#lake monster AU

[avirxy]

school is killing me this is all I got

[thosetrollkids]

inspired by the recent eclipse, a sphinx boy!

and hey! guess what! i now have a ko-fi! if you like my art and want to support my little corner of the web, you can check it out- it's very much appreciated :3

[yourdragonsareglowing]

sketch dump! some warmups that just turned into a doodle page

here is my ko-fi! commissions are open, simply working on the pages :)

[eurazba]

Drawing of Gargoyle!Toby, Sphinx!Jim, and Harpy!Claire for my darling @thosetrollkids and their Monster Kids au :3

[makoto-kaiser-blog]

🥷NISSHOKU OF THE LAGOON🐟

I PROBABLY MISS SPELLED HIS NAME IM SRRY TwT

THIS CAME OUT SO CRINGY AND MESSY.... PERFECT XDD

I HOPE YOU LIKE IT SORRY ITS A LIL LATE @emhm TwT;

NOW ONTO THE NEXT!!! IM FALLING BEHIND TODAY TwT

[bizarreauhavre]

[horse-plinko]

Djoah week day 5: Monster au / Angst

Idk how I would separate this but erm impalement! (Sort of minor)

It’s probably not that bad but whatevsies chat

[glitchedfoxx]

been working on my other aus here and there while I take a break from writing, a handful of my monster fellas <3

[cryptids-of-spielzeit]

Spielzeit Bestiary #3: The Dünnhalsig

There are a multitude of lakes and rivers near Spielzeit, with a few being home to a few supposed beasties. The "cursed" Lake Dünn, a popular fishing spot in spite of these superstitions, is now said to be the home of the long necked cryptid known as the Dünnhalsig.

Described by eyewitnesses as being a dinosaur-like being with either a pale red or pale yellow coloring, a few speculate that it is a living fossil, a Brontosaurus, to be specific. Though, no one really knows for sure, as these same witnesses have only seen the head and neck of the creature.

Another thing to note is that the creature is incredibly tiny, the length of the neck up to the tip of the head being only about 2-3 feet. It seems to be docile as well, only ever swimming up to the fishermen, then submerging. One eyewitness, Paul Hinkley, had this to say about his experience.

"I was minding my own business, it was rainy, perfect day to catch a biggun. So I sit myself at the dock, and I'm just waiting for a bite. As I'm sitting there, I hear a muffled sound. I didn't know what in the hey it was, until I looked down. There was this thing in the water, just sitting there, staring at me. I can never forget those eyes. Those incredibly human eyes. It was a good 5 minutes before the thing swam off. I left immediately."

Ranger Angelo Floros did a sweep of the lake, eventually stating this the next town meeting.

"In my team's search through the lake, we found no 'long necked thing'. We did, however, find a log. A log with little googly eyes on top. That is what you all saw. No further comment."

Regardless of what Ranger Floros said, most of the townsfolk are certain that there's something in the lake. And that something is the Dünnhalsig. Do you believe?

[quirinah]

when magical sneakers from outer space gave dib superpowers that one time

future gaz design from that one piece of concept art

[avirxy]

he’s flabbergasted

[thosetrollkids]

MONSTOBER: DESIGNS

Part 1: Teen Cast!

HELLOOOOO everybody! Welcome to my project, Monstober! A series of several posts with large, in depth looks at different aspects of my AU, Monster Kids, that I wrote during October this year. Special thanks to @eurazba for listening to me ramble over all this and helping with the AU over the years <3

This post will be going over the general monster designs for notable teen characters, as well as some thoughts as to why I chose said designs :D

There will be a second post for the main adult cast, and once posted, you can find it linked here :)

Jim / Toby / Claire

Jim Lake Jr (Sphinx): It's him! The poster boy! Wahoo! Honestly, I don't have many notes for his design process, because his design has stayed relatively similar since the early drafts. His was the very first design, and other than being a typical lion/eagle sphinx for like. two drawings, and then a panther/blackbird for two more, once the snow leopard/blue jay combo was struck, he's only really changed in small ways. I chose a blue jay, because they're one of my favorite birds, they're blue, and I'd used them to be an accent to Jim in a previous drawing. Snow leopards are also my favorite big cat! So similar reasoning for that particular aspect. If I were to design him today, blank slate, I miiiight have changed his cat species, but I still am way too attached to the leopard/jay combo.

Toby Domzalski (Gargoyle): Toby's design also hasn't changed much! The main trio haven't, other than minor adjustments. He originally had yellow eyes, but they're back to standard green. He also used to have larger wings, and while I liked the idea of the main three being able to fly together, I decided to go with a different route as I leaned into his design looking more aquatic, and he instead has wing shaped back fins! They fold down and sit under his clothes, as he only really can use them while swimming.

Claire Nuñez (Harpy) Also another design I haven't changed since conception! Harpies were always something cool to me, and I was inspired by an illustration of harpies in a mythology book I had bought at the time. Her design was originally just 'bird' until I tired to find a more specific species that fit. I landed on barn owls, and coincidentally, they are also associated with brujeria/witchcraft in Mexico! Win-win. With her stronger connection to magic overall, she's also the only member of Team Trollhunter that can fly reliably; her magic feeds her energy enough to keep in the air (Jim's wings are too small for anything besides light gliding and cushioning falls).

Steve / Eli / Krel / Aja

Steve Palchuk (Faun): Steve's design was always pretty formed in my head. For the guy that tries so very hard to be an all-American boy, an icon of that is the whitetail deer buck, and it very quickly fell into place! His design is fairly simple, which is why it works so well for him, IMO. Fun fact, he has a set of scars on his cheek from the equivalent of the fight he had with Jim in S1. More to expand on in a later comic, >:3c

Eli Pepperjack (Bat Humanoid): Eli was actually also a sphinx originally, but I wanted Jim to stay fairly unique among the main teens, so my follow up design was something more batlike! I did do plenty of research for monster bats, or hybrid bat monsters, but what research I could do didn't produce much (then again, could always be wrong!), so I went with 'attributes'. He's based on a Little Brown Bat. He little >:) His wings are also not capable of flight, they're basically large hands, all the better to hunt down creepers with, my dear.

Krel & Aja Tarron (Amphibious humanoids): WAHOOOOO!!!! I'm very proud of these, because you have NO IDEA how many months I struggled to find a design I liked for them. They have been (checks notes) spidertaurs, a few other passes of various insectoid tries, I was going to attempt something more seal like, because I knew the main group's designs were already mammal-heavy, and something aquatic or insectoid was what I wanted to balance the group out. Then my beloved @eurazba, listening to me ramble one night, helped me come to the idea of their 'human' transductions looking closer to old monster movies! Creature from Black Lagoon was an easy pick, I did some research about CFBL and Shape of Water (thanks Del Toro), and bada bing, bada boom! My fishy twins! Also Krel is the only one wearing shoes. Just realized this...

Mary / Darci / Shannon

Mary Wang (Dryad): Mary has also gone through a lot of changes (turns out, I was very indecisive outside of the main trio, AJDJSBSJFHB). She was actually a -taur alongside Darci! Specifically a unitaur (saw a lot of alternate Monster Falls art of Mabel Pines as one, and I really liked the idea. The overall AU was inspired by the Gravity Falls AU, now you know!) She stayed that for a while, then also went through some bug-like redesigns, and then a couple months back, I decided on a dryad! Before that point, I was trying to stay strictly to animalistic monster designs, but it became a little too confining, so she exploded into my sketchbook and became real. Her tree is a california redbud, and her 'antlers' are like the branches of the tree, and leaves/flowers bloom in time with the season on them. The hooves were based on a Zelda design from an artist I liked a lot (truffe.art on IG!)

Darci Scott (Praying Mantis-taur): HERE COMES THE BUG PAYOFF. Some of you may remember my design for Darci hasn't changed for quite some time, and while I liked the look of the cervitaur (a centaur, but deer), it didn't feel... as unique as I wanted? And I was still missing my BUG. So, debating over this, I did a few passes of her mixed with a bee, spider, etc etc... and then once again, @eurazba was like "hey! praying mantis." and I fell in LOVE with the concept. (Very quickly sketched her up as I was doing these sheets, actually NDJSNJKJD)

Shannon Longhannon (Gorgon): Last design of the group, another that has hardly changed since conception. Nagas, gorgons, lamias- whatever they're called, I love the visual of a reptilian character slinking around gracefully, and she helped balance out all the mammalian designs as well. She was originally a typical green/yellow snake, but when I inevitably color her, I picture something more ruddy, reddish brown, to match her hair :) She indeed is able to turn someone to stone, but as she was not born a gorgon, this ability is dulled, and only lasts for a few hours, working only if she focuses completely on doing so to someone. She's taken to wearing shades more often to not scare people who don't know this.

[eurazba]

A belated b-day gift for @thosetrollkids and their Monster Kids Au, the whole Jlaireby family goes on a autumn walk

[maximuszilla]

All right. Let me try this one more time. October, Jim Lake Junior turns into a Werewolf and Claire Nuñez is a vampire. They were enemies once, and in time, friends, and lovers. Their enemy is humanity. They all tried to hunt them down, but none can slay them. Soon, they have a new enemy, an enemy that is hidden below us.

So romantic Jim is a werewolf and Claire is a vampire. I hope you guys like this idea.

[softquietsteadylove]

For the wildfire one. Gil’s alarm goes off. Out of instinct Thena slightly jumps ready to run out too. but when she realizes she may asks herself if she would go back

Thena slurped up her spaghetti loudly. It was just the absolute best whenever Gil made it, and it was everything she missed while she was out patrolling: it was hot, it was meat that wasn't dehydrated, and it was easy to chew.

Gil said nothing across from her. If he thought her manners were off-putting then he was too sweet to say anything about it. He ate much more politely, twirling his fork and everything.

This was their third dinner together this month.

She was circling tighter and tighter, going less far out each time. And she was stopping by his cabin at least once a week, sometimes twice if she was feeling restless.

He always greeted her warmly, welcomed her inside, asked if she'd eaten and if she wanted to shower. If she was outstaying her welcome with him, she had no way of knowing.

A sharp and rapid beeping sounded from close to the door.

They both looked up sharply, the sound eliciting an instant and instinctive response. They were both trained to recognise that sound above all others.

Gil leapt up from his seat, abandoning his meal and running to his beeper. "Brush fire, there are at least two families in the area we have to make sure don't get trapped."

Thena's gut clenched. Families getting trapped by wildfire were exactly the reason she was no longer part of search and rescue. If anything, her boys were probably already out there. Gil was part of local forces. She didn't have to go out there. She didn't even know if she could anymore.

"You don't have to."

She hadn't even realised it, but she was beside him, leaning over to see the info coming through to him. She had jumped up to respond to the call just like he had. It had happened as automatically as the breath she took.

Gil looked at her more directly. "Thena, look at me."

She must have looked insane for him to be speaking in soft tones, trying to talk her down like a caged animal. "I'm fine."

"You don't have to go out there," he reasserted, squeezing her shoulder. "You're not on rescue duty, you're patrol. The fire is a freak accident, probably a camp that wasn't extinguished properly. It'll be an easy job."

But all she could think about was the hot lick of flames around her, the harsh glow of red and yellow searing her eyes. It consumed her nights, kept her waking in a cold sweat. She loathed and missed it.

But then she thought of Gil. He hadn't been called out in the time she'd known him, at least not for her to witness so directly. He wasn't technically search and rescue--he wasn't a jumper. He was part of ground forces. He had a team, and reported to the local station, and he had training and turnout gear just like the rest of them.

But the idea of him walking into that monster, flames biting at him like white hot teeth--she shook her head.

"I'll be back as soon as I can." He patted her hand, which she was just realising she had put on his arm. Her subconscious was clawing at him. He started to pull away, the soft cotton of his t-shirt sliding out from under her fingers.

"Don't." Both of them were surprised that she said it. She didn't sound like herself. She sounded like a trembling thing, begging him not to go and do his job. Her hand tightened against his arm, "don't."

"Thena," he lamented, already trying to gently peel her off of him. "I have to. But-"

"No!" she snapped, and at least sounded more like herself when she did. Last thing she wanted was to sound like some crying pup with him. "Gil, if it's a brush fire you know it's already twice the size it was when they spotted it."

"You don't know that-"

"Yes, I do!" she bellowed, stepping forward and forcing him back. "I know the wind, I know how it moves with the fire. I know how it swallows things and I felt the air out there today! It was prickly, I should have known better."

Gil's brow furrowed, "lightning? But the towers would have-"

"Sometimes they don't even bother looking, she dismissed. She had radioed in to them and been dismissed enough to know that they were not overly concerned with routine checks. "There must have been a quick strike that started something in the dry lands."

Gil looked at his watch. "That's a lot of time for it to spread, if it's not a small brush fire."

Thena looked out the window of the cabin. There wasn't any smoke, which meant the wind was in their favour. "I have to tell my guys. And you should tell the station to call and ask if there's been any precipitation reports from the other towers."

"What are you doing?" he asked as she went to her bag, digging through it. "Thena?"

"I'm coming with you," she snarled, digging out the heavy gear in her pack that took up more than half the room in it. It wasn't the heaviest, and it wasn't even necessarily the right suit for what they were going to face out there. But it was still fire protection. "You'll need a tracker with you if there are civilians out there."

"Thena, you're not cleared for duty."

She sighed as she pulled on a longer sleeved shirt and then her jacket on over it. She pulled off the elastic she had around her wrist at all times and dragged her hair into a low ponytail she could tuck into her jacket back. "I am."

"But I thought-"

"I was cleared for duty last year, but I didn't think I could take it."

Not even her old crew knew this. She had failed her initial psych eval after her last rescue had resulted in three very young casualties--that part was real. And she had been relegated to patrol duty as a means of sequestering but not firing her. It wasn't good PR to fire a rescuer with severe PTSD (or PTSS, it was being called now, she'd heard).

But she had been cleared to return to work last spring. Technically, she was fit for duty. The only one who didn't think so, was she herself. So she had asked to remain on area patrol. She didn't mention it to her old station, or her boys--no one. No one needed to know she woke every night, shaking and screaming. No one needed to know she couldn't search or rescue ever again.

At least not until she'd gotten Gil out of his cellar and he'd held her like she was the only thing standing between him and death. One stupid hug and she was going soft again.

"I didn't know."

"No one does," she sighed. She stood, kicking off her boots so she could get the incredibly heavy pants on and up her legs. She secured the suspenders and tipped her shoes upward again to jam her feet in. "But I think this is bigger than they even know right now. Finding those families in time will need all hands on deck."

Gil just nodded, also gearing up. He only ever lazed around in standard issue clothes until he could well and truly go to bed anyway. He got his own suspenders clipped as well. "You sure you want to do this?"

Did she see those kids' faces every time she closed her eyes?--yes. But would she think about these families as well if she didn't go with him now?--very much.

"I have to, and so do you," she sufficed to say. "You ready?"

He nodded, pulling his helmet and goggles off the hook by the door last. "You?"

She ignored the question, unclipping her helmet from the outside of her bag and fishing her goggles out of her jacket pocket. It felt familiar, but also foreign after two whole years without it. "Let's go."

They left, Gil not even locking up behind them. He all but threw himself into his truck, Thena climbing in beside him. He picked up the radio first and foremost. "This is Gil, two miles off the 147 southbound. I can hit the lake area and move from there, ETA ten minutes."

"Copy that Gil, we'll have units meet you out there."

He set the radio down, driving full speed as far as the truck could get them before they would have to go on foot. He barely even glanced at her. "Hey."

She didn't respond verbally, gripping the door as they bounced around.

"Wolf," he addressed more fittingly for the situation. He caught her eye darting over to him and decided it was enough. "There's no room for pride out there. It gets too much, you tell me and you fall back. Clear?"

She smiled. The last thing she needed was coddling, no matter how sweet, or well intended. And of course Gil - the big, sweet softie - knew that. She puffed, "clear."

"Copy," he also puffed out a faint, sardonic burst of air. They both had to steel themselves for the fight ahead. But at least they were on the same page. They were ready to be a real team.

And she could have no better partner out there.

[bizarreauhavre]

The mysterious lake, 1949, (surrealist movie).