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CMBaggs — Great Expectations
#couplelove #love #pregnancy #romance #traditional #alverdaletangle
Published: 2014-11-10 01:07:32 +0000 UTC; Views: 4567; Favourites: 64; Downloads: 0
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Ugh. These two. They're adorable!Here's Sleyf 's William & InkyRose 's Imogen while... well you're just going to have to keep reading, aren't you?
As per the fabulous art trade that I agreed to do with the fantastic InkyRose . When she asked for these two (my favorite Alverdale Tangle couple, by the way) in this way it was an easy decision. I only hope that I did them justice.
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Comments: 36
For starters I have to say I find my eyes are mostly drawn to their faces as I really feel you can see and sense the love they most feel for one and other, especially during a moment like this. I also really like the way you've used the colours more to add shading and detailing to the picture as I feel both compliment the colour of the paper very well.
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Thank you. I was thinking of leaving as a detailed graphite, but the original artist had such a pretty palette for this pair that I just had to try some soft colouring. And they have such a sweet story too. I've really enjoyed reading it.
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I can imagine it was a difficult call as I could easily see this working very well as a detailed graphite piece but I do think the "soft colouring" technique really paid off 
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Aw...I didn't know I missed this. The title and facial expressions are both extremely sweet. I don't know, something just tells me a lot of thought and feeling went into this one. Or maybe you're just super good at conveying emotion.
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Looks like a pose my husband and I would share. I'm pregnant.
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Awww, congratulations! I wish you a healthy and happy baby and pregnancy.
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Wow, you definitely can feel the love from this artwork! The feeling and interaction just there... And it's surely very lovely
The guy's hair is great, you also captured their expressions perfectly ^^
I just feel like the guy's hand behind the woman's stomach is a little bit too long than it should be. The woman's hand also little bit weird, but maybe it's because the angle
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Thanks! They're just so damn cute that it was almost easy to do this.
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Awww I love it! Its so adorable and sweet and I love the eay you expressed their interaction (Imogen's hair looks beautiful) and I love their expressions, this is too sweet 
Thank you very much
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Surprise!
These two are too cute and I was so excited when Inky asked for this pair. I so totally ship them. And yes, you must draw them more often. They're too adorable to ignore. I'm so glad you like it. Thank you.
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lol aww, well to be honest they do make me feel all gushy inside, mostly because originally in their own stories, both don't end up happy (or start off happy lol, I don't think William has ever been "happy" just constantly in a state of confusion lol and slight annoyance now and then), so its fun to finally allow them some happiness and see what happens (I never wrote much for him as he was just a side character who, due to personality, doesn't interact alot except with certain people - those being actually only Rorin and Tallow, everyone else just gets silent looks lol!) so to be able to write more for him with someone he can interact with on a comfortable level just makes me love him even more, plus he's one of those characters whom I don't have to think too much for, he does all that himself (its only tough when I have to write conversation for him! Nooooo) hence why I think in the whole collab thus far he's spoken very little! Except in bouts of speech that, as of his character, come now and then, he has like...four of those! The last one I wrote was to his brother.
Lol and I'll let you in to a secret about his hair, I always draw it from the parting side as its easier lol, butyou did such a fantastic job of it!
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There has certainly always been something very dignified about William that comes across despite his confusion and annoyance.
It's funny that you mention the part... I noticed that in most of their couple pics he's always on the right, which is why I changed it up and stuck him on the left... I wanted to change it up and then while I was drawing his hair I was like; "CURSES! I lost the part!" *shakes fist*
I can relate to the whole idea that we want to give our character's happy endings. They're like our children and we want the best for them. It's a shame that sometimes a happy ending can get in the way of a good story.
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He's a noble after all, it's bred into him no matter how much he tries to ignore that
Yeah lol now you know the reason! I'm getting better at drawing him though, he's still one of those inconsistent characters who took me forever to kind of get decent enough to be happy with
I agree, I mean we all want the story to have a happy ending, but I kind of like ones that aren't 
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Really? I never would have thought that he gave you that many problems (other than with that hair!). I can always pick him out in your art straight away.
This Seleske sounds like a nasty customer.
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He did, and does! He also seems to go through weight fluctuations lol, with his face gaining or losing at any particular moment. Why thank you, that means success! I have internal guides for them, with William, his face is exceptionally long, but not too narrow, I mean he has a jawline (if that made sense), his nose is straight and steep (but not like Mouse!) and his expression is sort of worried or perplexed by default, but only because of his brows, that's their shape. If I remember that then usually he comes out acceptable
She's one of my faves, simply because she has no moral boundries, but she's not a maniac, she just has different views on life- and is a Noble-Blood determined to get what she wants. She absolutely HATES William for the way he is (but can ignore him, as he's pretty easy to ignore when not doing anything potentially embarassing to her reputation)- he's her uncle you see, in the original story- she's Esme's daughter, so he loves her for that, even if she might not love him back. Which means that he's always forgiving towards the way she treats him, even if he knows she reviles him (which he does, but ignores because William does a lot of ignoring!) she's blood right, you love and forgive blood
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The antagonists are so entertaining, aren't they? She reviles him? That's so harsh! Hates him, even? That's such a strong word.
You say original story, but now you're using them for the Tangle. I'm curious as to why. Why reuse them rather than create anew?
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They are, because their reasons are interesting to explore - I mean it takes a lot to be an antagonist and not be petty - but protagonists do what they do because they must, or because it's right (or it effects them in some way)
Seleske is harsh and very judgemental and demeaning of others, as a Noble-Blood she grew up with a strong sense of self-entitlement bred into her, and everyone else is beneath her - and anyone who does not act in a way she expects, is repellent to her - anyone she cannot control fully is also repellent. She doesn't like the way that her uncle does not hold the same views, and treats commoners as though they are equals - she also cannot fathom why he prefers their company to noble company - she sees that as weakness, she also sees his lenient nature as weakness, and his habits (eg. alcoholism, drug abuse etc.) are a disgrace and embarassment to the name (even if a lot of noble-bloods probably do that behind closed doors - William doesn't bother hiding it). Also one very big bone of contention is that he willingly chose to abandon his caste - which she sees as a betrayal and is disgusted that he should throw it away (she does not know why). He also likes Tallow - a Base Caste Wych - Base Castes are basically slaves - but William talks to her and spends almost all his time with her - which Seleske hates!
Another reason she finds fault in him is because in essance he is a Crafter - one of the highest ranks of Wych Energy - rare even in Noble-Bloods - the bloodline has to be pure for the energy to be pure enough to reach that level - Crafters can directly influence their energy - the strings of his harp were made - they're not actual catgut - when one snaps, he can make another which is pulled from his Pools - they can physically shape their energy to suit them. Seleske's father Juunt is a Crafter - he can make a spectral pack of wolves who act and move on their own will, but are still part of him via direct link to his Pools - they see and hear everything and relay it back to him - the amount of wolves is limited only by the amount of energy he can sustain in each Pool - which for Crafters, is a lot.
In William's case however, he does not have the energy amounts required - when he ascended to that level, his Pools did not expand (these expand with time as the Wyche gets older - usually stopping in their late teens) - Crafters will have a second Pool expansion later in life - usually right after the first one. William's Pools did not expand - they're stunted - so he has the capabilities of a Crafter, but not the energy output - making him weak - which is also why his normal base abilities are weak and not always reliable - when he uses his Weapon though (which is his harp) he can cause a lot of damage - but for a short time - he cannot sustain anything long enough as Crafter abilities are a big drain on small Pools.
Seleske reviles that weakness - she, like Titus Ashcliffe, is an advocate of Natural Selection and Survival of the Fittest - he is not fit, therefore he should not have survived - the weak die and the strong survive. Basically there's a lot about him for her to pick at! Even more than I mentioned - as he also does retain that confused lack of grasp on reality too - but in this story it is not mental illness as Titus believed.
We chose existing characters as a cross-over
Even the other characters are the same, Sandwell's family are still in the textile trade, Gabriel's family are still in religion - the only differences are that originally Sandwell is married already, and Gabriel cut all ties years ago and buggered off somewhere (in the story he never marries - the mentioned Jane Mable in AT is an important character to his developement - but her effect - and the relationship - is slightly toned-down in AT to better fit with the rest of the story)
There are new characters though, made specifically for the collab - like Isabelle, she only ever showed up once before in our previous collab "Castle of Silk" - and only in one chapter as a 15 year old. She was reworked to fit. Henri is also a new character made for this, he didn't exist before - and was originally just a cameo for a purpose (you'll meet him soon) - but then he just grew to be more interesting. As I believe it too, Imogen and Celeste I think were only minor characters from the Hat-Trick series (I think) - but we wanted a cross-over for fun and it just expanded
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Yeah, I still don't like her (if she were a person I would avoid her to be sure) but as a character, your Seleske sounds interesting and well crafted. I love when antagonists have motive and reason for their being. Nothing irks me more than the villain who sits in the gloom, rubbing their hands together and snickering to themselves whilst dreaming of all their clever nefarious plots.
The Wych setting (I know not what else to call it) sounds fascinating. I can't find anything linked to any writing in your gallery, which is a damn shame. I mean, I read stuff that is linked under pictures in the Artist's Comments, but it feels like there's stuff missing. It sounds like a really good story.
As to keeping characters and using them in different settings for the sake of exploration and enjoyment, I can relate to that. I've had characters that I've cooked up in the past and things never got off the ground and it was so hard to let them go.
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I would avoid her too, I'm not so great with confrontation, I have erupted in an explosion once or twice and gotten so mad that I've been shaking in anger - it didn't really feel nice at all to be honest, but i think it worked to scare the idiot off because after that he was actually very friendly... *howls in rage*.
She has her reasons - I agree that there HAS to be a reason, I mean even if it's not obvious, people don't just wake up one morning and choose to be evil for the hell of it (although they dont think they're evil do they!)
Lol, my Wyches come from Sel - I do love the world, even if it is very depressing, but it's fun to build up on the caste system and the way the whole island is run, even though I know nearly nothing about politics and governance, I like the world because it gives me a chance to explore a corrupt society that has a lot of different factions and levels of power - I mean it also gives me a chance to explore religion too (which i always LOOOOOVE exploring) and people's mindsets and changing beliefs (these two parts are mainly looked at through Gabriel, the governance and corruption and class system are from my Wyches' point of view (eg, William, Erib - Sandwell...not so much - his life is pretty good lol)) and then we have royalty and the noble classes. I haven't uploaded any writing as it's still being revised and updated, but what i have added is linked to pictures yes
It is very helpful, I mean in all honesty, characters like Sandwell never got that much of the limelight in their original stories (Sandwell only showed up once!) so this gave me the chance to explore him in his own right - in the original story Gabriel NEVER showed up or was even mentioned - I just always knew he was around, and aside from his really old ref - I did nothing with him - I just knew he was doing something in the background! and I'd get to him eventually - so while working on the collab, his other story was also taking shape in the background. Characters like Zantair (whom I put in the first collab "Castle of Silk" as a main character - were allowed to act differently than their norm just to explore how they may be if in a different situation - in which I discovered he's a little bitch (but then again I am not surprised as he is Seleske's son!) yet that bitch-side never showed up in his original story as circumstances were different - yet the potential was always there! That was such fun though lol
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Oh, a villain certainly doesn't have to be obvious, but the writer should know their character and understand their motivations and beliefs so that the character comes across consistent and believable. Everyone, every character has their own view point, their own goals.
Those are the things I love most about world building too. Setting up these scenarios where I can drop characters in and explore all these strange situations with them, and test them physically and psychologically. I like fantasy settings because I can create a real world issue and play with it with out getting labeled as having an opinion on the real matter.
LOL!!! Isn't it great when you know the character so well that they tell you what they say and how they'll act... and you have no choice but to listen to them?
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Exactly, if they're not believable as a character then they're not really interesting
Lol yes exactly! You can make paralels to the real world but in the end say it's all just fantasy so no one can accuse you of beliefs - because really you're not using them to express your own, you're using them to explore (well I am anyway), and the fun about fantasy is that you can do that, you just set it all up and see where it goes - I imean with the case of Sel, the Temple changed a lot, they enforced a unified language that could then aid with trade - but they also used it to their advantage by aboloshing other speech patterns and stating that theirs Cerenic, was the only right one - not only because it helped the Merchants trade, it was the language that the Book of Creation was written in - making Hedge-speech a lowly thing linked to Old Belief and herecy - I've had such fun with them. And not only that, but I can now also explore different sects of the same religion, which just adds a new level of interest with those of the Old Temple ( Rondcopse), and those of the New Temple (Alcombe) whose beliefs and foundations are different (the New overrules the Old by the way, which is dying out very quickly)
Yes I do! It means I don't have to struggle to think how they will act - and I also get surprised!
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I've always found the way that religion can so easily get mixed and entwined with politics and also how government can influence & manipulate/stifle thinking by messing with language or enforcing censorship for whatever reason. It's something that gets taken for granted I think, so to see writers explore it can sometimes be terrifying, like in 1984 or Farenhite 451.
In the case of Sel, the fact that they guised it in the foil that it was good for trade is devious and brilliant, and while the intentions may have been good (I don't know as I have not yet the pleasure of reading it) I can also see how easily it could be corrupted. Very fascinating world you've crafted here, I must say.
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I read 1984 recently and it really depressed me lol, so badly! It was horrible, and you know I could not see a good ending coming out of that and was wondering if there would be one! The trouble comes when you can influence people's thoughts, once you can do that, you can control a lot of people very easily - which is frightening when you think about it - how something as simple and non-physical as a thought can control nations
Thanks! I had to think of what reason they would give to justify it with the Merchants - who are one of the big governing parties (but not as huge as the Temple) - they would also need to justify it to the King, and as trade is good for everyone, it was beneficial, as it meant that anyone could now travel anywhere and communicate much easier - once you have that avenue open, you can then use it how you like - of course the Temple still undertook the teaching of the language to the masses, and very few can still read or write - so very few have access to the Book of Creation to sit and analyse and get "ideas" - I plan to start re-writing it at some point! Thank you very much, I'm quite pleased with it and interested with how its turning out
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Aww! This is amazingly cute! I love it! You've got their height differences right here too! William looks incredibly handsome! And Imogen definitely looks incredibly pregnant with the triplets! I love how tender this pose is and how loving their expressions are. The added detail of the wedding rings is a nice touch. Thank you sooo much!
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I'm so glad that you like it! Whenever working on couples art I really want to get the real feel of the couple right. They were such a pleasure... even William and all the trouble his hair gave me. It's a beast to tame, honestly.
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I do! I really do! It makes me want to draw (in the sketchpad I HAD to go and buy lol) i already have a pic for you sketched in it!
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