Inktober 2024 - Day 8: Hike

Flight of the Starmoth Digital artwork by me, 2023

work in progress//

Lineart for what will eventually be a painting of my latest DnD character, Xylem!

Xylem is a wooden robot traveling through a post-apocalyptic, mushroom filled landscape. As they go from town to town, they write down what they see, interview locals, and record the story of a world living in the shadow of what it once was. She's accompanied by a weevil friend, Phloem, who has decided she's close enough to a tree, and bores holes in her outer casing to reside inside.

DMed by the great @glacierruler :)

character design kicking my ass rn

ocean exploration robots!!

done with them i think

inspired by prokhorvlg.tumblr.com go follow them

robutt, guts out

fanart of one of @eggnogo 's robots :3

link to og

Planet Deslotair is super cool, tell me more about Desmona if you want

-g

I'd love to!!

So Desmona grew up in a vitrel harvesting town called Sagal, where vitrel is pumped from the ground and then shipped off elsewhere so it can be properly processed. Processed vitrel is still pretty toxic, but it isn't nearly as reactive as the raw stuff. Desmona's dad worked for the harvesting company, and when she was 16 she got a job working there as well. Nothing super dangerous, she was just behind a desk helping with paperwork and whatnot, but she was on site a lot. She was actually really fascinated with how vitrel was moved and gathered, and wanted to study material sciences when she got older.

But before she got a chance to do any of that, there was an accident. A vitrel transport truck crashes, and Desmona is right on the scene. Her dad is the one to pull her out of the mess, contaminating himself in the process. He would later succumb to his wounds and die, she would not. She wakes up, and runs.

Desmona spends about a week out in the wilderness mostly by herself. She lives in the plains region, Deslotair’s finest, but it’s still hard to make do, to survive. She drinks from rivers and chews sweet grass into a pulp between her teeth. The pain under her skin settles, but the energy does not. Eventually, she finds a fallen ship, and starts to camp out there. She meets a vitrel dog, names him Tak, and sleeps a little easier. She meets two bots, fails to push them away, and sleeps through the night. The vitrel that lashes out from her skin can't hurt any of them.

Outside of the scavengers group, she's very shy and withdrawn. The armor helps contain the vitrel, but it also acts as a shield from the world. She's very aware that the mask makes her look strange and off-putting, and she leans into that as much as possible when interacting with new people. Once she does warm up to people though, she's really sweet. Has kind of a smart-ass sense of humor with Sprocket, and immediately becomes really close with Glass. They cook together, and ey teaches her sign language while Desmona tries to teach em to sew. It takes a while for the group to find their rhythm, but eventually the three of them (four with Tak) are inseparable.

My latest cartoon for New Scientist.

YELLOW - WRITEBLR ASK GAME

HONEYCOMB - What is the worst thing you have done to a character who did not deserve it?

GOLD - What colour features most in your writing? Is there symbolism there?

SUNSHINE - What is your favourite scene to write?

BUMBLEBEE - Are you better at action, descriptions, or dialogue?

ELECTRICITY - Do you prefer to write in the modern day, far into the future, or far into the past?

BUTTER - What do you include in all your writing?

LEMON - What scene do you struggle with the most?

BLONDE - Which of your characters has the most unique appearance?

BANANA - How good are you at writing comedy? Do you include it much in your writing?

DAFFODIL - What flower's symbolism do you identify with most?

COIN - What song inspires you most?

SPARK - Do you write romance?

PINEAPPLE - What is the best writing drink or snack?

CANARY - Can you write poetry?

MUSTARD - What is the worst thing you have ever written?