Contradiction

Twisting the delicate chain between his fingers, he watched its precious little bauble, a bare sliver of a cross, bob and turn and tap against his wrists. Before long, though, the length had become entangled, and he was left prying at it, praying the tiny knots would release with a tug in just the right spot. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find said spot and they held fast. After a few minutes, he gave it up with a sigh and a faint grimace, eyeing the cluster of tiny metal links balled up in his pale palm with only a marked weariness, not irritation.

“Well, ah, what now?” He pushed round glasses farther up with the tip of a finger against their slim, metal bridge, watching the dead leaves brush the toes of his boots as they skittered past. The cold and cloudy, dark, afternoon was silent, only the subtlest of breezes fluttering against fringes of the scenery. And as Abel sat surrounded by the strewn, scattered stacks of mutilated bodies, he wondered what could have driven formerly peaceable men and women to this. Not even the children had been spared; again, however, he eventually surmised that he shouldn’t have been so surprised. The world was cruel more often than it was kind.


~~from the Trinity Blood fanfiction "Constantly Self-Inflicting Contradiction" by Vestibulocochlear ([link])

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(Sharing enabled. Please credit myself for the artwork and the photographic and fandom copyright-holders (below) for the inspiration!)

Trinity Blood
Artwork interpretation from the anime produced by GONZO.
Pencil sketch partially inked by hand and scanned, then re-inked and colorized in Photoshop 7.0 (using mouse and Wacom ArtZII tablet).

Subject credits: Inspired by the fanfiction referenced above, written by the Fanfiction.net author Vestibulocochlear. (Cheers! Sorry about the lack of body count here... and the unfortunately quite green and healthy-looking leaves... wanted to get something up for you sooner rather than later though!)

Background photo credits: "The Infirmary Steps" ([link]) - Photograph by the amazing and inspiring =CausticStock ([link] ) (thanks so much for making your adventures available to us at DeviantArt!) Filtered with a standard Photoshop filter; hazed with grey to add an overcast look.

Brush credits: Blood (!!!) and foliage brushes by ~Shadow-Brushes ([link]). Foliage brushes adapted using ~Shadow-Brushes' "do-it-yourself kit" for foliage, which is a godsend for those of us who don't have CS!