Featured here is Zaine, transfem demigirl, and Archer, trans man, an awesome best friend duo and some of my most aesthetically pleasing (human) characters
Aaaand the last of the miscellaneous art from my brief hiatus. (I have a bit more but it requires a more structured post and I'm lazy :P)
Characters (in order): Archer Mills, Valentin, Kit
Archer and Kit are familiar faces, but Valentin is new. He's a character I wrote into the background/description of a scene from The Moth Crown and he was just too fun a character, so I had to draw him.
The passage, word for word, from The Moth Crown:
"That relief quickly turned to shock as her eyes fell upon the people gathered there, for many of them were not people at all.
In the far corner coiled a woman with the lower body of a snake. Her smile was interrupted by two wickedly sharp fangs, she was covered in scales, and a hat was perched upon her hairless head. Next to her sat a person with pointed ears and spiraling green patterns tracing across their skin.
Even the human patrons were unusual, especially for a traditional town such as this. At the counter sat a girl so pale she was nearly transparent, with hair white as the clouds outside. Perched on a table rather than one of the many chairs and stools available was a man with a curled mustache shot through with grey; rather than pants adorning his legs, he wore a long skirt. A small party was gathered around him, listening and watching as he told a story, hands gesturing so wildly that a member of his posse had to duck to avoid one. Aveline didn’t even realize she was staring until the woman that had led her here nudged her arm, a slight chuckle bubbling up and spilling from her thin lips.
'Oh, don’t mind Valentin. He just loves attention,' she murmured, a fond familiarity in her voice..."
Hello and Welcome. I'm JJ, aka Shrimp, aka Mx. Maledictus/Mal (Post explaining Shrimp/Mal lore + Mal ref sheet here), an artist and writer with way too much imagination for his own good, and this, my friends, is where I share my mad ramblings.
This blog is for my OCs, art, and writing. My personal blog (reblogs, interactions, shitposts, rants, vents, etc) is @shrimp-lord-of-hell
I'm also on Artfight
The Moth Crown running word count: 15,099
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!! Quick Facts About Me !!
☆ he/they (agender trans man; masculine and neutral terms only with a preference toward masculine)
☆ aroace
☆ massive biology nerd and lover of gore
☆ primarily a fantasy artist/writer, but have dabbled in horror and sci-fi
☆ some flavor of neurodivergent (undiagnosed)
☆ occasional dissociative issues + struggles with concept of self :>
☆ poor social skills/social anxiety
☆ tone tags are appreciated
If you wanted to know more about me... too bad :D I'm here to talk about my creative projects, not myself (and I'm too lazy to do a proper intro for shrimp-lord)
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Disclaimers and Warnings: many of my stories include a variety of dark or mature subject matter. Individual content warnings will be applied on a post-by-post basis. Viewer discretion is advised.
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!! My Projects !!
Each of these gets their own tag. Posts relating to these stories will be tagged with the name of the story as stated here, as well as with the names of any characters mentioned. These are all 100% original stories and characters. If the character has a finished reference sheet, it will be linked (ref) at the end of their description.
☆ Major W.I.P.s ☆
Mortalis - dark fantasy; comic format; set in a fictional world most similar to ~1800s Europe; a demon and a necromancer, childhood friends, embark on a mission to find and return the demon's father, who had gone missing months before, only to get wrapped up in secret plans and challenged by powers far beyond them; more info @mortalis-comic-shitposts and finished pages @mortalis-comic-archives
Cassian Bauer: a demon, summoned and raised since childhood by a wealthy widower; a stubborn, flashy, and overconfident young man
Finnian del Pierre: a necromancer tutored and partially raised by Henry Bauer alongside Cassian; a quiet and solemn young man with a pale, sickly appearance and an unfortunate childhood (ref)
**More characters to be added as they are introduced
The Moth Crown - a w.i.p. fantasy novel; when the goddess of prophecy's crown is stolen, it falls on an unlikely troupe of misfits and outcasts to retrieve it.
Aveline Lyborne: a young woman selling fortune-telling services from a back room in her wealthy cousin's mansion; she initially recieves goddess's call for help (although it wasn't intended for her).
Marion Haile: a woman living in monster-infested woods; she has a detailed knowledge of magic, although she can't use it herself, and is an excellent fighter.
Parley Bartholomew Pine: an anxious young man studying at a prestigious institute of magic; well-equipped for lecture halls and essay writing, not so much a grand quest...
Kamryn Carlisle: an undead siren with the blood of hundreds on his hands; a secret in his past may be the key to their mission's success
Entropy - horror fiction with fantasy elements; intended for an audio/podcast format. When the lines between fact and fiction blur, your mind is the last thing you can trust. Entropy is one of my newest projects, so I don't have too much to say about it yet, but rest assured I will say more when the time comes
Elliot Hughes: the main pov character; a pretty average guy who is recording an audio journal on his therapist's request after a major nervous breakdown when odd, impossible, and often horrifying things start happening.
**More characters to be added as the story develops
Alvaria - not a story but a world, a fantasy world I have been developing, complete with a map, 35+ original humanoid species, a pantheon of gods, and various countries and cultures; I intend to set several D&D campaigns in it.
Purple is the Color of the End of the World - horror (mainly psychological and cosmic horror); intended for a written/novel format. One day, the world will end. Maybe the vessel of the apocolypse already walks among us. Maybe they don't even know it.
Remi Nichols (they/them): a high school student with an attachment to their purple-tinted that help them cope with the everything of the world; they're trying to live a relatively normal life after they're brush with a cult, but something is different inside them.
(More characters to be added as the story develops)
☆ Minor Stories ☆
Jewel Circus - (fantasy) August is trying to hide from his family and his past. Qariev is trying to make a life for him and his brother. When their stories collide, both these dreams may be thrown into peril.
Kheii Jahl: the optimistic, charismatic, and occasionally naïve ringmaster of the Jewel Circus; Kajaudi (fish people based on striped marlin) (ref sheet)
August: a Gryffonei (bird people) boy hiding from his toxic family and checkered past; constantly anxious
Qariev: Kheii's older brother, the owner and secondary ringmaster of the Jewel Circus; very protective of Kheii and the circus
Orchid: August's older sister; the only decent member of August's family; outwardly cold but gentle with August in private; tries to be the perfect daughter
Iris: August and Orchid's younger sister; the favorite child; flirty, obnoxious, and utterly free of empathy or remorse
Sarina: August's abuser who wants him back and manages to capture Kheii along with him
Shadows of Arbellyn - (fantasy) the city of Arbellyn is infamous for its criminal underworld, with North Arbellyn having a variety of casinos and other illicit pleasures and South Arbellyn crawling with gangs, bars, and violence.
Tianyu Jun: (she/her) the owner of a bar in the South End and leader of a section of one of the local gangs
Ancelin Direlle (Anci): (they/them) ex-military runaway with a crippling injury and fear of heights; works for Jun as a bartender and a lackey for the gang
Oriel: (he/him) a bar singer that works closely with Anci and Jun in the gang; the youngest and most cheerful of the three; romantic interest in Iri
Iri: (he/him) a violinist from the North End that likes to venture down to the south, particularly to Jun's bar; romantic interest in Oriel
Dianthe: (she/they) a dealer at the Silver Imp Casino and Jun's girlfriend
Leviathan's Guild - (fantasy) When Alistor finds his father, he's going to kill him. That's been his goal for years, and he finally gets his chance when a position opens up on the Scylla, a feared pirate ship with a mysterious and cruel captian. Joining this crew means a chance at revenge, but it also means leaving his best friend in the hell of a city he's trying to escape.
Alistor Morrows: a navigator on the crew of the Scylla; Ven's best friend; on a revenge quest to find his father
Jinan: the captain of the Scylla; a woman; sassy, temperamental, and ruthless
Malik: Jinan's brother; a sailor in the navy before his ship was captured and his crew slaughtered; only he was spared, taken prisoner by his own sister
Venytre Kosetski: Alistor's best friend that he leaves behind; major abandonment issues and a tendency to get overly attached to the wrong kind of people; a prostitute employed by a local gang in the coastal city that Alistor escapes from
Sciffy - (sci-fi) set in a futuristic world where the rich have gotten richer, the poor have gotten poorer, and morals are no match for greed. Secret facilities have been recruiting volunteers and kidnapping those with no one to miss them to be the subjects of cruel experiments aimed at giving them inhuman powers. A small group of victims tries to escape, only to meet betrayal and maybe even death.
Koa: an orphaned boy who was plucked off the street and taken to one of these facilities; shy and anxious; gay
Margot: Koa's adoptive little sister; a clever and attitude-filled young girl who is nearly entirely paralyzed from the neck down; also taken from the streets to one of these facilities
Nikolai Levine: the son of a wealthy family and the embarrassment of the Levine name; essentially sold into one of these facilities by his parents; incapable of empathy or strong emotion
Lance: has been at the facility the longest, shows Koa around and gets involved in their escape plan; Nikolai hates him and he hates Nikolai
Archer Mills: a young man whose best friend disappeared, likely to one of the facilities; joins an organization trying to take them down in hopes of finding his friend Zaine; trans
Jean Lewis: Archer's best friend; works for one of the facilities as a manager; secretly has ties to the organization trying to shut them down
Zaine: Archer's friend that went missing; nonbinary (they/them; she/they modern au)
A.I.A.M.E. (aiame) - (fantasy) currently being rewritten; one of my oldest stories that's in desperate need of an update (and a plot);
Rhey: (he/him) an upbeat young air mage with a steampunk aesthetic, an affinity for dangerous experiments, and a disability that sees him using a cane, crutches, or even a wheelchair depending on the severity of symptoms on any particular day
Hart: (he/him) a young fire mage with an easygoing sort of attitude; isn't overly good at magic; awful family
Felicity: (she/her) a hot-headed fire mage with the unique ability to not only manipulate fire, but produce it
Demetrios: (he/him) son of the headmaster of the prestigious Ashbury Institute; a human with rather weak telekinetic abilities, intense anxiety, and a huge crush on Hart
Adira: (she/her) a talented young mechanic with the ability to manipulate metal; often works very closely with Rhey on experiments
Street Rats - (fantasy) connections are an important thing when you're living on the streets. Kruz is doing his best to keep him and his brother safe, throwing himself into a dangerous gang just to make ends meet, and despite his best efforts to keep Rat out of it, Kruz's brother wriggles his way into the mix. In the end it may be the greed of their boss that brings them all to ruin.
Riggie "Rat" Albert Burton: protagonist and main pov; a teenage boy with an affinity for danger being raised by his older brother; he may be more valuable than he or Kruz realizes...
Kruz: Rat's older brother and guardian; a grumpy and stern young man; hates Kit
Kit: the gang's medic; a sassy and bitter fae that was tricked into an undesirable deal with the gang's leader and is now forced to follow her every command; loves to mess with Kruz, mostly by flirting (he does it just to make Kruz mad); a talented tailor who spends most of his free time sewing; hundreds of years old and has powerful magic that has been mostly shackled by Seren
Seren Milos: the gang's leader; too clever for her own good
War for Humanity - (fantasy/historical fiction...ish) Set in 1947, almost two years after the conclusion of World War two, this story follows a pair of soldiers fighting in a new war: a war for humanity itself. Humans have just uncovered unequivocle proof of fantasy beings living among them, and now they're deadset on eradicating them. It seems the only thing that can unite the powers of the world is a foe beyond humanity, but are these beings really our enemies?
Joseph Keaton: an English soldier with a serious demeanor; not very popular among the other soldiers, but very good at his job
Sean Grady Rickett (Grady): a Scottish soldier trying desperately to hide the fact that he's only half human (one of his parents was a mermaid/merman); he's loud, vulgar, and funny, always surrounded by people but lacking any true friends; cares a lot about his family; Joseph finds him obnoxious at first, but the two grow on each other
Rory Rickett: Grady's younger brother; noticably not human; mute; Grady keeps a picture of him in his pocket
Okay so this one's a little complicated because his story has an official version and a modern au and Archer started as a side character for the modern au. I later adapted him into the canon story because I liked him too much. His backstory is basically the same for both, though, so I'll start with that. (Putting a cut for convenience because this is LONG)
Archer was raised by a single dad, Lucas Mills, who had him rather young. Lucas isn't a bad person, but he made a lot of mistakes when he was younger (Archer being one of them...). Archer's mom ended up not being able to take care of him, but Lucas didn't want to lose touch with his kid, so he convinced the mom to let him take it in instead. This is the last of Archer's mom's involvement in his life. Lucas was barely out of high school at this point and his parents weren't exactly thrilled...
Lucas does his best to turn his life around and be a good dad to Archer, which I would say he is, but being a single father with a not-so-great history (including several run-ins with the law when he was a teen) isn't the best set-up for a family. He struggles to find a job at first, and when he finally does, struggles to make enough money to pay the bills. Archer grows up fairly poor, but remains very close with his dad. (At some point Lucas also meets a woman named Cassandra and has another daughter named Juliet).
At this point Archer wasn't exactly Archer, though. He's trans. A trans man, specifically (he/him only). I do have a decided deadname for him but I don't feel comfortable telling people what it is, even if he's not a real person. He realized in middle school and told his dad, who took it fairly well (although it was a bit rocky at first). Archer's grandparents (Lucas's parents) didn't take it so well, and that's about the point Lucas cut off contact with them.
Archer (or Archie as some of his friends call him) tends to lean toward modern punk aesthetics. He has a lip piercing, bleached hair (which he has dyed various colors throughout his life, though he tends to keep it bleach-blonde at the time the story takes place), and loves bands like Green Day, Nirvana, Linkin Park, etc. (I know, a trans guy with a punk/grunge aesthetic, shocking *I say as I hide my Green Day shirt behind my back*) He's also generally pretty strong and works out fairly consistently.
In terms of personality, it changes a lot with the people he's around. He's usually pretty loud and unserious, but also very empathetic and good at noticing when people are uncomfortable (although he tends to get carried away with his best friend Jean).
The official version of the story Archer is from is a futuristic sci-fi world. (It needs a LOT of rewriting so bear with me.) There's human experimentation, cybernetic implants, genetic modification, and hella class differences. The rich are perfect and the poor get stepped on to keep them that way. Specifically, the poor get targeted for "programs" which take them and experiment on them so they can figure out how to improve humans, to of course sell those improvements to the wealthy.
As mentioned previously, Archer isn't overly wealthy. While his family has seen the advertisements for these programs, they've never fallen victim to them. Then one day one of Archer's closest friends, Zaine, goes missing. Archer is set on finding them and ends up discovering the system of experimentation and a secret rebellion working to tear them down. Archer quickly climbs the ranks, working as a soldier and later a personal bodyguard for one of the rebellion's highest commanders, Koa. Archer and Koa end up becoming rather close, despite Koa's aloof nature (totally not trauma-enduced...).
Archer is actually only a side character that comes far later in the story. All of this gets hinted at, but main plot follows a completely different set of character (Koa, Margot, Nikolai, and Lance) as they find themselves inside one of these facilities and suffer the cruel experiments, plotting their escape all along.
Other fun facts about Archer:
● He and his friends in the modern au spend much of their time at a skate park; Archer and Jean have rollerblades, Zaine skateboards, and Jean's girlfriend Bobbi usually just sits there (although she's a beast on a dirtbike).
● Juliette (Archer's little sister) was only about 4 when Archer came out, so she's known him as Archer most of her life.
● Archer knows how to sew (he learned primarily for clothing customization) and is actually quite good at it.
● Because the story is set in the future, the bands Archer likes (Green Day, Nivana, Linkin Park, etc) are considered very old.
● Archer is a very good listener and people often go to him when they have a problem, but he tends to push his own problems aside or hide it when he's struggling.
I hope this answers your question :)
It was very open-ended so I kind of went over... everything? If you have any more specific questions about Archer or the other characters in his story, or the story in general, feel free to ask. :D
When Zaine disappears, Archer has no idea what happened to them, and often imagines the worst. He doesn't even know if Zaine is alive - and if they are, it's a race against the clock to find them before it's too late.
(Also here's mainstream Archer, my precious trans baby aka my gender crisis incarnate ♡
He's an a major general in a rebellion that aims to destroy an organization that has been kidnapping the poor and unfortunate off the streets and experimenting on them. He's also the only one who's close at all with the mysterious leader of the rebellion, Koa, who was a victim of these experiments before he escaped.
Also I decided to give Archwr a dog. She's all white and her name is Lucy and if anything happened to her Archer would kill everyone and then himself)
Little artblock ramble: I couldn't draw ANYTHING new (I'd been finishing digital versions of some old sketches, like my persona redesign ref, but couldn't draw anything new; I'd also just started a new sketchbook, which is always a struggle) but I was really bored and just put my headphones on full-volume blasting some energetic alt rock (mmm brain fuzz) and started just doodling a really dynamic/expressive sketch of my OC Archer (this dude's helped me through some shit lol). He's a trans guy with a very alt sort of style and he's very dear to my heart in a more personal way than a lot of my other OCs.
Anyway I just decided to have some fun with it and not stress and while I'm not satisfied with the finished rendering, I do really like the drawing.
