Oh snap, A whole ton of character designs because I felt like making temporary reference sheets.
All of these are technically redesigns! I’ve gotten most to all of my designs through trades in the Mochi Raptors community, and I wanted to redesign them out of the species to use in this story! Credit to their original designers can be found in the Toyhouse that’ll be linked below their respective images.
These are all mostly background/supporting character designs, or I otherwise wouldn’t want to explain before doing actual explanations. Plus I’m tired, haha. Just wanted to share these here so I don’t completely forget.
Images below the cut because it’s a lot 💀
Famine and Maggot! Two little lads with a lot of spunk! Unfortunately, Famine has a high tendency to be sick, so she’s a little scrawny.
Frog and Toad! They are not related.
Catclaw and Pansy, who are related.
Mazegill and Cedar, who’s images I’m pairing together only because they’re both orange.
Gneiss and Morel, because green.
Quince and Aloe. These guys don’t even know each other.
And the final four, Firethorn, Ant, Rose, and Clematis. Three babies and a grown man.
Grrrg. I want to post about this project but I have no clue where to start. I guess I should start outlining for the first part of the story, but I can’t get it out of my bones.
I’m gonna try a poll. I don’t know if anyone will see it, but I really need a starting point to post on here like I used to do on the platform I developed this story on, prior.
This is pretty… general?
I’ll get to it all eventually! It’s just I need a starting point, and it’s a lot easier to pick when there’s outside input. This blog is JUST to throw ideas at the wall and keep me interested in my own ideas, so it all has room to change after posting until the actual comic goes up. I do better thinking when it’s phrased like… helping others? I don’t like talking to air or brick walls.
First two options will probably get secondary or tertiary polls, because those are still very broad! There’s three groups, plus the out groups/origins, then the architecture, members, roles, culture, food, etc.! I’m not going to be revealing everything about these broad topics, but I really wanna deep dive into these ideas again. Love the topic of food, in particular, but it would be a little dumb to start gushing about it without giving a grasp on the world.
These topics ARE heavily important to their respective arcs, though, so either are good starting points.
General world history will get you some art pieces, concept sketches, and an overview of the main source of conflict for the first “arc.” It would be revealed really early, anyways, so there’s no issue thinking it out loud here. I’ll make spoilers tag for each topic, anyways! Basis for basically the whole saga. Early world history, a war, an overview of religious and cultural beliefs, regional differences, stuff like that. Very fun stuff.
Finally, world flora + fauna / geography would likely offer various artwork, concept sketches for possible plants or creatures, a couple maps I need to get onto a page, and labeling for important areas and landmarks for each of the arcs. Again, love the topic of flora and fauna because it heavily relates to foods. A possible deep dive into species anatomy is probable.
I believe all of these are pretty fair stating points. Old Kingdom is 1st arc location, the Packs are highly important to 2nd arc, world history is world history, and the geography and animals are just the basis for the entire environment. Grounds everything.
Oh my gosh, concept drawings of the actual thing this blog is named after :000 Took me long enough, haha.
||’Round the Bend|| is an actual project I’m working on, haha. It’s my biggest story, which I plan to make a comic about. I’ve been at it for a few years at this point, but I wouldn’t expect much progress for a while yet as I still have a lot of story work to finish, designs to finalize, and some comic practice to do. Hence, a lot of what I put out on it is snippets and general vague concepts for some things that are technically established FAR, FAR later in the story, but sometimes you’ll get portions of the “First Act”.
Here you get to see some of my caving concepts! Some of the “Second/Third Act” stuff.
Within this period of ||’Round the Bend||, there are (currently) three main packs: Snake’s Bend, Badger’s Burrow, and Cypress Trail. These particular concepts are for by beloved little cave-dwelling gremlins, The Badgers. They make their home beneath the rocky moors and pine forests of the territories, seemingly holding the least useful lands out of all three groups. Mostly unbeknownst to the other packs, though, the land is rich in natural and claw-dug caves and dwellings. Where the moors have little shelter and few changes in scenery, the underground labyrinth holds rivers, crevices, spacious dens, and holes barely large enough to shimmy through. They’ve adapted to create sleeping dens, guarding stations, social quarters, storage rooms, wells, and various types of cooking stations. They’re kings of caving, crafting, cooking, construction, and general hands-on innovations. They’re also the closest of ANY of my story characters to create an OSHA due to the tendency for cave collapses, floods, getting lost, low oxygen/toxic gasses, etc., etc.
A lot can go wrong underground.
Although these drakes look huge in stature, towering over most of their neighbors, most of that comes from their excess of fur. They’re huge and unbelievably strong, but hungry and lean. Most can fit through holes as small as their heads, with enough practice. Thick/warm pelts, dark colors, small/well placed/folding horns or spikes, and strong legs are seen as most attractive traits simply due to their fitness in such an environment. Large size isn’t preferred, it’s simply held over from their kin, and is likely a dominant trait. They have a culture of wanting to prioritize an ability to survive (and while this may produce a level of ablism(?), most physical disabilities aren’t discriminated against. It’s more about being able to navigate the caves. Someone missing a leg, sustaining a chronic pain, etc. still might be able to get around or be taught to adapt. Someone who has low night-vision or large imposing horns, on the other hand, could be a daily liability to themselves. The prior is still dangerous, but they wouldn’t be getting themselves lost or jammed somewhere.)
Hence, they have many systems in place! Caves are rated and marked based on many different factors. Are they natural or claw-dug? Have they been fully explored? Are they under construction/renovation? Are they dry (no water) or wet (pools, rivers, slick rocks, etc.)? Is it at risk of flooding if there is a storm? Are the techniques required to navigate novice (wide spaces, easy navigation), intermediate, or expert level (tight squeezes, many passages to get lost in, large falls, misleading air currents, etc.)? Etc. Living-type caves (normally claw-dug) have burnt in walls, bricks, and plenty of supports that are overseen by all members. There is a training system in place for pups, and cave diving is only done by the most experienced cavers for very particular reasons (mostly only ever rescue or recovery).
SO! The two paintings here are of Thistle and Hound doing some natural-cave exploring, and Aster crossing your path because what the hell are you doing down here ™. Then just a fun little natural cave diagram.
Feel free to ask questions about this because I’d love to get this hellscape of the story out of my brain.
