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Now that artfight is over, here have a ref for Zeta.

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LYSSANTHROPE - LYSSANTHROPE

I wanted to design a fake cover for an album that looks like it might be up my alley, and got a bit carried away.

The Idea: loosely rabies themed, LYSSANTHROPE is an ambitious attempt to depict mental and physical deterioration to its ineluctable end. Wildly variable in both volume and complexity, nonlinear in its loss of lucidity. Fascinated with beauty which is inextricable from the revolting, fascinated with power transmuted into pain. Runs hot and cold. Doesn’t know what’s going on. Wants a bite. Needs a drink.

Some assertions about this nonexistent album:

I was listening to experimental music from the early 80s when I drew this, but in my heart of hearts I know it came out in 2011.

Not well known, but mentioned semi-regularly by people who like the sort of thing that it is.

NOT radio friendly except for like one song that sounds like nothing else on the album.

“Angina Dentata” despite having the stupidest name, is a standout track and an actual banger.

Good, but probably not a masterpiece. Somewhat bloated and inconsistent despite itself.

Very Curious what genre people would assume this is. There are no right answers, but there are wrong ones.

Big thanks to @quinnred for formatting the title and track list!

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Sisters and Juggernauts

A broad and ancient clade, Juggernauts are some of the oldest and most diverse dagnyds found across the Jacantese world. From the well-rounded workhorse Appletop (pictured), to the highly specialized Funeralworm, from the gentle utility of the Waterbearer to the fearsome showmanship of the Antlerjaw, Juggernauts take many forms and are employed to many ends. As a clade, Juggernauts are unified by a strange species of symbiosis, and the modifications such entails. Without the ability to accept a Sister-pilot, a dagnyd cannot be rightly considered a Juggernaut.

The skull of a Juggernaut is heavily modified to accomodate the presence of a Sister-clade “Pilot”, to facilitate her comfort and safety, and to allow her direct access to the central nervous system, which she may control and modify at will. While a Juggernaut is, on its own, an intelligent, autonomous entity, the control of a Sister-pilot is necessary to realize full potential. Some say the intelligence of the Sister is required to supplement the dull-minded Juggernaut’s brawn, and give to it direction which need cross no gulf of ambiguity to be understood. They say Sisters are more pliable, more given to following direction, and by allowing the Sister to impart her will upon the Juggernaut, she transfers to it her own native docility. Some say it is an allusion made manifest, a living institution enshrining the parable of the cricket who learned to drive oxen with her song, who’s cleverness elevated her station beyond the fragility of her body. Whether any of these reasons explain the origins of the relationship, or simply seek to find some retroactive justification, is a topic of long debate. However it came to be, that it is entrenched is irrefutable.

In modern Juggernauts, the modifications which facilitate the housing of Sister-pilots are extensive and extreme. In lieu of a flexible neck, the massive, bulbous skull is attatched rigidly to the spine, supported by a muscular hump. Many, though not all, Juggernauts posses stalked eyes to compensate for a head which cannot be turned. Sisters enter the skull by way of the operculum, a mask-like plate situated beneath the eyestalks. The operculum can be retracted to prevent damage.

In Juggernauts, the nasal cavity forms a very large, hollow space, occasionally encorperating the eyesockets in cases when they are not otherwise necessary, where the Sister-pilot is secured for connection by a pocketlike rampart. Mucus remains an essential adaptation for the collection and removal of foreign matter, considering the ease with which dirt, dust and pollen may be introduced into the relatively open space.

The twin pairs of ‘antennae’ sported by Sisters serve very different roles than the structures for which they are named. While the ‘key-antennae’ do have some chemosensory function, they are primarily designed as a male component, slotting into a complementary pair of orifices. The unique shape of each Sister’s key-antennae comes to be recognized by the juggernaut during the initial process of imprinting, the ‘first ride’. Once established, the unique pressure-print established by the key-antennae is required to relax the muscular orifices which secure the basal apertures, through which the Sister-pilot connects her own nervous system to the Juggernaut’s cerebellum via her smaller pair of ‘lock-antennae”. While secured, the key antennae secrete hormones to be absorbed by the membranous tissue of the pressure-lock. In this way the Sister’s body is able to more effectively communicates her physical and psychological state through the induction of mirror responses.

To accommodate this mode of connection, the Juggernaut brain is often modified into strange shapes. In the Appletop, the brain is twisted upside down, with the cerebellum - the joining-point - lying on top, and the brainstem running down through the center.

Sister-pilots can, in theory, remain connected to their Juggernauts for several days at a time, but in practice control-sessions generally last several hours. A modified salivary gland provides coupled Sister-pilots with a temporary source of nutrition in the form of a thick, sweet fluid which is almost entirely sugar. What liquid waste is passed by Pilots while coupled is drained alongside excess or fouled mucus.

Both Sisters and Juggernauts are obligate herbivores.

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The Voyeur

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THE LOVERS

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Another Updated Ellyllo piece, this time Òxal

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Decided to redo this art from 6 years ago for fun. Hot damn

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Where souls disappear

Only you exist here

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Siren Philosophy 1

Transcript:

Male Siren 1 (MS1): I do not think that humans eat animals.

MS1: I have never seen one do such a thing, and humans have animals that they do not eat. So they must not eat animals.

MS1: Furthermore, their mouths are small. They cannot eat animals properly. And they cannot rip animals apart, as trolls do, because they are so weak.

Male Siren 2 (MS2): I do not know if that is correct. Many small and weak animals eat smaller and weaker animals. Foxes are small and weak animals, and foxes eat mice and voles.

MS1: That is true, you are correct. We cannot conclude that humans do not eat mice and voles.

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do Thrones like in the smile picture retain useage of the mouth of their Headless portion, and if so, do they use them and how socially acceptable is that?

It depends on the application. For eating, usage of the greater mouth is entirely necessary to render eating an efficient process. Without it, Thrones would struggle to feed themselves without devoting a significant portion of their day to the task.

For speech, the matter is more complex. Headless can talk, although their voices don't sound particularly human as a matter of course. Unthroned headless mostly speak to each other, their close relatives, and their instructors. Headless don't speak with people from outside their houses, as a matter of custom. Rather, people are uncomfortable with talking to them for fear of 'corrupting' them with knowledge their house does not wish them to have, which is a real and very punishable crime.

For Thrones, use of the headless mouth for speech is not taboo, per say, but is discouraged as uncouth. The different portions of a Thrones body are seen as belonging to different domains, and embody distinct roles, and speaking is not in accordance with the role of the headless portion. That being said, Thrones are renowned as vocalists, and nearly all Thrones receive voice training in order to put their tremendous respiratory systems to sublime use. The field song is the only territory this particular more does not extend to.

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How do socotna pairings work?

Also do headless and unbodied ever resent their positions? As in lack on autonomy and respective dissolving of lower body lol, I guess since it's a huge spiritual and cultural deal it varies

In Socotna marriages two sets of same sex siblings are required. Here we have the brothers Unbodied Tasapnu and Headless Lasu of House Mitoca, and the sisters Unbodied Heniya and Headless Batab of House Dedēsne, at the ages they would have betrothed. Heniya-Lasu and Tasapnu-Batab would have been Throned in a dual ceremony after coming of age (about a decade older than this art depicts) and then married immediately. Socotna Throne-weddings are probably the most intense non-festival occasions in Hegemonic culture. It’s something I still need to work out the details of.

Throne candidates are trained from a very young age to accept and even anticipate the prospect of being Throned as an ultimate privilege, but that doesn’t mean that they all have the same feelings about it. Ultimately a candidate who is overly reluctant may be reconsidered or passed over for fear they’ll fail as a Throne, so it isn’t impossible to reject the position, though it does leave a stain and can at worst lead to ostracism. In the case of these two, their Thronings and their marriage are something that was preordained for more or less their entire lives, in absentia of any consent. It’s a common situation for Thrones and it’s inevitable some resent it, but many accept it as a necessity and try and make the best of the situation, especially considering the power and privilege of grants. How much a Throne regrets their Throning is something that depends immensely on the hand they happen to be dealt.

And if these guys look familiar, it’s because they’re Masminet’s parents as children.

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Smile

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Horotmu-Pavam of Solēsne was a Southern Throne born of the union of Unbodied Horotmu of Solēsne and Headless Pavam of Hatab, and was one of the most famous Solēsne Throne, much to the despair of House Solēsne. They are known best for their failure to synchronize, and the resultant death of a House Venvin scion at their hands, or rather teeth. Horotmu-Pavam has become a character of academic interest, a case study on the art of matching Headless and Unbodied, and a dramatic illustration of the consequences should a pair be ill-considered.

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Funeralworms comprise a genus of Juggernaut characterized by a heavily-built, serpentine form, the absence of eyes, a single pair of broad, paddle-like forelimbs, and a prominent array of individually articulated, crushing jaws. They are employed in the disposal of organic materials, the production of high quality fertilizer, and the reclamation of Ibis tissue from corpses. The latter function earning them a central role in Bibat funeral rites, hence the name.

In Bibat, it is believed that Ibis tissue, while a powerful creative force in life, is equally capable of corruption, especially when touched by death. It is therefor not adequate to bury the Ibistouched, since Ibis tissue, if allowed to decompose, has the potential to render the earth fallow and breed illness. By consuming the Ibistouched dead, Funeralworms collect the Ibis tissue from the flesh, freeing it from corruption, purifying it, and accumulating it in their bodies to be returned to the Oracle System. It is mandatory that the corpses of all dagnyds, Sansin, Thrones and Throne-children both headless and unbodied alike, be fed to the Funeralworm. This is not a necessary funeral rite for those who are not Ibistouched, but the devout often choose to have it preformed upon their death. If a funeralworm is not available, cremation is an acceptable alternative.

Funeralworms are semi-aquatic dagnyds that reside entirely in special pools (bymūt)constructed for their housing. At their least elaborate, bymūt are little more than shallow ponds dug into clay soil, but they are often encircled by a low, stone fence with an offering platform at one end, and a chamber for dung collection at the other. These pools are usually located several kilometers from areas of habitation, although many larger cities have grown to encircle bymūt that were originally constructed a more acceptable distance away. These tend to be the most elaborate of their kind, ending up with bespoke temple complexes erected around them. As the functions of the Funeralworm are deeply linked to Bibat customs, their husbandry is entirely handled by Sansin, though the service they offer is a public one.

The design of the bymūt is necessary for the survival of fully mature funeralworms, who are not only so large as to be incapable of freely moving over dry land, but risk being crushed beneath their own weight without the support of water. Newborn funeralworms, at about a meter and a half in length, are the most mobile of their kind, and often attempt to escape their bymūt to explore. This is usually permitted (with supervision), as such young individuals have limited processing capacity, and rarely exist in a context where the sole burden of waste management relies on them. Many Sansin are sympathetic to the plight of the Funeralworm, and see little purpose in restricting the movement of a creature which never approaches agile at any age, and for most of its decades long life will be confined to a single small pool.

Despite a life spent entirely in water, Funeralworms are entirely air-breathing, and are not particularly good swimmers. They are protected from flooding by the high fat content of their bodies, which renders them buoyant and unlikely to drown. The greatest risk floods pose is temptation. Rising water allows Funeralworms the opportunity to travel freely from their bymūt, and many die after becoming stranded once the water level recedes, especially those which are particularly old and heavy.

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Would anyone be interested in portraits in this vein for $50 USD (PayPal only)?

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Silly design exercise in which I customize the homunculi and throw them into blenders