#who was created by Maresy

[tryst-art-archive]

This is archival. You can find my current work @tryskits

Surprisingly, I found an unfinished WIP of this at the very begining of getting colored.

[sketchshitposts]

Could I get some uhhhhh... neat OC lore? :3

Oh worm????

Here comes just, a delightful slew of things

My Slime Merchant, Simon, doesn't know his own name. He refers to himself in the 3rd person as Simon, but if you ask him what his name is, he'll respond with anything but Simon

Same Simon only knows one name. It is his pet slug, Sammy

P'omidori Tamati's name translates especially to "Tomato Tomato"

Waux (pronounced like Faux), a small golem made from candle wax, shaped like a grackle. They like to collect shiny trinkets to keep in a bag, charmed to be weightless.

A lot of my OCs tend to get unexpected development the more i plot with them and their existence. Kesth is a character of mine who takes especially heavy inspiration from Blue Jays. One trait i didn't realize he shared with Blue Jays was being very protective of loved ones. So of course, i considered "what would Kesth do to protect his loved ones?"

Kesth is now the embodiment of a Blue Jay and an Orca. If you know orcas, you can understand how this may be a terrifying mistake, but it's a part of him i can't change even if i wanted to now

Bevine Plaguefeather was an OC of mine that started, if i remember right, as a deviantart group OC for demon HighSchool. She has since been revamped into a disasterous TrueNeutral lesbian witch with a rampant thirst for learning and is comprised of 90% rambling chatter

Natobi is a DnD character i made with a few mutuals (ayyyy). His entire character concept is essentially a mashup of "Capcom Monster Hunter" and "Zelda Zora"

On the concept of Zelda, Hakavi is an OC i made with two little versions of himself. The actual character version, used for Breath of the Wild scenarios as an archaeologist, and the NPC version, who is also an archaeologist, but for Majora's Mask scenarios.

Friorn Guanin is one of my favorite fandom OCs. He's a brownblood chef for the Mirthful Church in ancient Alternia. His lusus is a giant frilled chameleon, and he's probably my favorite fantroll out of maybe five ive created (yeah... it's homestuck stuff)

Devante Espada. I created him with one thought in mind. "I want a himbo OC." He has inherited an old warehouse, which he uses to house strange animals he comes across, attempting to rehabilitate them for release. The catch? He's too fucking stupid to realize the animals he's picking up are actually mythological creatures who could, in theory, kill him on the spot. He's also gone through three boyfriends in his lifetime. A unicorn (cursed to a human form), a vampire, and currently a kitsune.

Yes, he's too stupid to realize they're not human. But he loves them still.

Ornus "Ash" Maresi is a wizard i created with a penchant for lighting things on fire, which burns into ashes. He's turned many things into ashes. He's also named after the "Fraxinus Ornus", an ash tree native to southern Europe. His name is a pun.

A few, rare OCs of mine were actually self inserts from fanfiction when i was about 11 or 12 years old. My first self insert OC was actually for Dragon Quest 8.

Despite an uncomfortable fear of spiders, i have a fair few OCs with spider traits or qualities. Correnin, Lyander, Cera, and Mirefla. The last one is just an entire spider. Specifically a mirror spider, who works in tandem with a blind elf.

As of this post, i have 233 ocs registered in my document.

[relevy]

A-Z Book Recommendations.

What a great idea from my friend at @macrolit :) Had to give it a go. I’ve omitted “A’s” and “The’s” from most of the titles for sake of flow.

A - American Gods by Neil Gaiman - A wandering modern “fantasy” that felt keenly poignant to me having grown up in the midwest. You’ll need patience for this one but this book is truly about the journey not the destination.

B - Bloody Jack by L.A. Meyer - I’ll be honest, I never finished this series. It got a little overblown but the characters are so genuine that I held out a lot longer than I would expect of myself. This first book though is the definition of a classic middle reader. Lot of Adventure and a lovable, fierce, albeit flawed, female protagonist. 

C - Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess - I used to read this book every summer. It’s a rough read with some explicit violence (sexual and otherwise) but an important one I think. I recommend reading the “British” publishing which has 21 chapters (the publishers took out the last one for American audiences, because apparently we don’t like character redemption and growth *eyeroll*). The real genius of this book is the vernacular Burgess created from scratch that is truly like reading another language at first. 

D - Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab - Not to be cliche but I find that a lot of the titles Booklr obsesses over in the YA genre to be par-baked at best. Not the case with this series! Well developed characters that exist beyond their actions and exhibit real emotional complexity without relying on tropes and a plot that kept me turning and turning pages!

E - East by Edith Pattou - This is a remnant from my scholastic book fair days. It’s a frightfully easy read, however, her love for the folktale on which it is based (East of the Sun and West of the Moon) shines through. Each chapter is told by a distinct alternating voice and though the plot leaps about a bit you do not lose any sense of forward motion. 

F - Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge - At this point you’ve probably realized I love middle-reader books. There is also a pattern of relatable well written female protagonists in all of them. Not to be outdone the lead of this book is a stubborn young girl named Mosca and her equally prickly goose, who live in a fantasy setting based loosely on 18th century Britain. I won’t give anything else away except to say READ THIS BOOK!

G - Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson- I don’t exclusively read fantasy children’s books and here’s the proof. All of Larsson’s books are difficult to get into. Which can be put down to the fact that the first half of his reads are laying the complex groundwork for the gripping, fast paced, second half that will leave you gasping for air. 

H - The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien - If you go into The Hobbit expecting the verbose grandeur of LoTR you’re going to be sorely disappointed. This book was aimed much more at a younger audience and is far more light-hearted and comical than its more mature follow-ups. Nevertheless it still has the grand beauty of Tolkien’s imagination and I quite like the whimsy of his narrative style in this prequel. 

I - It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini - This book helped me understand aspects of my own struggle with depression and anxiety. It is heartfelt, raw, but most importantly not without hope. Vizzini committed suicide a few years ago, which leaves a bit of a cloud over the book but it is an important read for both those who struggle and those who care about them.

J - Jerusalem by Sami Tamimi and Yotam Ottolenghi - But Rachel this is a cookbook! Yes! Yes it is! But it’s also so much more than that. The entire thing is a love letter from the two authors who grew up, respectively, in the Jewish and Arabian communities of this complex city. Beyond the delicious recipes there is mouth-watering photography more akin to photojournalism than a traditional cookbook. Each section and almost each recipe is accompanied by an explanation of the historical and political machinations, tragedies, and cultures that led to its creation.

K - King Lear by William Shakespeare - Far and away one of my favorite Shakespeare plays. I dream of someday playing a gender-bent Lear. I find that this play in particular asks a lot of tough questions of its characters and they answer in frighteningly frustrating ways. “Tis the times’ plague, when madmen lead the blind.” 

L - Letter for the King by Tonke Dragt - This book is a cult classic. Originally published in Dutch in 1962 it has since been translated into twelve languages! This is a classic hero’s journey written in a loving, nurturing hand. 

M - Maresi by Maria Turtschaninoff - Maresi is a relatively new book that has flown totally under the YA Booklr radar. It has a vivid comparison to The Wizard of Earthsea series by Ursula K Leguin but is not a reproduction. The plot centers around an island of “sisters” in an intensely patriarchal world. The second book was just released so I suggest jumping on this bandwagon soon!

N - (The) Naming by Allison Croggon - I’m in the middle of rereading The Books of Pellinor series and I vividly remember now why they were the favorites of my High School years. Crogon writes in a simple elegance that must have been lovingly honed by years of reading Leguin and Tolkien. Another complex female protagonist in this one but written in 3rd person Omniscient (not fixed) narrative which is hard to find these days.

O - Once and Future King by T.H. White - I am an Arthur scholar and I will admit this is not my favorite Arthurian book (That’s Sword at Sunset by Rosmary Sutcliff). However, it is a necessary read for anyone who has interest in how modern fantasy came about in the US and the American obsession with King Arthur.

P - The Plucker by Brom - This is more of a graphic novel than a book. If you are a fan of Guillermo del Toro YOU WILL LOVE THIS. Imagine Toy Story except as a horror movie instead of playful animation. Brom is an exquisite illustrator and it’s worth it for the art alone. 

Q - I have literally nothing for this one! Ah!

R - Runaways by Brian K Vaughan - This is a graphic novel series about a group of teenagers who mistakenly find out their parents are part of a super-villain society. Being a Marvel comic there are cameos by familiar goodies and badies and the series itself takes many surprising twists. Characters of color and female characters are prominent! 

S - Seraphina by Rachel Hartman - Imagine if Dragons could take human form but were required by law to wear a bell to mark their otherness. Rather than set in a typical medieval setting, Seraphina takes place in a pseudo “classical” Europe setting with heavy emphasis on music. The characters and plot in this are flawless and I found it a refreshing, fun read.  

T - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - This is one of the few books I was required to read in High School that I actually enjoyed. There’s a lot to be said for this timeless classic but the fact that it still remains relevant is really all that needs to be.

U - Under the Black Flag by David Cordingly - Albeit I read this book back when pirates were much more a pop culture phenomenon than they are now. However, if you like history, and pirates this is a great read for notable and notorious seafarers. 

V - V for Vendetta by Alan Moore - a graphic novel but truly a novel in its own right. I honestly prefer Watchmen but I feel Alan Moore is at his most Alan Moore-y in this one. No contest better than the movie.

W - Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K Leguin - The mythic style of these books can turn some modern readers off. Keeping with that there’s not as much character “development” as modern readers are used to. However, that being said these are some of the most compelling characters and books you will ever meet.

X - I came up dry on this one as well :(

Y - Y the Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan (Again!) - Imagine if all the men on earth died instantaneously except one slacker and his capuchin monkey. This graphic novel series could have gone way off the rails (as far as imagining what an all female dystopia would look like) yet Vaughan writes his female characters with a surprising nuance and depth. 

Z - Zel by Donna Jo Napoli - I read this in elementary school and WHOOO BOY I don’t know who approved that one for children’s shelves but it is definitely a mature retelling of the Rapunzel fairytale. Distinctive voices and no making it less gruesome than the original here. 

[tryst-art-archive]

June & July 2006 Extras

I apparently had low output across these two months (compared to what I'd averaged previously) so they get merged together. A couple of these I found as unfinished PSD files, which I'm p sure means no one besides me ever saw them until now.

This is archival, old work. You can find my current work @tryskits