#ichor

[epicthemusicalstuff]

My little brother realized something I did not which was the trident in the Vengeance Saga cover has blood over it (Poseidon's blood) and it is red.

Which also means that Zeus probably didn't turn Athena into a mortal to kill her in the Wisdom saga and this is probably just a stylistic choice by Jay where gods bleed red so our girl Athena is fine

Yes! So there is a reason as to why Ichor (the gods blood) is not shown as gold in Epic! This is because back when they were making the animatics for God Games, they tested out golden blood, but it always tended to look more like mustard then golden blood, so to make it easier for the audience they decided to go with red for the blood! (Both Athena and now Poseidon!)

[spotaus]

A second year (or, second time-) of doing a card for the @xpau-official season!! This time, featuring Koda, Ichor, Tulpa, and Pretender!

I like to think that Koda (despite facing gods) is weirded out by the other versions of Ichor, so it's hard to get them to come to events! Tulpa and Pretender have heard a bazillion things about Koda (Ichor's a proud monster,<3) so they're curious to finally meet the little human! Koda was bribed via candy cane.

And! Their sweaters!

Koda: "Ho Ho Holy Shit"

Ichor: "God, Let This Merry Gentleman Rest"

Tulpa: They're just a gingerbread man :]

Pretender: "Gay Apparel"

[ns2dstudios]

I'm seeing ichor discourse making rounds again, where people say I as the animator either didn't know or did not do my research.

I want to say this one last time. ​

I knew from the start that ichor is popularly described as golden.

Gold was considered among other colors like blue, black, and shades of red to gold, but gold looked like mustard against pale skin, got lost in Zeus's gold lightning in God Games and got lost against Poseidon's gold trident.

Jay and I worked and brainstormed tirelessly on how to show ichor, so please do not say we didn't do enough research and communication when it took days for us to come up with a decision on the color.

An entire sequence of Athena with red mixed with glowing gold was even rendered but cut due to the blood looking like lava.

Ultimately, it was decided that to tell the story to the general public, who may not know about greek mythology and lore about ichor was more important, so red became the final color my animations.

It provided much needed contrast against skin and conveys the extent of damage instantly.

If it helps, look at the trident in the 600 strike finale and the Vengeance saga album again and you'll see flecks of gold in the red blood.

Thank you all for the support and understanding.

#epicthemusical #animation #godgames #600strike

[greekceltic]

Still playing with that ichor/blood battery effect my friend's OC has.

Junior doesn't turn into anything as far as I know- but giving it shapes is fun.

[ironical-ghosty]

Twisted Rodger~

[coelacurse]

And after a long wait Ichor is finally done!! I have no idea why but his design genuinely just took the longest. But the goober is now here!!

Lmao I have kinda decided that the crescent moons on the shoes aren’t exactly… apart of the shoes? He just kinda hovers above them like the weird hover version of heelys lmao.

It also isn’t shown but there is like, wing decals on the back of the little caplet? Since Ichors wings are retractable!

Also the other two in tandem with Ichor as a treat! I love my goobers and actively throw them at walls LOL.

[softdraws]

This is my girl Ichor, I think she is my only elf OC!

Have a bit of a story I am working on for her as well!

[shr1mply-here]

RUN!

WHAT DO YOU *huff* THINK WE’RE TRYING TO DO?!? *Wheeze*

OOoo… hand-holding.. ✨

*Huff!* oh god—! *wheeze* whys it so hard to breathe right now?!—

Shrimpo?.. are you okay?

Do.. *huff* I LOok okay?!— *Wheezy cough*

*shrimpo’s voice sounds very strained and sore.

D-don’t worry! I’ll save you!—

(you idiot, I’m here to save you.)

SPLAT!!

H-huh?.. wh-who is that?

(Ohgodthatssick—)

Theses silly things never learn~!

Hehehehehehe!

You two are in quite the conundrum!

[ph0enix-12]

Your victory shall be bathed in your blood.

[fearmeeeee]

[beecreeper]

Yaaay I'm soooooo excited I got to do an art trade with @m0nstarzz because I love Ichor's design SO muuuuuuuch 💕 The bone jewelry especially is just SO cool I love her

[vestatheartist]

Yeah I couldn`t pass this scene so here is my obligatory guttered fish. (not very happy with how this turned out) Still unclear on the colours. Reddish skin might represent deep sea fish and I thought about his hair being dark red but then thought that the sea foam might work as well. So if you will share your opinions with me it would be nice (Also unsure if ichor is supposed to look like that, feel free to correct me)

[spotaus]

Out with the old, in with the new, y'know? (Aka, say hello to my new Banner! Thank u Ancha + Papil + anyone else watching this chaos unfold-)

Ramble about these guys under the cut because I love adding lore to posts!!!

Okay. First things first, it was HARD picking a reasonable amount of ocs/aus to include in this. I left out a few of my pet projects, but settle on (left to right) Phishbone, Pretender, Ichor, Ec-4o!Blue, Tulpa, and New Age!Nightmare in the end. The first 3 are ocs, the last 3 multiverse aus!

Phishbone is kinda just a weird outcode Papyrus. He's the multiverse's conflict resolver, because he'll stick people into his portable pocket dimension (the cube he carries) and make them complete puzzles until they've resolved their problems! He can use any soul trait magic too, just out of sheer luck from what he was taught in his au!

Pretender is a Sans from the au Doppletale, a horror-based au in which the Monsters are doppelganger of sorts, locked underground. In order to escape they have to Be Human, and in order to look human they have to eat human flesh. Pretender is one of the few monsters who has sworn off eating human meat, and he helps the last fallen human (K, from @/oodlesndoodles is usually my go-to human for the True Ending, but Ozzy from @/mylackofgrammeristerrifying is the other human-) His other humanoid form is my baby boy baby, but I can't draw humans like. Ever. So he stays like this!

Ichor is from Catacombtale, an au where the Monsters are Gods and descendants of gods, locked away by Mortals. Ichor (once known as Sans/Punishment) was a God of the afterlife with his brother (Reward/Papyrus) but he had his magic limited by mortals using golden chains. Now he goes by Ichor (or, Pun, to the Hero) and just tries to give any fallen mortals Hints on how to survive the trials of his fellow gods. (Sad old man, my longest-running oc in this cursed place <3)

Blue is from a multiverse story, Ec-4o.verse. It's dystopian, apocalyptic, sci-fi, and post-war, in which monster magic was spread out across the world. This grasp of magic made tech much more advanced, to the point of sentient robots (Ecto). A war broke out, Yadayada, Blue was born during the end of it and grew up in the aftermath. He loves technology and is obnoxiously good at his work, no matter how many people beat him up about it. With his brother and the weird hermit he moves in with (Dust) he can unintentionally unravel the mysteries of the war!

Tulpa is from DreamEater AU, another multiverse story. In this, Dream was injured in a retreat away from his brother, and ended up paralyzed and alone in another au. Fresh, unknowing of who Dream was, decided to swap hosts and use Dream. Ofc, when he bit into the golden apple, he basically got addicted. He sticks around and Dream often wrestles for control, until they come to an agreement that Fresh will move the body, Dream will speak and try to live his life. Over time, Fresh notices just how thinly worn Dream is and decides to give him a hand with starting to say no to people and take rest and think about himself for once. Eventually, the two are so close it's hard to tell where Dream starts and Fresh ends, hense the nickname of Tulpa for the two of them!

Nightmare, from New Age AU, is my newest but one of my favorites. It's a medieval-set au where he abd Dream are princes, set to inherent the throne. Dream will lead, Night his advisor. Only, the 0rophecy meant to lend Dream his power talks of death and sacrifice, so Night acts to stop Dream... by eating the apple that would give him powers instead. Unable to control the magic, Nightmare finds himself much older and much stronger than be was 2 seconds ago. He ends up having to rule like this, sending hid brother away lest sonething awful overcome him. And he's bettering the kingdom, hiring criminals. Until his apple magic... wears off. Leaving him at age 13, the year he was when he took the throne.

Anyways yeah they're all my favorites ever, hope this one is fun!!! (Feels good to put my sillies up on the space instead of N lol-)

[deathlessathanasia]

Some references to divine blood/ichor that might give a clue on what colour(s) it is supposed to be. I'm simply collecting the English translations of a few excerpts and I have yet to check the Greek text for any of these:

"The immortal blood flowed from the divinity [Aphrodite]--ichor, which alone flows in the blessed gods. For they do not eat grain nor drink shining wine; and for this reason they are bloodless and are called immortals. … And Iris, with feet like the wind, taking her up, led her out of the throng weighed down with pain, her beautiful skin blood-dark" - Homer, Iliad, trans. Caroline Alexander;

"It sprang up new-formed when the flesh-tearing eagle caused bloody ichor from the suffering Prometheus to drip to the ground on the Caucasian crags. Its flower rises on twin stalks a cubit high; in colour it resembles the Korykian crocus, and the root in the earth is like newly-cut flesh. Like the dark moisture from an oak on the mountains, she had gathered its sap in a Caspian shell to work her magic …" - Apollonios Rhodios, Argonautica, Trans. Richard Hunter;

"As he was heaving up great boulders to prevent the Argonauts from reaching anchorage, he knocked his ankle on the sharp point of a rock, and from it flowed ichor like melting lead." - Apollonios Rhodios, Argonautica;

[greekceltic]

Building on some descriptions Thema tossed at me ichor vampire?? Dunno they're headless because I didn't feel like drawing heads

[lyculuscaelus]

So I keep seeing the discussion of ichor’s color around, which is agreed by almost everyone that it’s golden, but it’s still weird no one has provided a source for reference. So if any of you can help with that, please tell me the source material and quote the corresponding lines; and if you cannot—here’s something I have found, just for your information:

When it comes to ichor, it’s only natural to refer to this part in book 5 of the Iliad, where Aphrodite was wounded by Diomedes (line 339–342):

… ῥέε δ᾽ ἄμβροτον αἷμα θεοῖο ἰχώρ, οἷός πέρ τε ῥέει μακάρεσσι θεοῖσιν: οὐ γὰρ σῖτον ἔδουσ᾽, οὐ πίνουσ᾽ αἴθοπα οἶνον, τοὔνεκ᾽ ἀναίμονές εἰσι καὶ ἀθάνατοι καλέονται. The divine blood of the god (goddess) flowed out, The ichor, such as the kind that flows in all blessed gods— For they neither eat bread, nor drink fiery wine, Therefore they are bloodless, and are called immortals.

But I fail to find a more explicit description in the rest of the book, and even here the color is not described. All you know is that it’s not blood, but it functions like it. So maybe the color isn’t really specified in Homer’s time? I’m not sure…

So then I begin to wonder which god other than Aphrodite and Ares got was known to have bled. Naturally, Prometheus came to mind (thank you @simugeuge for suggesting this). So while I looked up Hesiod’s Works and Days and didn’t find any description either, an interesting part in Apollonius Rhodius’s Argonautica got my attention (book 3, line 851–853):

πρωτοφυὲς τόγ᾽ ἀνέσχε καταστάξαντος ἔραζε  αἰετοῦ ὠμηστέω κνημοῖς ἔνι Καυκασίοισιν  αἱματόεντ᾽ ἰχῶρα Προμηθῆος μογεροῖο. The first-born (of the herb) sprouted from the blood-red ichor of Prometheus in distress, dripping to the ground by the flesh-eating eagle, on the cliffs of Caucasus. (frick Apollonius Rhodius and his wild sequence of words)

Everything points to the word, αἱματόεντ’, or its nominative singular form, αἱματόεις, -όεσσα, -όεν. It is clear that this is αἱματο- (stem from αἷμα, “blood”) plus this set of endings of the adjective. So it’s something blood-like. Now, if you look up a dictionary, say, LSJ or Middle Liddell, you will find that it means “blood-red, or of blood” when describing colors. Which means, in Apollonius Rhodius’s account, the ichor is blood-red.

So, I still don’t know where exactly is ichor depicted as golden, but at least we now have one ancient Greek account that paints the ichor in red. Is that enough for reference? I don’t know.