Arthro's Art

Art sideblog of arthro. Not just bugs (but there will be plenty!)

[arthroart]

they're EVERYTHING to me... Had to bang this ref sheet out before art fight! We stand on the shoulders of older geeks at sci-fi conventions

[pinkishhue22]

"You're not a Freak."

+1d6 Sanity

[pinkishhue22]

Wow haha... I am TOTALLY enjoying the new Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream game !!!! IT’S SO MUCH FUN !!! I can even make Miis of my FAVORITE OCs... haha...

[pinkishhue22]

Purgatory... I gotta start editing them into the island events

I will give GG and Mr. Hoang 500 cigarettes if it's the last thing I do

[pinkishhue22]

hiiiii can u tell us more ab malamute high??

lets say I wanna, for funsies, port my OCs to that universe bc it sound rlly neat, anything I should keep in mind? yay thanks!!!

Oh my god I was literally just live commenting to my friend (and Player/Mr Hoang creator !!!) That someone just discovered Malamute on Tumblr LMAO LMAO I will format a super awesome message in just a sec

[pinkishhue22]

I FORGOT WHAT I'VE POSTED (coherently) ON HERE BUT TO SUMMARIZE: The Malamute story/TTRPG is an alternative history world wherein a biological law of nature commonly referred to as the "Rising" has deemed that all Animals, no matter what form they take, will eventually stand up and "Rise" to a humanoid form.

More under the cut as this is gonna be a BIG one !!! Some details may be intentionally misleading, vague or flat out wrong but don't worry. I'm throwing my players off my trail, if you read this you'll know what they know LOL

The Risen encompass a large portion of almost every species, from the smallest parasite to the largest branching hive of corral, and have reached a common "unity" in modern day. Long gone are the days where people are forced to hunt and eat one another to survive!! They've been replaced by a fair, functional world. One where any animal can obtain a job and earn a fair wage for their fill! You can even start your own nuclear family, though we recommend you stay within your own species! Hybridization, possible between any combination of risen species, could come with a risk!

THESE DETAILS ARE A PRETTY BIG NOTES TO OPEN WITH BUT !!! I believe it sets a very good basis for the world that Malamute, the TTRPG, explores !! It is heavily based on the biases and standards of most furry media, as well as being deeply rooted in real-life themes of bigotry through the lens of late 90's America, all the weight attached. The world has a lot to offer, even outside of the "Shitty High School Movie" filter applied to the small town of Malamute, the... Wonderful... Town where the campaign takes place.

I will put a very big content warning before I continue as there is a chance there will be explicit mentions of eugenics. While bioscience and medical science have rapidly advanced thanks to the Risen and a worldwide rabies problem, cultural and ethical norms have stagnated. WITH THAT IN MIND !!! It's time to get into the *Malamute* of of Malamute High !!!

Founded in the early 1800s by one "John Malamute," the beating heart of the small community has been the Malamute meat cannery since the very beginning. It's Isolated, swampy, *literally* sinking and two hours away from the far more prosperous city of Dachshund... AKA not good. Poverty is a defining trait of its populous, with a majority of the adults working within the old cannery itself.

Their kids, however, are shuttled into the third iteration of a shitty school in a shitty town, Malamute High is one of the few remaining "pillars" of a dying town's community. It's the final hurdle that the (very few) remaining teens of the community have to pass, deciding whether they'll join the many who leave Malamute, or slip through the cracks and remain with the few in this dying town, forever.

Its second floor is destroyed. One of the students is definitely a robot. Their mascot is the newly rabid, muzzled town founder. Things aren't looking good... Almost all of the characters (be they teacher or student!) Are based off of high school movie archetypes, intentionally developing and subverting comedically bad and truly harmful tropes alike. Almost every NPC was created by spinning a random "High School Character" wheel and doing my best, and this applies to the campaigns story as well. A horror and pop culture fueled mystery set in what the players are discovering, just might be the worst place they could have possibly chosen to be.

The art style of the campaign reflects this as well, being compromised of photo bashed and cut up collages to give the characters an almost uncanny feel !!! It is all very intentional, and I even have a few resources for if you want to make your own characters !!!

My beautiful character sheet that is unintelligible to anyone that isn't a player or me... I WILL PROBABLY ADD TO THIS LATER (Hi Arthro I know you're reading this you should introduce Mr. Hoang so I can add on that) BUT !!! I think this is a pretty good summary to give you a good understanding of the world and how to implement a character... THANK YOU SM FOR THE ASK !!! @skelenby

[skelenby]

SO COOL! SO COOL! SO COOL!

heres some notes I took while reading teehee

could u plz plz plz elaborate on the character sheet?? I can guess some pf the stats, but not all of them, and also what are the rulez like how many points do we have to fill the dots??

[pinkishhue22]

THIS IS SO AWESOME... AND YES I CAN !!!

My beautiful work in progress for the visuals... IN ORDER FROM THE CHARACTER SHEET:

INTELLECT (HP: Reason)

ENCYCLOPEDIA (Fun facts and trivia drawn from the world, taken from various in-universe sources. Impersonal and sometimes unrelated to the conversation at hand)

ECOLANTHROPOLOGY (The study of anthropology and ecology is fundamentally intertwined. Biological science, history and culture combined. Breaks barriers between species or builds them)

LOGIC (Figuring things out using your own deductions, evidence, and reason. Good with facts, bad with feelings and anything the individual may deem illogical)

RETORIC (Convincing others of your truth, whether you're right or not. More about sounding right using your intelligence than being right)

IMAGINATION (Your sense of creativity and whimsy towards the world. Art, storytelling, scaring yourself so bad you create a whole new problem)

PHYSIQUE (HP: Health)

THE MEAT (Your body and everything that comes with it. Fear factor, pain tolerance, and the bite force of your very own jaws. Whatever you can dish out, you can handle)

FIGHT OR FLIGHT (Fear response and the deepest "animal" instincts, it's what makes you do *something* when things get bad. Doing something isn't always the best move, but things will be over by the time the rest of you catches up)

PARTY ANIMAL (Drugs and being an all-around hard-core, easy-going guy. A deeper indulgence of the rebellious life that tastes oh so sweet, people are gonna love you)

SLIGHT OF BODY (Your ability to articulate without fumbling and breaking yourself or others. Hiding, dancing, stealing, you can twist yourself in and out of any situation)

PERCEPTION (The 5 senses and how you perceive them. Unique anatomy brings unique experiences. Sense emotion based bug pheromones, see shrimp colors, hear frequencies only dreamed of before and... Taste your coworkers' diving suit via hand-based taste buds...?)

PSYCHE (HP: Sanity)

EMPATHY (Connecting with others on a deeper emotional level by understanding and feeling the same. Their joy can be yours, but unfortunately, it hurts to hurt people if you feel it, too.)

RECOLLECTION (Taking from your own memories and experiences, flawed but deeply personal manner of garnering info. Don't want to be stuck living in the past)

DRAMA (Deception !!! Showmanship !!! Drama !!! Communicate, act and lie with the flair you need to get the job done. It isn't just a job to you, though. It's a lifestyle, and you're living it, baby!)

E-VOLITION (This is the height of the rising. We're all civilized beings now, and that requires a bit of willpower. Evolution has brought us volition, and no temptation will lead you astray. No temptation will lead you, period.)

TROPE DETECTOR (You feel it too, don't you? You've seen this all before. You've met people like this, gone through times like these. Assign roles to the people around you and read them like... Well, the captions on a high-school flick)

TO FILL OUR YOUR CHARACTER SHEET:

Start with 9 points + 1 for every level up !!! Divide however you'd like with a minimum of 1 in each of the 3 S.O.S (sense of self) categories. These will be the base of your character and determine the amount of HP and skill points you'll get per slot!

Then, for each category, multiply the S.O.S points by 5 !! The number you get decides just how many skill points you get to put in!! Once you have this number, put them into the skills of your choice!

EXAMPLE: If I have 3 PHYSIQUE S.O.S Points, I have 15 skill points ! I will put 5 into Fight or Flight, 8 in The Meat and 2 in Perception !!

[arthroart]

This is an example build - one of the player characters in the campaign, Mr. Jason Hoang. He is a half human, half horsefly split-faced chimera, which means his "bug" and "human" halves look discrete or patchy (not unusual among extreme difference hybrids). His archetype, according to anyone with a high enough Trope Detector, is that of the "cool", hip, and young teacher... who is actually kind of lame. And maybe a murderer on the side, according to a conspiracy theorist student.

He's level 2 from a natural level up in-game, not inherently. However, his age and by extension his class, Teacher, gives him 15 extra points to spend; 5 in each category. That sounds pretty generous, but most student-type classes give 10 points extra.

He started off as a full all rounder build, 3/3/3, but added 1 Sense of Self point to Physique after leveling up, gaining 1 point in meat, 2 in slight of body, and 2 in Fight or Flight.

Occasionally, you can gain points permanently from events that occur. Jason, who has never been good at Ecolanthropology, has gained 1 point from discussing The Rising with his coworker.

Right now, Jason is at 80% Reason after having chosen to believe misinformation about a student's inherent biology to save the student's sanity (and, to a large extent, his own). His Health is excellent; not a sensilla, seta, or hair on his body harmed by anyone. His Sanity... is being worn down pretty heavily and is now at 70%. Things could be worse for him - he could have been shoved in a locker - but responsibility weighs heavy on him after he witnessed the kidnapping of a student on his watch. If any of the stats of his Sense Of Self (SOS) hit 0%, Jason would no longer *be* Jason, and would no longer be a playable character.

Unarmed strikes are not bound by any restrictions other than the character's inherent biology, and Mr. Hoang doesn't have too much natural weaponry as a human hybrid. His jaws are largely toothless, instead replaced with soft pedipalps wrapping around his gums, which gives him only a 50% chance to inflict any damage at all. His fists aren't that much better than your standard-issue Homo sapiens, but he has a slight edge (+1) in having heavily sclerotized fingers/tarsi. Keep in mind that Malamute High is a relatively modern setting with modern...ish cultural ethics; if you kill someone, there will usually be legal consequences. Having something like deadly venom is a liability, not a blessing.

...of course, these are just describing what your body naturally has. Nothing's stopping Mr. Hoang from picking up a gun and shooting someone other than his own moral compass and the fear of being confined in a cell for the rest of his life.

Jason's inventory is his business alone, so the vegan leather briefcase is latched shut with only a ring of keys and a goofy little handled iBook in view. As a new teacher with a low salary, he is stretched fairly thin on cash and has given himself a $20/week budget to buy whatever he pleases. Richer student players would get allowances, and poorer ones (...the majority) have whatever money they can scrounge up.

@skelenby thought you may enjoy seeing an example of how the character sheet could be filled out!!

[pinkishhue22]

More of the same LOL, Mr. Hoang for @arthroart !!! Teachers don't even scream when you irreversibly change their life anymore... They just look at you like this...

[pinkishhue22]

"Chimera Style" Hybrids

Jason (right) Belongs to @arthroart !!!

[arthroart]

look at our new computer science teacher dawg i think he's a murderer

[pinkishhue22]

Self indulgent gift for friend and member of my TTRPG campaign, @arthro !!!!! LOOK AT MY TEACHERS DAWG !!!!! WE'RE GONNA DIE !!!!!!!!

[arthroart]

We may be cooked but at least we're cooked together... right? Right????

[arthroart]

David and his son are both into fashion, but they have VERY different ideas on what exactly is stylish. Well... as long as someone loves the way David dresses, things'll be alright!

[arthroart]

Can a FORTRAN girl and a COBOL boy really fall in love?

Concept sketch for my OC Jason Hoang's parents, Pat (deerfly, she/her) and David (human, he/him) Hoang!

[bhramarii]

pet fly pros: fuzzy

pet fly cons: wet fly smell

[arthroart]

Meet Mr. Jason Hoang, my PC for a TTRPG called Malamute High. My DM is @pinkishhue22! Interesting (SFW) anatomy under the cut, because most of the cool bug stuff is covered:

[arthroart]

my son (that's what he is)

maggot/human hybrid character for a TTRPG i'm in!

[pinkishhue22]

Monumental fumble... Gideon Lancaster and Jason Hoang (belonging to @arthro !!!!)

[arthroart]

Their dynamic makes me so crazy <3

[linseedling]

Spiny Terrestrial Isopod

[musiclovingmoth]

made up flybuary where i draw a fly every day of february. this is a tiger cranefly (nephrotoma lugens) which is found in eastern north america. nephrotoma is distributed worldwide but has the most diversity in the holarctic and the afrotropics. the larvae, like many other craneflies, live in the soil where they may cause damage to plants.

[pinkishhue22]

"If you're venomous, you don't really get to be mad, I guess. You're either scary or... Nothing."