Canidairen

(16+) Digital Artist & Worldbuilder | he/him

[canidairen]

INTRODUCTION ★

Hello! You can call me Adrian.

I'm an Eastern European digital artist, passionate worldbuilder, or the Ultimate Creation Machine 🗜️

Welcome to my main art blog.

DNI: Basic*

Content Warnings. Some art pieces contain body horror, gore, or slightly suggestive content. My plots are morally ambiguous and explore complex, potentially triggering themes.

ABOUT ME:

I do digital art in various forms, writing, worldbuilding. My main projects are The Skyrot Fall and White Murrain.

I prefer gothic, religious, and dark themes; post-apocalyptic and dystopian worlds; psychological horror and body horror; and social dramas.

While my art tends to be serious, I promise I’m not that pensive as a person. I’m just a considerate, thoughtful guy who loves silly jokes and stupid memes 🤝

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NAVIGATION

It's easy to find information on my worlds. I keep my posts organized. :)

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Main tags:

#the skyrot fall

a.k.a. ACROME or XXI Grounds

Dystopian Post-Apocalypse where parasitic acroids have infected the sky itself and are slowly overtaking the isolated land.

Navigation Hub for ACROME.

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#white murrain

(Currently frozen)

Flourishing world inside the Ouroboros-inspired cosmic creature suffering from the deadly sickness.

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* This is a safe space; hateful speech is prohibited. If you are a minor, I do not recommend interacting with this blog, but ultimately it's up to you. I avoid strong language and don't post explicit content, except for body horror/gore. That said, if you're uncomfortable with any of the themes mentioned, my content may not be suitable for you. Thank you for understanding.

[canidairen]

Crow funeral

cw: blood, gore (?), animal violence

[canidairen]

It was all his fault.

Prof. Bertram Radcliffe. The most traumatized man on earth.

It's always blond politicians who mess with the world right? At least Bertram has reasons, good intentions, and a massive guilt complex 😭 If that can compensate for anything.

[canidairen]

Second week Artfight attacks and revenges for: @thebodore, AF: Damey_theVamp, @xsamaaelx, @nighthawkeee, and AF: Tankhehe. Thank you all for your outstanding characters!

So many OCs are bookmarked, but I think I need a break 😭

[canidairen]

We Shall Not Kill!

Palemoth. The great hero who ended the Twenty Years' War.

Illuminated by sharpfires in the pitch darkness of the night; during a peaceful demonstration together with thousands of people marching in the Sundergrounds; when both sides of the War were at their most exhausted and defenseless, she preached her famous words. They formed the morals of the next generations and became the core of the Nightmen's codex.

Although people quote her with some textual differences and often argue about the true meaning of her words, the commonly accepted version written down by the Nightmen reads as follows.

The year 1 Before Fort Era | “In this darkness, the feral does not hide. Human blood is dripping from its open mouths; its maws are the very color of the beastly blood. Hide! Hide in the dark! You starving things; you hold the Red so close to your hearts. Drop your weapons, for the feral will swallow its own teeth. Draw the light out of your ribcage, for the feral will blind itself so close to the Red.

You have almost forgotten how to hide. Drowned in ferality, chasing the Red; you do not differ. Look the dead in their empty faces! Bloody doings, adorned with righteous intentions, but bloody all the same.

Do not be afraid of facing them. You, with the Red dripping from your eyes, let the comforting darkness guide you along the way of the purest forgiveness. We shall kill no more! In a world gone mad; in a world gone Red, we shall not kill again! Listen to the feral growl: don't those crimson dogs mirror your heart’s errancy? Hence, lay down your arms and bare your body; cast off the heft of the slain! You are no feral; the glimpse of the Red shall not blind you. Seek it; hide from it; never kill! We shall not kill what makes us differ!

Now, allow us to beg forgiveness for what was done, and forgive your neighbors, for ferality was not their heart’s choice; forgive yourself for bloody doings. It is never too late to go back into the dark! Hide from the Red! Hide these words inside your heart: We Shall Not Kill!" | Palemoth.

[canidairen]

Previous week attacks for: itwasjustanaccident, eyxcey, Lulilux_x, Biohazard_acid, and @originalratkingx . Almost no one has Tumblr for some reason. Anyway you can find all links on Artfight.

Also! I'm looking for more people to attack, so feel free to share your profile. Or if you wish to attack me (I always do revenges btw...), add me @canidairen

[canidairen]

Some characters from TSF drawn for practice 🥹 I don't know how many of them there are in total. With all the side chars, it's certainly over 50 people living in my head

On the first image, Marcus and Benjamina are de facto leaders of the opposition, called The Crimson Dogs. Vi and Wayfarer are leaders of anti-cultist pro-human acrogen group. These four are the most relevant to the plot here

[canidairen]

"For whom the sky bleeds..."

My old artwork with Charlie and Kieran redrawn. Well... It's a month old piece actually. I'm posting art in the most chaotic way possible

Anyway, it breaks my heart to think about their destiny,, Why can't they be happy?? Why did I make the story that way myself and now agonize over it too. My poor doomed nonbinaries... They don't even know what a nonbinary is but at least they have the attitude

No light version:

[canidairen]

Charlie Rose

The Skyrot Fall | Deuteragonist

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His mother promised he was born a human.

Why did they take him, lock him away like an animal, a monster, a mutant, then? Charlie isn't an acrogen; his mother said so...

Doesn't matter. He forgot her face anyway, after all the sweet childhood years with tubes sticking out of his veins. They're curious; they could try to rip his chest open, but they wouldn't find what they're looking for. And no scar would be left on him.

Dr. William Fischer took him from them. Inside his camp in the wild Sundergrounds, young Charlie was almost safe, with only a little blood taken from him. "Many will benefit from so little of your pain," William said. "You can ask me to stop whenever you want, child; whenever, yes?"

Charlie thought, Then stop it now, but William didn't. He wouldn't.

He knew about the Scene Havoc, about the Night of Crows; he remembered the other dramatic names William gave to the ideas and plans of his unsound mind.

The Agonists stole him before it all happened. With their bloodtears uncovered, with growths on their skulls, and spinal limbs twitching from the never-ending pain resting in their broken, sick bodies, they made Rose their symbol in a small sect; so small that other Agonists rarely visited them. "I ask for nothing more from you but to help us. Please, dear Rose; lend your blood, your body to Him, to me, just for this time," Vivienne pleaded with him.

"If I can be of use... Just for this time," he agreed, knowing well it would all repeat. His wrists split open; the symbols on the wall that made his head spin; the sickening prayer.

They all burned beautifully years later. Red flames reflected in his bloodtears marks. Hiding them, Rose swore that he has never been one of the acrogens – those slaves to their own fear, pain... hunger. I'm a human, he thought.

William's shadow followed him in the familiar faces of the wilds; under familiar arms, with their owner saying, "There's still use for you."

When all could have been over, a pale creature murdered the face and the arms. She violently deprived Rose of his right to fight for his own freedom; of the last opportunity to prove he has any rights at all.

Weakened and desperate, he lay under her blade willingly. But the metal didn't split his neck. "There's no use," she said, reserved and indifferent, and left to find his dear William... to gut him open.

How can I be of no use? Charlie thought. She will find a use for him; and William will do so yet again, when both of them will reach him.

That said, Charlie followed Kieran, both lost in the Sundergrounds looking for someone named Eyeless, who may know William.

Charlie remembers all of it; and Kieran doesn't know.

[canidairen]

Kieran

The Skyrot Fall | Protagonist

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Born in the Sundergrounds and raised as a hermit thief, her life changed drastically when the Fifth Section pulled her from the jaws of the feral.

Metal and tubes. Needles and wounds bleeding a color too light for a human. They had changed something inside her; she couldn't tell what, couldn't remember, having lost so much of her mind through the hollows of an itching brain. Lost so much of her skin, her fingers...

Young Kieran believed that the lead researcher of the Section, Dr. Raven Livingstone, cared for her; that Raven was her guardian, not her executor. The doctor had remained on her side, an arm around her tense shoulders, even when death was dealt by Kieran's own metal hands; an accident, she swore. But she couldn't truly remember.

Raven would comfort her, saying "Stay near me. All will end in a better way," and Kieran would nod shortly, again and again. She was never given the chance to know the truth.

The Fifth Section was murdered by partly controlled acropsids. The Night of Crows was orchestrated by Dr. William Fischer and his associate. Kieran managed to escape, but she would never obliterate the crimson imagery; neither the screams, nor the sound of tearing flesh, nor Raven's bloody cross forsaken on the ground would ever leave her scattered mind. And she would forever dream of every curve of William Fischer's skull – on the opposite side of her blade.

If only she had been stronger... Just a little bit taller, broader in the shoulders, louder with her voice, and more precisely violent with her hands. Then, Kieran would have stalked William's footsteps while they were still hot upon the dark grass.

Instead, she remained in the purple shadows, chased away by the feral and knaves; driven back by the fogs during the skyfalls and distant silhouettes of acrogens.

After years of traveling with different communes as a med-tech, crafting and repairing prosthetics for survival, Kieran stumbled across those low concrete buildings once more. Raven's cross felt heavy in her palm; gold against cold metal. A bloody promise was remembered. Scarred and with half of her fingers gone, unable to hold weapons properly, Kieran will find and murder William Fischer, even if she has to reach the very Thirdfort.

It can't be too late now... can it?

[canidairen]

ACROME. ACROIDS

Acroids are partly organic crystalline structures that parasitize other living organisms. They are classified into a separate biological kingdom and exist in various forms: from invisible particles polluting the atmosphere to a global underground root system formed from dead infected creatures. Their main activity is the invasion of living organisms to support their own expansion.

Inside a body, acroids connect to and expand the host’s blood vessels and nerve pathways while destroying other systems. They grow by consuming the host’s vital resources, and, in addition to causing physical harm, induce brain fog and hallucinations by altering the brain’s activity.

TW: Body horror.

Over generations, acroids have changed the skeletal structure of species more prone to adapting to the invasion, such as the Canidae family.

First and foremost, acroids seek growth. They form complex branching structures that resemble organic trees covered with crystalline bark, rubbery connective tissue, and crimson vessels. All growths vary in color from red in thinner layers to purple in denser structures. These growths can replace a host’s lost limbs or partially cover the skin of an infected being (acrohost). At later stages, the body is almost entirely replaced by the growths, and spinal limbs start to develop.

The mutation process, specifically the transition from parasitism to symbiosis, is known as acrobiotism. At early stages, acroids behave as semi-parasites. At later stages, they are fully parasitic. At the final stage, one of two outcomes occurs:

Symbiosis: The host and the acroids become mutually dependent, forming a balanced higher acrostructure.

Death: The host transforms into a deformed entity made of crystal branches, mixed connective tissues, crimson vessels, nerves, and bone. Its original form is lost, while limited movement and thought process may remain where muscles and nerves remained. The host soon dies. The acroids freeze their activity and form a lower acrostructure capable only of releasing spores until its stored energy is completely drain.

Any acrostructure generates energetically charged spores via their growths. Energy is stored inside an acroid core in the brain.

An acroid core formed outside a host for any reason is called an acroid husk. This crystalline structure, covered with vessels, possesses a significantly lower amount of energy; it can either be attached to the body of the host or be formed on the roots and growths extending from an acrostructure.

While acropsids (infected non-human animals) are able to reach the balanced condition, no confirmed cases of full acrogen (infected humans) symbiosis exist except for the Mediator. The true lifespan of a higher acrostructure is unknown but may exceed several hundred years. Balanced acrohosts hide inside the seismic rifts, so people are unable to observe them.

Most acrohosts die from the acroid invasion, regardless of whether they were born this way or infected later in life. All acrostructures that die in the rifts become interconnected with the global root system.

Acrohosts cannot be cured; acrobiotism cannot be prevented; and acroid development cannot be fully suppressed. Moreover, all beings who live long enough begin to show vague symptoms of acroid infection due to constant contact with particles in the air. Soon enough, they either die from blood rot or become late-formed acrogens.

Society perceives all acrohosts as critically damaged and dangerous entities. Most people completely separate acrogens from humankind.

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> [Back to Navigation Hub]

> [More about NATURE]

[canidairen]

ACROME. NATURE

The False Sky (or the Skyrot) consists of acroid particles that completely cover the real sky. Light purple during the day, it darkens as the sun sets; the lower layer slowly tears apart to reveal the visceral redness of the upper layer. "The Skyrot's bleeding again..." people say, looking up at the scarline of the sun.

During randomly occurring skyfalls, acroid particles descend, and toxic purple fogs take over the ground. They drift toward the densest zones, such as the Dogwoods in the North, or Red Death Rift in the South. These purple fogs can get trapped in depressions, forming Rot Sinks.

The Skyrot naturally connects with the seismic rifts via dense and toxic particle "bridges".

Inside these rifts, most acropsids (non-human animal mutants) live. However, acrogens (human mutants) are unable to survive underground, except for the Mediator.

Many canine species were exiled from the rifts due to the resource competition with other predators, making mutated dogs the main threat to humans. Meanwhile, herbivores often roam near the rifts, and are easily scared away; and rodents inhabit all of the Grounds. Birds travel outside the Grounds; they are the only fauna that remains mostly uninfected.

Observation: Acroid particles are actively pushed away from water sources.

Thus, the territory near the Eastern Waters is the most acroid-free. However, the cliffs constantly collapse into the ocean during even the smallest earthquakes. These earthquakes are dangerous and unpredictable. Rifts expand and the safe territory gets smaller after any seismic activity.

The South is mostly uninhabited as well, due to the influence of the Red Death Rift.

The North is covered with feral rifts that serve as the only save passage into the underground systems for acropsids. Additionally, many acrogen cults remain hidden deep within the Dogwoods.

Where does that leave us humans?

The False Sky is the infection itself. Acrostructures spread their roots underground. The very air is mildly infected. The rifts and their surrounding isolated and toxic zones take up to 40% of the territory. The Waters swallow the East. The Great Rim Rifts separate us from the rest of the world. For what is left of humanity, there's no escape from the XXI Grounds.

Still... Is it possible to build an Ark and escape through the Waters? Is it possible to adapt to acroids and accept this new world?

The End of the Sky won't be the end of humankind.

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> [Back to the Navigation Hub]

> [More about ACROIDS]

[canidairen]

ACROME. HISTORY

I'll keep it as short as possible considering the extra detailed original writing. I used the history of the real world... to some extent.

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Before 1935 (Second Industrial Revolution):

Coal mining costs became prohibited. Oil drilling technologies didn’t allow to penetrate deep enough. Factories stopped operating. The Great Blackout occurred right after electricity had integrated into every aspect of life, which led to anarchy and severe economical crisis. While trying to reach deeper ground layers, people accidentally discovered a new free energy source and a new biological kingdom – acroids.

The Catastrophe; "The End of the Sky":

To prevent complete anarchy, the elite began utilizing acroids as an energy source too early. Restoring several massive power stations led to the tragic consequences, since the acroids generated far more energy than required. This excess energy created energetically charged bridges between the major power stations, overloading them. A series of explosions formed a toxic veil across the sky, which partly blocked the sun, and started the movement of the undiscovered underground acroids. People started getting infected and dying from the blood rot. Continents were torn apart by earthquakes; isolation and toxic air led to mass extinction. Pitch dark nights and no sign of the sun or moon drove people crazy.

The XXI Grounds:

The XXI Grounds had been abandoned for a long time. During World War I, the land was used as an industrial zone for military purposes. In the underground facilities, weapons, armor, ammo, vehicles, armored trains, textiles, canned food, etc were crafted. After the end of the war, the facilities were emptied. Some of them collapsed or were temporally abandoned due to crises. Government were afraid of attacks, so large bunkers were built alongside factories.

The post-catastrophic period on the Grounds is divided into four main stages:

1. The Hiding (~5 years): People fled to the Grounds merely because of the safe underground facilities; they hid underground to survive the toxic veil. Part of the bunkers were destroyed by earthquakes, others were erased by the blood rot.

2. Twenty Years’ War (~20 years): Separated from the outside world, people restored some factories to escape the territory through the ocean. Half of the population opposed the mass reuse of acroids as an energy source, fearing that the situation could worsen. They insisted on staying in place conservatively, studying the new world while waiting for external help. When the other, militaristic side refused to listen, the conservative party began sabotaging the factories, which led to an open conflict and bloodshed. The war lasted for about 20 years, until a woman later known as Palemoth started an opposition.

3. Rebirth (~5 years): When mutants, which are adapted to blood rot organisms, later called acrohosts, emerged from underground, the bloodshed became irrational and uncontrollable. A nameless woman soldier from the militaristic party made a deal with the group of scientists. Using acroids, they invented flashlights capable of illuminating pitch darkness. The newly formed “Nightmen” became the only ones able to move freely at night. The mission was a success, and Twenty Years’ War had ended. The woman was named Palemoth by the people.

4. The Fort era (~38 years to date): People partly adapted to the new air. But many children were born either non-human – acrogens; or dead. Blood rot wasn't used anymore as the name of the sickness, but it became a symptom of mutation.  The heroes of the Rebirth gathered a large following, and Firstfort was founded at the South of the Grounds. Michael Radcliffe led the new world’s studies, focusing specifically on the Mediator, the first acrogen to leave the rifts; Palemoth became the general of the Nightmen as a permanent security force; and Olivia Lane took control of logistics and resources. Their union formed the triumvirate, which they called the Threone. Over time, Palemoth was killed by acrohosts; The Mediator escaped; the southern part of the Grounds was destroyed by earthquakes; and Michael Radcliffe died during evacuation. His son, Bertram Radcliffe, took his place with the help of Olivia Lane, and started anew in the northern part of the Grounds, where industrial settlement was situated before, called Thirdfort. Outsiders visited Thirdfort one day and asked for the help; their leader, Christian Adderly, became the new general of the Nightmen.

Current state:

The Nightmen maintain peace. Following Palemoth's doctrines, murder is strictly prohibited inside Thirdfort.

Mrs. Olivia Lane and her Logisticians keep people armed and supplied with the three main systems: the Train (logistics), Traders Union (craftsmanship) and Eastern Plantgraves (agriculture).

Prof. Bertram Radcliffe assigns critical tasks to his Special Sections and controls the scientific progress of the Grounds.

The Threone calls itself democratic while developing authoritarian and utilitarian values. Society is split into social classes based on the usefulness and closeness to the members of the Threone. Acrogens are separated from humankind completely. The social, economic, and logistical structures of Thirdfort remain fragile. Acrogens, outsiders, knaves, the feral, inner conflicts and the nature itself constantly endanger people.

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> [Back to the Navigation Hub]

> [More about ACROIDS]

[canidairen]

ACROME

The world of the XXI Grounds summary:

The End of the Sky happened in 1935.

A territory isolated by the Great Rim Rifts is slowly overtaken by parasitic organic crystals growing in branching structures. A toxic atmospheric veil has replaced the sky, while crystal roots constantly move underground, destroying both land and infrastructure. Humanity is thrown back to a Medieval-like state. Attempts to escape are unsuccessful. Internal conflicts and recurring earthquakes erase any progress. The safe territory gets smaller; the fauna changes; something enormous erupts from beneath the earth.

GENRES are Speculative Sci-Fi, Post-Apocalypse, Dystopian Fiction, Body Horror; the main PLOT additionally uses the elements of Social Drama and Existential Themes.

This is a Navigation Hub for the world of the XXI Grounds.

Main LINKS:

HISTORY explained [here]

ACROIDS explained [here]

NATURE explained [here]

TAGS:

Main: [#The Skyrot Fall]

World Lore: [#TSF World Lore]

Character References or Lore: [#TSF Characters]

Writing: [#TSF Writing]

[canidairen]

“Skyrot’s bleeding again…”

Samael looked down into the feral light of the unblinking little voids. In the crimson air, their desaturation exposed the unfruitful work.

All this Red…

William smiled at him. His lips trembled like a butterfly's tender wings under fingertips. Samael touched his face, trying only to grasp at reality.

A dark purple shadow ran across it; a crow screamed…

"Sam…" His voice creaked. "It is a night of dead crows, isn't it? My heart bleeds for her. She ran away."

Rubbing his face against Samael's palm, as if nothing had happened; as if there wasn't a blood trail running from the horizon, William added: "All of them… Sam. If I could do it again, I'd make sure to hear all of them… this… again. To save her…"

"You're insane," Samael gathered all his will to lower his hand, but it wasn't enough. It had never been enough.

William's face became a white spot of light. Were tears blurring his vision? But Samael wasn't crying. Was he going insane, too?

"But that's what we wanted, didn't we?"

"I never wanted…" Samael stopped. Did he?

"It was a waste. You have the right to be upset. She ran away… We failed to save her. But she will be safer in the Sundergrounds than she was with the Crows anyway."

Samael shook his head. He couldn't see; couldn't think straight. "Will… Please."

The Feral howled far away. William moved as if the sudden realization had hit him — or maybe, he didn't. Samael couldn't tell through the pure whiteness of his vision… and the burning sensation in his eyes.

"I'm sorry. We failed to save her utterly. This may be the end," William's voice sounded almost pained.

Samael cried, red and warm. If only he could cast away his burning eyeballs. Infected, they were. It was all William's fault. His dirty mind and the blinding holy light of it.

Samael felt the coldness of the iron in his other hand even sooner than he had consciously decided to pull out a gun.

"I wish I had never known you, William. You are right. This is truly the end."

A gunshot.

Samael didn't see where the bullet hit. He hoped William was dead; or maybe, he feared it wholeheartedly.

The crow screamed again. Samael left.

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The Skyrot Fall.

evt.: The Night of Crows

[canidairen]

My girl Lucy deserves to be drawn at least once (well, twice) 🥹 As a Cyberpunk fan, I downloaded WuWa for her but now I only struggle with this game lol. Love it, but it's too time consuming unfortunately

[canidairen]

There was a light far away.

Among the pitch void of the night, somewhere on the horizon, a silhouette illuminated by the red light was moving towards a building, as if a distant red star was flickering on the blackness of the real sky. Kieran had never seen a star, nor the sky.

A hand grabbed her shoulder. She looked up.

"Get inside. You don't want to attract the feral, or knaves," Raven said.

The red light disappeared.

"Did I imagine it?" Kieran thought.

She shook these worries off and went back inside the building, this sutured concrete box which had neither doors nor windows; and the blackness settled in the ceiling, and the ivy wrapped all over the walls... And the broken rusty wagon stuck inside the ruins.

It was quiet... until it wasn't.

The red light flicked so close. The doorway wasn't painted black anymore, since the silhouette appeared from this void, carrying behind itself the Red.

"I know your doings," the voice creaked, scared and broken; valiant and unhinged. "And dare I say, I can't let you all reach Thirdfort."

Was it the voice that creaked again, or broken bones knocked on the floor? Enormous acroid growths appeared from the Red, rising from the spines of the feral; wing-shaped, but they were wings of a monstrous kind.

Kieran only blinked. When did she climb the wagon that was watching her for so long with its broken windows? When did the Crows start screaming? When did the hearts stop beating and the veins run dry; and the flesh was torn apart?

Death comes so quickly. Kieran knew the spots of Raven's blood among the dark drops and rivers on the floor, on the walls, on the holy white coat...

Why was blood on her own face, too? It all went black.

She found herself on her knees far away from there. Kieran didn't see William Fisher's face; she didn't hear his words. And yet, she carried in her memory every curve of his skull, and every breath between the words, when he said: "Come with us, child. Please. You will know this suffering no more; no, you will not. There is a place for you... in our righteous dreams..."

But the hand he gave her was bloody.

This Red she left behind. When the scarline blushed on the horizon, Kieran went sunwards. The Sundergrounds lost her inside its wet concrete, intertwining ivies, beaten paths, stalled trenches, hungry rifts and eternally empty buildings that will never survive the next earthquake.

And Kieran will.

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The Skyrot Fall.

evt.: The Night of Crows