dross-the-fish

[dross-the-fish]

Hmmm

yeah, my guy falls somewhere in the middle of the upper right half.

Something I've noticed in Hyde designs. Not to say I don't love to see all the different versions of Hyde. There are a few familiar guys here.

[dross-the-fish]

If Adam were to stumble upon the tales of Greek mythology especially about the gods and goddesses which story do you think that would he relate to or find very fascinating?

I think he'd be interested, at the very least. I can see him enjoying the mythology and being inspired by Greek tragedies and epics. Seeing gods be consistently fickle and capricious would reinforce his perspective that if there are higher beings they are cruel and not to be relied upon for mercy or aide. I can see him being moved by figures like Medusa, a woman who was turned into a monster through no fault of her own by a god she used to worship and doomed to be slain by a hero.

[dross-the-fish]

did erik deadass call nadir a booby in the book. cuz. where did he even learn that🙏🙏

He did, in fact, call the Daroga a great booby who didn't know how to take a hint. Book Erik is a ludicrous manchild sometimes.

[dross-the-fish]

Do you collect toys? I didn't think you were the type to be into labubu

I don't really collect a specific anything. I have like a random shelf of "Things I like" it has a figurine of Lon Chaney's Phantom of the Opera, a copy of Juni Ito's Frankenstein manga, a single lego guy from my favorite childhood set, my DnD dice and a stuffed rainbow lion I've had since I was a baby. My friend asked if I wanted a Labubu since she bought extra and I said sure. I thought it was cute and it kind of reminded me of this toy I had when I was a kid, called "Monchhichi" There is no rhyme or reason as to why I have things, I just sort of find stuff or get gifted stuff I think is neat and add it to my stash.

[dross-the-fish]

Jekyll/Utterson or Jekyll/Lanyon?

J&H/Utterson all the way. I've even drawn/written it a couple times. I can't really see Jekyll and Lanyon tbh.

[dross-the-fish]

I know you're not big on Eristine but what about Erik/Raoul/Christine? Do you ship Erik with anyone?

I can kind of see the appeal of the throuple, truth be told. Sometimes it's cute to see it in art or fic. If i was going to ship Erik with anyone it would probably be an OC. I think if I was to pick a pairing for Erik with a character from the novel would probably be Erik/Daroga. The Daroga definitely doesn't approve of everything Erik does and is not above stopping him but he also risked his life and sacrificed his home to save Erik and he still seems to have a great deal of care for the man. Also they're probably close to the same age and have years, possibly as much as a decade, of history. Their relationship is very complicated in the novel and for as much as he condemns Erik the Daroga also seems to genuinely sympathize with and admire him. I always get the impression that he doesn't just want to stop Erik, he wants to save him from himself. I don't have a burning need for that to be romantic but if I was going to pick from canon characters that'd be the one.

[dross-the-fish]

^^^^^ Jigsaw would wake up in the mirror torture chamber from the book. There is no way Erik isn't paying him back.

of the crew, who could survive a saw trap?

I feel like Erik has the best shot at that. He's canonically really clever with traps so he'd probably find a way out pretty quick and then he'd go save the others. Edward is smart enough to get out of most traps and has zero problem killing off his cellmate or cutting a bitch open to get a key out of them so his odds are also pretty good. Once he's out he's hunting down whoever trapped him and gnawing their face off. Theo is pretty clever and will do what it takes to survive if she has to. Also vampiric strength speed and the ability to turn into a small animal probably gives her an edge. Adam is very difficult to kill but not impossible. Assuming his strength was accounted for it'd be 50/50. I can see him panicking and that potentially causing him to fail. If he does get out He's going to destroy who ever put him in a trap. Quincey not a chance on his own-Erik will rescue him. Larry would probably just give up. His life is a mess, he's struggling with his lycanthropy and the fact that he killed his own parents the first time he turned into a werewolf, now he's in a filthy basement rigged up to explosives. I can only see him being like "Sure, whatever, this is fine. I don't even care anymore." -don't worry Erik will rescue him. Watson will think "What would Sherlock do?" as he tries not to panic. Not the best odds but not the worst that he can get himself out. He'll be trying to figure out who set up the trap and why the whole time he's in there. Selma, pretty resourceful and good under pressure. She's got a reasonable shot depending on the rules of the trap. Not willing to kill or harm another person to get out.

[dross-the-fish]

Have you ever run into issues with AI keeping you from finding work? I'm seeing a lot of artist complain about AI stealing their jobs, does that affect you?

I haven't run into this problem yet. The people making AI avatars and such weren't going to buy from me anyway and the people who hire me to illustrate for them can't use AI because it can't be relied upon to get consistent results in terms of style and quality.

Also AI falls into a weird legal grey area. Some programs like Midjourny will only let you copyright a generated image if you use their subscription plan. So you still have to pay for the generator and then probably pay someone to put in the time it takes to get it to generate the image you want by "prompt engineering" or whatever they call it. It is not, at this time, practical for commercial use. It is becoming an issue with my regular day job where they're starting to use AI prompts to handle chats as a way to hire fewer workers and downsize on labor. So that's my main concern with how AI is going to affect me. Except even there the AI bot doesn't always know what the fuck it's talking about and we still have to come in and take over for complex or multi-faceted issues. I also just generally don't think AI artists and writers are as much a threat as people make them out to be. Most of what is produced by AI is very derivative and lacks stylistic integrity, even when the "quality" seems decent. I don't think I've seen an AI image yet that wasn't made for quick consumption and most people who consistently use gen AI go for quantity over quality anyway. It's content to be quickly consumed and discarded and unfortunately we live in consumerist climate where that's everyone and their grandma's hustle for now. Even so, In it's current state, AI is not a good tool to learn art or writing and someone who wants to be an artist or writer isn't going to be able to accomplish that with AI. Between the legal grey area of being able to copyright their work and the inconsistent quality of output it's not a practical or sustainable way to make a living and it's not going to teach you how to draw or write for yourself. I've seen some attempts made at producing iterative work with gen AI and the machine can't do it. It takes more time, money and effort to try and get images that look consistent without weird glitches than it does to just hire an artist. Half the time anyone I've seen try that they've still had to have an artist anyway go in and paint over the AI images to make them look cohesive.

[dross-the-fish]

I love your Jekyll design, if I could I'd give him a hug!!!

Thank you!

[dross-the-fish]

of the crew, who could survive a saw trap?

I feel like Erik has the best shot at that. He's canonically really clever with traps so he'd probably find a way out pretty quick and then he'd go save the others. Edward is smart enough to get out of most traps and has zero problem killing off his cellmate or cutting a bitch open to get a key out of them so his odds are also pretty good. Once he's out he's hunting down whoever trapped him and gnawing their face off. Theo is pretty clever and will do what it takes to survive if she has to. Also vampiric strength speed and the ability to turn into a small animal probably gives her an edge. Adam is very difficult to kill but not impossible. Assuming his strength was accounted for it'd be 50/50. I can see him panicking and that potentially causing him to fail. If he does get out He's going to destroy who ever put him in a trap. Quincey not a chance on his own-Erik will rescue him. Larry would probably just give up. His life is a mess, he's struggling with his lycanthropy and the fact that he killed his own parents the first time he turned into a werewolf, now he's in a filthy basement rigged up to explosives. I can only see him being like "Sure, whatever, this is fine. I don't even care anymore." -don't worry Erik will rescue him. Watson will think "What would Sherlock do?" as he tries not to panic. Not the best odds but not the worst that he can get himself out. He'll be trying to figure out who set up the trap and why the whole time he's in there. Selma, pretty resourceful and good under pressure. She's got a reasonable shot depending on the rules of the trap. Not willing to kill or harm another person to get out.

[dross-the-fish]

Theo? Ma’am? Why are you an icon???

Jokes aside, I fuck with Theo so hard, hell yess vampire woman 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

I love Theo, she's one of my favorites and one of my oldest OCs. She started out as my Vampire the Masquerade character when I played VTM Bloodlines back in the late 2000s so I've had some iteration of her for going on twentyish years. She's evolved a lot and I'm so proud I made her.

[dross-the-fish]

I noticed Theo has some tattoos, are they symbolic? Further question, do any other crew members have tattoos or would consider getting them?

Theo does have tattoos that she uses to cover scars. She has a need to feel a sense of ownership over her body and covering marks someone else put on her with her own markings is a way for her to do that. Aside from Theo other members of the crew don't have any tattoos. though I have considered giving Jekyll one as a souvenir from his young and reckless days. I did give Erik pierced ears. There was no real justification for that. I just like sometimes drawing him with an earring.

[dross-the-fish]

I’m curious, how tall is Hyde? (I keep seeing that he’s described as small, but how much is exactly small?)

his height does fluctuate but I generally have him is 5'2" At his shortest he was 4' 10" He has grown some as he's become more "developed"

[dross-the-fish]

I have a question, since Dracula is alive (I guess? Vampires are considered undead), the three vampire women are also alive ? Also, in the time the adventure happens, how is the life of Dr Seward, Van Helsing and Arthur Holmwood? I mean, are they still alive? Are they happy with their lives?

The three vampire women are technically alive and part of Dracula's brood. I don't feature them as major characters but they exist. Dr Seward is still running his Asylum and being ethically questionable about his patients. Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde has some interest in his research because he's also a terrible person with questionable ethics. Van Helsing has passed away as My Au takes place more than 20 years later but he has left behind a legacy that is mostly being filled by Arthur Holmwood. Holmwood funds research on the study of supernatural creatures and provides the motley crew with much of their intel and resources for travel after it becomes apparent that there's an increase in vampire activity. I wouldn't say he's happy with his life but he keeps in touch with the Harkers and they have a bond he leans on for comfort and support.

[dross-the-fish]

https://www.tumblr.com/dross-the-fish/786822123087872000?source=share

did something happen to Erik's chest?

I gave him Pectus Excavatum, I wanted him to have deformities other than on his face.

[dross-the-fish]

Added some candles for lighting effect. Might add more elements later but so far I'm happy with the look of it.

[dross-the-fish]

Hey, I think your blog might've been shadowbanned. You don't show up in search results anymore even if your blog name is typed out in full, only your NSFW blog shows up. For a hot minute I thought you got nuked

ah weird, I wasn't aware of anything off. Thank you for letting me know.