Just wanted to share all of the illustrations I did for my novel in one post and give an update overall. Still working on the novel. Getting some things fine-tuned. I think I should still hit my goal on releasing the book around Halloween or end of Fall. This novel has been the project of the year honestly so I haven’t posted much of anything else. But I will be posting some new non-novel-related art soon including a new design on Redbubble - just waiting for product to get shipped to me before I post it. I’ve got some other goodies I’m gonna be adding to my Etsy too! Stay tuned!
I'm dealing with vaccination aftermath, which is much worse this time than any of the others that I can remember, so I figured I'd use Werewolf for some catharsis and relating, as I'm wont to do, and something to distract myself with. Also I guess I should finally learn how to use Tumblr.
The body aches along with what I'd normally describe as the sensation of brain zaps, but in my entire body, the aching joints, the lung aches, the crackles of nerves, the ceaseless headache, gnawing fatigue, the oversensitivity to touch where even light contact feels like foil on teeth. I'm used to most of this because of my chronic health issues, but it's all turned up in intensity beyond my usual threshold right now.
It's not as intense as the Bite, but It reminds me of it all the same.
It reminds me of when I was writing up a character I played too-briefly. They were the first Bitten character I'd played, and it was partly to challenge my initial frostiness to the concept of the Bite and the Bitten.
I don't exactly remember why I started off with a low approval rating for it, it might have just been "a new thing? a CHANGE to my perfectly ordered schema??? [Weaver intensifies]" or a feeling like things were just being tossed in arbitrarily. There were a number of changes to the status quo in White Wolf's Mind's Eye Theater Werewolf: The Apocalypse, and I had a kneejerk wariness to all of that. (The book is so massive (759 pages cover to cover!) that the physical copy that I lent to my ST use for the LARP tore itself from its spine under its own weight, even while being carried around in a laptop bag thing to better support it, in the first week or two of use.)
But after some adjustment time and getting to play the system, it ended up being my favorite edition of Werewolf. Aside of a few things here and there (like the spirits), it felt like a much improved system, the in-world social changes and new factional arrangement I hadn't entirely agreed with the decisions of, but I found it stimulating to explore anyway (when are things ever neatly, perfectly decided, anyway? World of Darkness isn't exactly about playing in an already-ideal world) and I like how it breathed fresh life and bonds and conflicts into the political tapestry of the Garou Nation.
I especially like how the Bitten gave me a new avenue of Otherness to identify with and explore in the setting. Being Othered even within Othered communities is something I relate to, and I enjoy digging into that within the framework of the game.
I did so with Aidan Abbett, Dead Drop.
Glyphname for Dead Drop, Homid (Bitten) Ragabash Glass Walker, in road paint. (It's in yellow because Dead Drop is a loading zone only, they have places to be.) Composed of 'Hidden/Conceal', 'New Moon/Trickery', 'Help', and the 'Creator' emphatics that are often used to denote a personal name. Hidden help and the discreet exchange of it. Dead Drop is the name they earned from their Fostern challenge, and this glyphname also works for their word-play Cliath name, which also serves as their general human-world name, Aidan Abbett.
Image background and manipulated elements are from a photo by Possessed Photography and used in accordance with this license.
The exploration of the trauma of the Bite relating to my own personal experiences with health and breakdown, while still having that sort of "traditional" Homid-born Garou experience of being transformed from a relative fragile creature into something wildly resilient, and that juxtaposition of being taken apart and broken over the course of a month to emerge as something nigh indestructible yet also left viscerally damaged and off-putting to the "real Garou"... all of that gave me an appreciation of the additional story tools that the Bitten afforded to Werewolf.
Dead Drop was a lot of fun and had a lot of onion layers that I didn't have the time to really cut into too deeply with them because the game came to an end, with staff desperately needing a break, so this character will definitely have a reprise at some point.
Stevan Randal! Thank you so much for asking. <3 That’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time. You must be an oldschool Wulfgard fan! Pleasure to see you, anon! :D
Sir Stevan Randal, a noble Knight Templar... and werewolf.
1. Although a knight in the holy order of the Knights Templar in the Empire - an order that mediates between the temples of the various Achaean gods, as they follow a different god (or, as often portrayed, a goddess), Astra Aeterna, the Eternal Star - Stevan was not born into a noble family and was knighted through noble deeds as opposed to birthright. He does not often speak of his background or family.
2. Stevan is extremely slow to anger and has incredible discipline often unseen even among the most experienced of knights. Though he sometimes struggles with rage thanks to his lycanthropy, he seems to have entirely mastered it, able to remain calm in the face of almost any adversity - or frustration.
3. Although entirely unaccepted by the Empire at large, the Knights Templar has secretly accepted Stevan’s lycanthropy. The Grand Master of the order is entirely aware of his curse, but he is allowed to continue his duties.
4. Many gods are said to spurn those cursed with lycanthropy, yet Stevan wields some divine power gifted to him by Astra Aeterna - and, when it comes to purging evil, no one could ask for a better warrior than a holy werewolf.
5. Stevan’s werewolf form has primarily golden blond fur, similar to his hair in human form, and he retains his bright blue eyes.
6. Though he often wields a sword and shield, Stevan is also highly trained in spears and shields, hinting perhaps at an unspoken background in the Imperial Legion.
7. He likes hugs. What? You weren’t expecting that one? He’s a very nice, laid-back guy.
8. He’s actually a very good cook.
9. He has a scar across his throat from where his throat was slit once, and he seemingly died - but the wound was not inflicted by silver, and he healed under the light of a full moon.
