Spadia Quatera

Spadia Quatera

A possible relative of the Crespetalia, the Spadia Quatera was found on an island in the southwest corner of the Lolan Shii Ocean between Cresent Minoria and Warminia Songlianne, but outside the influence of the Warminia Girina Ocean surrounding the latter. While the island is thought to be the location of a gate to the Starcloud Realm, unlike the Saturna Petalina, Spadia Quateras do not seem to point to any one particular spot as the gate, instead growing profusely on the island. Whether this means that the gate is the entire island or that Spadia Quateras simply indicate a general location rather than marking an exact one is not yet known, but the fact remains that Spadia Quateras have a strong connection to the Starcloud Realm and are influenced by it, along with the entire island they are found on.

My long-awaited first attack! @toothpaste-dragon's OCs Kolver and Tsek! My beloveds <3 Get loved!

Klaudileria

An illusive relative of the Clusteria, the Klaudileria was first discovered in a cloud pocket at the gate between the Storm Dimension and Sky Buddy World. Since then, it has been surmised that the plant prefers to grow in areas like this where it will have more access to diffuse light than it would in the deeper, stormier parts of its home dimension.

Made a thing and decided maybe it's decent enough to post. Links to refs, the blank, and rambles under the cut.

Flora: Flos adonis. "Painful recollections" in flower language according to Catharine Harbeson Waterman's Flora's Lexicon (1840).

Fauna: Flying fish. I use these as symbols for Wotrens in general, but Tsuname in particular has a scene where he glides over the ocean and enjoys a moment of freedom, so I think he best exemplifies the whimsy that is the flying fish.

Object: Marble. In hindsight though I should have picked suncatcher, that would have been a lot more symbolic, especially considering I have an old picture of him trying to catch the last rays of the sun. Well, marble will do in a pinch I guess. My thinking was a silly pun involving losing his marbles, also it being a lone marble to imply "where did the others go?" Also chose a clear one as part of the symbolism too. I went through a number of objects for him before settling on marble. Originally I was going to do "window" but couldn't find a ref I liked for it. Then I thought of "tide pool" but that's more a place than an object. Then I thought maybe one of those epoxy resin arts, but there's something really artistic and delicate about those that felt a little bit off to represent Tsuname. But yeah. He's transparent but also shallow some ways. So that's why it has to be a marble or something not that deep. Shallow in the sense that you don't have to reach very far to see what's going on inside. That's why I was thinking glass at first. Window because you can easily peer inside and see what's going on. Tide pool for a similar reason. It's not that deep, you can scoop up some crustacean crawling around in there and look at it. Also sea-theming is very important for him.

You know what I just remembered... 'bracelet' is an object that has more significance in-story. I guess it less represents him though and more his devotion to Sh'zkai...

Song: The Name of Anger by Rurutia. I also could have picked Meltdown by Lollia, but decided they both exemplify Tsuname in different ways, so I didn't need to swap it out. For the one I chose though, it's chock full of symbolism that I think really fits Tsuname well. I think of it typically in the broader context of the invasion he experienced, so in some ways, Meltdown feels a bit more personal than The Name of Anger does for Tsuname. Meltdown I associate more with his ongoing mental battle, whereas The Name of Anger deals far more with the past and how it contextualizes the present. The opening line translates to something like "The ladder of light collapses." This 'ladder of light' I think of representative of hope, but also with like a tractor beam. The light is 'collapsing' which means the beam is disappearing, and with it, any hope of getting back those that were taken by it. "Innocent live sink to the mud." . . . "Overflowing from the ark are the tears of lost children." That last one I associate with the Gaediens who were taken. "My hands transform into swords; my ventless anger continues to spiral" Feels like a fast-forward to present day Tsuname, who has become a weapon against his will and his hands are now swords, and his pent up anger from the horrors he endured spills out everywhere. Lastly I love the picture painted by this line: "The jet-black sea winds whirlpools." There's not many good translations of the song online but you can find the original lyrics here: (x) I am for sure taking some creative liberties in my associations but XD that's the rub.

Feeling: Kuebiko. I abridged the definition quite a bit on the picture to get the text to play nice.

And yes, I did ref the Ocarina of Time scarecrow because it was simpler to draw than trying to figure out how to abstract a proper photo of a scarecrow. XD;

There's a lot of interesting gems in the etymology of kuebiko as well that fit Tsuname:

Kuebiko comes from kueru (崩える), an archaic verb meaning "to break down; to become shabby and disordered", plus hiko (彦), an old epithet for "boy, young man", in turn from hi ko (日子), literally "sun child".[1][2][3] The meaning could be translated as something like "shabby young man".

Yamada no sohodo is formed like an old-fashioned formal name, from surname or literal noun Yamada (山田, lit. 'mountain + paddy'), genitive or possessive particle no (の), and sohodo (案山子),[4] in turn from soho ("sopping wet") + -do, a contraction from -bito, the compounding form of hito (人).[5] The meaning of this name could be construed as "soaked person of the mountain paddies", a euphemism for "scarecrow".

As for the kami aspect of the etymology, at first I thought he had nothing to do with folk wisdom, knowledge and agriculture, but if you think on it, maybe a little. For one thing, when he returns to the island he has a lot of knowledge of how things work out in space that no one else has, so in one sense he is sort of this oddity. Folk wisdom could be turned on its head because his devotion to what he grew up believing is a big part of his character, but he lacked the proper nuance about the belief, so this "folk wisdom" doesn't exactly pan out when he doesn't understand how it applies to the real world (or doesn't). Agriculture was the one that I thought... no, not at all, but thinking on like... the connotations of agriculture, like "living on the land" -> "devotion to the land" -> "devotion to one's home and native land" could be something.

But anyways, the TDoOS definition definitely pulls more from the latter half of that opening sentence from the wiki:

"Kuebiko (久延毘古) is ... represented in Japanese mythology as a scarecrow who cannot walk but has comprehensive awareness."

Going back to the literal meaning, "shabby boy/sun child" really fits Tsuname well. Broken down, made shabby and disordered by his past. I often associate Tsuname with the sun in a lot of ways too. His original sunny disposition, overshadowed now by the horizon, making "sunset" another potent symbol for Tsuname's present psyche.

The second name for Kuebiko in Yamada no sohodo I also thought was kind of interesting, since being a fish boy he often does drag himself out of the ocean sopping wet, but also the connotation of sopping wet with "pathetic" feels of portent. XD

Hmm. Knowing what I know now it feels kinda weird to associate him with this word, but, I guess TDoOS is useful for describing feelings!

Anyways here's the link to the blank: (x)

Thank you if you've read this far. XD

*crawls out of hole* Hello everyone. I'm finally released from a long project and I plan to start posting art again! Been eyeing that WIP game that's going around but I figure first I oughta actually post some finished stuff here.

Anyways! This is Logolas. She's a character that shows up in Naru and Shiido's late teen story arc and she's a total menace, even to her colleagues!

She's a tech wizard-scientist from an organization Naru and Shiido get roped into. There's a lot more I'd like to say about her but I gotta keep some things a spoiler. XD She's gained some notoriety between a few people I've shown her to, which has encouraged me that she might be popular with tumblrinas who have yet to see her too. :) Anyways, enjoy this art! I hope to be digging up more gems in the future to show you all!

Thanks to @authoroflight for the original template! (Though I might have customized it beyond recognizability ksdjgnsd)

2023... I got a lot of art done this year compared to past years! Though the year started out slow, between trades and commissions, the first quarter of the year somehow managed to have at least one good drawing a month, even if March's old-sketch-paintover looks a little strange next to all the creatures. XD; May and June continued the theme of painting over old, though June's original was considerably newer than May's. It also took me forever to find it!! Several of the ones I'd been going to put for June turned out to be from different months (no date on them so was going by modified date at first, oops!). And in July of course there was the Clysmia comic, August with the Choco 'comic'. September was another low but I managed to churn out another paintover. October of course had my annual flower-drawing saga with the last one featured here, and in November I got bored and drew Comet, and December held a delightful surprise in the form of a book-illustrating commission. :3 Gonna keep that one to just a preview since it's part of something that'll be published.

But! Let's go through all the rest. Keep reading for more on the rest of the pieces.

January - This was a secret santa for my good friend @toothpaste-dragon of her OC Baz! Love this grumpy crust of an alien. :D You can view the full pic here.

February - This was a commission from @dreagonarchives of her guy Guido! Full pic: x

March - Paintover I did of my character Sleepi from Torn Apart! Since it was done over an older pic the style looks a little incongruent from my current style 😅 But this was also almost a year a go now, so, y'know.

April - My half of a design trade with @chrystallink! Doggos are a bit of a challenge for me, but it was a fun one! Full pic: x

May - A fittingly sunny pic of my character Nola. This was another one that I think had started from a paintover and just went places from there. Still a little strange-looking, but oh well. Plus a photo of some sunflowers in the background. XD

June: Progress pic of an absolute freak. An attempt was made to sketch out a hand to keep it from hiding, but I never did get back to this pic... 😂

July: As mentioned above, a comic for my good friend Dia featuring her gal Clysmia!

August: The tail end of a final ArtFight attack against Chocobir! I had so much fun putting in on the Easter eggs, and Choco is so cute!

September: The suave business lizard himself, it's Nell! Another one that's painted over an older sketch. Overall I think I improved the face shape a bit since the sketch? Maybe?

October: The final flower from Floratober 2023! I had a lot of fun and it was so great getting so much feedback this year. The wonders of posting on places other than Tumblr! lol.

November: Comet from Cosmic Baton Girl Comet-san! Whenever I need to get away and draw, Comet is there as my comfort anime. :) It's been a while since I've drawn the girl and watched the last bundle of episodes!

December: And of course, December's art! From a very fittingly snowy-themed project. :) I don't know yet how much I'll be able to talk about it, but it's certainly going to keep me busy for a while!