#Issuhiro

[thebridgebeyond]

It's 8am and I'm too lazy to look, but I know somewhere I've expressed the desire to change the name 'submatriarch' to something with less confusion (the name is not related to clan social status). If I ever find it, perhaps I'll reblog--or maybe I didn't mention it on tumblr per say.

I also want to clear up another thing--a PSA of sorts because this blog needed another one:

Gender identities are not as robust in Issuhiro as it is here, and in Issuhiro, one is identified by their assigned sex normally. The caveat in all of this: There are species on Issuhiro that have more than one biological sex, and species with different physical morphs and roles.

For places like Issuhiro, gender roles are variable as they would be for different intelligent and biologically diverse species other than humans. The main way for identification focuses on how these species pick up identifiers concerning their biology. For humans, a lot of gender is largely social, and our biological sensory isn't as apt in picking out assigned sex at birth like it is for other species. We rely on social constructs, we rely on our eyes and our roles. The sapient species have many other senses that simply are finetuned enough to determine ASAB. With such a blending pot of actual sexes, along with the binary, the alphabet soup for gender here can never truly take hold in Issu. 'They/Their/Them' is commonplace cross-species.

It's not too easy to identify Sharpsnouts, for example, on look alone, nor zhuards. This brings me back to zhuards and submatriarchs-- submatriarchs are technically biologically female (if you were to test). Yet they were modified heavily to fit biologically male criteria for practical reasons.

Some *do* fall into what we can call as the more masc side of the spectrum in their social habits (because remember Issuhirian zhuards were once fully human---now we're getting into interesting situations)! However, as time got away from them in Issu, and as the human link began to skew more in favor of their zhuard side, it became clear that these masculine tendencies are a result more so of biology than social constructs. Although female zhuards have both reproductive systems of male and female--which is still a binary equally seen on Issuhiro among others-- for us humans (and other species that rely a lot on eyesight) it is impossible to sex a zhuard by look alone.

Zhuards have more indicators to identify assigned sex at birth than us humans that involves other senses not developed well enough in humans for that discovery. Submatriarchs have female indicators to other zhuards no matter how masculine they may be because it is all coming from a biological perspective, not social. The alterations of submatriarchs have not changed their original make up of being female--it was a modification, not a blank slate. Thus, submatriarchs will be considered 'She/Her'.

[thebridgebeyond]

September is Suicide Awareness and Prevention Month. I wanted to draw for the cause- one that has affected not only me, but countless of other people. There are a few subtle nods in the art itself about resilience and healing-- things that take a long while to do for those who have been affected.

The art may be a bit late in the month, but the message is always right on time.

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The Issuhiro deer seems to be a longstanding symbol for many things in Issuhiro. I know for me, I drift towards the animal in more symbolic artworks.

This is slightly more stylized than how I regularly would finish up a drawing, but seemed perfect for Sketchtember. It also reminds me of how I used to 'set'/stage are several years ago too. I used HB, 2B and 4B graphite pencil (mix of my fairly old proArts and more recent Faber-Castell), along with watercolor pencils. Some mixed media applications were used as well.

Art(c)Thebridgebeyond/SNW

[thebridgebeyond]

Dimensions..universes, who knows at this point.

Been thinking (too fucking much) about what constitutes Issuhiro to be an alternate universe versus a more writing misnomer of a dimension. An alternate 3rd dimension if you will. The science minded part of my brain is screaming a bit until I realize that Issuhiro is not a planet (no planetary mass, no core, nadda) so I don't want to call it a 'world' due to planetary association. You literally need to hop and skip through portals to get anywhere in the Spiral Expanse. Can't just cruise on a spaceship. There is no space as we know it. It makes me snicker that you can go out of bounds on Issuhiro in a way (away from land masses there) and be met with absolutely nothingness. Just Issuhiro skies. Yes, there are seas in Issuhiro, but at some point, things drop off to nothingness. Your boat would legitimately be suspended until you can't tell if you're going forward anymore.

That said (and many things not said), Issu has vast geological features similar to Earth, and is 'close' to it as well as Expo7. Some features are quite interesting and completely unique. I want to clarify that Issu's sky is a reaction from the constant flow and clashing of different energies. I'm coming more to terms that Issuhiro does have ambient light from the bands that streak across it (the widest gives the most visible light perhaps), but the suns and moons that I thought existed only existed because I long ago (many years ago) thought Issuhiro was a planetary body. Now I think of the lower energy seasons and the Amber season which literally wanes the bands of energy making Issuhiro very dim, if not dark. These topics are definitely for a separate post.

My brain has a headache trying to understand Issuhiro and the Spiral Expanse. Naturally, I want to study and understand. But this is beyond what's known and I'll have to leave it alone. Maybe a realm or the Spiral Expanse which I've called it before too, but that makes it seem small and hella high fantasy.

Dimension it is! Just maybe not literal.

[thebridgebeyond]

Lorebook:

The Taiber’su Civil War

I've been thinking about the monarchs again, which is not unusual considering I'm still processing the zhuard monarch who reached Issuhiro. But a few days ago I got some insight..

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There was only ever one record of the Taiber’su taking over a realm, and it was their own. The brief epiphany on the matter suddenly came through and it became realized that it was a gritty situation involving faction(s) of Taiber’su. One of which, from what I gleaned, was more radicalized that the other (they may not have been the only ones in the skirmish to be such a way but I sense a civil war conflict between two). It's strange to have a different view of the zhuard creators than previously noted, but that's sometimes the case when I get glimpses like these. They weren't conquers (that much I knew..they never invaded anywhere outside of their realm on purpose minus Expo 07).

That belligerent faction sought to turn the realm into something they saw as a better fit for them. They wanted to create without interference. The ability to make their own fauna, to recreate what was their own world--it was a very odd obsession that I can't really pinpoint the source of. For some, the act of playing God may come to mind, and that's most likely the case. This faction was not in need of making such creatures...they did so out of enjoyment.

When things were getting hairy during this civil war, they made an executive decision to release two zhuard monarchs to test their power and as a show of might (the Issuhiro monarch was the third, but she was not involved in this first incident). The agenda again was more or less to turn the realm into an area for their own creations, letting them be an artistic and, in some cases, more advanced interpretation of what the faction saw. Thus the Taiber’su empire being born, slowly.

In these instances of monarch attacks, the targets were not only enemy towers, but Taiber’su civilians too. The damage from the two resulted in far too many casualties, even when the monarchs were called back in a stupor. The attacks were random but happened more than once. The realm really did become a wasteland--the monarchs (particularly one and of her frenzies) evaporated the oceans, the area grew dark with ashes, and one would only spot strange creations in the darkness.

[thebridgebeyond]

I just dug through my folder and found Issuhiro Lore/stories dating 2013! Handwritten notes and stories because those were high school days back then.

I am definitely keeping the papers, even if I need to update the material. It's like digging up an old sketchbook, but much more detailed (and imo, fun)!

[thebridgebeyond]

Farah monitoring the incoming fog across her matriarch's territory.

Observing the motions of weather related patterns was normally a job reserved for a different individual in the clan (Rascal). Atmospheric changes in Issuhiro relates directly to the ebb and flow and changing of the energy bands across its skies. Such a thing often affects zhuards more than other species.

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This landscape art was started initially as a speedpaint, but that was quite a while ago. I decided to work on it more and implement somewhat of a few new techniques (or perhaps not new but revisited). I also found my art a bit 'soft' at times in the past, but I've found ways to resolve that.

Farah is detailed just enough for an in depth color test- a way for me to more accurately discern her fur color, patterns and markings (step up from a flat unshaded color test, but also without going over into 'ref detail' territory as it wasn't necessary). She looks brown, but true brown fur does not exist for zhus with their genetics for one reason or another. What is expressed are golds, orange rust colors and black banding/agouti-like pattern that do exist, and Farah has a combination of that (also note markings and patterns may just show up at any point in an individuals life. Base color stays the same from birth). The best I can do is make comparisons to furred mammals here on earth by appearance and not genetics as there's clearly a few 'wild card'/inclusionary/exclusionary factors concerning zhuard genetics not present in animals, obviously. As much as I love these types of things and learning more about it, I can't make 1:1 connections entirely. But I am okay with that as I have found many ways to get points across with such comparisons.

Speaking of Farah's coloring- and to ramble a little more on that, the black pattern that is making her seem darker (as she actually is a gold zhuard in reality) is called 'elder marks' which is ironic as they are not white hairs, but always black ticking marks or a black agouti-like banding. The name may have been a 'tongue in cheek' given that zhuards live very long lives. In contrast, Asjha (sketch-ref): https://www.deviantart.com/thebridgebeyond/art/Asjha-sketch-ref-883529511

and here: https://www.deviantart.com/thebridgebeyond/art/874722092

-for example also has the elder pattern on his base fur (which is gold, like Farah), but the pattern is so heavily concentrated over his entire body that he looks nearly black in most areas. If you were to brush his short fur with your hand in the opposite direction of its growth pattern, you would leave a 'trail of gold'. Kind of like suede furniture handprints--the core of many childhood memories haha

As it stands, the entire color/patterns/markings ref needs an overhaul, and that's a bit of an undertaking.

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Art(c)TheBridgeBeyond/SNW

[thebridgebeyond]

Issuhiro's ankle biter~

Had to recalibrate my settings in gimp since getting the new comp. Set a short time limit, small canvas; played around with the basic brush and smudge to see where I stand in my technique for gesture into solid form without any major rendering/detailing. It doesn't *feel* like I've been away from digital art, but that's muscle memory talking.

Glad to be able to scribble on a screen again!

[thebridgebeyond]

These sketches were brought about, in part, by conversations with a friend which tumbled down the rabbit hole of bigfoot and dogman sightings. These are quite inspired from the stories and accounts that were compiled together on the so called worldwide sightings map. It's a lot to read through, but fairly entertaining!

I decided to add a 'zhuard-ish' spin. It's quite fitting for them: rarely seen creatures that traversed the alter-dimensional wilderness of Issuhiro. A creature that supposedly came from the skin of a human, but can change its form to look like an abstract version of one...or something that rivaled Issuhiro's natural apex predators. A species that can cause ill effects to those who cast around it, and a creature that evokes the very landscape to change. Needless to say stories of zhuards--and alleged encounters- terrify most citizens of Issuhiro and beyond.

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Depending on my motivation, I may decide to do another one of these in the near future. It's nice to draw zhuards from another and less personable perspective. An outside view, if you will. Alternatively, zhuards will do abstractions in their form for various reasons, and the ability to do so is what makes a healthy well rounded one. To many eyes--a horrifically terrifying one too.

[thebridgebeyond]

"Sharp claws and paws to maim.. this is what we are now."

Valdores saying something to the tune of 'get over the shock' to the other pioneer zhuards. From humans living meticulous and bustling lives to being an unknown species in the Issuhiro wilderness rediscovering themselves. Of all the pioneer zhuards, she was among the first to become the most comfortable in her new body, and thus was more in tune with her phasing abilities.

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[thebridgebeyond]

Creativity and Independent Flow of Two Eras

Or at least as it pertains to writing and storytelling. I probably wrote about this briefly, but I don't think I fully explained it (I think I explained a similar thing art wise in a past entry).

I have been writing some small passages here and there of two pioneer zhuards pov and situations that may have happened to them. It's a bit of a change of scenery and I find it obviously more conspicuous  than Rebirth writings (Rebirth being the transition of mainly new-and for me, known- zhuards into current time from the Hierarchy era (the War of Wills era essentially).

The pioneer zhuards are fair game for my creative writing outlets: I don't mind filling in blanks to fit the storyline in this particular era. There's so much speculation around monarchs and the pioneers (only a few are current zhus). Furthermore, no one truly knows all the details of what happened at Tirnsberg after the Call of the Monarch and Tirnsberg's faction split.

Hierarchy era writing is much less restrained than the twisting stories of Rebirth, which has (and very often requires) more 'epiphanies'. I can't really write Rebirth stories too much on a whim unless I know order of events precisely, or feelings and moods; sometimes motives. The way I see and feel it, the two eras represent two ways for me to understand Issuhiro's past, present and looking forward. Rebirth is more of the 'characters' telling me who, what, when and where- my input as a writer and artist is largely supportive.

It becomes retcon hell if I insert story elements that have not been shown to me, or that I do not have a hunch on.  One can say this world and 'characters' are quite literally alive--or the essence of it all. I do not get ahead of myself with those stories. I know I'm far from a company of one with that. This isn't an uncommon feeling in the writing world, nor the art one.

Now, the Hierarchy era is a hell of a lot more up in the air. The major events and very broad facts are already mostly laid out. The details however are much more obscured, and no one truly has all the details of the events that unfolded of that time. Not even Naal. I had a lot of fun writing a story about the beginning stages of the Call of the Monarch with Dr.Kyrin as a main character and her team! If I was to actually write a book-one that has a beginning, middle and end, one that has characters who's fates are mostly in my hands creatively-it would be in the Hierarchy era.

Rebirth would more likely present as a collection of stories that may or may not have further Intertwining connections (depending on who or what is being talked about). It's simply too reliant on other factors to have a cohesive beginning, middle and end---and I'm okay with that, really. Besides, if there's anywhere to start, the Hierarchy era makes much more sense.  (All figurative talk here).

[thebridgebeyond]

Currently rewriting 'Pawsteps over the bridge to Issuhiro', and not only will the update cover more about the War of Wills, but it will touch upon where humans settled, why the area was so active, and more importantly on the topic: why the Taiber’su avoided getting involved directly and why the zhuard monarch did what she did.

It's going to be a more connected (and exciting, imo) read.

[thebridgebeyond]

Thayümoryn/Thayümori, the ousted Reiyindor that sought energetic control over a fairly substantial region in northern Issuhiro in at what was first an effort to survive. The plan was halted by the sharpsnout oracle, Ghaburo and the Arrikaige's first zhuard assassin, Yévonne. Thayü did survive, however.. --*-- This had a bit more of an involved background that Farah's tonal study which--given that it was done weeks afterwards--I think I just knew what to add concerning interest. I feel I haven't drawn Thayü in a fair bit of time and I believe I mentioned him at some point several months back, so a drawing of some sort was overdue. This was done with HB and 6B (I think?) pencils. Digital fixes and some detailing.

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Art(c)Thebridgebeyond/SNW

[thebridgebeyond]

It's been a whole 12 hours and I feel like I've gone through some serious deja vu. Amongst doing other things because life goes on, I just realized that the whole 'submatriarch' name change issue was dropped from a time I brought it up way back when. Why was it discarded? Well, because the sheer amount of editing would be insane. But more importantly...Irden was the first to call them submatriarchs, and that is what they are known by in Issuhiro, so there goes that. Facts easily forgotten and facts I have no real right to change in a way.

I'll keep the original post though because if it hasn't been noticed, making mountains out of molehills is a prime time thing on this blog! This blog is my own corner of inane rambles, enter at your own risk.

[thebridgebeyond]

I was (probably still am) a bit burned out from December's art, so I decided to do an uncomplicated tonal sketch of an individual I have not drawn in years, much less seen in years. 

Kaprikous is an Issuhiro primordial--a being that was their since Issuhiro’s inception, mortal but still in touch with the dimension's energies. Kaprikous was involved during the War of Wills, a great time of turbulence across the dimensions of the Spiral Expanse. It’s also the time in which he got that blade as a permanent accessory, jamming his muzzle shut from an oppositional act of ‘silencing’. Kapri hasn’t spoken in centuries. 

As the war ended, Kaprikous was the first primordial to fall into a hibernation. He does not stir as much as the others might, so seeing him post war was quite rare. 

[thebridgebeyond]

I just wanted something to post honestly, so this is a freedraw with a little less 'scrawl' than some of my other ones, depending. The shading might be a bit janky due to spending maybe 15-ish minutes on it just to give some sense of structure. We all know only zhuards can have pristine art in my gallery, all other creatures are peasants here///. I also love putting people and creatures on pillars or slabs of rock and don't see myself stopping this motif anytime soon. Anyway, this is the Issuhirian Chimera 'the lost ones', as they are thought to be the consequence individuals that get lost in Issuhiro's wildlands or other confusing landscapes. Whether this is a myth or not, these creatures are rare to come by. They have never been observed behaving like normal fauna: they don't hunt, don't eat, they have no vocal communication and there are no records of reproduction. Issuhirian chimeras are not the largest of creatures, having a range of 5-7 feet in height. Supposedly killing one is bad luck in certain Reiyindor superstitions. Chimeras are very good at sensing the domruku frequencies of Issu, and will hibernate deep in dens during the low energy or amber season. In the uncommon event that two chimeras meet, they do not truly acknowledge each other and will look right past each other. Myths say they don't interact unless they run into a soul they knew in their prior life. However, they do interact with other creatures (usually moving out their way). Chimeras emit an aura that repels or causes intense fear in potential predators. They will also emit a similarly felt aura or disruption of energy to those it encounters in the wilderness. It brings about a very uneasy feeling. .

Art/species(c)Thebridgebeyond/SNW

[thebridgebeyond]

Finally had a chance to touchup this from my sketchbook...I haven't had much time or energy otherwise. It feels like I haven't drawn a crocodon in a while. Art(c)Thebridgebeyond/SNW