very young is in fact 66 years old and still only a kabouter child, "i found it again just last week on a meandering."

4 of 4 "-but seriously!" Zöe turns back to face Alisha, "NEVER use another portal! they are never safe- and you and i both know the Bean Sidhe is only trapped- you can't kill what isn't alive or dead" "oh, i know!" Alisha waves her hand confirming she has absolutely no intention of releasing such a being again. alt-textra: some of y'all are probably hoping for a clue about the banshee, aren't you? 🙃 goodness me you are tenacious! reading all this alt-text just for a spoiler? i would, too. well, since you came all this way i'll give y'all this; the Bean Sidhe is a major player in the sequel. because of course she is. but how she gets out of the realm between worlds and what her role will be, goodness i'm not telling you all that! 💜

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i will not be explaining how the Bean Sidhe (banshee) might have "survived?" being trapped between worlds till the sequel. 🙃

#stories #fairytale #fantasy #queerartist #comics #noai #nogenai #madebyahuman

1 of 4 panels of a comic's page a fairy with bows in her hair named Zöe continues her conversation with Alisha, another fairy with pointed ears and flowers growing from her hair. Zöe tells Alisha "We can't guess our own secret names. it's like living in a house you never get to leave"

2 of 4 this panel shows them sitting backside to the viewer, "you see other house- but never your own"

3 of 4 this panel still showing their backs is zoomed out to reveal a larger dark forest surrounding them, the Ever-Changing Brambles. "so you have to ask a neighbor to tell you what your house looks like. the description is like your secret name" Zöe adds "anyhoo..."

4 of 4 "-it's time i show you a secret door. follow me!" Zöe gets up and Alisha follows. alt-textra: i never want to over-explain the secret name thing, but i always think of it as a Fae's core, like the start of who they are. i have a hunch about Alisha's secret name but nothing that really really says who she is as a person. again, i'll figure it out one of these days!

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stuff happened over the weekend that made finishing pages very difficult.

#stories #fairytales #fantasy #queerartist #comics #noai #nogenai #madebyahuman

[4/4]

[3/4]

[2/4]

T4Z Chapter 7 - Flatline (named after bladee song) [🧵1/4]
#furryart #indiecomic #horror #t4t

1 of 4 panels of a comic's page the panel shows Zöe, a fairy with bows in her hair, continues talking to Alisha, a fairy with pointed ears and flowers growing from her hair. "go ahead-" Zöe says, "guess my secret name" "riverrun" Alisha says "all one word" "yep!" Zöe confirms.

2 of 4 "wait, how'd i do that?" Alsiha asks shocked at her new ability. "it's the gift of Tat!" Zöe explains by way of not actually explaining.

3 of 4 "Mama and Grace can do it a little bit, too. tho we're way better at it!" Zöe says, her and Alisha presented in silhouette. "what about Aestre?" Alsiha asks. "she's the one who gave Tat her name. it's different for her cuz she's the original story." Zöe adds.

4 of 4 "What about my secret name?" Alsiha continues asking. "i can't seem to guess it- do you know it?" "Yes-but" Zöe adds, "it would be wrong for me to tell you, tho it is very beautiful and appropriate." alt-textra: and indeed it shall be beautiful and appropriate as soon as i figure out what it actually is. this page is a bit cryptic partly cuz some things i have figured out for the sequel already and a lot of things i haven't. but also cuz Zöe has never been good at explaining things clearly. at least she's finally stopped name dropping. she's still young, she'll work things out and either get better at clarity or double down on being cryptic and puzzling. she might do the latter just for the fun of it.

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so, confession time... i don't know Alisha's secret name, yet. i'll figure it out, eventually. but i trust what Zöe says.

#stories #fairytale #fantasy #queerartist #comics #noai #nogenai #madebyahuman

1 of 4 panels of a comic's page "took ya long enough, didn't it?" the fairy Alsiha says changing from a bunny into an elfish looking fae (tho not an elf). "and that's the last time you can make that joke!" Zöe, a small kabouter (actually quite tall for a kabouter {that's a kind of gnome for those new to the story}) retorts.

2 of 4 "besides, i had to pull off my greatest prank, to date!" she refers to a fun little matchmaking prank she and another fairy had pulled on a couple of humans. "wait, did it work?" Alisha asks.

3 of 4 "it was like a Clark Gable smooch! perfect!" Zöe throws out her arms. (author's note: i've seen Clark Gable movies and even i don't get what the big deal is, but i digress.) "they kissed!" Alisha squees, "oh-mi-god!"

4 of 4 "you got a real gift, y'know." Alisha tells Zöe. "you got it, too" Zöe adds. Alt-textra: i kept forgetting to draw in Alisha's little hoop earrings and her cape is not cooperating. i may need to fill a sketchbook of Alisha drawings before i can make that sequel.

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Zöe has consumed a lot of media in her 66 years of life.

#stories #fairytale #fantasy #queerartist #comics #noai #nogenai #madebyahuman

Marker and pencil drawing of kitty making the bed

Playing with markers and pencils lately ❤️

1 of 4 panels of a comic's page Zöe, a small fairy with bows in her hair, walks through the wedding crowd as music is heard "true thomas sat on huntley bank-" from the song Thomas the Rhymer.

2 of 4 Zöe leaves the crowd and music behind as the song continues "-and he beheld a Lady gay..."

3 of 4 she climbs a small hill and now the music is only heard in the distance, "Harp and Carp, come along with me".

4 of 4 Zöe comes to a small clearing where a brown bunny is sleeping. "it's time, Alisha" the bunny opens one eye." Alt-textra: a bit of Alisha lore for y'all; she goes into her bunny form when she is either resting or stressed beyond her breaking point. though she can go into it at any time and without the incantation "i shall go into a hare" unlike Addie or Mary or Grace. of course, Grace doesn't even turn into a bunny. Deirdre was going to teach her the transformation spell, but story happened, instead.

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the song is Thomas the Rhymer, and i highly recommend Steeleye Span's version.

#stories #fairytale #fantasy #queerartist #comics #noai #nogenai #madebyahuman

last night i finished the pencils for the last seven pages of Ever & Always. the full beast is 444 pages. i celebrated with some chocolate milk.

1 of 4 panels of a comic's page Zöe, a small fairy with orange bows turns to Grace, a bald young woman with piercings who is DJing for a wedding, "Oh- one more thing." Zöe tells her, "thank you, Grace." "for what?" Grace turns back, just about to put another record on the turntable.

2 of 4 a close up of Zöe "if you hadn't taken that leap, things woulda turned out very different. i have my secret name, and some of my family, again. all cuz you took a risk and made the choice to live for others. so, thank you."

3 of 4 Zöe walks away as Grace says, "i'm sorry you don't have all your old family." "i'll find them, one day. for now i'm just grateful to be alive. byeee!" Zöe waves.

4 of 4 Grace thinks to herself, "me too, kid. me too." and then says aloud into a microphone "let's hear it for DJ Kilroy! this one goes out to the Rhymer family!" alt-textra: you're getting a second upload later today cuz i forgot to post yesterday. 🙃 i love my brain.

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it's good to be alive.

#stories #fairytale #queerartist #fantasy #comics #noai #nogenai #madebyahuman

Emma Kinlist 2023

1 of 4 panels of a comic page a woman, Grace, with short cropped hair sits talking to a young fairy, Zöe, holding a record cover. "a lot of folks misunderstand what Puff, the Magic Dragon is actually about." Zöe tells Grace. "wait, you know about this?" Grace asks.

2 of 4 the panel focuses on Zöe who continues, "oh, yeah, of course. it's about the tragedy of growing up. one day i'll be all grown up. you'll be long gone by then, so i'll always be a little kid to you. but i will have to face death, some day, too. remember what i told you back in Druidia?"

3 of 4 "Yeah." Grace confirms, "i'll never forget it. you told me i had to live. death is the end, birth is not the beginning." "-and it all begins where it ends" Zöe finishes the thought.

4 of 4 "Not the interpretation some folks get from Puff, y'know-" Grace raises a finger. "yeah, no." Zöe waves dismissively, "that whole pot thing is stupid". alt-textra: i'm one of those people for whom pot does nothing. i can't tell any difference when i'm on pot. i have gotten the giggles once on my first try. maybe i'm biased for that reason, but i really don't likie the pot interpretation of Puff, the Magic Dragon. but mostly cuz the band has expressed openly time and again that it isn't about pot. but to be fair my own interpretation could be off the mark. my feelings about it are that it's a deeply sad song under all the fun fantasy. i don't envy Puff and i am sad Jackie Paper moves on and grows out of Puff (and doesn't live forever). to me that kind of loss childhood wonderment is heartbreaking.

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i'm not a fan of the "pot" interpretation of the song. no hang ups about pot, it just doesn't fit the song.

#stories #fairytale #fantasy #comics #queerartist #noai #nogenai #madebyahuman

two General's pen nib holders, one brand new and the other about six years old, pictured alongside a 513 BF steel nib, my preferred pen tip.

time to retire another well aged general 🫡

*these usually last about five years and i've used this one throughout all of Pieces of Lingering Dust and Ever & Always. i don't toss them, i can't. i keep them in a special bin.

1 of 4 panels of a comic page Grace, a baldish young woman with piercings, is talking to the young fairy, Zöe. (she only looks young cuz Kabouter age much more slowly than humans, an important point, coming up in a future page! {see why alt-text matters?}) Grace has one hand planted firmly on a table and the other against her hip. Zöe is holding a green object the nature of which is to be revealed. "you fairies think y'er purty clever, don'cha?" Grace goes heavy hamming up her accent. "ye!" Zöe smiles like 😊.

2 of 4 the green object turns out to be a record, Peter, Paul and Mommy, Too. "i see you found my old Peter, Paul and Mary albums. Alice asked for 500 Miles so i packed a couple of 'em." for those who know, 500 Miles is not on Peter, Paul and Mommy, Too. Zöe does not immediately respond but does her Kilroy pose with the record.

3 of 4 "little q. says you really like Puff!" as in Puff, the Magic Dragon who lives by the sea (present tense!) cuz see a dragon lives forever but not so little girls and boys and i'm getting ahead of myself... "it's my favorite song, ever" Zöe replies.

4 of 4 holding back a cry, Grace says "i'll let you borrow it if you promise to be careful. it's very special to me." "you never had me fooled for a moment, Zöe says cryptically. alt-textra: i snuck in lots already, but here i'll tell you a memory. in the early 90s Peter, Paul and Mary had been doing performances for children that ultimately led to the album Peter, Paul and Mommy, Too. i remember PBS was showing one of those performances and mom and i watched it together and i think it was then that i realized how sad of a song Puff, the Magic Dragon really is. as a parent watching my own kids grow up and having that epiphany that we don't go on forever and how much sadder it would be to be a dragon watching everyone you ever loved go away. it feels like the earliest seed for this story. also i kinda want to put a dragon in the sequel. his name will be Fred. and no i don't believe it is about pot. 🙃

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Puff, the Magic Dragon is one of those songs i always feel like is part of a memory i'm not sure is real but would very much like it to be.

#stories #fairytale #fantasy #queerartist #nogenai #madebyahuman #comics #puffthemagicdragon

Whoops! I accidentally posted an unfinished version of the last page. Here, you can look at it again. Notably, Fanlee’s desktop is missing and Spatzle’s screen name is a reference to her deadname

friday night plans (2/2)

friday night plans (1/2)

Fanlee and Spätzle posting on chairs with very pink outfits.

lovecore looks (2/11/2021)

1 of 4 panels of a comic page. music is in the air as the three friends sit together at a wedding party. the fairy e_, a púca starts flirtatiously rubbing Grace's very short peach fuzz of hair. "Heh heh- peach fuzz" e_ says. "Wut'r ya doin'?" Grace asks slightly annoyed. little q. casually ignores the silly display of affection and is focused on the music.

2 of 4 "Puff, the Magic Dragon!" little q. identifies the song, "Zöe loves this song!" Grace is suddenly pulled back to reality.

3 of 4 Grace stands up and walks off quickly, possibly starting to feel uncomfortable with e_ being an idiot. but she doesn't say it. instead she says "look- i got to stop her" meaning Zöe, "before she blows out my speakers on Peter, Paul and Mary!" "Wait! Come back!" e_ yells teasingly at Grace. little q. seems to know this flirty side of of their partner and cuddles them.

4 of 4 "Okay, e_" little q. asks, "how much punch did you drink?" refering to the punch spiked by e_ themself with a bottle of love potion. "none-" which is probably true as e_ does not like punch, "but let's just say that bottle didn't empty itself" "silly fairy ❤️" little q. tells their love drunk faefriend. alt-textra: so i have been sick since thursday and haven't had a big chance to get much drawing done. this week may be a bit spotty, but i'll do my best to get comics pages out on time. this is where we leave e_ and little q. in this story, the two goofy fae folk whose early adventures started this whole yarn. with only 12 pages left, there's only one thing left to address; that oh so silly (sillier than e_) fairy who's at the start and end of it all. holy smokes it's been fun writing this beast. 🥲

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side affects may fairy

#stories #fairytale #fantasy #queerartist #comics #no #madebyahuman

dark to bright purple hair pointy hair nyanbinary with bat wings in a mellow lime green shirt that say "Oh?" and a fishnet shirt. They wear a glove on one hand and have two sets of kandi, one set is the bisexual and nonbinary flag, the other is the polyamorous pride flag (classic colors), they are also wearing a bell collar with two spikes on the bell. They are also wearing a striped cotton striped purple and a transparent lime green latex thigh high. Their boots are shiny platform knee highs with two straps each, the colors of the straps are the inverse of the sock on each leg. On the bottom one has a an open eye and a big maw towards the toe of the foot, and the other has a closed eye (^_^) with maws towards the foot.

oh its @cimicherrychanga.bsky.social everyworm say hello!!

they/them pronouns
#Art #DigitalArt #Krita

Fanlee and Spätzle dancing ballet together. Fanlee is eating a sports bra and tights, Spätzle is wearing a leotard and flowing purple wrap skirt. Fanlee has her hands on Spätzle’s waist and thigh as if performing a lift, but Spätzle’s toes are on the ground. Spätzle as her arms spread and her leg out in the air. Her skirt flares dramatically.

not sure we can classify that as a lift but good effort

1 of 4 panels of a comic page. continuing from the previous comics page, the fae little q. goes on a bit of an existential quandary about one of their mothers. "Aestre says she isn't a goddess, but if SHE'S not, then what IS a goddess and what is she? she says she's never met any gods, so are there any?"

2 of 4 Grace, slumped back and who's had too much to think, adds "i dunno, but i'll tell you, that woman runs circles around me-" "all of us" e_, a púca, chimes in.

3 of 4 e_ continues in the third person which they often do, "e_ thinks she is like a fifth elemental Fae- a product of the four" referring to the four elemental Fae mentioned in previous chapters. as a refresher they are Tat; the Salmon of Knowledge, Kek; the Tree of Life, Pip; the Bird of Song, and Bob; the Salamander of Fire. though these characters do not know their names.

4 of 4 "to know the names of the four is to become a force of Nature" little q. says in their high whispery voice, "-So she must be Mother Nature, Herself!" "let's just go with that, then" Grace concludes as this conversation is clearly wigging her out something fierce. alt-textra: i always thought of Aestre as a sort of force of Nature. something still vulnerable, but strong and ancient and commanding respect without demanding it. the story of her great war will get a much longer explanation in a future tale. for now, it is only important to know she fought it against someone very important and dear to her and by the end she was the only one standing. i thought about the title of the sequel being Time & Eternity to reflect Ever & Always but how different Ever & Always ended up being from Pieces of Lingering Dust, i have no idea what that sequel will ultimately look like. and besides, i'm really attached to the working title "Her Secret Name".

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a bit heavy for Grace, maybe.

#stories #fairytale #fantasy #queerartist #comics #noai #madebyahuman