justabitscrewy - Tumblr blog

[justabitscrewy]

The party met Tannis yesterday, the first of the missing Shepherds they’ve found! He’s been living in Bryn Shander and renting Mishann’s upstairs room in the House of the Morninglord. He’s kind of a nervous little guy, but who wouldn’t be in those conditions?

[justabitscrewy]

More Rime doodles! Nina was thrilled to bits at getting to hang out in an actual bar that wasnt just the ships galley lmao

Tannis (the very cute sweater man in the top left corner) belongs to the super cool dm @coffeecakecafe, and the lyrics that Nina is very enthusiastically singing were written up ON THE FLY by the incredibly talented @bacoj8 who plays the beautiful bard Jasper who is going to single handedly bring sunshine back to the Dales

[justabitscrewy]

Session art! We ran some non-canon oneshots while we were figuring out our builds. Nina got knocked out of his seal shape and almost got eaten by a sea monster! Fun times!

[justabitscrewy]

Just had our first session of Rime of the Frostmaiden!!!!! @coffeecakecafe is DMing and I’m so hyped about it

I’m playing Nina LastnamePending — a soulknife rogue and a Leopard Seal Selkie. I’m having a LOT of fun with his character, and I’m very intrigued to see where he goes :3c

[justabitscrewy]

Death Mark II is out! I never actually posted my contribution to the Up to No Good Zine, but now feels like a good time to do so! @spirithunterzine

It was a joy working on the project, and especially interacting with everyone else involved. Putting Christie, Ooe, and Yasuoka in the same scene together was a blast. The idea here is that after the events of Spirit Hunter NG, Ooe wants to continue investigating this world of spirits that she’s only now beginning to understand. And to do that, she needs help. NG already established her connection to Christie as a journalist — but Christie has an an intense, innate, spiritual power that is entirely untrained and untapped. What if Yasuoka became a bit of a mentor to her? And as a team, the three of them can investigate any number of issues.

[justabitscrewy]

If you could fit the entire universe into a can of chips would you? Absolutely. Welcome to Pringleton. - @bacoj8 one year ago today

HAPPY CANNIVERSARY!!!!!

The Planar Pringles campaign is officially a year old, and its been an incredible journey. Its been an utter joy and privilege to get to build a story and game with such beautifully talented human beings. These characters are all so rich, so multifaceted, and getting to interact with them in such a beautiful narrative space is just a gift.

DM: @bacoj8 || Theseus @eaudecrow || Izen me! || Phaela @couchtaro || Red @lorebreaker || Yancy @coffeecakecafe

80% of the flowers featured here were fully referenced from Taro’s frankly breathtaking and heart wrenching floriograph series

[justabitscrewy]

I know this is the second time I’ve done one for him but he wasn’t fully cooked last time listen

Yancy is everything to me,, Everything

[justabitscrewy]

I can’t believe I haven’t posted my newest tired dad yet. Meet Father Kilter, the man who’s triple haunted by Pestilence, Death, and the son he doesn’t know he’s going to adopt yet! Full backstory under the cut:

Father Kilter (30s) is a cleric. He’s also a preacher, funeral planner, undertaker, gravedigger, coffin maker, tombstone engraver, and generally a Jack of all trades as long as the trade is passing on. A lifetime ago, Kilter fell victim to a plague sweeping through his town. In a feverish haze, he called out for someone to save him—and fortunately, someone answered!

Unfortunately that someone was Pestilence itself.

Pestilence offered to save Kilter’s life in exchange for a small favor, and this man in all his 104 degrees of fugue state said “yes please.” This Was Not A Good Thing. In an instant Kilter was taken as Pestilence’s vessel—a walking, talking biohazardy plague puppet.

This, however, caught the attention of the god of life and death, and Death did not like the imbalance that was about to happen thanks to Kilter being a living pandemic. So they stepped in and said “look man, I can’t fix you completely, but I can fix you a little. Wear these gloves so you don’t kill everything you touch and be my priest and maybe you’ll feel better.” And that’s exactly what he’s been doing since.

At least, until @couchtaro’s dead kid Pidge broke into his kitchen and started eating all his Life cereal. Now he’s on a quest to put the kid to rest—and not get attached, under any circumstances, because the kid is going BACK IN THE GROUND and Kilter is NOT ALLOWED TO KEEP HIM. Maybe. Probably.

[justabitscrewy]

Good news! January 2024 commissions are now open!

Now with a new sketch page option! I am opening 4 slots for January. Find more examples, see pricing details, and submit a commission request through this google form!

Feel free to send an ask or DM with any questions, or email me at beteljessart@gmail. com.

SLOTS

OPEN

OPEN

OPEN

OPEN

[justabitscrewy]

I am unwell I am unwell i aM UNWELL I AM UNWELL

Do you get together with your friends once a week to imagine best friends you made up holding and getting held in desperation and terror as one of them rapidly turns to stone, the other flooding her with his literal life force, which manifests as a visceral compulsion to survive, in the hopes that it will somehow help her resist, offering “the closest thing to a prayer he has” as he begs his warlock patron to do anything at all, telling said patron “you don’t know her, but she’s everything” and pleading for her to live while watching her literal actual light gradually extinguish as the petrification overtakes her, all the while she is using what little mobility she still has to hurl lasers at the monsters attacking their friends who are defending them so he can focus his energy on saving her. Or are you normal

@justabitscrewy used every single one of her turns in a session-long combat to hold Phaela and RP her guts out and like. My word. I have to lay down. Let them hug. They’re goin thru it

ID and slightly more context below the cut

Image 1: a roughly sketched digital drawing of two D&D characters. Izen, a drider, is shown in his form of dread, a defensive state designed to frighten off attackers. In this form his face is bare skull, with four pairs of hollow eye sockets and purple mandibles on either side of his jaw. Tears run down the stark bone of his face. He is wearing the bracers that Phaela decorated for him by wrapping them in ribbon. With both hands, he holds Phaela’s face. She is a tiefling woman who looks up at him with wide eyes. Izen’s prized possession, a talisman secured by a ring of straps, is wrapped around her shoulders. Her chin is tilted up as if the stone spreading up her body is a rising tide she is trying to stay afloat in. She is petrified up to her neck with only her head and extended left arm free. Both are suffused by a starry blue glow, which is no longer present in the dull stone overtaking her. She holds starlight in her free hand that she has been trying to defend them with. Her expression is a mixture of desperation, determination, fear, and guilt.

Images 2 and 3: a roughly sketched comic. 1) Izen faces us. Phaela wraps her arms around him with her back to us, her head pressed into his chest and shoulders hunched. His hands rest on her back. 2) Izen bends down to hug Phaela properly, wrapping his arms around her and resting his head on her shoulder. His pedipalps also wrap around her for extra huggage. 3) Izen straightens and lifts Phaela up off the ground, his pedipalps forming a sort of platform that she sits on. 4) Phaela curls into Izen like a child, tail hanging limply down. One of his hands securely circles her back, the other rests on the back of her neck. He rests his head on her shoulder and one of his spider legs comes forward to hold her as well. Maximizing points of contact here. 5) Phaela wildshapes into a cat just to get super extra held. She is nestled in his arms, tucked under his chin, being gently stroked. Her face is still not visible.

End image ID.

[justabitscrewy]

so. behold, Yancy’s stuff (ﾉu.u)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

[justabitscrewy]

>>> MORE INFORMATION <<<

I’m opening 5 slots for now! If you’re interested in commissioning me, please fill out this google form:

and make sure to include the following information:

a short description of the character(s)

reference images (as many as you can possibly throw at me)

other requests (specific colours, poses, expressions, outfits etc)

If you have general questions about a commission or the commission process, shoot me an email or a tumblr ask and I’ll try to clear everything up!

The form will be open until Monday 04/12/2023 9pm (CET) and it’s not first come first serve, so there’s no need to rush and you can take your time gathering all your refs etc!

[justabitscrewy]

Visit Pringleton today!!!!! Got a little weird with this one, had a lot of fun. I love this party so dang much and its just a delight every time we get to play dnd together. :’)

Clockwise starting with the spider:

Izen (mine) | Phaela @couchtaro | Yancy @coffeecakecafe | Red @lorebreaker | Theseus @eaudecrow | and the lovely DM: @bacoj8

[justabitscrewy]

Izen is @justabitscrewy’s

Phaela is @couchtaro’s

[justabitscrewy]

Working on a much larger piece, but decided to isolate a few elements that I’ve really enjoyed!

Every dnd party should be comprised of homies with darker, haunted sides to them — maybe driven by a fear of what they are or maybe what they fear they might become. Maybe even a fear of the twisted version of themselves they've left behind. Whose to say :3c

Characters belonging to: @lorebreaker | @coffeecakecafe | @eaudecrow | me | @couchtaro

[justabitscrewy]

Just want to say I adore your OC Izen! I don't know his whole story but the snippets I've seen are tantalizing and I really enjoy him. Also his design is so cool like, I'm a tiny bit afraid of spiders but he is adorable and epic and utterly amazing.

Thank you for sharing him and your art!

THANK YOU SO MUCH. i know i should've just answered this ask when i received it, but i was so excited at your words that i spent like,,, two weeks drafting a primer? just so that way you'd have more context?? Theres a LOT of lore that provides the foundation for Izen's backstory, so writing a primer of any kind was DIFFICULT. I've parsed it down substantially. The vibes are there, and i think it all tracks, but I haven't broken down any specific timeline or events, because a) it would be way too long, and b) some of those events haven't come up at the table yet.

Summary:

Izen fled the Monks of Mercy after becoming a drider, and found sanctuary with a formless voice that lives deep in the underdark, a voice lingering on the boundary between life and death. This voice would become Izen's undead patron and friend, and provided Izen with magic and means of defending himself. The patron is missing pieces of himself (ancient relics that were scattered to the surface) and Izen has made it his mission to leave the underdark in order to find his friend's missing pieces.

On the surface, Izen first met Phaela -- who would quickly become the greatest friend he ever had. She would offer him safety and transportation (in the form of her truck) and more importantly, a kind hand and an eagerness to show him how beautiful and wonderful the world can be.

Now, Izen and Phaela are traveling with three more people -- and the more people Izen meets the safer he feels. The world is a kinder place, and these people are good. He believes in them, he trusts them, and he wants to help them.

Breakdown of Themes and Lore are under the readmore!

THE THEMES BABY:

Pre-Campaign:

Izen sees his drider transformation as a victory over death — society told him that he was cursed, condemned, and in need of redemption. He refused to internalize the guilt and blame and fought tooth and nail to separate himself from anyone who would manipulate him.

Izen is driven by equal parts hope and fear. Fear of death, fear of captivity, fear of pain — but an unwavering hope and raw belief that life has to be good, that freedom is obtainable, that there must be a kinder and softer place for him out there somewhere.

Now:

Izen is trying so hard to embrace the second chance at life and freedom that the surface has provided him. He has a best friend in Phaela, someone who has proven to him that he was right all along. He was right to never give up, never give in, that the world could be better and kinder than what he was raised in.

Izen is absolutely enthralled by what he finds on the surface. The moon, the stars, the changing of seasons. And he’s torn between being fully enamored with the people he meets while still harboring a paranoia at being found out and returned to the drow. But every person he’s met, from Phaela, to the party, to strangers along the way, has only reaffirmed that the cruelty he experienced in his past was the outlier.

He loves bright colors, clashing patterns, soft blankets, scented soaps, and beautiful candles. Simple and beautiful things that brings such small but profound comfort and vibrancy

AAAAHHHHH Lore Notes:

Enlightenment: The Drow are a culture that lives in division. There are the days of Enlightenment — the days of now, where they have agriculture, cities, infrastructure, mining, industry — and the days of Descent — the days of a previous age, where they were nothing more than primitive warriors who had to fight to survive in a savage time, barely more enlightened than the monsters and beasts they fought against.

Death: The Drow believe that the moment of death is the most important time in a drow’s life. Death is when they return to Lolth, death is when Lolth sees how far the drow have come. For every drow returned to Lolth, her judgement of their entire progress shifts. This is why the Drow believe that it is imperative for each individual to die with pride and dignity — to never fear death and always welcome its embrace. Only animals fears death, and the Drow are not animals. And the individual will be held against the whole.

Drider: The Drow believe the drider transformation is a divine punishment from Lolth. And given that Lolth has not spoken to the drow in generations, it’s the only form of contact she has with them in this age. The Drow believe that the Drider are a lingering scar of the Descent — a time when they had to become monsters themselves in order to survive. When Lolth turns a beautiful drow into a hideous drider, she’s revoking their progress — reminding them that they haven’t grown at all. It’s a warning that they are still no better than their primitive ancestors that crawled in the dirt of the under dark. And worse of all — given that ever drider transformation is given to a drow near death — its a rejection. Lolth only wants to receive the brave and the enlightened. For Lolth to seeing a dying Drow and instead of ending their misery and welcoming them into her embrace — she prolongs their life by twisting them into a monster that isn’t even a drow anymore. It’s a rejection. A guilty verdict. That drow was so fallen that she spit them out and left them to be an example and warning so that others might learn from their mistakes. This is what they believe.

[justabitscrewy]

Sister Jon for @justabitscrewy! She's a tough lady!