#sparkyopteryx

[shadedgarden]

@sparkyopteryx and I went to another park on another day, where I noticed these fantastic lichen and moss formations. I had to stop and take pictures. A heart shaped moss? Super cute!

[art-dumpster-fire]

@sparkyopteryx and I are working on a sort of story, or at least world building with some small plot within it. It's fun to daydream about the scenarios that might happen. Here we see a cyborg dumped at the backdoor of a mad scientist's secret strong hold. Is the body rigged with a bomb? Is it a message from his enemy? This isn't a hospital or a biowaste facility, and no one knows he's here - or so he thought. He can't just leave the man there either, attracts too much attention. There's only one thing to do...

[bluebudgie]

If they already haven't been asked by the time you receive this, 3 and 13 for Lahpp and ANY question you really want to answer that hasn't been answered yet for Petthri!

Hi thank you so much for the ask! So about Lahpp...

3. How did you choose their name?

Also very vaguely answered here where he too falls into the "do whatever until a name comes out" category.

Once again I must reiterate that I did not notice the unfortunate similarity to the word "lab" until weeks later. He's a chemist. His name has been the target of many bad jokes. I've kinda grown attached to it by now (guy's been around for almost 6 years now) but man. Not my brightest character naming moment.

13. How far past the canon events that take place in their world have you extended their story, if at all? 

He was always meant to be just "some background dude" battling his own personal struggles removed from the canon main plot. The kind of guy you could slap into about everyone's setting and it wouldn't change a thing because he's just... there.

But obviously by virtue of being in a world with an existing plot, there are canon story events that have an influence on his story too. Grew up in Thaumanova, so the whole thing blowing up obviously became part of his life. His Rata Primus involvement was a bit of a wildcard of me throwing random characters I thought were lacking interaction with anyone together into one big escape mission. And the later EoD story involvement just felt like a logical continuation to his childhood backstory.

All this to say... ironically by now he's gone through more major canon plot events than most of my characters (just from a different perspective than the one we see ingame from the commander's POV), and still for the vast majority of his life he's just some guy living parallel to the canon story.

Aaand for Petthri! I choose...

19. What is your favorite fact about your OC?

It's hard to choose the favourite fact but a fact I like about him is how, out-of-character, he came out of nowhere with basically close-to-no character or backstory planning and just bulldozed his path to being shockingly relevant to a lot of my character musings. All of this within the span of a few months. I've had characters for years that haven't gotten half the attention he gets from me. I love and hate him for it.

[its-really-skrool]

My part of an art trade with the amazing @sparkyopteryx

A sculpture of Vetch!

[what-the-flux]

Future status of this blog.

Hey you lovely peeps, it's just me giving a bit of an update for those that noticed the slowdown in my posts in recent months. I feel like talking on a personal level for once so if you don't want to read the whole thing and just want the tl;dr, here it is: This side blog will soon be going on an indefinite hiatus. I may come back to the fandom eventually but no telling at this point in time. If you’ve ever enjoyed my art, writing and characters here then you might enjoy yet more of that in original worldbuilding settings and a motley of other fandom or AU stuff then please follow my main @sparkyopteryx, I’ll be getting more active on that page again. I do have a couple more GW2 pieces to finish up and post at the end of this year so I hope you guys enjoy a sort of "last hurrah" from me before I redirect my focus. <3 If you want to read my open diary thoughts as I wax nostalgic and wistful then clicky the read more (DISCLAIMER: there is absolutely no callouts to individuals or guilds of any kind mentioned here and no name dropping. It's all just me and my thoughts and feelings, so hopefully that assuages any anxiety).

I've been here a looooong time. I checked my archive to see how far this blog goes back and whoof, January 2015. February 2015 was me posting my very first GW2 art on here, surprise surprise it was an asura. (technically not my very first asura art, very first asura I drew was Quinn in July 2014). Didn't know how deep the GW2 claws would get me and hold me for a decade, no other mmo had that kind of effect on me. WoW wasn't even close. DDO, Neverwinter Nights, Perfect World, all a piddly drop in the bucket compared to GW2. So much has happened to me since starting this game up to this point. I transitioned. I changed my name. I moved to a different living space. I started new relationships. I acquired two best friends. I went bald and grew a beard! This game rewired my creative brain, and I say that with....mixed thoughts and feelings. I've written SO many character stories and rp'd a ton and made so many characters that in some cases are up there with some of my most important muses I've ever created now. I love so many of them so much I'm picking them up and taking them with me to my other universes because I can't bear the idea of just leaving them behind and many of them are just too powerful to be contained (looking at you Oort, Euphix, Hoskk....yeah a lot of them). I say mixed though because also, it was to the detriment of my original settings. GW2 had me in a choke hold, which normally is fine with hyperfixations but this was a fixation that spanned actual years and I'm really feeling needing a change for a while and I miss creatively living in the spaces from my settings that I've carried around with me since elementary school. There's also the social aspect. I acknowledge the ever-shifting dynamic of fandoms, friend groups and how social media and how a social game like an MMO shapes things over the years. It's all a part of putting yourself out there with other people, I get all that. I have a hard time putting my thoughts into words but I still want to express myself in some fashion so I'm going to do my best but it's a complex, many faceted thing. I've met and made friends over the years but kept a tiny few. I've seen how other platforms and changing social expectations have shaped how people interact in fandom spaces. It's fascinating, to say the least. But as much as I've tried to put myself out there over the years, GW2 is the one that has given me the most dread, anxiety or general feeling of always being in the orbit or outlier. No, I don't care about being popular. But we're always trying to look for somewhere to belong in these fandom spaces you know? I am a firm believer of how we're always creating for ourselves and that is what I always do, every day I create it's cuz it's mine and I want to see it out in the world. Art is also a communal work, that's what makes art, writing, music and such unique. We make something from nothing for us, but also because we do it to share something of ourselves to others. I've gotten all sorts of beautiful comments and feedback and very occasionally the joyous feeling of someone asking about a character or idea. I've also given these things, because I genuinely love peoples' characters and hearing what they think up. I always hoped to carve my niche and feel at ease with a group of people long term. To get that feeling of communal exchange of ideas, characters, really deep rp and character interaction and all that. Ultimately though it's never been a lasting thing here and unfortunately I have a full time day job, finite amount of energy and focus for me to be constantly trying to be the one to initiate, maintain a social presence and be regularly updating with art and posts. NOT me fishing for sympathy or any of that so any of those comments are unnecessary. It’s alright, it’s just a thing that happens anywhere but it’s happened to me consistently here so I’m just not expending my energy overextending anymore and moving on.

As I said before, it’s complex. It’s not all negative, but I’m exhausted and burned out so it means simply putting down things that feel like they aren’t doing it for me anymore or aren’t making me feel fulfilled and happy in some way, because goodness knows I need every scrap of it with all the stuff I’m dealing with in my life these days. This space may be active again one day! Who knows! I sure don’t. I don’t make promises one way or another because no one can predict what will happen a month or a year from now. But regardless of whatever happens I hope to be able to still interact with and share other spaces in other capacities, and if not I wish you the best of luck in all your creative and personal endeavors! If you’re still actually reading this, I want to say that at the end of the day, many of you have given me support even in minor ways and for that I earnestly say thank you, it was people like you that helped keep me going. Even the people that I don’t really talk to anymore, you count too because we shared a lovely if fleeting thing. That’s about it from me though. Sorry if it got a bit rambly in parts, the original draft of this was much longer and probably even harder to follow. These are my feelings and my experiences I’m talking about, not general sweeping statements that should be taken as fact and I myself do not consider them facts, just what I’ve faced and what I’ve observed and felt. In the event this really is the end of GW2 for me, here’s to a decade of art, rp, writing, characters, silliness and good times. Tyria really did a number on me and for that I am thankful, I will keep the good memories with me. Excelsior! --Sparky

[mabaki]

shitposting with the homies LMAO

Skrool @the-skrool (and Pelkk on the 2nd one) "Undertaker" Oort @sparkyopteryx

[golden-golem]

The latest 4 pages in my sketchbook. Lorlu, Duatt (belongs to Sparkyopteryx) Amajja, and Inventor Xam.

[vampiricsheep]

first round of the NA artparty sketches! ive got 3ish in the works i want to practice color (or at least cleaner lines and new brushes) with, but here are the lovely warmup models :)

edit: @commanderfloppy and @sparkyopteryx (I think)

[gw2rp-padag]

Culture Shock: The Genius Gala Symposium

Come one come all to the bi-annual Genius Gala! Past or current Snaff Savant? Priory-recognized award-winner? Outstanding academic, artisan or orator recognized throughout your field? Just starting out but wanting to make your expertise or inventions known? All scholars and creatives of all levels are welcome! Come debate, share trade secrets or show off inventions all in a neutral, friendly setting over drinks and fine food!

DISCLAIMER: Disagreements are bound to happen amongst fellow geniuses, however any disruption that may threaten the safety of all patrons will NOT be tolerated and may be subject to immediate reprisal and removal from the premises. Thank you for your understanding!

Cordially, Jaanos, MC

[OOC DETAILS] [This will take place on the NA servers.]

[Takes place at the Polymock Arena in Rata Sum]

[This event is not restricted to just asura!]

[Begins at 6PM UTC on Monday July 3rd.]

[Join squad on: Sparkyopteryx.3427]

[sagehaubitze]

I don't do these things much anymore but I got tagged by @sparkyopteryx and it seemed cute and fun; "if you get this, answer w/ three random facts about yourself and send it to the last seven blogs in your notifs. anon or not, doesn’t matter, let’s get to know the person behind the blog!"

I'm not tagging anyone, but if you see this then it's a good enough excuse to have fun with it if you're so inclined. Anyway.

I have an extra bone in my foot! It's called accessory navicular syndrome, but I like to think of it as my rooster spur.

I watch literally no TV and extremely few movies because frankly it stresses me out, so when blorbo from your shows comes across my dash I feel like a time traveler trying to learn current human culture. (I almost exclusively watch retired speedrunners that I started watching over a decade ago, this is my primary source of video media. Always open to good/new documentary recommendations though.)

I went to college for aerospace engineering, then meteorology. Most people see me as a photographer. None of those things are my primary job/source of income. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[shadedgarden]

I miss @sparkyopteryx already. Long distance, cross country relationships are difficult but it's hard to describe what it feels like when you finally do get to spend time together. Like - finally, there is a person in the world who gets me, and it's ok. It's hard being back home without him.

[art-dumpster-fire]

Just some sketches of my character and @sparkyopteryx 's cuddling in these dark times. Literally dark - the sun set hours ago.

[bluebudgie]

EU art party!! There were so many people I would have loved to draw everyone but that's impossible @-@ So here's a small handful!!

Valerius Silverdawn - @sleidog Pouchong - @little-leaf-man Maëliss - @catiuapavel Theoretician Hoskk - @sparkyopteryx Ray Statics ( sorry I got it wrong at first D: ) - @drewcakemix Arcanist Yuzzu - @tinymoonmoth (thanks for letting me know!) Ironclaw Skrapp - apparently also @sparkyopteryx i had no idea haha! Semijs - @siins Hanne The Restless - @awakenedsylvari Gwess Ripmane - @gglitchshit

If I tagged anyone wrong or misspelled your (character) name hit me up and I'll correct it, I'm ready to go to bed now @-@

[mabaki]

Okay okay, look, you go to university and these are your professors- LOOK i mean aaaAAAA

Zepp @sparkyopteryx Skrool @the-skrool

Jhoushi dying in the back LMAO

[golden-golem]

“Tea ma’am?”  Gentle Theorus - me Nyddra - Sparkyopteryx

[armaina]

A revenge piece for #artfight for @sparkyopteryx of his Z-Sigma 9 and Sleepmode's X1

Experimenting more with setting and rendering types.