Shifters and Spacebirds

Hi, I'm Cy, a 26 y/o zoologist and artist! This blog is still very much under construction, so if you’d like to learn more, check out my website cydork.neocities.org

[cydork]

Gained a bunch of followers recently and realised I didn't have a post with all my links! Hi :)

Patreon: cydork

Ko-fi: thecydork

Twitter: TheCydork

Bluesky: cydork

Discord server: https://discord.gg/5MtyVNhAVj

[cartoonistcoop]

Have you taken a virtual stroll through the NIF Marketplace yet?

There’s dozens of comics in all genres, come see these titles and many more! 🔎📚📖 https://nif-shop.cartoonist.coop

Credits: Mascot art by Jackarais | Design by Asmo

[cydork]

I have a comic for sale here! :) This Monstrous Existence, which debuted last year at CAFKL9

[cydork]

Happy Storyteller Saturday! List some of Carapace's crimes

She has never done anything wrong in her life ❤️

[cydork]

This guy has 4 pages worth of tagged posts on my blog but no proper introduction, so I'm fixing that now.

This is Gold, the main character of my eventual graphic novel, No Devil Use. He's a cat slipshape (shapeshifter) who's deeply distrusting of most people, a kleptomaniac, a good liar, and a bad judge of character. He gets by via a variety of petty crimes and is in a totally-not-a-relationship with his dealer, Cain. The story follows his No Good Very Bad Time after a person from his past suddenly reappears.

[cydork]

hey! what's a song that represents one (or more) of your characters?

Oh man, this is a great question. I agonised over trying to find the best balance of appropriate lyrics/meaning and genre but, screw it, I'm just going based off Vibes and out-of-context lines.

Gold - The Spectator by The Bravery

Cain - dancing while the world burns by adore

Kai - I Can't Handle Change by Roar

Yap - Muzzle by Destroy Boys

Tobias - I Don't Wanna Be Me by Type O Negative

Carapace - Witch Image by Ghost (being sung to)

Arm Demon - Who Owns Who? by Joywave

I struggled the most with Yap and the Arm Demon since they're still pretty defined by their relationships to others; the arm demon even more so since it's... literally sharing a brain with Tobias. So, I guess it's fitting that the demon's song is still about two people/a relationship.

[hrtwyrm]

Art Santa for Cy of his cat-shifter, Gold! I imagine he’s patching himself up from a rough night.

[cydork]

Missed bad comic day because everyone I follow is American, but is it not in the spirit of a bad comic to be late too? Anyway, this happened to me yesterday haha.

Also wanna say that given the size it was probably female, I was just referencing the meme u-u you can see her majesty beneath the cut

[cydork]

My entry for @pythosart's genrephone, an art telephone where the genre changed each turn! I just went with sci-fi, because I like the it and was stunlocked by choice, haha.

Full collection can be seen here :)

[cydork]

Hello everyone! I'm going to be tabling at CAFKL 9 (Comic Art Festival Kuala Lumpur) on 31st May and 1st June under Shifters and Spacebirds, Table F10. I'll be selling stickers, prints, zines, and a whole new 25 page comic! (Says 28 on the image for the acknowledgements and title page and such)

I know most of you are overseas so if you're interested in any of my wares, you can email me at [email protected] and we'll sort something out (I have yet to set up an online shop, they terrify me).

[cydork]

Had a very good first con experience! Lovely neighbours, a lot of compliments, ran out of business cards by day 1 and had to make some haphazard, handwritten replacements. I made back my booth cost and then some, but unfortunately didn’t manage to break even. I feel a lot more informed for my next con though. Was also very trippy to be asked to sign things and asked for photos!

[cydork]

Visit Cy's Shop!

I've opened a shop. Come take a look!

I know I just said online shops scared me, but I forgot you could set up shops on Ko-fi, and I already have a Ko-fi account. So, behold! Online shop!

There was (surprisingly) barely any demand for prints, so I didn't include them. But once again, if you're interested, hmu! I have 300gsm ivory art card prints in both A4 and A6, and I can always print more. I want to know what you all would like!

[cydork]

Hii had lunch yet? (It's me @weirdbuginisolation)

Yep haha, about an hour ago

[cydork]

Hello everyone! I'm going to be tabling at CAFKL 9 (Comic Art Festival Kuala Lumpur) on 31st May and 1st June under Shifters and Spacebirds, Table F10. I'll be selling stickers, prints, zines, and a whole new 25 page comic! (Says 28 on the image for the acknowledgements and title page and such)

I know most of you are overseas so if you're interested in any of my wares, you can email me at [email protected] and we'll sort something out (I have yet to set up an online shop, they terrify me).

[cydork]

Been seeing the Karragul life cycle on my dash, and was curious if there were any carnivorous plants on the Homeworld that preyed on the non-viable eggs, or even the larvae?

I keep seeing this, pondering it, then forgetting to reply, I'm so sorry!

After much deliberation... I think so, yes. Multiple species have formed symbiotic relationships with Karraguls, so I can imagine mimics evolving to take advantage of this trust. Fungs perfec t size for to put baby in etc etc. Almost like a reverse cuckoo situation where the nest kills the babies instead of outsider babies killing them.

Additionally, a lot of the "plants" are carnivorous or omnivorous anyway, so if a larvae or egg were to get washed out, they could easily be consumed. I refer to them as plants or fungus sometimes because it's easier to understand, but there isn't really an analogue to plants on their planet. They're more similar to corals and other sedentary or slow-moving animals. They can photosynthesise, and supplement their diet with carrion or the unfortunate small "animal". A lot of them secrete digestive enzymes or have sensory hairs/tentacles, even the ones they're raised in! That's partially why they're such good protection. The sporangium won't digest eggs or larvae, but the sticky "roots" will trap anything that tries to climb them. And they don't discriminate between protein sources.

[cydork]

Happy Storyteller Saturday! Tell us about your karragul characters!

Oh man. So, my beloved main Karragul character is Efrier, but she was made years ago as an Invader Zim fan character of all things, and I've been struggling to adapt her to the world I have currently. But I will do it, I swear! I need to see her!!

Efrier's original story was that she, and another Karragul, were kidnapped as children to guard a rich alien's house. When I was no longer an edgy 15 year old, I changed it to her being accidentally kidnapped to be an exotic pet, by a human hunter of alien big game. Once he realised she was a sophont (Karraguls and co all look like indistinguishable little wiggly things as babies), he kept her because he would be super arrested if he came forward. She spends years watching and waiting, learning to speak English as well as the lay of the house, routines etc., until she eventually busts out and kills him.

I also have/had Hathsha, who was made for a sandbox setting and is a grandma detective a la Miss Marple. Not much to her but conceptually she was quite sweet, it would be nice to fit her in somewhere too. She had one (1) child that she kept in a fishbowl.

In terms of Karraguls that actually do fit into my current worldbuilding, I'm working on a short story about... I guess religious politics? In this particular culture, there's a member of the village who serves as a vessel for one of their gods. Three Zero is slated to be the new Vessel, while Bent River Reeds is the current one. Three doesn't particularly want the role and is scared of what it entails, while Bent clings to the position even as they age out of it. Only teenagers can be Vessels; they're viewed as liminal beings that are inherently more spiritual because of said liminality.

[cydork]

happy storyteller saturday! what would your character's younger self think of the person they are now?

I think most of them would be ashamed or scared of what's to come. I love setting my stories at low points in my character's lives, haha.

[cydork]

Happy Storyteller Saturday, can you share some Yap facts? And how Yap's role has changed as you write/rewrite/edit No Devil Use?

Some Facts:

She's a Gamer(TM)

Her favourite colour is acid green

She has a long-distance girlfriend

Her role as someone straddling the line between acquaintance/colleague and friend to Gold has stayed the same, but her occupation and relationship to Gold's family has changed a lot.

She started off working in her parents' noodle shop and trading with Gold for some of the stuff he stole; I remember my main thought when creating her was that it'd be nice to have a character actually want to inherit the family business. It's so common to have characters feel trapped by it, which I understand, but on the other hand it must be comforting to have a set career path, and I can imagine having a connection to something you've been privy to since you were young.

But then I had to remember that these are all characters in the same story that should inform the story and play off each other rather than function well as standalones, plus Yap's part in Gold's side hustle was hard to rationalise, so I merged her with another character and made her a sex worker. Giving the two main slipshape characters jobs on the edges of the society makes the worldbuilding tighter too, I think.

[bowelfly]

HYDRAPHONE 2025 BRANCH 1

Team 1 artists:

1: @psshaw 2: @lsdoiphin 3: @polturn 4: @avpol 5: @librivore42 6: @cydork 7: @iguanodont 8: @chocodile 9: @yyyipes 10: @leona-florianova 11: @flame-shadow 12: @chalkrub

Back to the beginning

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