Chimera

Let's stand on mama

[Start ID: Digital drawing of my dragon character named Fycus. They are drawn in a chibi style with a large head and eyes and a simpler body. End ID] A fun little Fycus drawing!

This Weeks Shop Update (1/2) Mini Paintings!

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Hello Dungeon Meshi fans

[Start ID. A redraw of the "Dog playing chess" meme with the characters Laios and Kabru from the anime Dungeon Meshi. The two characters are sitting at opposite ends of a wooden table with a chess board in between them. At the back end of the table is Kabru, a human wearing armor, he has a brown skin tone with bright blue eyes and wavy dark brown hair. His hands are pressed up to his face, obscuring his nose and mouth, and he has a frustrated and confused expression. There is text in a white font with a black outline over Kabru saying "The smart kid, not understanding how he's losing to me". At the front of the table, sitting very close to the viewer is Laios, a human with a white skin tone with light gold eyes and spiky blond hair. Just a profile view of his face is visible with a little bit of his armor in frame. He is looking to the side at the viewer in a slightly mischievous way and it looks as if he is chewing something in his mouth. Text next to Laios in a white font and black outline reads "Me, who's been eating monsters when he's not looking". In the bottom left corner of the drawing is a watermark with the username "TheCraftyDragonC". End ID] I'm sure other people have drawn this meme with these characters before, but it really fits them so well I couldn't shake the idea. I'm really enjoying watching the anime so far, it's fun to have something to look forward to each Thursday but the wait between episodes is also a little agonizing lol. Also here's a version without text, for funsies.

[Start ID. the same image as above, a redraw of the "Dog playing chess" meme with the characters Laios and Kabru from the anime Dungeon Meshi, but this time there is no text over the drawing. End ID.]

Don’t think I’ve posted much wof here(??) but I love the series so much

Peacemaker time!!!! Watch out for the ominous big dragon right behind you

Lighter version !!

Hi! I’m a big fan of your art and work over all

I’ve been wondering, since I’ve seen you give your thoughts on some other dragons, what are your thoughts on Clay?

On Clay...

Clay. I’ve talked about him for a bit in a previous post somewhere. He is the first protagonist in the entire series and thus serves as our introduction into this world. While he enters the story with his own emotional baggage, he pretty much resolves all of that within the first book and mellows out from then on, fading into the background as a quiet support character.

Because of that it is maybe easy to dismiss Clay as that big guy who talks about food a lot and doesn’t do much else. But I do think he’s a bit more complex than that and is a well-rounded character with things going on in his own right.

CW: Discussion of physical abuse.

Formative Years

Clays early years were molded heavily by his belief that he almost killed Tsunami while she was hatching. He believed this because his guardians, mostly Kestrel, insisted this is what happened. Of course at the end of the first book we learn that this wasn’t the case and that they were just misinformed about how Mudwings work.

To us, this may all seem absolutely ridiculous. We look at Clay and see this obvious gentle giant without a malicious bone in his body angsting about being a blood-crazed monster. But for Clay himself, this was a very real, very horrifying situation. Suspend your disbelief for a moment. His entire childhood was marred by the crushing guilt of almost having murdered his surrogate sister at birth, and he couldn’t remember why he did it. He understood nothing about this situation, and didn’t know if this secret violent side could even resurface one day. Basic things like going to sleep would become terrifying; he may have laid awake, wondering whether his body might act on its own as soon as he fell unconscious. Just like back then, when it acted before he could even form coherent thoughts. The fear of losing control to the monster and waking up on top of a loved one’s mangled body was always there.

This perception of himself as a violent killer was at odds with his social nature as a Mudwing. He loved his surrogate siblings with the same intensity that any Mudwing would love their own, and thus he hated the part of himself that threatened them. As a direct response to this dissonant view, Clay developed a desire to protect them. If he willed himself to shield them from getting hurt with all of his strength, he would never be able to harm them again. This was his way of coping with the fear.

It is pretty apparent from the text that at least Kestrel was physically abusive towards them. Dune was possibly too, Webs I don’t think so, but he also didn’t do anything to stop it. As Clay grew older I think he began to recognize the patterns. He would start deliberately acting in ways so that most of Kestrel’s ire would be redirected towards himself instead of the others. This is why all the Dragonets of Destiny have such deep respect for Clay; they remember him always standing between them and Kestrel, even as he ended up with more and more scars for it.

Luckily, he is able to reconnect with his Mudwing heritage at the end of book 1 and learns that he never was that blood-crazed murderer the guardians insisted he was. But even so, the scars and memories would never fully fade, and he’d never lose sight of the need to protect his loved ones.

Personality and Interests

Clay’s love of food and eating is well-established, to the point where it sometimes seems like it is his only character trait from book 2 onwards. This is normal; he’s got a big body and I assume the self-regenerative properties inherent to Mudwings burn a lot of calories, so he needs to eat a lot to refuel them. I think there’s a bit more to him still though.

Clay is at his happiest when he can either prevent someone else’s pain, or take it away. Conversely he becomes distressed when he sees someone suffering. I believe he is incredibly earnest and built close to water. He cries easily, though never in response to his own pain or suffering. He feels positive emotions very strongly and can get overwhelmed that way, especially when he sees his loved ones happy. When he cries, he does so openly and without shame. It is very unsatisfying to tease him because he will usually just take what people say to him at face value and thus make them feel bad.

He’s also very physically affectionate and huggy.

People who meet Clay often get the impression that he is book dumb, or just stupid in general. This is not the case, as Clay does have a capacity for learning even complex subject matter. I just think he struggles with subjects he can’t see a practical application for, or aren’t relevant to things he wants to do. He has little interest in memorizing ancient figures or learning how to measure the sides of a triangle

When Glory fights Deathbringer in book 3, she makes mention of a “dragon anatomy class” which I assume was taught by Webs. Clay, as much as he struggled with history and numbers, excelled at this particular class because its insight could be used to keep people safe. As such, whenever the need for it arises, Clay is usually quick to act as the group’s primary healer/medical advisor.

(Excerpts from WoF graphic novels 2 and 3, censored for blood.)

This notion is further supported by the fact that, once they all become teachers at the Jade Mountain Academy, Clay is the one to lead an anatomy class, just like the one he attended before.

In conclusion

Clay is pretty much everyone’s big brother. While he isn’t as eccentric and colorful as the people he is surrounded by, his earnestness and general benevolence make him the backbone of the Dragonets of Destiny. Whenever anyone has a deeply-rooted, serious problem they are hesitant to bring up with others, Clay will usually be the first person considered as a confidant. Tsunami and Starflight know he would never judge or shame them no matter how ridiculous the thing they approach him with. Glory trusts him with her emotions whenever her stoic facade cracks. And Sunny has an incredibly strong bond with him.

I think that makes him pretty cool, even if he doesn’t really have much to do anymore once he overcomes his personal demons. I’m happy that he gets to be happy in the end.

"Guard Talks to god 3" (colorized) - I loved it when in the latest pages Guard said "It's guarding time" and guarded all over the place

+ some concept sketches and favourite frames below lol

I tried to stay as ✨shaped✨ as possible to the original (the art direction of this comic is absolutely SCRUMPTIOUS in both composition, design AND colors, I am observing it under a microscope as we speak)

Shit, meet fan. Read @jumalanpelko RIGHT NOW!!

I’d love to see your take on Blue! I love how he looks and think your style would look great with him! I also just really wanna see you fully render a silkwing, so pretty

thanks so much Kai (o´v`o) I hope you enjoy this piece!

Here's my redesign! In my opinion, what Blue really needs is a better name- so I decided to stay as true to his original color scheme as I could. I added more greens to make him look more visibly related to Luna, as well as my own vibrant/bright tones for a little pop. Blue's wing shape and translucent appearance was inspired by the Melanus Blue and Godart's Morpho butterfly species, but the colors and patterns were mostly my own intuition (and attempt to create more harmony in my design.) When it comes to representing Blue's personality through appearance, I didn't want to illustrate the misconception that he is cowardly or weak - but rather a (mostly) calm, considerate dragon. I found that this was best conveyed through the use of curved lines and circle/wave patterns which I often associate with nature, meditation and the assurance Blue has in his identity/core values by the end of the arc. his posture and facial expression helped a lot too, mostly by creating a sense of confidence. There are a few other choices I made, but I'll leave them for you guys to interpret!

Returning readers are probably tired of hearing this, but thank you so much! I love seeing new requests in my askbox, as well as learning more about your favorite characters and why you love them so.

My current character waitlist looks like this: Sunny, Clearsight, Luna, freedom, Bigtail, Cricket, Clay, Blaze, Queen Thorn, Starflight, Darkstalker, Tsunami, Kinkajou, Lady Jewel, Queen Scarlet, Whiteout, Queen Pearl, The Librarian, Listener, and Winter.

Safe to say it might take a while to get around to them! I'm trying not to go through any particular order since sometimes certain characters just call - but if you don't see your favorite or have any other questions, come visit my askbox! I'm more than happy to share my brushes, process or any other resource I can provide to my fellow artists.

See you later |ω･)ﾉ

want to be clear that if i ever talk about a headcanon and then later discuss a headcanon that is directly contradictory to the first one, that’s because headcanons exist in a quantum state where they are all simultaneously true and not true up until the point where i discuss it in detail, in which case that is the one that is true in that instance. schroedinger’s headcanons

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