#figurehead dog

[animalculous]

Voluptuary, a figurehead dog (basically think of the Gnostic concept of the Demiurge, now think of that as a civilization of supernatural dog-shaped "law elementals"). An evil twink/art cult leader, who is so hedonistic his mask has a built in cigarette-holder. Good for him (pray for the others though...).

[animalculous]

Figurehead dogs

Otherworldly dog-like entities from the redacted timeline of Eudaimonia. Their presence can induce from faint trust to zealous worship in mortals. They are often called “order elementals,” “law elementals,” or something along the lines. A more accurate, less misleading terminology for them would be “platonic-ideal elementals.”

Noteworthy figurehead dogs are called Archons. The central figure in their religion is the Demiurge, who sits and weeps in malaise. It is known they exist in some capacity. It is not known where they are.

There is strong metaphysical evidence that the Demiurge may be Eudaimonia itself.

Known entities

Âras - loves to bring small cities into his home-dimension for artistic inspiration.

Unicorn - enjoys imprisoning mortals and being imprisoned themselves.

Nail-Prince - powerful warrior/alchemist prone to atypical fits of violent emotion.

Psyche - average “citizen” of Eudaimonia summoned/kidnapped by a mortal cult.

[GIRLFRIEND] - not a figurehead dog, but is a figurehead dog zombie.

[animalculous]

This eyeless earwig/dog is named Psyche. She is a rarity, a Figurehead Dog who is nice. Instead of controlling “material lessers,” she channels her need to control or order through her hobby and her passion, entomology. Figurehead Dogs only gain power from consensus of their peers or from a mystery cult. Her ingénue personality gives her no respect from her fellow dogs and she has no heart to cultivate a group of ensnared mortals. As a result, she is not particularly powerful.

[animalculous]

Designed another horrible cosmic dog for the Creepypasta Dog Universe. His name is Voluptuary. He is a “fallen” Figurehead Dog. Figurehead Dogs "fall” by being publicly vilified from a Figurehead Dog group. There are many reasons why a Figurehead Dog is a potential candidate for public ostracism. Intimate human contact is one of the Big Ones. However, Figurehead Dogs are generally mean, even to each other, so the reasons can get arbitrary and petty.

"Fallen” Figurehead Dogs are more communicative to us than their “Upstanding” brethren, because they are not bound by Figurehead Dog Social Rules and also because their lives depend on it. Talking to them can be strange. They are charismatic but in a pretentious, educated way. They are hedonistic but engage their indulgences with an aloof detachment. Even if they have an interest in Material Things, it is with a cold analytical curiosity unique to higher-dimensional beings.

Sort of like how an entomologist looks at a bug.

Anyway!

Otherwise, they are not much different from “normal” Figurehead Dogs save for the fact, they can quickly become inert unless one of the two things happens: 1) the Figurehead Dog who condemned them rescinds their Cosmic Judgement (unlikely); 2) they get ritualistic acknowledgement. Otherwise, they just turn into statues forever until some people come across their quasi-corpses and worship them back to life.

Foolish humans in no short supply would love to weasel their way into a fallen Figurehead Dog’s good graces because they are full of cosmic secrets. Unfortunately, the bargain is never truly even. Enthrallment is unavoidable part of the bargain and the most scary part is: it is not a conscious choice on part of Figurehead Dog (Figurehead Dogs, while callous, are generally apathetic and aloof rather than actively evil).

It is sort of like looking at a really cool space photo from NASA and going “oh my God, space is awesome! I love it!” Now imagine that feeling intensified to infinity (or at least a huge number). Now imagine that feeling is directed at an amoral horse-dog. Yes, Voluptuary has a cult (it is sort of an artist’s colony-type). No, it is not fun or cool, and in fact, existentially terrifying (and regular terrifying).

I made two images and then a variation of each image, so a total of four images. I was experimenting with using AI images as textures (I used NightCafe). Not a fan, but I like the colors I got from frying the textures to crispy oblivion. I prefer the more artist ethics-friendly gradients (Retro Gradient Backgrounds by Part of the Art), which I’ve also fried to crispy oblivion but has better contrast and also I feel better about using.

[animalculous]

I was in a Figurehead Dog mood. I was also in a designy mood. I needed more Figurehead Dog characters to populate the Creepypasta Dog Universe and the story brewing in my head. I also wanted to experiment with weirder shapes. Snakey jackal-y shapes are a cool design but I felt like I done a lot of them. I want to do more.

I also wanted to figure out what basal design elements are conserved despite the Weirdness. They are still “order” elementals, after all. I think the conserved elements are metallic jewelry (gold/bronze mainly), limited color palette (stark-white with the barest whiff of colors and maybe iridescence, if you are feeling particularly fancy), and self-mortification-style body horror (a la Hellraiser).

Figurehead Dogs generally have poetry as names -- similes, metaphors, and other types of aesthetically-pleasing figures of speech. The names can get very clunky and very long so they often go by nicknames, which often take inspiration from what they do, what their look inspires, or some combination of the two.

Anyway, I (nick)named all of them, and put them on the captions. Like their places and designs in my headworld, they are not totally confirmed. I need to sit on it more.

[animalculous]

Sometimes you just want to use old tabletop characters as jumping-point to design some weird, alien dogs with dubious morals (because the titular characters were some degree of dubious). These dogs are inspired by Fortuna Zhou (mine) and Senza Misura/LACUNA (@trueteeth’s) from Quidama Dre. I’m not sure it can be considered AUs because Creepypasta Dogs and humans are (obviously) Very Different Peoples. However, I do think I did a pretty good shake at drawing these dogs, don’t you think?

[animalculous]

The Nail-Prince, Prince-of-Nails, ad nauseum -- this dubious creature goes by many titles because his kin do not take names. However, people call him Nail by shorthand. Figurehead dogs are generally not pleasant to deal with but this man makes it into an art form. He is a military-type but fancies himself an “alchemist.” As an entity that personifies constancy, he is enthralled by the concept of change. The ephemera of existence both excites and terrifies him. Fun fact, he gave wounds to a certain dog. Terrifying!

[animalculous]

Figurehead dogs with a penchant for self-mortification and fancy jewelry. They are “order” elementals who staunchly oppose and fight entropy. They can range from persnickety bullies to fussy philosophers, but you probably shouldn’t talk to them anyway. They not only don’t “get” mortals, but they absolutely do not care to learn. We are too unpredictable for their tastes, you see.

Other Factoids. They are mildly telepathic and must travel in groups. Being alone causes them to have nervous breakdowns. They emit a psychic haze that causes them to be forgettable. Their innards and blood is a dark, almost-black blue. The figureheads vary in appearance and but do not reflect the actual gender of such beings. However, the figureheads can manipulate objects and can speak.

Although they never, ever emote.

Used Rebelle for the newer two pictures, on the recommendation of a friend. I also included two older pictures for archival purposes.