A scene from the evil chapter 12. Which nobody, including me, can figure out how the hell to get onto paper. Cut the artist some slack, that's not what I look like, but somebody can't paint faces.
@Pyraxis- Holy shit, you are good at lighting and anatomy and fabric. How much reference do you use for stuff like that? This is making me want to go off and try drawing something more realistic, it's been a while.
Also, dang, speritu are creepy-looking. And now I'm all curious about what's going on in the story.
If you do, I want to see it. I had a bunch of reference photos for this. Two for the background - one with the tree trunks, and one photo of rocks and sky, looking up a hill, that just happened to be sideways in my image viewer. So I left it that way. They were both daytime shots, so the lighting is my own invention, but inspired by Boris Vallejo backgrounds. Working as a CG lighting artist for a few months really helped because now I automatically break down scenes in my head into their respective light sources, so I can mentally add or subtract them as if I were plunking lights into a Maya scene and have at least some sense of how they'll look.
For Fiona I used my own body, since our body types are really similar. I just googled a bunch of photos of red-haired women to get the skin and freckles right. Her pants are very similar to a pair I own, but I didn't have reference for her shirt (and I think you can tell, it's not quite as realistic). For Sha I googled pics of little boys but I had to do the pose myself and just used the pics for sizing up proportions.
Thanks for the Photoshop brushes, btw. Helped me finally feel like I could draw in Photoshop more naturally. Currently trying to draw Sh-San, I've never managed to do a decent pic of him. I'll post it when I'm done.
Hey, uh - *steps back in, looks suddenly shy, blushes*
Yeah, the fire. That's what I do. I didn't get to learn much magic when I was at Eilieah but I knew how to do that before I even went there. I guess that's how they figured out to send me, they saw it in my brain.
That's the only thing that'll make speritu stay away.
*smiles slightly, makes a tree trunk, and plops down on it*
Hope you don't mind if I hang out here for a bit. I'm supposed to be here, Pyraxis says so, 'cause this is my post. She says she has to be creative. And she's already pissed off at the way I'm talking 'cause she wanted something else, but whatever. Wait, that didn't make sense. What I mean to say is my talking is supposed to help her be creative.
Yeah.
I almost feel sorry for her cause she has this story she wants so badly to tell but she messed up her brain and now she can't.
Hey, of course I don't mind. *summons a tree stump for himself to sit down on* Actually it would be really cool to get a chance to talk to you more, I still don't feel like I know you that well or what sort of things you do. I mean, I know you've got that kid Sha, and I know you're a squirrel-monkey- Oh shit! Sorry, sorry... *grimaces, looks away and covers his mouth with his hands for a moment* I don't know if you want to talk about that. Changing the subject now.
Um. Anyway. I actually do have some questions, if you don't mind answering. As always, feel free to tell me to shut the hell up.
I guess I'm mostly wondering about that place Ua I keep hearing people talking about. What's it like? Sha's from there, right? Did you live there for a while or something? How did you meet Sha and adopt him in the first place?
I did live on Ua for a while, but that wasn't till the end of everything. At first all I knew was I was in this city Tapolith, and I kept meeting people from Ua. First this merchant who let me stay the night in his tent when I didn't have a permit. Then this crazy kid busts out of what he claimed was a magic chest in the back of the tent. He's obviously trying to hide something, and the kid is obviously totally freaked out by the experience, and Gillian - that's the merchant - just wants to foist him off on a nanny.
Great, right, except a bunch of monsters show up and try to grab the kid, and I know that if he was with a nanny, darling nanny would just get ripped apart. And I know a world where he could hide.
But Ua - Ua's really hot and dry, at least the part of it where I was. The people there have an insane amount of magic. I'm used to - well, I can make a bit of fire, but it's not like I could jet it out and kill anyone with it. The people on Ua, they wouldn't even have to bother with fire, they can just think about it and do whatever they want. As long as they have enough uza. You get young men showing off to the girls by flying around, and making big fancy colorful light shows, and creating the most delicious food in the world from empty air, and jumping from place to place faster than you can blink. It's insane. I don't know why they haven't imploded and killed each other all off.
Well, actually I do. They have this tradition called the Dark. It's a tiny empty room in the center of every house, and it's magicked so that when you step into it, you're stepping into the dreaming. Kind of like Yonjuunana's room. They actually don't even believe in killing people, they think it's an automatic sign of insanity. If you - if you want to kill someone, they send you straight to the dark till you're healed. Or anything else that would put you off balance, it's straight to the healers and straight into the dark.
They're all telepathic, every one of them, so I guess they can't stand to have hateful people around, and they can spot it right away when it happens.
Erk. Um. What if I can only do it when I'm angry? Or that's when it works best anyway. And what if when I'm mad is when I reeeeally really want to do it?
Besides. Mad is good. Mad blasts the fuck out of speritu. I would be dead twenty times over if I couldn't get mad.
Sorry for the delay in replying... I, or shall I say we, have been really exhausted all the time lately.
D: Maybe your circumstances are different from ours. We try to avoid getting emotionally carried away, because that is when we can lose control over our powers and then they can become particularly damaging and then harm people and things we didn't mean to harm. We've come to see it as something to be used in self-defense only.
But you're right--being mad is what makes the powers all the more effective! That's when they come out!
Um. It's a long self-involved explanation. Basically - no, never have, never will. But there's this thing. See, Pyraxis wasn't always Pyraxis. There's this thing. She calls it her "dysfunctional inner child" when she's trying to joke. It has other names -
Okay, before anyone gets any mistaken impressions, I have to make this very clear. She is not talking about a "little", an "alter", or any of the other words people use for a multiple's fragmented children. I don't identify as a multiple and I certainly don't identify with littles. I've met littles, I've gotten to know them, and that is not what is going on here.
Oh, speaking of shooting fire and stuff... Have you guys ever seen Avatar: The Last Airbender? I watched it recently and it was pretty fun. It does some interesting stuff with elemental powers.
So some people on Karn get magic aside from shapeshifting every now and then? How does that work?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2009-06-22 02:34 am (UTC)Also, dang, speritu are creepy-looking. And now I'm all curious about what's going on in the story.
no subject
Date: 2009-06-22 06:12 pm (UTC)For Fiona I used my own body, since our body types are really similar. I just googled a bunch of photos of red-haired women to get the skin and freckles right. Her pants are very similar to a pair I own, but I didn't have reference for her shirt (and I think you can tell, it's not quite as realistic). For Sha I googled pics of little boys but I had to do the pose myself and just used the pics for sizing up proportions.
no subject
Date: 2009-06-22 08:51 pm (UTC)Thanks for the Photoshop brushes, btw. Helped me finally feel like I could draw in Photoshop more naturally. Currently trying to draw Sh-San, I've never managed to do a decent pic of him. I'll post it when I'm done.
no subject
Date: 2009-06-25 03:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-25 03:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-25 03:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-25 03:26 am (UTC)(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2009-06-22 03:54 am (UTC)Fiona? Why are your hands on fire? So now you and me and Pyraxis have all been on fire? This seems like it's getting to be a problem around here.
no subject
Date: 2009-06-25 03:22 am (UTC)Yeah, the fire. That's what I do. I didn't get to learn much magic when I was at Eilieah but I knew how to do that before I even went there. I guess that's how they figured out to send me, they saw it in my brain.
That's the only thing that'll make speritu stay away.
*smiles slightly, makes a tree trunk, and plops down on it*
Hope you don't mind if I hang out here for a bit. I'm supposed to be here, Pyraxis says so, 'cause this is my post. She says she has to be creative. And she's already pissed off at the way I'm talking 'cause she wanted something else, but whatever. Wait, that didn't make sense. What I mean to say is my talking is supposed to help her be creative.
Yeah.
I almost feel sorry for her cause she has this story she wants so badly to tell but she messed up her brain and now she can't.
no subject
Date: 2009-06-25 05:05 am (UTC)Um. Anyway. I actually do have some questions, if you don't mind answering. As always, feel free to tell me to shut the hell up.
I guess I'm mostly wondering about that place Ua I keep hearing people talking about. What's it like? Sha's from there, right? Did you live there for a while or something? How did you meet Sha and adopt him in the first place?
no subject
Date: 2009-06-26 02:19 am (UTC)I did live on Ua for a while, but that wasn't till the end of everything. At first all I knew was I was in this city Tapolith, and I kept meeting people from Ua. First this merchant who let me stay the night in his tent when I didn't have a permit. Then this crazy kid busts out of what he claimed was a magic chest in the back of the tent. He's obviously trying to hide something, and the kid is obviously totally freaked out by the experience, and Gillian - that's the merchant - just wants to foist him off on a nanny.
Great, right, except a bunch of monsters show up and try to grab the kid, and I know that if he was with a nanny, darling nanny would just get ripped apart. And I know a world where he could hide.
But Ua - Ua's really hot and dry, at least the part of it where I was. The people there have an insane amount of magic. I'm used to - well, I can make a bit of fire, but it's not like I could jet it out and kill anyone with it. The people on Ua, they wouldn't even have to bother with fire, they can just think about it and do whatever they want. As long as they have enough uza. You get young men showing off to the girls by flying around, and making big fancy colorful light shows, and creating the most delicious food in the world from empty air, and jumping from place to place faster than you can blink. It's insane. I don't know why they haven't imploded and killed each other all off.
Well, actually I do. They have this tradition called the Dark. It's a tiny empty room in the center of every house, and it's magicked so that when you step into it, you're stepping into the dreaming. Kind of like Yonjuunana's room. They actually don't even believe in killing people, they think it's an automatic sign of insanity. If you - if you want to kill someone, they send you straight to the dark till you're healed. Or anything else that would put you off balance, it's straight to the healers and straight into the dark.
They're all telepathic, every one of them, so I guess they can't stand to have hateful people around, and they can spot it right away when it happens.
no subject
Date: 2009-06-26 03:57 am (UTC)Why was Sha in the chest? Was it one of those Tardis things? And why was there monsters after him?
no subject
Date: 2009-06-25 01:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-25 04:44 pm (UTC)Besides. Mad is good. Mad blasts the fuck out of speritu. I would be dead twenty times over if I couldn't get mad.
no subject
Date: 2009-06-28 03:41 am (UTC)D: Maybe your circumstances are different from ours. We try to avoid getting emotionally carried away, because that is when we can lose control over our powers and then they can become particularly damaging and then harm people and things we didn't mean to harm. We've come to see it as something to be used in self-defense only.
But you're right--being mad is what makes the powers all the more effective! That's when they come out!
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2009-06-25 09:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-25 11:34 pm (UTC)...Oh. You mean that.
Um. It's a long self-involved explanation. Basically - no, never have, never will. But there's this thing. See, Pyraxis wasn't always Pyraxis. There's this thing. She calls it her "dysfunctional inner child" when she's trying to joke. It has other names -
no subject
Date: 2009-06-25 11:37 pm (UTC)Okay, before anyone gets any mistaken impressions, I have to make this very clear. She is not talking about a "little", an "alter", or any of the other words people use for a multiple's fragmented children. I don't identify as a multiple and I certainly don't identify with littles. I've met littles, I've gotten to know them, and that is not what is going on here.
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2009-06-25 03:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-25 04:20 am (UTC)Yonjuunana better look out. I bet she spontaneously combusts next!
Hey Daria, have you ever gotten on fire?
no subject
Date: 2009-06-25 05:12 am (UTC)http://www.spaceexplorercomic.com/part00/se00_04.html
:\
no subject
Date: 2009-06-25 05:15 am (UTC)Come on, Yonjuunana! All the cool kids are doing it!
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2009-06-25 09:38 pm (UTC)So some people on Karn get magic aside from shapeshifting every now and then? How does that work?
no subject
Date: 2009-06-28 03:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-28 03:54 am (UTC)(no subject)
From: