#dogs of the deadlands

[art-of-tek]

Cross-face from Dogs of the Deadlands!

[ID: A front-facing drawing of a bust of a snarling gray wolf with a white muzzle and a distinct dark marking in the shape of a cross across her face. She has glowing amber eyes. End ID.]

[one-with-the-tree]

#60 Misha

Book name: Dogs of the Deadlands Author: Anthony McGowan

He looks a lot like his mother, just more gray-toned and with a pink nose.

I really wanna design Bratan as well since he's one of my favorite characters, however then I'd have to figure out how to edit the lineart for his misshapen hind legs.

Lineart by Tuketi (DeviantArt)

[reviews-sky-1]

New book review!

Dogs of the Deadlands by Anthony McGowan

[always-coffee]

Welcome New Followers!

Since there are quite a few new folks popping in, I figured I’d say hi! I’m a poet, editor, word-nerd, and unapologetic coffee addict. I read tarot cards, and I never met a dog I didn’t want to hug. Or cat. Look, if it’s got four legs and a tail, I’m gonna wanna hug it.

If you’re interested in reading more of my poetry, there is a lot of it up for free online. I’ll link to the free ones below! If you like the poems, and you’re able to, support the mags that pubbed them. But either way, I hope you enjoy the work.

“Six of Swords Becomes The Emperor” in Uncanny.

“Five of Cups Considers Forgiveness” in The Deadlands.

“Knight of Wands, Six of Swords” in Uncanny.

“The Empress Chides the Hermit” in Small Wonders.

“Temperance and The Devil, Reversed” in Uncanny.

“When the Wraith Smiles” in Nightmare.

“The Heart Sings a Siren” in Mermaids Monthly.

“After The Tower Falls, Death Gives Advice” in Uncanny.

“A Meeting Place” and “Secret Keeping” in Mermaids Monthly.

“Of Monsters I Loved” in Uncanny.

“The Devil You Know” in Strange Horizons.

“Athena Holds Up a Mirror to Strength” in Uncanny.

“Three of Swords, King of Cups” in Fireside.

“The Magician Speaks to The Fool” in Uncanny.

“The Year We Got Rid of Our Ghosts” in Uncanny.

“Lorelei” in Uncanny.

“A Lovesong From Frankenstein’s Monster” in Uncanny.

“The Persecution of Witches” in Uncanny.

“From the High Priestess to the Hanged Man” in Uncanny.

Bonus: A Q&A I did with Asimov’s, after the published one of my poems.

[thydungeongal]

Hi! I'm thinking to run a weird west game. I've tried Dogs in the Vineyard but found the narrative focus didn't have enough crunch. I've heard of Deadlands but my previous experience with a Savage World system was a bit shaky. I'm most familiar with 3.5e and 5e, Pathfinder 1e, and just picked up Lancer.

Please can you suggest any crunchy systems that would fit with weird west themes?

So, I can think of at least three crunchy western RPGs but I have not had a chance to play any of them and two of them are out of print. Also, I am uncertain how well they would adapt to a weird west setting, but here goes:

First up, the one that is in print: Aces & Eights is a Western RPG by Kenzer & Co. whose main claim to fame is that it is crunchy as all hell. Gunfighting consists of laying out a shot clock (a type of crosshair template) on top of an enemy silhouette and then an attack roll results in the shot itself moving into an appropriate spot based on the roll. It kinda sounds cool as hell but as stated I haven't had a chance to play it, and I'm not confident in how well it translates to the weird west genre.

Next up is Boot Hill. Now, I don't know a lot about Boot Hill, but I know that it is a crunchy and deadly wild west game published by TSR, and the AD&D 1e DMG actually has guidance on how to convert characters between the two games, so one option you would have would be to run Boot Hill and just convert supernatural stuff into it from AD&D 1e! This would probably be pretty bad, but I have to admit that it does sound kind of fun.

Third option, and this one is also sadly out of print, would be Outlaw baybeee!!!! Outlaw is actually a setting for Rolemaster/Spacemaster 2e that adapts the extremely crunchy system full of lovely stupid tables into the wild west. Outlaw is pretty much just Rolemaster in the wild west and it even gives a bit of advice on how to run a western campaign with fantastic elements. Not a lot of advice, mind, but you could literally just smash spell users from Rolemaster into Outlaw and be done with it.

Anyway, that's all I can offer, sadly. I'm unfortunately not very knowledgeable of western or weird west games.

[lullabyes22-blog]

A small detail but I just wanna say I LOVE your food worldbuilding in your fic! I get so hungry reading about the dishes 😭 was there any inspiration behind your thoguts on Zaun crusine or any other fun lore? I was also wondering if you had thoughts on Piltover crusine and how that compares to Zaun.

Thank you so much<3

I actually have a Foodboard on Pinterest for Zaun's decadences and delicacies!

Re: Zaun and Piltover's food-canons...

I'm basing Zaun on a hodgepodge of multicultural meccas like New York, Mexico City, Mumbai, Rio, Tokyo, Seoul, Istanbul, etc. Lots of different histories converging to form a diverse street-food scene where folks eat on-the-go. Given the Fissures began as a mining town, the fare is heavy on greasy proteins and starchy staples to keep the average worker on his feet. At the same time, owing to their proximity to the riverside, Fissurefolk have a taste for the ocean, too.

The end result is a very subterranean and industrial city that's very, very proud of its culinary heritage, even if the "cuisine" itself isn't exactly pretty or refined. There's a certain "ghetto hustle" to it, with scraps taken from wherever it's available, and improvised into something distinctly its own. Plenty of emphasis on cheap shellfish, squid, octopus, shrimp, clams, etc, as they're a hardier food source that can be found in great quantities downriver.

There's also a lack of sunlight, fertile soil, and fresh greens in Zaun. So much of what's grown organically Down-Low is the more straightforward variety of root vegetables, ranging from potatoes, rhizomes, yams, lotus, yucca, sweet potatoes etc. There's also lots of cellars with candle-lit rhubarb, and a very eclectic range of mushroom gardens.

As for meat:

The Deadlands, which are more of a 'wild west' type terrain in the FnF verse, sport a hardy ecosystem of cave-dwelling, marsupial-like creatures I've dubbed Sump-voles. They're furred, and the size of a medium-large housecat. They're extremely agile and intelligent, and able to survive off the sparse vegetation. They're the primary source of food for the folks of the Deadlands.

There's also sump-boars: bristly, foul-tempered, and omnivorous. A bit like wild boar, but larger and more aggressive. Their meat, while rather gamey, is a source of rich protein, and often cured and smoked, or served as a roast during the Equinox Feast as a 'last supper', a chance to indulge in some fatty, delicious pork before the dark winter months of austerity. Their hides are also a valuable commodity and can be tanned and used to craft clothing, their bones ground into powder for fertilizer, and their tusks fashioned into weapons, jewelry, etc.

In Zaun proper, the primary source of meat are sump-rats. For the chem-barons, they are raised in massive, hydroponic-like farms that cultivate the creatures on an industrial scale. For the poor, they're either the unfortunate victims of homesprung traps or the prey of the many, many feral cat colonies. The cats in Zaun are extremely large and muscular, bred to be fierce. They're often mutated and have been spliced with a range of different DNA, from gen-0 to gen-X.

There's no real 'normal' cat, dog, or bird in Zaun; it's a land where everything is a mutant owing to the chemical radiation that pervades every single facet of life, to say nothing of its ambitious history of genetic manipulation.

That goes ditto for the bugs.

Necessity breeds creativity, and Zaun's not averse to a little entomophagy. In fact, the more common, and less-fetishized, way to get one's protein is through the consumption of locusts, beetles, dragonflies etc. These are a mainstay, and you'll see them sold on every corner. They're generally fried, and have a very similar crunch to a fried cricket. There's also cave-wasps: nasty buggers who build their hives in the caverns, and have a sweet, honey-like substance inside their abdomen. It's considered a delicacy, and a luxury item.

The cave-wasps are also a rare species that actually produce honey (similar to the B. Mellifica, or Mexican Honey Wasp) and the honey they store, though it has a much thicker, gel-like consistency, is prized as a source of hydration and energy.

It's also a nifty hallucinogen, and can be mixed into ales, beers, and ciders.

In terms of fixings and flavorings: Zaun is an underground city. That means staples like sugar and spice are at a premium, and either imported from the harbor, or smuggled from Topside. However, Fissurefolk understand the importance of boosting their immunity with the right nutrients, and have a keen interest in herbal remedies. There's a strong apothecary culture in Zaun, ranging from quacks to savants. You'll see plenty of peddlers selling the dried mushrooms, roots, leaves, and other fungi, all of which can be boiled into a tea, or steeped to make a broth.

Two homegrown minerals Zaun prides itself on are its salt deposits and its volcanic rock. Both are extremely potent, and have sparked a range of industries from salt-curing to cosmetic masks. The rock salts are a rich source of iodine, and used to clean wounds. The volcanic rock has a high level of iron, and is ground into powder and mixed into broths to prevent anemia and boost blood flow. There's also a thriving industry for beauty products in Zaun. Because of the constant, humid air that lingers beneath the surface, it's common for folks to break out into acne, boils, or other rashes. The rock salts are a good exfoliant and antiseptic.

Jinx, for instance, has an entire apothecary's chest worth of creams, gels, and tonics she applies whenever she feels a breakout coming on. She's also not above mixing her own blemish cream out of a blend of rock salt, crushed-up coral, and a few drops of oil squeezed from a luminous jellyfish.

Silco, similarly, uses a combination of salt water and crushed-up volcanic rock to exfoliate the calluses on his palms and heels, and soaks once a week in a warm bath of rock salt, mineral oils, and medicinal Shimmer. He swears by the concoction, and considers it the secret to keeping his joints well-lubricated and his reflexes in fighting trim for running from stray bullets.

And Jinx's occasional tantrum-prone grenade.

The Zaunite diet is also very heavy on pickling. It's an excellent way to preserve foods, and a great source of vitamins. Their choices run the gamut from sour pickled cabbage to spicy, chili-garlic fermented fish to lime-spiked octopus. Pickling is a necessity. And, because there's not enough space for farms, livestock, or pasture land, a lot of the food in Zaun is preserved via canning and jar-making. There's a robust canning industry, and a very well-developed glass-blowing and masonry business, lauded for its innovative shapes and designs.

Finally, there's the beverages.

Zaun has a strong history of drinks, from fizzy, chemically-colored sodas to a wide variety of spirits. There's an emphasis on teas, tisanes, and coffees, as the underground water can't be fully filtered, and isn't exactly the cleanest. A cup of hot tea with some lemon and honey is an effective way to keep one's immune system up and running. Zaun is also famous (re: notorious) for coffee that's guaranteed to jolt you wide-awake after a nasty hangover. Their most famous brew is the Wake-Up Call, which is a mix of ground coffee beans, ground cacao beans, ground guarana seeds, a touch of cinnamon, and a dash of powdered cayenne pepper.

It's not for the faint of heart.

The most popular non-alcoholic drink in Zaun is cherry soda, which is basically a cross between Coca-Cola and cherry Dr. Pepper, but brewed with a mixture of fruits, berries, and a healthy dose of cave-wasp honey and citric acid. It's fizzy, and tastes amazing. It's also extremely cheap, owing to the fact that a lot of the fruits and berries are foraged from the caverns, and the honey is, well, free-range.

In terms of alcohol, there's a huge emphasis on beer, wine, and ale, owing to the fact that these can easily be canned and fermented, and can last for long periods of time without refrigeration. Potato beer is an extremely common, and easy-to-consume source of calories. It's light-bodied, and low-alcohol, with a range of styles, from pale-ale, amber, and dark. There's also a huge emphasis on hops and malted barley, as these are cheap to acquire, and readily available belowground.

Zaun's signature drink is made via fermented cavernfruit. It's very hoppy, fruity, and acidic. It's got a high alcohol content and is a great thirst-quencher. Then there's Devilfruit: a deep red liquor made from a blend of various berries, and a texture and viscosity similar to cherry liqueur. It's usually enjoyed neat, but can be mixed with a splash of mineral water, or served over crushed ice. There's also drinks fermented from unusual ingredients such as mushrooms and fungus. One, known as Dungeon's Kiss, is a cloudy, milky white ale made from the sap of a cave-dwelling species of mushroom. It's extremely thick, the color of a pumpkin spice latte, and guaranteed to get you hammered in five sips.

Zaun's drinks are all brewed, bottled, and served locally. They're a point of pride, and a great way for families to earn their fortune. It's a fiercely competitive industry, and there's a lot of inter-clan rivalry.

In the FnF universe, I imagine Piltover has a very different diet than Zaun, given its bucolic setting, proximity to the sea, and the fresh produce, dairy, and livestock they import from all four corners of Runeterra. The food culture is diverse and beautifully artisanal.

There's a bustling farmer's market, lots of bakeries and cheese shops, and plenty of emphasis on freshness, seasonality, and regionalism. There's also a strong tradition of wineries, distilleries, and breweries. As a city of commerce, they also have a robust, and thriving, shipping and distribution industry.

All of this reflects a more rigid hierarchy of social classes that is more centered on the "white plate" aesthetic. It's all high-quality and extremely nutritious, but it's also very…bland and uniform. In Piltover, there's little to no street food culture, and there's a general disdain for the sort of messy, greasy pap that's associated with Zaun. You don't eat with your hands; you use utensils. You don't slurp, slop, or smack your lips.

And you certainly don't lick the sauce off your fingers.

In Piltover, there are very clear rules about dining etiquette, and the "food world" is just another part of the culture around class distinction, refinement, and propriety. However, the rigidity and regimented nature of their meals can be very stifling, especially when compared to the raucous and rollicking culinary culture of Zaun. It's therefore not uncommon for Piltovans to sneak off Down-Low, roll up their sleeves, and enjoy a bit of greasy, sticky-fingered fun.

Most consider it a calorie-loaded, guilt-free "cheat day."

[wtfgaylittlezooid]

Been seeing a lot of ship charts for AvA and decided to do a relationship chart instead for the Bug Fables AU! I thought it would be fun since I think about the AU all the time and I don't tend to do a lot of ship content for this fandom. That, and it can act as a quick glance to all the characters and their designs.

A few notes: Some of these designs are placeholders or WIPs, I'll update this as I finish up designs. Sprout is the Piglin Child, Entity is the Lucky Block Entity, Maroon is the Corn Dog Guy.

Herobrine, Sprout, Ochre, Maroon, and Ginger are designed by @tatos-stick-pile

And since mostly everyone is shown here, all the species will be under the cut! :D

Alan: Deadlander Omega Second: Tree Bumblebee Chosen: Bald-Faced Hornet Dark: Black and Red Mason Wasp Victim: Cordyceps fungus in a Locust host

Blue: Blue Ghost Firefly Yellow: Caddisfly Red: Convergent Ladybug Green: Grasshopper

Agent: Dragonfly Ballista: Bombardier Beetle Hazard: Oriental Cockroach Primal: Budwing Mantis

Purple: Mothfly / False Citizen King: Violin Mantis Gold: Mantis Nymph Navy: Hierodulas Mantis Orchid: Orchid Mantis Maroon: Ruby Tiger Moth Ochre: Scalloped Oak Moth Ginger: Ruby Tiger Caterpillar

Herobrine: Golden Orb Weaver Spider Spider: Tarantula Skeleton: Deathstalker Scorpion Endie: Water Strider

Sprout / Piglin Kid: Leafbug Entity / Lucky Block: Haunted Cloak / Watcher Titan Ravagers: Amazonian Giant Centipede Reuben: Chomper

[cathedralcomic]

this is more like a personal question, but has mod ever read non-wc books? like ga'hoole and the bloody rabbit book i forgot the name

yes - also including tailchaser’s song, varjak paw, mrs. frisby and the rats of nimh, the plague dogs, wolves of the beyond, dogs of the deadlands, etc. all of which were inspirations for cathedral’s current iteration

[slightlyhopefulromantic]

i was gonna wait until i finished the bitd and deadlands line-ups before posting these, but i'm not gonna get those done before the final season starts, so might as well bite the bullet now XD woohoo, oxventure d&d designs! i'll go into further detail below the cut for all of my thoughts on these designs and reasoning for smaller details, but for now, just know that i will never draw a cape. i simply cannot do it. hoods and weird draped fabric or nothing XD

okay i put like. waaay too many thoughts into a lot of these small details so im gonna allow myself to geek out here X3 firstly - though they're way too small to read properly, i did the little symbol eye shines i used in my first art for them! dob gets music notes, prudence gets fire, corazón gets hearts, and merilwen gets flowers. i usually draw egbert's pupils pretty thin to resemble a reptile, so he just gets normal eye shines, but i probably could have given him some here... he would get suns if i thought of that

dob - muscular in a wiry and dehydrated way, lol, hence having a more defined stomach/hips despite not being as strong as prudence or egbert. he has sad/down-turned puppy dog eyes at all times because i think the big-eyed endearing look is fitting for him, though i do make them darker blue than his canonical baby blues because i just... like how dark blue eyes look, lol. i'm pretty sure he canonically has the stomach scar, and obviously his facial scar has always been there, but i gave him a couple other ones just to show that hes pretty reckless. and he gets freckles because even though they arent mentioned in the dragon dogma's video, i noticed luke added some and. i like freckles a lot

prudence - i've said this before, but i love the thought of pru getting muscular after the werebear bite <3 i just think she should be a little bit hench. as a treat. once again, the heavy stomach scarring comes from the dragon dogma's video, because i found their design choices in that really fun. i change prudence's outfit the most out of any of the characters, just because her canonical outfit confuses me. i'm really bad at understanding/drawing fantasy wear as is, but her fit... i'm lost entirely XD so i free-balled a bit. her inner sleeves that hook around her fingers are based on jane's various prudence looks, and then the looser outer sleeve is just because i love prudence with a dramatic sleeve. originally the colors were closer to her canon outfit, but it just looked messy without all the details of the original, and then i tried red like jane's prudence looks but it didn't contrast enough with her skin. so i restricted them to just deep purples and black with pops of gold and dark magenta!

corazón - what can i say besides. transgender. LMAO honestly though, besides adding the top surgery scars, i just really like his canon look. i simplified the details, obviously, but i really love his big coat and his tall boots and the earrings and the black-on-black-on-black of it all. i didn't particularly feel like drawing hats when i was doing this, lol, so i stuck with a red bandana instead. the beads that are strung from it are black, red, purple, green, and yellow to match their guild's canonical color associations/the colored name plates they get in later seasons :] because corazón is the sentimental sort, even when he won't say it. also he gets a little cateye for his eyeliner, i dunno if i've ever said why i do that before haha

egbert - egbert my dearly beloved. literally just his canon look except he has la vache mauve on his tunic instead of fire! and the nose spikes i give him, i guess, but i forget those aren't canon. i actually usually draw him in mike's egbert get up, with the black robes and the golden dragon sigil, but i kinda wanted to move away from that to lean more into the end of legacy of dragons, where egbert fully commits to never going back to the dragon d'or. also i just love drawing little cow heads <3 also! i like the idea that rather than typical scar tissue, dragonborns grow thicker scales over places where they've been injured. so the thicker patches of small scales on egbert's body are meant to be scars! including his kidney scar, lol. the larger scales and the ones on his face were always there though, that's just dragonborn biology baby

merilwen - if i said i based merilwen's body on cartoon bears, would you forgive me... i just think it's cute LOL tummy <3 for the final dragon dogma's video reference, that's where her freckles and tattoos come from. ellen was right, merilwen with floral tattoos fucking rules. who am i to deny it. as a hairy woman myself, i also like making merilwen a hairy woman. she's a hippie, she would NOT shave. i also really love the red earrings she wears in her canon art, so i tried to carry that through to some other small parts of my drawing for her, and landed on the bands she has on her pants as well as the odd feather for her arrows. fun archery fact, for those who may not know - in modern archery at least, you usually will have a differently colored feather (or for my arrows, rubber fins lol) that indicate how youre meant to string the arrow! so i took advantage of that to give merilwen some more red, hehe

[spacetimesally]

In search of answers, Sally's journey brings her to a vessel junkyard deep in The Deadlands, but what she's looking for is kept hidden here for a reason- namely, Rathbone Blygh, the old cyborgian mercenarial mincer of flesh acting as the dumping ground's junkyard dog in, "Another Man's Treasure"

Welcome to The Deadlands...

major tom's sleepin it off

[kmlaney]

WIP questionnaire

tagged by @coffeewritesfiction and I am so sorry to take this long on a reply. Thanks for the tag!

Tagging @fallenscintilla (if you want! No pressure!) and @waywardwizzard and anyone who wants to!

1. What is the first part of your WIP that you created?

The very first line was: “D’ya think I care how it tastes?” I posted an edited version here. There's a snip of the original here.

For the record, it started as a character background for a TTRPG. In fact, it wasn’t even going to be the character I was going to play. Harrowed (undead/revenant) gunfighter? *eyeroll* Too cliché. I even made a homebrew archetype to play: a “spiritualist” in the late 1800’s sense. But that first line kept bugging me so I figured, okay. Fine. I’ll write this one scene and then work on my spiritualist. 

Yeah. No. I never played the spiritualist.

2. If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

I did all the fan stuff for Phil and Skyfallen, like playlists, faceclaims, all of that. I never did that before. I selected music for the theoretical TV show: main theme, a rotating list of outro/credits roll music, pieces for certain kinds of scenes. So if Skyfallen were a TV series, this would be the theme:

3. What are your favorite characters that you made? Why?

That’s like asking which of my pets was my favorite. I love them all. I guess I loved Phil enough to make them the viewpoint character. They’re a more-mature version of the kind of character I wrote when I was a kid, now with serious problems I can explore as an adult. I like Phil’s father, whom I was determined to fridge in the beginning because fridging is usually a female character. Ha Ha! Then I went and gave him a character arc that could only end in his death so he’s not fridged after all. 

I like Travelling Sam for being a conniving, money-grubbing jerk, but he’s fun to write. I like Eva as Carnival Mom; Maury for being a flamboyant, fun-to-be-around person hiding a serious drinking problem that everyone knows about. I like Doc Butcher for his name, for actually being trained as a vet but caring about everyone, and trying to do his best when he’s in over his head because he can’t do nothing. 

I like Maker Lewis for his change of heart, though he was already on the fence and just needed a shove. And I like Miss Warren for being a nosy reporter whom Phil doesn’t want to like but ends up liking anyway. She also lets me play at muckraking reporter. Choosing words to specifically slant a piece is a load of fun.

4. What other pieces of media do you think your fan base would share?

Skyfallen has its roots in Westerns, so people who like cinematic westerns are a potential fanbase. I include horror, steampunk, and gothic elements, so if your venn diagram of interests includes those things then it might be for you. 

Things I like that influenced or feel like this story: Silverado, The Magnificent Seven, RIPD 2 Rise of the Damned (movies. I hate to admit that last one but it was fun). Deadlands (TTRPG game. I created Phil for this setting). The Dark Tower novels--primarily Wizard and Glass but any of the parts dealing with Roland’s world. 

There is zero romance. Phil’s ace, there is no main love interest, and anyone who gets together does so very off-screen. 

5. What has been your biggest struggle with your WIP?

When writing the draft, the individual scenes flew out of my brain. I could hardly write them fast enough. In deep editing, though, it’s the big-picture stuff I find challenging. Which themes do I want to emphasize and which are less important? Do I really need all this buildup or should I start later? I need to show certain things so the later ones make sense, but that makes it even longer. It’s already very long; shouldn’t I be cutting things down? Argh. It's frustrating.

6. Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

There are animals. Most are utilitarian: Horses, dogs, cats, chickens, cows. There are monsters also (for certain values of “monster”) all along the continuum from “non-sapient animal” through to “self-aware human intelligence.” 

The way they figure into the story is more interesting. In life, Phil liked animals in general and had a special fondness for horses and mules. After dying and coming back reanimated, animals can’t stand to be around them. Phil doesn’t figure it out right away, and it hurts when they do.

7. How do your characters get around? (Ex. Trains, horses, cars, dragons, etc.)

For the area the characters are in for the bulk of the story, most people walk, ride horses, or ride in wagons, carts, or coaches pulled by horses or teams of horses. There are a couple of trains but they are rare. In other areas, trains are common, as are ferries and lake boats. Airships exist; they are novelties and considered simultaneously luxurious and dangerous. In larger cities, along with the horse-drawn vehicles, people have bicycles, rickshaws, pedal-powered rickshaws, and palanquins. Automatons in a variety of configurations may be subbed in for horses or people in any of those conveyances. 

8. What part of your WIP are you working on right now?

I’ve identified some specific foreshadowing that needs to happen. So I need to add that in. There are a few names that aren’t consistent; they’re flagged so I can fix them. I need to put in a few encounters so later ones make sense. It’s not exactly foreshadowing so much as worldbuilding. So editing stuff.

9. What aspects (tropes, maybe) of your WIP do you think will draw people in?

I have a hard time identifying tropes in my work, probably because I’m in the trees, so to speak, and can’t see the forest. Or groves, to push the metaphor. Having said that, here’s an attempt:

Portal/isekai

Found family

Unlikely group of heroes

Humans can be evil; monsters can be sympathetic

Religion, Magic, and cults 

Monsters dwelling among humans

Enemies to not-friends (don’t push your luck)

Things get worse

Everyone has secrets

Lost memories, memory tampering

Weird West

Steampunk and Gothic Horror

Gunslinger/trick shot

Noble Demon/antihero

Good is not nice

I did come up with one of those taglines that you might see on the bottom of the cover of a book: 

“Every Skyfallen has something they want to forget. And everyone in the Mistlands is Skyfallen.”

10. What are your hopes for your WIP?

Originally I was hoping for traditional publishing. I might still try to go that way. I’m also looking into self-pub, and websites that host serial stories. I think this story fits better into a serial format than a traditional book format. I need to make it more coherent (hence editing phase)

[one-with-the-tree]

#59 Zoya

Book name: Dogs of the Deadlands Author: Anthony McGowan

She came out a bit too purple but I'm not gonna go back and change it now. 

It's a bit hard to see but she has heterochromia.

Lineart by Tuketi (DeviantArt)

[always-coffee]

Show Me Your Fucking Heart

Note: This is my newsletter for this week, which I decided to share here, too. If you'd like to subscribed, it's free! (https://buttondown.com/alwayscoffee)

The other day, I wrote this:

Life’s short.

We are all often aching in one way or another.

Send the text. Share the photo. Make a gesture.

Love without hesitation or reservation or regret. Care without holding back.

Pet a dog. Walk barefoot through grass. Make a date. Take a chance. Kiss someone who thinks you hung the moon.

I believe this, 100%.

Showing care is, in my estimation, easy. Give someone a (sincere) compliment. (“I love that color shirt on you!” “You look pretty/handsome!” “I love your brain.”) I have never given an insincere compliment in my life, and I give them all the time. I am unfailingly, sometimes ridiculously, sincere.

Let someone know you’re thinking of them. How? Take two seconds and text them. “Thinking of you — hope your day is good.” Share a silly selfie or a pet photo or a meme! These little things can turn any day around, truly.

Call them. I’m weirdly less good at initiating phone calls, but if you call me and I care, I will pick up the phone. (Have I told you to call me at any point? Congrats, I care.) On tiring drives, I will sit on the phone with a friend, either listening or nattering away. If you need me, I’m there.

Send snail mail! Send a surprise prezzie!

Whenever I get a text from someone I care about, I smile. I know this makes me a dork, but I’m okay with that. I love being thought of. It’s easy to forget, sometimes, that we matter. Or how much. Or to who. These little things are bright constellations, small joys, life rafts.

For me, too, making solid plans is the antidote to a particular heartbreak. When someone is the opposite of reliable, it can make you feel small. There were things in the past that I tolerated and no longer do. But those things left a mark, too. We all have sensitive spots, things that ache when the world shifts a little sideways, like a bad knee in the rain. For me, it’s a solid yes or nothing. I’m exuberant and never go after anything or anyone I don’t fully want. Life’s too short for tepid, and I’ve got better ways to spend my time.

The reverse is also true. Give me a sincere yes and plans. This is the roadmap to my heart. It’s not a difficult path to follow, if you’re paying attention. And chances are, I’ll try to show you, even if I’m shy about it. I appreciate sincerity and certainty. No halfway, no half-measures. Forget the pretty and the polite. Show me your guts, the messy bits, the honest things. And if you say something, mean it—with more than just your mouth.

Little gestures matter. Show up for the people who show up for you. Don’t worry if it’s too much or silly or anything like that. Follow your damn heart, and the rest will sort itself out.

Did you miss my new poem at The Deadlands? You’re in luck. You can read it here: https://thedeadlands.com/issue-35/the-high-priestess/.

[alias-milamber]

The dog gets rewarded when he gets onto his grooming table.

The table for TTRPGs goes where the grooming table goes.

Today the dog is confused and briefly disappointed. (Briefly because he got a reward for jumping down when instructed, and his dissatisfaction rarely lasts beyond the next biscuit).

Deadlands is going quite well.

[workingonit-currently]

Waters, waters, waters

Well Courage needs to get a medical check up but refuses to take her armour off. -Yeah it's going to need to be by her friends, she might be internally waterboarded

Convincing a weird god Si made a deal with to portal them to Courage

Silas is being kind and nice

Aleris arguing against the portal being near water

Dragging Aleris away and through the boat to the portal to get Courage.

Kitty Aleris gripping onto Silas' head

Can they row a boat?

Dristen's just failing to exist. I love Silas' bf.

Bringing Shop and Courage back

Courage meeting Catrain.

Our mission: To go to the Deadlands and investigate someone settled there, suspected cult member.

Alsus is the figurehead of the snake cult -purpose is to turn Alsus into a god. Silas was meant to be a sacrifice to make this happen.

Asha is his second/possible-lover: Non-magic to the point of creating a dead-zone of magic.

Esia is a funding-source of the cult, not sure where she gets it from. -Not sure if she's even magic -not sure where she is

??? -Third member of those close to Alsus, likely a very strong wizard -Person residing in The Siintae Deadlands.

Siintae Deadlands are full of wild magic and such.

Walking through the Etherial Plane

Being immune to demigod that was meant to frighten us

Blink-dogs and Link learning to Blink.

Seeing giant shiny moths.

Arrive in Araxi in the evening

Heading to the tavern to find a place to sleep

Silas just wants to perform and drink in the tavern

Aleris wants to sing

Renting a big room for all of us

Weird bar rule:

"Don't ask about the squid head."

"Please clean rooms after use, we don't want to deal with your bodily fluids."

Silas and Aleris performing.

Aleris got a 18 with a minus 1

Silas got a 8 with a plus 6.

In the corner there's 2 people discussing the origins of a folk song that becomes a fist fight

Retiring to our rooms.

So funnnnnn. This will be fun.

[semi-imaginary-place]

more ffxvi liveblogging spoilers!

oh no clive is getting inspired by cid's ideals and believing in them. cid is so dead! one he has no more narrative worth and nothing more to teach clive its game over for him.

xvi is pulling a fe gaiden learn to live without the gods. learn to use agriculture to grow your own food. clive you fool you should absolutely be asking for more concrete proof and then look to get it independently verified that the mothercrystals are destroying the world before just taking someone's word.

ffxvi is really good at making sidequests that i don't want to do.

if moore and sabreque hate masterless branded so much than that arrangement with jill would have worked better than clive running around on his own.

i does bear saying that bearers in sabreque and rosaria at least, are slaves. to the bought, sold, and commanded as their masters see fit. like in rosaria any masterless bearer's ownership defaulted to the state.

there's something to be said about how... clique-y? or maybe just xenophobic everyone is. clive is soooo lucky that he's got friends of friends of friends who all want to help him and let him into the network. he's out here collecting pokemon badges and those badges really do make the difference between night and day. clive would have gotten no where without cid and his network or network of favors. part of it in probably everyone hates bearers but im starting to think most people hate outsiders in general. local politics (the tokens) are more powerful than bigotry against bearers,

wandering around sabreque, keeping the imperial armor could have come in handy.

"The way I understood it is that magic requires the user to draw upon ambient aether, either through a crystal or innately (Bearers/Dominants). Since the Deadlands are bereft of aether, there’s nothing to draw upon = no magic." (StickyBarb). Hmm that would mean all Dominants are Bearers, they simply aren't branded as such because Bearer is a political/class term and Dominants are too useful. Still doesn't quite explain Clive since no one knew he was Ifrit's Dominant.

why do i get the feeling this whole destroy the mothercrystal terrorist act is going to go poorly. wait that white on cid's arm is he turning to stone.

aetherflood/poisoning might not harm you dominants but what about torgal? more fuel to the magic dog fire i guess.

just like the ancient technology the only thing that can destroy the mother crystal is eikon power. the fallen, the mural at the phoenix gate sanctum apoca....thy??, the eikons, the wraiths, the mothercrystals, the game is telling us that it is all connected.

i was just thinking its rare that videogames have something beautiful be bad and that could be an interesting take. but also what if cid got it all wrong. what if the mothercrystals were channeling aether to seal something much worse and we just broke that seal. maybe whoever is trapped is trying to use clive. speculation on my part but theory crafting is half the fun

ok evil ancient civilization got sealed away by the mothercrystals and is trying to posses clive to get out. typhon fight was pretty cool best typhon yet.

how convenient that clive in unconscious when joshua shows up. joshua seriously on some main character quest to save the world. goes and seals the big bad evil inside himself. goddam. i'd say a normal person would get crushed by rubble but none of the other stuff killed him so who knows.

hmm i think you guys might have caused the collapse of a nation. with sabreque weakened dhalmek or woelod are just going to invade and i'll be more of the same. that plan of your only work if you destroy all of the mothercrystals in tandem thus maintaining the balance of power and political stability. when a regime collapse, even a corrupt bad one things usually get worse as local warlords and gangs move in. well actually dhalmek is a republic not a theocracy so at least there's that.

timeskip???

yup clive takes up cid's mantle

doing timeskips is fine but you have to make them count and so far im not convinced of either of the timeskips. it doesn't feel 13 years and it doesn't feel 5 years. i could have easily been 8 years and 2 years and would have been just as believable.

oh right sabreque took the crystal dominion. dhalmek's not going to be happy about that.

deus ex fortune 500 uncle. clive its rather rude to not visit your uncle for 18 years or at least let him know that you are alive and only show up when you need a favor. very rude.

mark of the guardians. sounds like a great way for the cops to identify you. wade is right though, old soldiers, its been 18 years. any of the original shields are at least in their 40s.

what annoys me is that even before the timeskip all the villagers were talking about how the imperials were coming after the bearers, all while hideout was talking about needing people. and well titan crushed the place but now its the exact same thing. there's a place for them to go so why doesn't clive talk with wade about getting these people out of rosaria.

CLIVE! YOU DIDN'T EVEN WRITE TO YOUR UNCLE.

hmm 20 years since rosaria fell. i stand by what i said earlier it doesn't feel that long. clive still feels more like 30 than 35

jill's killing the pope. hell yeah.

you'd think with the ifrit powers and the volcano aesthetic, clive would be resistant to heat and fire and lava

yeah its real fucking weird that jill didn't try and rescue these women she'd spent 13 years protecting. writer! why would you do this to her character. when introduced as shiva she reminded me of those bulls bounds in irons so strong that they no longer needed the physical ones. shiva could have killed the leadership at any time, she couldn't have killed all of them but she could have taken out a lot and she didn't because other's would have paid for her actions. that's her establishing character moment. but then the writers didn't do anything with that for 6 years.

what did joshua do? he raised his hand the lava went crazy and then a fire thing showed up to fight. wait no joshua took off the brown cloak, who was that.

oh he's still alive. go girl! go! kill him! kill him dead! woooooo!

mhmm the mothercrystals are definitely seals on ultima and for every one clive and jill break, a greater burden in placed on joshua who is using his body as a seal.

20 years and Anabella looks exactly the same. I'm surprised that son isn't older, like he looks 10. you're telling me Anabella didn't immediately jump the emperor but waited 9 years. I heard speculation at the beginning that Anabella isn't actually Clive's biological mother (well she's not an actual mother either) or that there's some sort of hereditary drama with the Rosfields given how much Clive doesn't look like Anabella and how much Joshua doesn't look like Elwin, and also how young Anabella looked when Clive was 15 but that could also just be the jrpg thing you can never tell. … did old man Elwin Rosfield have Clive out of wedlock? would help explain why Anabella hated him so much, why she says his bloodline in filthy, and why she said something along the lines of that he's the son of a whore.

oh right jill is from the north lands essentially taken as a political hostage so that her family and the other northerners don't attack rosaria. weird how this isn't addressed either. like you'd expect her to idk have opinions or something on the people that ripped her away from her family even if the archduke treated her well.

vivian where were at the beginning of the game

kupo? hugo! invasion of rosalith, is this the first time clive has been back to his hometown?

and of course jill has to play damsel. she coudl have fought harder than that. blow them up.

thats a point for the magic dog hypothesis

i might be slow on this but maybe clive can't summon ifrit because joshua sealed ultima and ifrit is tied to ultima. but clive also still has ifrit's combat abilities which is why i forgot he couldn't summon ifrit because he only couldn't use that power in cutscenes.

mythos. clive's head voice/ultima/hooded man also called him that. and i think that was the man from the opening round table. one of ... waloed's. a normal man would die of bloodloss from having his hands cut off but hugo is a dominant, but i dont think he's getting those back.

in and out eh i guess we wont be having any revolutionary or nationalist sentiments today.