#afbbb

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idk if placards count as "art" but this is the sign I'll be carrying at the anti-trump march in London on Wednesday.

"A fo ben bid bont" is an old Welsh proverb which means "he who is a leader, be a bridge" except I've hilariously changed one letter so that on the America side instead of "bridge" it says "cunt".

Also fun fact, my posts on this blog with art of my OCs is tagged #afbbb because it's also the title of the game I want to make for my OCs to inhabit.

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Another couple of character ideas I came up with.

On the left is Arianrhod. Her name means "silver wheel/round thing" and as such is associated with the moon. She comes across as a bit of a misanthrope but it's more that she feels rejected by society. This has lead to her not having a very strong sense of shame but in a way that is empowering, that allows her to do or say things that are unpopular but that she thinks is necessary. Her philosophy is that while you should aim to do good, in general you can do whatever you want so long as it doesn't cause any harm. The way she speaks is often quite tactless but she has a good sense of other people's emotional states so she rarely upsets people despite her way of speaking.

When trying to think of what to make her look like, I had bullet points in my head "associated with the moon, magical-looking, lacks shame, maybe a sexy nun aesthetic". Then I realised I had just invented Bayonetta.

On the right is Morganna. Being a fairy, she's physically bound by laws. She has a worry that she isn't actually a good person, because she's doesn't know if she would break any laws if she could. Whenever she has a thought about hurting someone, or stealing, or whatever, she thinks it's a sign that she's a bad person. She's never needed to use her conscience in situations like that, so she doesn't recognise that she has one. She appears outwardly confident in whatever she does, because she can afford to be; no matter what she does she knows she's not going to get in legal trouble for it.

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Two more OCs. I really need to draw more often, otherwise it feels like I’m un-improving every new drawing I make.

On the left is Betsi. She used to be a nun but became an atheist without significantly changing her lifestyle. She considers selfishness to be the Worst Thing, and as such believes that you should only do good things for their own sake, no carrots or sticks to encourage you. She is always kind to everyone without exception, and refuses any favours to be returned. This is because she doesn't want to be nice to people solely for the purpose of getting people to like her, and the only way she can prove to people (especially herself) that that isn't what's happening us to reject kindness directed at her in return. She has a pet cat.

On the right is Arawn. He is a fairy (which I've decided to code by giving him black eyes and white pupils) and a recent widower. In this world, fairies are physically bound by laws, contracts, verbal agreements, and the like. He loved his wife, but at some point after they were married he realised that because it was in their vows to do so "till death do they part", he could never know if that was the only reason they still loved each other. He realised that as soon as it became unconditional, love lost all meaning. He moved to the human world where most of the population aren't bound by agreements in the same way as fairies. Kindness, love, trust - all of the things that make interpersonal relationships meaningful need to be conditional. So he is hostile towards everyone because the only way he can prove to himself that any kindness he is shown is genuine is if people stop when he pushes them away. He has a pet dog.

The two do have conflicting personalities but they're also the only people who really understand each other's loneliness, so they get along better than you'd think.

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This is Gwydion. In myth he’s often referred to as a “trickster”, which is a bit of a lighthearted nickname considering his actions (deliberately started a war as a part of a conspiracy to commit rape, and ends up killing Pryderi in the process). While he is punished for his crimes, it still seems like he’s written as one of the good guys in the end which I always found odd. He also helped with the creation of Blodeuwedd.

So my character is like that in that he appears to be a hero and of good moral standing publicly, but is secretly an awful person who will commit crimes if he knows he’ll get away with it. I can contrast him with a fairy character I’m thinking of who cannot break the law because they physically can’t, and is worried that they would be a bad person if it weren’t for that.

I had trouble deciding what he should look like. I’ve always imagined him as quite young for some reason. He must be aged somewhat since he is an accomplished magician and bard. A 2003 film depicted him as being an older man, while I’ve always imagined him as being a young and arrogant type like Calliou from Recettear (though maybe not that young). Then I thought maybe he’s a bit like Zant from Zelda.

Another minor thing about the design is that the jewel in his staff is visible whatever side you view it from. i.e. it is never obscured by the ring that surrounds it. You always see a full circle with the ring around it. Even if more than one person is viewing it from different angles at the same time.

One thing that has stayed constant in my mind about his design, is that he has dark hair in a bowl cut. I don’t know why, there’s just something about the name Gwydion that says “young with a bowl cut” to me. I’ve never met anyone called Gwydion irl, but there was someone my brother knew from school named that, and I always imagined him that way too.

Also a fun fact, an old Welsh word for the Milky Way galaxy is “Caer Gwydion” which means fort of Gwydion. However I much prefer the modern word “Llwybr Llaethog” which is a literal translation of Milky Way, because it alliterates and so is fun to say.

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About a year ago I started drawing characters for a game idea I had. Since last month I started writing things for Worldbuilding June on my main, I decided to draw another character.

This character is based on Pryderi from myth. In his story, he is the son of Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed, and Rhiannon. He was taken from his home as a baby by a beast, only to be found by people in a neighbouring land. They raised him themselves and name him after his golden hair. After growing up at an unnatural rate, they noticed his resemblance to Pwyll. They realised he must be his son, and return him. After that he is renamed to Pryderi, meaning care, worry, or anxiety. He then goes on various adventures.

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There is also a folk legend that says corgis were a gift from the woodland fairies, and that the breed's markings were left on its coat by fairy harnesses and saddles.

That’s according to Wikipedia. I’ve never heard of this before, and I’ve looked in the library for any references to this but I couldn’t find anything. I find the idea really cute though, so I think it needs to be more of a thing.

“Corgi” is a Welsh word, which translates literally as “dwarf dog”.

Since one trope in games is “tutorial fairy”, I reckon in my game I’ll have one riding a corgi. I wanted the fairy to be wearing natural colours but since I’ve already done green clothes for Blodeuwedd I went for beige which is the kind of colour a mushroom would be.

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Not the best thing I’ve drawn. It would certainly look better if I did some shading and not have everything as a solid colour. But I should concentrate on improving the shapes I draw first I think. I tried to draw someone doing something other than standing there facing the camera or at a 3/4 angle for a change.

This character is Dylan. He’s probably one of the most over-thought out characters I have. He’s loosely based on Dylan Ail Don, who is a character from the same story as Blodeuwedd, the last drawing I drew. In the story, the king will die if he doesn’t rest his feet in the lap of a virgin. One person considered for the job has a virginity detection spell cast on her, but as she is not a virgin she immediately gives birth to two blobs of flesh. One of them goes to live in the sea and becomes a fish creature.

The building he is painting the side of is a boathouse. Since he’s a sea creature it would make sense for him to reside in a place like that. It is also because the famous poet and author Dylan Thomas lived in one. Fun fact: he’s the person Bob Dylan named himself after.

The words he’s writing on the wall is “Remember Cantre’r Gwaelod” - this is a town which according to legend was built on very low ground by the sea. One night there was a storm but the person in charge of closing the flood gates was drunk and fell asleep, letting the waters in. The town was flooded and was swept underwater. Since my character is a fish person, maybe he’s been there?

The writing is also a reference to some real world graffiti that says “Remember Tryweryn”, a village which was intentionally flooded by the British government in the 1960s so that they could get more water to Liverpool.

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A while ago I had an idea for a game and I started to make it, but I’ve not made much progress on it lately. I’ve decided to have a go at drawing the character designs I’ve had in my head. Even if I don’t end up continuing making the game, the characters at least give me ideas of things to draw. They’re mostly based off of figures from Welsh mythology and legend.

This is Blodeuwedd, meaning “flower face”. She was born from flowers and oak by a magician that was helping his nephew around a curse that he shall never wed a human woman. However she conspires to kill him after she falls in love with someone else, and is turned into an owl as punishment.

In the myth itself she’s portrayed as as antagonist, although it was unfair that she had no say in who she married. I want her to be a more sympathetic character.