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Making a Cosmic SuperMode

Micey Leave a comment
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This is some spoilers for the later parts of Yim’s story, but I can’t help it, designing this was a lot of fun. Yim belongs to a Fae-Dragon court called The Cosmic Deep, which is all space, entropy, and eldritch horror. I really wanted to convey the power and cosmic horror of Yim’s new form, which was done by adding galaxy print! The second image are two of my colored concept drawings.

I lengthened their hair, made it unclear where some of the clothing seams were, and added this star map to their back, as well as a rip to outer space in their chest. The belt thing is actually a mouth. I experimented with giving Yim a freakier mouth biology but decided against it because of ease of drawing. Looking back, I think I want to add more mouths where the stitching is on the leftmost design of image 2. It would really up the creepiness factor.

I actually showed image 2 to my friends before I posted it. They preferred the design where Yim has a crop top. I do enjoy the concept of Yim exposing skin in this form. Yim normally stays covered, so revealing skin would convey a sense of wrongness inherent to this forceful transformation.

Frivolous Fairy Tales for Modern People: A Dalliance With the Sun (Part II)

suparnah Leave a comment

Link to Part I

~~~~~~~~~~

For a moment, Selene was blinded by a striking brightness. Her eyes stung with tears, and she struggled to blink them away. She held out her arms hoping that if her future child fell from somewhere, they would land safely in her arms. 

However, when the brightness ceased, there was no child, and instead, she was roughly embraced by strange muscular arms. Ones that definitely did not belong to a baby. 

“Let me go!” She struggled against her assaulter, beating on arms as firm as steel. But they did not yield and she was suffocated even further. 

Eventually, she was let go of and forcefully turned around by those same deathly arms. She was met with the smiling face of a handsome man with iridescent eyes that glowed surreally. Yet she couldn’t get herself to smile back, for there was something ominous about the air that surrounded him— it was addicting and stifling like some sort of drug.

The man suddenly spoke, and she was allured by his deep melodious voice, “Lovely lady, I see that you have called for me.”

His utterance broke her out of the momentary spell. “I didn’t call for you. I called for a baby.”

His smile widened dangerously. “You did call for me. You called for the ‘Great Sun.’”

Dread coursed through Selene. Oh no . . . was he . . . ?

“And here I am, the Sun. Here to take your body and soul and give you a baby.”

Panic burned through Selene. For all intents and purposes, she had basically made a deal with the devil— a devil that glowed marvelously— but a devil nonetheless. She didn’t want a man, that’s why she went to the Sun in the first place, but now it seemed that she would still be stuck with one. And this was a man that was far more troublesome than she could have ever expected. 

“And what if I say no?”

The sky darkened. Thunder struck in the distance. Wind began to howl. All of this happened at once as the Sun’s eyes glinted menacingly. 

Selene supposed that her remark wasn’t appreciated. So she immediately took it back, “I was just kidding. Of course, I’ll . . . I’ll give myself to you.”

Suddenly, the sky cleared and the Sun’s face brightened with glee. But it didn’t relieve her fear. 

“Wonderful! Shall we?” He asked her, holding out his palm for her to take. 

And take it she did, but not without feeling like she had just signed her death warrant.

OTM #39: Comfort Zone

katelynski 1 Comment

Sometimes it’s good to go outside your comfort zone. Take me, for example, self-proclaimed nerd and introvert — the last place I would expect to see myself is Rick’s, but there I was, dancing alongside my friends. The first five to ten minutes there were uncomfortable (see my above artistic rendition), but the minute I let go of the idea that people were looking at me, I started to have fun. I started to care less, giving into the early-2010s-pop remixes monopolizing my senses. Sometimes you just have to give into the music; life is too short and stressful as is. This is not my endorsement of Rick’s, as my opinion is still mixed, but it is to say this: at the very least, maybe consider dancing in your room with your headphones. There’s an inherently silly and unserious feeling to it, but that’s what makes it fun. Perhaps it’s “healing your inner child,” or whatever those self-help guides online say.

S3 Scribble #5: Metal Water Wood

Sydney Braun Leave a comment

“I feel like an imposter should,”

Recently, I’ve been planning out my final semester of my undergraduate education. It’s been stressful, as future planning and class registration tend to be. This time, though, I’m searching for an internship. Going into my target career field of sustainability is an exciting prospect, but I’ve been experiencing some imposter syndrome. I may be just over a semester away from graduating with my bachelor’s degree, but I can’t help but worry that I am unprepared for the real world.

“As you shape-shift through the Earth.”

These past few weeks, I’ve talked and met with many professionals and academics who I have viewed as my superiors. Somehow, these interactions have been overwhelmingly positive, and they give me a renewed faith in myself, my passion, and my knowledge. I need to remember these feelings when imposter syndrome and anxiety try to creep in. These may be uncomfortable feelings, but that is all they are: uncomfortable. I know that I am stronger than my fears.

“You knew me as fire; you have always been metal, water, wood,”

When it comes to the elements, I’ve always viewed myself as fire. Passionate, loud, and not afraid to speak up. This is funny, considering I’m a Leo, one of the fire signs, even funnier because this had no influence on me seeing myself as a fiery person. However, right now is a time of such growth and change for me, and I think it has become time for me to move forward more like water: relaxed, flexible, and gentle, but equally as powerful as fire. 

“Be like water.”

My dad said this to me this past weekend: “be like water; stay water.” Flow freely, allow myself to be flexible with the waves and the tides of life. Do not stay rigid. Things change, and I must be able to adjust along with them. This conversation reminded me of a song I love by one of my favorite artists, Tori Amos, from her environmentally-focused album Ocean to Ocean. How fitting! Listening to this song has energized me: I have all the strength I need, and it’s been inside of me all along. Now to start my journey of being like water: remaining flexible through it all.

“You tell me, ‘Be like water.’”

Listen to Metal Water Wood by Tori Amos here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryrnE4nYNYk

Wolverine Stew: Arboretum in Autumn

clydemg Leave a comment

Shining dried leaves of gold coins

Cool but not cold, crisp but not desiccating

Sky painted over with light, pale strokes

Sanguine ivy creeping through bark skin

Nestled past the graveyard encircled by hawks

As the last of the bees gather 

Wooden fairy house staged from sticks and latched with leaves

Hushed hill of degrading green

The sun still hangs above, yet the crickets chirp

Wilting daisies and remnants of Black-eyed Susans

Squirrel waits by the amphitheater for a concert I suppose

Dry lake of reeds and towering Queen Anne’s lace 

Brush your hand over them to hear the waves

Or wait for Eurus to kindly produce them

Snapdragons swim in shallower parts

Sandy coasts of stampedes surround the waters

I can hear mechanical echoes on the empty railroads

I wonder what their destination is

Never have I found a stiller willow

The Spanish graffiti says “you are my world”

Is it rustling leaves or something else beneath this creaking bridge?

Logs long-covered in lichen

There’s a forest of stinging nettles

I can see gold reach toward the sky

As I exit towards the graveyard 

The Angel of Music sings songs when I’m stressed

Mattie Grace Levy Leave a comment

“I should tell you I’m disaster”

Clicking my heals down brick and papered walls

We should sing when we want to

In darkness in between doors they look at me blankly when I tell jokes 

“Stinging and older asleep on pins” 

Behind closed windowed doors

You ask me why I need to keep cranking

In your office we take deep breaths and my page is empty

“I’d forgotten how to smile until your candle burned my skin” 

Sitting in gray cars where overcast skies separate brown trees

I imagine getting T-boned 

And a C ping shocks me out of the “Bewlay Brothers” 

“Trusting desire starting to learn”

Over brown tables and blue darkness in a daylight saved morning

Orpheus is in the underworld their singing their praises, 

I can barely get them to answer my phrases

“Walking through fire (with) a burn”

“Who knows Here goes”