Zeezout en Maneschijn

they/them aroace

[paperstar-kitty]

Seufz. Ich vermisse die Zeit, als man, wenn die böse Stiefmutter einem einen Topf mit guten und schlechten Linsen hinstellte, einfach die Fenster öffnen konnte und alle Tauben hereinströmten. Man musste nur sagen: „Die guten ins Töpfchen, die schlechten ins Kröpfchen.“ und schon fangen sie an zu sortieren.

Die Tauben heutzutage wissen nicht einmal was eine Linse ist. Sie leben ausschliesslich bon vorgekautem Kaugummi und kalten McDonalds Pommes.

[generalticktock]

zamonia nation, we're so back

[pant--eater]

hii, i really liked the drawings of your headcanons for Nadyenka, if it's not to much to ask, could you mayb draw a murkholmer or just share any thoughts you had about the zamonian worldbuilding?

also, i'd really like to know anything about the ideas behind drawing Principal Efraín and her design in general, shes soooo cool fr

OH GOSH A DOUBLE WHAMMY!! On the 2 things that occupy my mind the most rn (Zamonia and my webcomic), ill be happy to answer! I'll make a separate post for the Efraín question so this post wont get too long :''D

First of all THANK YOU for the reminder to finally lock the fuck in and draw Murkholmers. I love these Shadow Over Innsmouth core creatures so much...must be partly because I've always loved sea/coastal themed character designs, plus their whole culture is SO fascinating. I love that every time one of these guys is around in a book, shady shit is guaranteed to be going on (gosh if only 1000 Lighthouses was translated to English faster, I wanna meet the Murkholmers there so bad)

And thank youu im glad you love my Nadyenka stuff!! :DD speaking of which, i had to draw a local friendly Murkholmer teaching her favorite little pupper how to play the mind control trumpet (feat. Smeik Going Through It)

I wonder if Kolibril's theory of them being basically in a collective symbiotic hivemind with the Fog Jelly is true, because these absolute troopers have been able to live for CENTURIES, perhaps millennia, without anyone finding out about their connection to the Netherworld :DDD especially since they were mentioned to be already allies with Hel during the reign of Gornab the 62nd!

I also wonder if Hellian fashion inspired Murkholmer fashion or vice versa!

[generalticktock]

just going to admit that ask was mine because my brain was just going HELL YES while reading both answers.

tysm for taking your time to answer, i 100% agree with everything youre saying here (not getting enough of these guys either): their gender being basically nonexistent >>>> , also sorry to disappoint, but there is basically just two murkholmers in isle (i too am still mad about this). a very interesting thing is that they apparently come in different shapes? :0

like

HUH

this both being murkholmers is peak character design by moers, makes me think about how they might be able to alter their body shape?

anyway, i'm happy these pale bald dittos don't only hold a special place in my heart

(ps, kolibril would absolutely put stickers on his diary)

[feldsparred-mo-reblogs]

Y'all furries are sleeping on Walter Moers' books.

Want to hear a blue anthropromorphic bear's life story? Cool. 13½ Lives of Captain Bluebear. Bonus: a whole plotline about defeating a fox that canonically wears a bowler hat.

Talking dogs on two legs, known for their ability to fight? Rumo and his Miraculous Adventures. Bonus: Romance and plenty of cool fighting. There is a whole city of these cool anthro dogs!! And the MC is one!!

Lizards/Dragons/Dinosaurs? Okay. Aspiring lizard author has adventures in one of the most ridiculously amazing environments in pursuit of a mystery author. City of Dreaming Books. Bonus: Just read it already

ALSO THESE ARE NOT CHILDREN'S BOOKS.

[pant--eater]

So ive been working on keychain designs to buy from Vograce and sell in my Etsy store (original designs and Academia Altagracia keychains once Issue 2 is ready for publication)

And like.

Ive seen people order keychains of their blorbos/selfships/faves etcetc, and im sitting here with the realization

F

Frifnab keychain.......

(Or just Gornab and Friftar keychain designs in general 👀👀👀👀👀)

[pant--eater]

Once again class doodling :DDD Krakoni sketches!! The Homunculus bard owned by Pandravis, who was created when Zamonian rebels 100 years ago were thrown into the Mothersoup

*frustrated Hellian noble voice* Homunculi these days!! They just cant be happy with what they have, no, they are trying to radicalize the younger Homunculi generation to help a bunch of furries destroy the Theatre of Beautiful Death

(Aka in English: she is the one who later inspires Ribesehl to become a poet and start writing/painting rebellious art with Ukobach :DDD)

[generalticktock]

I'm SO on bord with the androgynous voice, thats why i present to you: Andreas Scholl

also really fits the shakespearian aspect, because the composer, henry purcell also made music out of Shakespeares texts

also that concerto is FIRE, def will listen to this more

[generalticktock]

slayest side character ever, killing off a guy with this kind of fashion sense is outrageous

icon

also, have a frimpftar

[pant--eater]

The chapter 3 of An Igneous Echo is being a pain in the ASS, and ive already had to divide it to 2 separate chapters because it's stretching out dangerously LOLLLLL so I might as well throw here a lil teaser. It's from the very beginning of the chapter, so call it the calm before the absolute shitstorm

Pov you're General Ticktock and have to act as therapist to your king during his bday bash

[generalticktock]

normal about them

gornab biting stuff my beloved

[pant--eater]

OHMYGOD WHATTTTT THAT IS BEAUTIFUL 😭😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️❤️FANART FOR MY FANFIC AND TICKTOCK DESIGN IN THIS CENTURY??? WAAAA IT LOOKS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING i ADORE the details on Ticktock what the hecckkkk 🤩🤩 the spurs on his feet and all the mechanic kniccknacks are CHEFS KISS (this is why i leave fully rendered General Ticktock arts for the more capable, because I have the attention span of a squirrel and could never have the patience to meticulously draw all the details on him LMFAO)

ALSO GORNAB'S LIL ROYAL OUTFIT...I LOVE ITTT ❤️❤️ and the chestpiece that sorta looks like a ribcage???

[generalticktock]

THANK YOU SO MUCH and yeah, drawing all those small lines is time consuming af, no idea how Moers does it. I had to draw this on four seperate papers to get the details on there. But like, credit to you for the design and this AWESOME fic, I can't wait to read more of it.🩷

[pant--eater]

The chapter 3 of An Igneous Echo is being a pain in the ASS, and ive already had to divide it to 2 separate chapters because it's stretching out dangerously LOLLLLL so I might as well throw here a lil teaser. It's from the very beginning of the chapter, so call it the calm before the absolute shitstorm

Pov you're General Ticktock and have to act as therapist to your king during his bday bash

[generalticktock]

normal about them

gornab biting stuff my beloved

[feldsparred-mo]

Arch Enemy Tango -

[generalticktock]

WHOAA, thats a really sick design for rongkong koma (the original looks racist ngl) the armour and the skulls + the white hair? so cool

[generalticktock]

i feel called out smh

[generalticktock]

ask and ye shall receive

pose is from Prometheus by Theodoor Rombouts because don't tell me this guy doesn't have a crazy saviour complex. I mean the whole 'trying to bring the light of reason to hel' and then dying(suffering in the process) is exactly the same as in greek mythology

[generalticktock]

i had a reference for this, but i don't know what its called and the only photo i made is blurry af but still

religious images - pen go brrrr

[generalticktock]

Sketch i made a while back for my hcs of ceremonial armour/portraits for avian military of Hel. I feel that we are all on the same wavelength concerning the poofy sleeves.

(you can basically hear General Ticktock laughing at that brittle ahh sword in the background)

[pant--eater]

While the book mentions that music and visual arts are super unpopular in Hel, Gornab is also mentioned to have dancers, bards and jesters entertaining him in the part where he leaves for Overworld. Obviously they're a less respected group and not recognized as virtuosos the way Theatre of Beautiful Death performers, architects and alchemists are.

It DOES make my Helpilled nerd brains wonder though, what kind of music do they play in Hel? :DDD since Hellings put a lot of value on the grotesque, gloomy and sickly, I'd imagine the music playing in the common folk's taverns is very disturbing to listen for non-Hellians too (the goth in me is squealing in delight and wants to go for a Hel vacay right now KFKFKDKSL)

They have gongs in the Theatre of Beautiful Death (sue me for being a giganerd who dissects every single passage of this book JDJKDKS) which announce the beginning of certain fights and play thus more of a practical role than purely musical. And I kinda get the vibes that drums would be common instruments in Hel too, the way public executions in Europe historically used to be often accompanied with drumrolls. Gornab the 62nd was mentioned to play music, so his deranged songs might have become popular classics too

Might also depend on the hearing of the Hellings which is most likely affected by the cavernous environments they live in and how sound travels in it. Definitely a lot of their songs must be about praising the Gornabs and their glorious feats, about the Red Prophecy, etcetc. With how alchemy itself is almost religiously praised, I could imagine some song lyrics would consist purely of alchemistical formulas being recited, like ancient spells!

Thinking about this also from the perspective, that the sound design for Hel for a possible Rumo screen adaptation could be SICCCKKKK, just imagining all the subterranean ambience and volcanic sounds, and the soundtrack consisting of Hellian-inspired music

For some reason, the first example of a music track that fits the vibe I lowkey have in my mind of Hellian music, is the tracks of Dead Can Dance, especially Ulysses :DD drums, baroque-esque harpsichords, and ominous chanting praising Yota Bem Taghd

[generalticktock]

If I may add to this, harpsichord always goes well with the underworld royalty vibe for me

[pant--eater]

An Igneous Echo, Chapter 1

Fandom: Rumo and his Miraculous Adventures (By Walter Moers, part of his Zamonia series)

Word count: imma count them tomorrow now im too tired and need to sleep lol

Rating: M (deciptions of violence. Yknow, the og book is gory and Hellian society is brutal)

Pairing: Gornab the 99th/Friftar

Author's notes: hey Frifnab gang. THROWS THIS AT YOU

A multichapter piece that came to my mind all of a sudden a while ago, and I NEEDED to write it out or else i'll go cray cray. It serves as an indirect sequel to Abyss of Coal - set some time after its events, and after General Ticktock marched into Hel. Before the events of the book.

Best way to summarize the story is "Gornab and Friftar realize with slowburn that there's more to their relationship than just being a king and his adviser but they're idiots and can't act out on it. Friftar has a mental breakdown. Also he and General Ticktock cockfight"

Some headcanons, such as parts about Lesser Hel, are based on @friftar 's fanworks, go check them out they're amazing!! ❤️❤️

--

The Red Prophecy had never even mentioned something of the likes of this. Yota Bem Taghd had drained his veins to herald his people how Hel would be full of prosperity if alchemy was revered, and ridden with disease and falling rocks otherwise. He had predicted the earthquakes, the insect swarms, and the long lifespan of the Gornabian dynasty. But nothing, absolutely nothing could have prepared Hel for the arrival of General Ticktock and his Copper Killers.

Marching all the way from the Overworld, through the city into the Theater of Beautiful Death, the machines had killed and tortured everything in their way - and then, with a shocking turn of events, bowed down and pledged loyalty to the king.

It had turned everything in the everyday life of Hel upside down. Suddenly, the King had an immortal megametallic army on his side that put even the most experienced war generals of Hel into shame! They guarded the Theatre, for the joy of the audience and further horror of the slaves. What power! What danger! King Gornab the 99th was on cloud nine every time he requested an audience with the General, most of the time with no particular reason. He was like a little child in love with a new toy. 

He was a lazy king who barely liked to leave his throne, save for the shows at the Theatre. But almost every day after Ticktock had moved to Hel, he wanted to go see the general and order him to execute a Helling criminal, a Homunculus and once even a Vrahok, with the hundreds of weapons he possessed. Every time, Gornab clapped his hands squealing, and Friftar, on the king's side, gave a strained smile. Ticktock felt like he was treated like a circus animal - it offended him deeply and he vowed to squash the king's skull one day, but at least he got the satisfaction from seeing Friftar's unnerved eyes.

The General was given the status ofa a noble, and was allowed to give orders to courtsmen and alchemists. He was allowed to get new weapons at forgeries for free. Truly, nobody in Hel aside for the king was right now as powerful as him - even if the only thing that he had done for this city, was walking in. Yes, General Ticktock knew he was climbing the ranks fast - and before he could crush the king in his palm, he was going to take the adviser’s place as his most trusted man. That's the revenge he swore to take on Friftar, for manipulating the king to reduce Ticktock to nothing but a theatre guard.

Gornab sat with starry eyes, hugging a pillow and occassionally shook and bit Friftar’s arm in excitement (the advisor didn't even react to it save for a couple of gasps), as he listened to General Ticktock tell him about his past on the Overworld, after Gornab had once again ordered him to come to the royal palace. How he woke up in the Nurn Forest and slaughtered his own creators, how he and his army spent centuries terrorizing Zamonia. Didn’t that practically make Ticktock a Hellian? mused Gornab in his crooked mind. Even if he was born on the Overworld, he had spent his whole life murdering people on the surface. Thousands of years, spanning over countless Gornab generations - if anything, that was endless loyalty!

Yes, this is definitely what Yota Bem Taghd meant! This was the army sent by Zhonil, the god of war. Sent to him, Gornab. So that his successor, Gornab the First, could take off and conquer the Overw-

His successor.

Gornab’s smile suddenly faltered, and his grip on the pillow tightened.

“Your Majesty?” Friftar asked carefully, while General Ticktock felt annoyed about this erratic manbrat of a monarch who kept pestering him. “Is everything alright?” He touched the king's shoulder gently.

Gornab let out an annoyed hiss and shoved the pillow in Friftar’s face. He hated being reminded of his royal duty, of having to one day marry and sire a son. He had no energy nor interest in such flimflam! After more than 110 years of lifetime, you'd think his court would have gotten the memo already. Why couldn’t they just write in the history books that the Overworld was conquered, and that’s it?

“Shut up Tarfrif! We’re node with the ceendiau. Get out, Regenal Tocktick!”

“The King is satisfied with your magnificent war stories, General, your experience has truly impressed him. You may leave”, Friftar translated and bowed down, being barely able to contain his smug joy that for once, Gornab snapped at the General, instead of worshipping him endlessly.

Ticktock would have rather catapulted his sharp fingers and beheaded both the chicken-brained king and his slimy advisor. It was cruel fate that he was now forced to be subordinate to creatures like these - after all, he had murdered more pathetic royals and fork-tongued politicians than he could have counted. He was a death machine! He had snapped the Florinthian Zaan in half, in front of her own wife and children. He had left thousands of villages bathing in blood. The element inside him yearned to destroy, to kill, to conquer, to grow! But with a courteus bow, he was forced to leave, with his heavy footsteps making the castle floors crack, as the memory of Friftar's knowing, mocking smirk burned his mind.

After the General was gone, Gornab let out a feral screech and threw his goblet at a column nearby. Wine splashed everywhere. Friftar stepped aside unnerved. What could have upset the crazy despot now? A servant walked over to pick up the goblet, and Gornab slashed his claws at him, causing the man to fall backwards. "Get out! Get out!" The king yelled, and the room was soon empty, save for him and Friftar.

“Your Majesty", Friftar spoke in a soothing, comforting tone. "Tell me what bothers you. Is there anything I can-”

“You too! Shut up or I'll pir your guetong out! Get out, clumbduck!!!” Gornab bared his razor-sharp teeth at him until his valet backed off. For some reason, the mere sight of Friftar upset him right now. Tears dwelled in his eyes, angry tears, frustrated tears…tears of something else. The king curled up into a ball on his pillows. “Veale me anole.”

Friftar raised his eyebrows. He swore he had prescribed the king with medicines that would prevent extreme mood swings like these. Had the stubborn despot refused to take them again? Still, he bowed down and started walking backwards, not wanting to earn his king's anger. “As you wish, my lord.” He tried not to let the miserable, pathetic sight of the curled up king get to him on any deeper level. Focus.

Gornab grabbed his robe helm with almost panicked urgency. “No!! Don't go!"

Friftar blinked. “Very well, your Majesty, I shall not-”

Gornab let go of Friftar’s robe and looked away from him, shaking his head taking heavy breaths. Everything was ringing. He felt sick. He wanted advice, now.

Our son. Our joy and pride.

Blood of our blood.

Brains of our brains.

Finally! The voices! His ancestors would tell him what to do!

—

What a disaster. It was only Friftar’s sharp tongue that had prevented a total calamity, and the advisor thanked himself for every fast decision, as he hurried over to give orders to his servants and spies.

Last time, he managed to successfully convince the king not to let General Ticktock take over as the head of army forces, and place him and his Copper Killers instead as a theatre guards under Friftar’s watchful eye. Stressful, yes, but nothing that he could not have prevented with one clever convensation and twisting of words.

But this? It had to be one of the most ridiculous ideas the ruler had gotten in years. Gornab had announced that he wanted to gather his army and all Copper Killers, General Ticktock as the head of course, and go and slaughter everyone in Lesser Hel!

An open, entirely unannounced war out of the blue between Hel and its sister city! Lesser Hel and the Khiendril barons ruling it had been silent enemies of the Hellian royal family for centuries, yet no conflict of this sort had risen from the ire yet. Didn’t that bloody meerkat realize what kind of a disaster it would have meant for both cities, not just Lesser Hel?! No matter how strong and invincible General Ticktock could have been, starting an open military conflict would have meant an end to the years of peace, have consequences that would span over decades. Not to mention all of Friftar’s spies in Lesser Hel whose families in Hel proper would have felt betrayed, and possibly rise against their master. 

By the time Friftar had managed to convince the king otherwise and was finally able to sigh in sweet relief, he could have sworn a servant or two must have heard their private conversation, with Gornab's loud shrieks echoing through the walls. Great - Friftar had to take safety precautions, and pay his secret police to silence anyone who tried to suspiciously leave from the palace to Lesser Hel and possibly rat about this to the locals. They could not afford a conflict right now. It had taken way more convincing, pleading and yes - even kissing the king’s hand and pleading devotion like a lover. 

It had reminded Friftar of the moment the two of them had shared at the Coalwater Cascades a long time ago…which nowadays felt almost like a dream. Too crazy to be true, something belonging to a world where everything was upside down. Where nuisances like General Ticktock did not exist. That kiss the king had given him… it had definitely been just one of Gornab’s weird mood swings. Nothing that the monarch was actually serious about.

Right?

Friftar was going to be the next king. A thinker king, who's bring Hel to a better future, heralded by logic. As soon as he’d get General Ticktock to his place, as soon as the urban flytrap called Wolperting would be ready for harvest, he’d launch his plan of assassinating his master.

He would not miss Gornab, in the slightest.

—

Gornab woke up in the middle of the night. His adviser's medicines, while doing a good job tranquilizing him, had the unfortunate side effect of making his sleep irregular on the first two nights. He thought for a moment that he was riding a Vrahok, on his way to watch those peasant Lesser Hellians be gunned down with crossbows. It would have been a good distraction for his nerves. But Friftar had convinced him to save it for the future. To wait for the time when the sister city was at its most prosperous, and then crush their dreams. And besides, Friftar had reminded him - a way more important date was coming close. The king’s 114th birthday, which was going to be a gigantic festival all over the city! Music would play, wine would flow and, most of all, blood would be spilled even more than usual, with special shows in the Theater of Death! Special slaves from Snowflake and Murkholm had been kept alive just for this occassion, since Wolperting would not be ready for harvest for at least a couple of years.

The king let out a giggle, rolling between his sheets as he imagined how many brutal battles he would get to witness in his honor. That bunch of enslaved Chromobears? He could not wait to see them impaled by a single spear like a rainbowy barbeque stick. Their fault for being so needlessly colorful, it hurt his subterranean eyes. No, he could not wait. He wanted the month to pass by already, damn it, couldn’t he order Friftar to change the dates so that they could start the festivities tomorrow?

Yes, that was a great idea. What a genius ruler he was. He hopped off the bed and scurried out of his chambers, to wake up his adviser.

When he opened the chamber door, he saw that Friftar had fallen asleep against his work desk, his cheek pressed against the papers he had been signing. His quill was still in his hand.

The sight made Gornab’s grin falter and made him forget why he had come here in the first place.

He remembered that he had once found Friftar like this before. Back when they were playmates, small children in the castle nursery. Friftar had fallen asleep with his alchemy book and Gornab had giggled, grabbed a coalpen nearby, and drawn on his nerdy playmate’s face. Then he pretended to be a cavebear and bit chunks of Friftar's hair off.

The room's window was open for ventilation, to the silent night of Hel - aside for a distant, roaring sound. The roar of the Coalwater Cascades, which Gornab had seen closeby for the last time during the trip his court took, a long time ago. Another memory flashed in his mind: his adviser comforting the king after he had fainted from shock, after almost falling to his death in the falls.

Twice. Friftar had saved Gornab’s life twice already.

Gornab walked closer. The candlelight illuminated Friftar’s gaunt features, and the king felt weak at the sight. He had known his stupid babbling adviser for almost all of his life…

Friftar, of course, had already woken up from the sound of the door being opened. He knew from the breathing sounds alone who it was - only Gornab’s ribcage caused him to breathe like that. He cursed in his mind. Was he not going to get a single moment of peace? He pretended to sleep, but knew that the stupid king would shake him awake for some ridiculous demand, like he always would.

He did not expect to feel a hand on his cheek, as Gornab tenderly brushed some of his hair strands aside.

And then, the sounds of frantic steps as the king ran out of the room, slamming the door shut.

[generalticktock]

THIS

[generalticktock]

Murkholmer takes his son fishing