꧁ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛs ꧂ ➳ ⁱⁿˢᵗʳᵘᶜᵗⁱᵒⁿˢ / ᵖʳᵒʲᵉᶜᵗ ➳ ᶜʳᵉᵈⁱᵗˢ ➳ ᵇᵃᶜᵏᵍʳᵒᵘⁿᵈ ⁱⁿᶠᵒʳᵐᵃᵗⁱᵒⁿ/ᵒᵗʰᵉʳ —- -ˏˋ⠀ ɪɴsᴛʀᴜᴄᴛɪᴏɴs/ᴘʀᴏᴊᴇᴄᴛ ⠀ˊˎ- ➸ make sure to double-click the green flag! ➸ tap to proceed (3 slides) ➸ I spent an hour and 30 minutes on this, probably more for times unscheduled, so a like would be appreciated <3 ➸ note: he’s smirking, he’s evil :P ➸ I shared a ref too?! —- -ˏˋ⠀ ᴄʀᴇᴅɪᴛs ⠀ˊˎ- ➸ Song: Cradles [] By Sub Urban ➸ Glitch effect [] .https://snorpey.github.io/ ➸ @-sunflowerskies- for hosting the contest —- -ˏˋ⠀ ʙᴀᴄᴋɢʀᴏᴜɴᴅ ɪɴғᴏʀᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ/ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ⠀ˊˎ- ➸ first things first - that white outline around the cat is uneven on purpose, it kinda throws around the beat of the song, you know? That’s also accompanied by the glitch effect which also visualities the rhythm. I also added the scratch in the background to try to add the mood of the music - a faded away in some-parts red scratch against a dark background… ➸ speaking of glitch effects, I had two images for you to judge on - one with the cat with the glitch effect, and the other without. Please choose the one you like more. ➸ I think I’m going crazy. I made a ref. ➸ Backstory in both Instructiosn and Notes and Credits! Shadowstride is a male, straight cat. Backstory -death warning, very minor gore- When Shadowstride was younger, he used to be called “Shadow”. He lived with his mother and only littermate beside a dustbin on the side of a windy road. His mother’s name was Night, who had a dark pelt, similar to Shadow’s, except for a large, shining circle of white on her underbelly. Shadow’s one littermate, Snow, was a feeble young cat who fully inherited that “circle of white”… or so he thought, until many months later. His pelt was smooth, with pure white, although it wasn’t shining like his mother’s. In fact, it was rather dull. Snow was constantly struck down with a dreadful cold and never could stop a coughing fit fighting it’s way through his rare, quiet words. But when he did not talk, his eyes shown with empathy and compassion, despite his condition. Night was the opposite of that. One might call her strict, others might call her unfair, but that was nothing, absolutely /nothing/, of what it felt to live under her. Shadow’s constant saying in his mind whenever Night drew her furious gaze to him, was, /Her name should add a “mare” at the end…/ Oddly enough, she lived up to the “Night” in her name, though. She never yelled or screamed, it was more like… deathly silence. But the silence was always punctured with screams or squeals of pain from Shadow, or more often, Snow, after being hurtled into the wall without any particular gentleness. Night did nothing for her kittens except giving them some prey, on a lucky day. Other times, she woke them up at the crack of dawn, and start “scavenging”. “Scavenging” was a thing mandatory to all kittens born in the Cityplace, Night had been telling them once before forcing them into a bin. It was a thing necessary to survival, since only a foolish cat with bird-addled brains would think that they could catch fresh prey on a daily basis, in her words. Snow tried his best, but there’s only so much you can expect from a cat with a horrid sickness slowly k!lling them. Falling into a pile of carrion and breathing through poisonous fumes are, let me tell you, not on the list of a doctor’s when you go to get treatment for a severe sickness. Shadow, however, deeply appreciated Snow’s existence — he could barely bear to think of what might happen if he had been alone with his mother for his whole life — and tried to assist him in any way he could, whether it be standing beside Snow if he was in danger of falling, or grabbing a piece of left-over food so Snow didn’t have to risk his fragile body to get it, since his mother didn’t care. Shadow whispered secrets and one-sided conversations to Snow, who tried not to reply to save his shallow breath, but smiled and seemed to think about Shadow’s words with great detail. Until one morning.
The sky was remarkable — a red, blood stain in a pink sky rippling with purple-tinted clouds, brilliant, yes, but also intimidating. A blow on his head let him know that his mother had slapped him awake, as usual, and he leapt to his feet. Night ordered them to go Scavenging again, and they obediently leapt into the dustbin. To their surprise, Night hauled herself in after them. “Snow, show me how you Scavenge… let’s see, that bone on the top of that tall bucket.” Night had ordered coldly, looking down at him from her nose. Shadow started towards Snow, ready to assist him, but Night let out a tutting noise. “No! I said /Snow/, only.” Snow froze at that. It was nearly impossible for the weak-bodied cat to be able to Scavenge something at such a height! The white-furred cat seemed to think better of it, and limped towards the foot of a box, which led to a bucket, which had to be scaled with speed and skill… which led a dozen or so discarded books… which led to the bone. Snow trembled, and leapt to the top of the box, and flopped over. At a warning hiss from his mother, he hasted to his paws, and scrambled up the bucket. But the bucket was slick from rain, and Snow slipped, falling to the ground with a jarring thud. Night leapt down immediately, and ran over to Snow’s side, bending over him. But it wasn’t to reassure him. She plucked him up roughly, leapt awkwardly out of the dustbin, and threw him against the wall. A sickening crack echoed through the alley. Snow flopped to the ground, not moving. Shadow leapt to Snow’s side, despite a shout from his mother, and looked anxiously at Snow. Blood was trickling everywhere, and Snow looked at him. Compassion shone in his eyes one last time, and he whispered, “Good luck to your journey, brother. I’ll be with you, stride by stride.” He closed his eyes. (I am getting carried away) A mirthless chuckle sounded from behind Shadow. He whirled around, hissing. “YOU K!LLED MY BROTHER!” spat Shadow, leaping at his mother, claws outstretched. Night caught him easily, and pinned him casually against the cobblestone wall. “Oh, yeah?” she meowed unworriedly. “Well, poof goes the image of my worthless mate. So idiotic of him, just leaving me after he says he’s had enough of me, or whatever. He has literal kits, he didn’t even stay long enough to name them!” Shadow kicked her away and bent down, hissing. “If you hate Snow so much, why didn’t you k!ll us in the first place?” A flicker of uncertainty passed through her mother’s cold, narrowed eyes. “I wanted to do that. But I decided you make yourselves useful, whatever worthless scraps of fur you two were. I was obviously wrong. And I intend to fulfill what I should’ve done in the first place.” “Woah, not so fast!” yowled Shadow. He whirled around, swinging out his claws into the pile of the dustbin, and claws catching on to something. He paused long end to see it — a small, smoking stump that smelled of ash, and instinctively hurled it towards the cardboard box beside his mother. He didn’t expect it to work, but the cardboard box was suddenly alight, flames dancing to the sky. Night shrieked, scrambling forwards. “You can’t escape, mother,” Shadow said. “From me, or from Snow. He’s with me, with my every stride. So I’ll be known as Shadowstride.” Shadowstride curled his lip, and padded unworriedly towards his trembling mother. Whatever bravery she had put on before, it was diminished in the face of fire. Shadowstride didn’t find the fire scary. It was just a warm thing, a monster that could be tamed, assisting him in keeping his mother where he wanted. He k!lled his mother, waited for the flames to die and buried his brother. Full of rage and envy, Shadowstride set off to hunt down and k!ll his father, who had abandoned him and Snow when they needed him so desperately. During a short period of time he had grown dark and fearless, and ambushed his father easily. Then he made quick work of his new mate, and left blood and terror in his wake. He hunted down revenge on minor cats that might’ve done huge impacts on his life — a passing bystander he remembered that witnessed his mother physically harming his brother, or a cat who had snatched a bone away from him and caused him to be thrown against the wall, and if he could trace them, their family and descendants. Eventually, he was stopped by a group and taken down. He lurks in the darkness, as a ghost, shadowy and hoping one day, he’ll come back to hunt down the group that k!lled him and their descendants. Will he wait forever for his revenge, or will he retire from his anger and meet his brother and live a happier life as a ghost, but together? You can choose. Hehe why do I feel like I wanna do a PMV on this? Idk.
