Filling my rat nest with trinkets

Cini shifted uncomfortably. He struggled to think of an appropriate story to tell a smeet or even a smeet-appropriate way to go about telling a story...

The tallest exhaled a sigh of defeat. He decided to just improvise. This little Flint was mature enough to sneak past the smeetery staff and Cini's imperial guards to approach him for story requests. It was safe to assume Flint was mature enough to handle one of Cini's many personal stories.

"I almost diced myself into chunks on my own trapeze wire the night of my first big performance. This was quite some time before I was measured tallest. I was a cadet, still in the middle of basic training on the surface..." Cini instantly captured the smeet's attention and imagination.

"...Next thing I knew, I was ditching morning drills to practice at the civilian theater then evening drills. The stage called to me, so I responded. I ditched my post for a nearly a year!..." Cini paused. He winced, embarrassed. "Which you shouldn't do. You should never abandon your assigned post. It puts a strain on your fellow soldiers." The tallest explained.

"My training partner, Slaps, had been covering for me whenever I ditched our combat drills. When I spotted her in the audience, I thought she was finally through with my nonsense and was there to turn me in to our commander for abandoning my post. I froze upon eye contact and tangled myself in my own trapeze...

But at the last second, I managed to shift myself in a way to unravel my line and land the finishing move flawlessly!

When I took a bow, her applause roared over the whole arena. As it turned out, she actually bought a ticket to my show to find out why I was so obsessed with the theater. My act spoke for me; She loved my show. She became my biggest source of encouragement...

Slaps was my good friend. Now she's my best high general." Cini's amber eyes lit up as he narrated the memory. His smile looked much more natural and sincere. "Life is an unpredictable journey. You must be looking forward to graduating to cadet, hu sprite?" Cini inquired, looking down at little Flint inquisitively.

You're not the first to ask that question. There really isn't one specific answer. Lich's asshole behavior can be blamed on Irken society in general. Lich was born taller than average and was given special treatment/ privileges the average smeet was not growing up.

His aggressive, prejudiced, perfectionist attitude and behavior was encouraged by his coddle drones/ superiors throughout his entire life.

Lich also suffered from a chronic illness, similar to porphyria in humans. He experienced debilitating stomach pain, food allergies, extreme light sensitivity among several other forms of sensory sensitivity, and even cravings for consuming Irken blood. These medical issues he kept private as much as possible.

His issues with his predecessor, tallest Pepperoncini really began because of this incident.

Pepperoncini "For a moment, I was so insulted; I thought you were insinuating I have thin lips. Ha...Ha...Ha...! I only jest.

I do paint my lips, or rather these talented sprite paints my lips and the rest of my face. As you can see, it takes a small army to make my sagging mess of a flesh vessel presentable. Luckily I have a small army under my command; they are my personal wardrobe and they are well equipped. Their lip paints come in every pigment visible to the Irken eye. Plus glitter...do you use gloss, my drone?"

Wardrobe drone "If the occasion allows, my Tallest."

Pepperoncini "There you have it.

. The others are preparing my robes for me. Praise them for their patience. Never gave much thought to my favorite color... black is the military standard. I tend to wear black usually. Lately I lean towards soft, diluted shades of pinks and purples for my robes. Makes the lines around my mouth and eyes a little less stark.. but pink is fun. When the right mood strikes me, I flaunt pink lips. The brighter the better.

Now, I must insist on a little privacy."

Pepperoncini "I'm handling it very well." 💓

Yeet "It... feels like chronic back pain to be honest. *nervous giggle* It's a little strange being so far above the ground. I'm getting the hang of ducking under doorways."

[Sorry I don't have a colored in example handy. I'm trying to catch up with asks. The best I can do is 10 minute speed sketches until further notice]

Spinch's eyes are a standard ruby, so magenta would be the base color of her wardrobe.

Yeet has "wine-colored" eyes. Depending on the lighting her eyes look like a dark red/ maroon color to a deep purple-ish black.

So, her base color is maroon or dark puter.

So far, the only two characters I've submitted to artfight are Spinch and tallest Pepperoncini.

I've made one attack. The system I'm trying to stick to is make an attack for every character I post. Got a few bookmarked. Hoping to make my next attack tomorrow. Today was spent running errands.

If you're part of artfight and you would like me to attack you, please let me know :)

I go by DRatRelyea there.

I don't plan to just post Irken ocs. There's a list of neglected/ forgotten ones from other fandoms I want to revive for the occasion.

Advisor "My Tallest, you're on in 20."

Pepperoncini "Very good, Spinch-dear."

Advisor "Sir, is that what you're wearing to address the Armada?"

Pepperoncini "Indeed it is. Is something wrong?"

Advisor "No, my tallest. You look dashing as ever. It's just, usually you commision wardrobe to craft you something...flashier for these events."

Pepperoncini "I'm getting too old for loud colors, frills and sparkles, don't you think?"

Advisor "NO!!" *cough* "Excuse me, my tallest, but personally, I think that's silly. You didn't become less...YOU because you aged."

Pepperoncini "Oh...Thank you, Spinch. I really appreciate that."

🎶And I thought, I thought by that age

Our broken hearts had seen their worst

And I thought that kind of heartache was meant for the young

But we're never too old to hurt🎶

I never heard of Bug Hunter. Beautiful song! I'll have to check out their discography.