#tmatb I

[keydekyie]

Bundle!

I've been working on a book I & II bundle ahead of book III's release, with maps and a calendar and nice formatting and such. It's going to be a strictly digital release for now, but hopefully it'll be a nice way for folks new to my books to catch up. If it does well or there's a lot of interest, I might do a physical copy with merch!

Here's the synopsis for the two books together:

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The land of Kellabor is a wild place, where snow-capped mountains and deep forests hide monstrous creatures. Medved’ Beis, the man-eating “bear demon” keepers of Kellabor’s wild laws, are said to be the most terrible of the mountain beasts. But the Kellaborn people call these mountains home, and to them, the ancient tales are no more than children’s bedtime stories.

Kaelin Belka, daughter of her village’s blacksmith, was raised on tales like these. But after her father vanishes without a trace, the stories become all too real. Years later, Kaelin will come face-to-face with myth, and as it turns out, Medved’ Beis aren’t anything like the old stories say.

Bear demons aren’t beasts, spirits, or monsters, they’re just people; as petty, emotional, vindictive, and complicated as any human.

Oh, but the man-eating? That part is very real…

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

This bundle should be available very soon (before August 2nd), so keep an eye out!

[justagiantpotato]

Decided to draw these two sweethearts from the amazing story The Moth and the Bear by @keydekyie !! I don’t know why Kaelin is scolding Ruyak, but he looks guilty...

I highly recommend reading the books and the third one is coming out soon!!! Just saying...

[damnwtfisgoingon]

doodled @keydekyie 's boy, Ruyak, love this lad fr fr

[funsizedcoffee]

@keydekyie introducing their giant character in their book:

[theboarsbride]

I'm DESPERATELY trying to manifest an art style that look like sketches/concept art for 1980s dark fantasy movies, if that makes sense?????? because that's were i swear 85% of my inspiration comes from- 😭

[keydekyie]

I love them I love them I love them they are friends and I love them

It feels like whenever i want to draw @keydekyie's great characters. I also want to do with a crossover with Chrome and Poppy. Even if their worlds are both very different and unique. Definitely Ruyak and Kaelin's world is very well developed. I'd definitely recommend.

But anyways for this i ended up drawing the duos separately this round. Ended up basing Ruyak and Chrome's interaction based off the friendship between a wolf and a bear. Chrome and Ruyak maybe on much friendlier terms now compared to my last previous drawings of them. Remembering Kyie hoped they'd be friends, so i decided to grant that wish this time around.

Then we got Poppy and Kaelin. Kaelin's a blacksmith and Poppy loves tea. So i thought simply Kaelin would like inspecting one of Poppy's teapots for something in common they might have.

[squidlykitten]

[the-east-art]

I believe these were posted to my Patreon a while ago and then never posted here so I’m doing that now so they’re easier for me to find. World building for tmatb

[iescans-blog]

Popped onto tumblr briefly and I’m not happy ...

There are several posts of ours that have been flagged under the “Adult Content” rules that tumblr has decided to impose. I understand, I do, you don’t want to log onto tumblr and see child pornography but that doesn’t mean you have to work towards annihilating half of your user base.

A lot of our posts have been flagged, some do show adult content and some are just simple art like you can see above from TMATB. Yes, I know they show skin (“nudity”) but I’m still seeing naked models from sponsored posts so tumblr can get lost.

December 17th is the day all adult content will supposedly be removed from tumblr.

We will be making a Wordpress account (which is going to go so bad since I’m no good with technology) because I will not stand for this BS on tumblr. If posting links and things are still allowed, I will share update links here but pictures of art and things that we like and update progress will move to the Wordpress.

This is a dumb thing and I hope tumblr realised how much they’ve fucked up when their revenue drops.

We will be back December 16th, okusama C5 is nearly done and we’ve started working on kedamono again.

I know, we’re slow and we’re sorry. We’re going to work hard to get you a few Christmas treats.

Thank you,

KN

[keydekyie]

eeeeee!!!!

@keydekyie I got my books!! I was wondering why they were different prices but I didn't expect the second book to be so much bigger! I'll have to write a review when I read 🤍

[keydekyie]

At the top of page 114 of Book I (physical version), is imaginary Sliuk referring to when her brothers would eat any humans they came across, or something else we haven't seen yet?

Yep! That's absolutely what she's referring to.

[keydekyie]

Is Urike in the same community as Datee, or are both of their territories too far apart to be considered in the same one?

This isn't a great visualization because I don't have a close-up map with Sutzgrad province shown (the pink) but this gives you an idea of the area of "community" they're in. That gathering place is where all the seasonal celebrations (including coming-of-age ceremonies) happen. Ruyak has a dream about it in book I.

Everywhere within that blue circle (about 100 miles across) is dotted with Kanai dens and territories. The territories themselves sometimes overlap and the boundaries are usually fuzzy. Wherever there are human towns and villages, there tends to be less Kanai activity, but that doesn't mean they aren't around.

Datee and Urike are in the same community, but they avoid each other ever since Datee disowned her daughter. If they end up at the same gathering, they pretend the other isn't there. Usually one will just refuse to go if they know the other will be there.

[keydekyie]

did liruk go to the village thinking demayn was there and wanted to finish him off via ruyak and was disappointed he wasn't actually there or was it complete accidental coincidence that he at first was seeking demayn out from the village for ruyak not realising he might've been after the same guy?

SPOILERY STUFF FROM BOOK I!!

Liruk wouldn't have known exactly which village Demyan was from, since he was captured on the road. All Liruk knew was that the human was a blacksmith, since he had his wares with him. That was why in coming right into Motylek to find an artist for Ruyak, he sought another blacksmith. He didn't know (or care) that they were looking in the same village.

Also, way back when, right after Sliuk got kicked out, everyone assumed Demyan was killed in the shuffle. I doubt Liruk spared much thought to wondering what really happened to him.

[theboarsbride]

AAAAAA THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE TAG!!!! 💖🥺

My main WIP is titled “The Monster and the Butterfly.” TMATB is a late Victorian Gothic romance with horror elements (it’s a ghost story and has Spooky Vibes™️), and it is also a loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast combined with elements from movies like Crimson Peak and books like The Haunting of Hill House! 

The story features Sophie Wickes as the main protagonist, an embittered and aloof young woman who struggles to make an income by selling flowers and helping her family survive in London’s Whitechapel district. She is hired by a mysterious ‘Lord Cushing’ to be the groundskeeper and gardener of his country estate of Rosenthorne Hall, and things only become more mysterious when she learns that the house is rotten and seems abandoned, her master speaks to her from the shadows and refuses to let her look upon him, butterflies start following her wherever she walks, and she starts receiving visitations of a wailing, crooked-jawed phantom...

I also LOVE being tagged for various writing-related games and such!!!! It’s sm fun to participate and see who else all gets tagged! 💛

My current Writeblr recs are @avalonsaesthetic​ @jasperygrace​ and @onthetipofmyquill​

So since I’m trying to get back into writing again, and I’ve just realized how out of the loop I am on Writeblr while trying (and failing) to figure out who to tag in that tag game!

Writeblrs! Reblog this and tell me:

•A little about your main wip(s) and /or characters. If you want and you have one, you can just send me your wip intro, or you can thpe out a big long rant about it, or you can just type a couple of sentences. Whatever works for you!

•Whether or not you like to be tagged in tag games

•Any other writeblrs you would recommend if you can think of any!! I’m specifically looking for people who write fantasy and romance, and I sometimes like interesting science fiction stuff too!!

[keydekyie]

Been rereading Book 1 and do find it interesting how Liruk thinks that Ruyak needs to respect Kadu since he's the elder and how it was the same with his brothers. Was Liruk perhaps a favored older child or was he more like Ruyak and doesn't realise how messed up this all is?

Liruk was sort of a middle child like Renge, but he's got anger issues and justifies a lot of unnecessary force with kids needing "discipline" and to be taught "respect." I don't think his own parents or siblings were quite as harsh as he is, and certainly not as bad as Kadu, but he wasn't taught how to be thoughtful and understanding either, so all that really leaves is harshness.

Not to say he can't be caring in his own way. He found a lot of satisfaction in teaching his kids skills and passing on his knowledge of things. But he definitely isn't willing to face the fact that his own behavior may have been too harsh and that it rubbed off on his kids.

[keydekyie]

ok ok so a few. I'd like to one day see Liruk, datee, urike and thems adinens all side by side to compare them. Liruks sounds extremely bland - design wise...i wonder if its bc he harmed its maker early in?

Speaking of adinen...how do liruk and Datee feel knowing all their children are abject "failures" xD. None of them havepassed...not one.

Would getting ruyak a new adinen maker in the middle of his current one be cheating? It feels like cheating....

I'll have to draw them all sometime!

Liruk's adinen is bland because he's kind of... just a rather bland person, in that way. He likes things that are useful. Adinens are just decorative and symbolic, so he didn't really care about the design that much. His rite went about how you'd expect it: with blunt, business-like detachment and ruthlessness.

I think this answer kind of summarizes how Liruk and Datee feel about Kadu's failure, and this one is about Ruyak, but in general they are rather indifferent to it all at this point. Certainly when it first happened they were pissed off, but they've since kind of accepted that their kids all suck.

Oh yes, getting a new adinen maker would absolutely be cheating! But that isn't beneath them. No one would be able to prove they cheated.