So Because Every Howls Moving Castle Book Cover That Isnt Sixty Five Dollars Is In That Sort Of- Gaudy,

So because every Howl’s Moving Castle book cover that isn’t sixty five dollars is in that sort of- gaudy, super saturated, 80s-90s style, I’m making my own. I still need to order the book (cuz I only own the audiobook), get the proper color of fabric, and find some decent gold paint, and once I have obtained all of the proper components, I’m gonna give it the hardcover it deserves. >:3

Remember how I said I had Faas sketches. Well now I have a rendered and colored Faas drawing. Aren’t I fancy-

But ye, here he is with enya. He isn’t actually grumpy, he just doesn’t visually emote very much for trauma and autism reasons. I forgot to mention that Enya is a kelpie. The story takes place, as mentioned earlier, in Pennsylvania, (which had and has one of the highest Irish population densities in the US) so I was thinking that maybe kelpies were an “invasive species” since they can be dangerous and belong to the unseelie quart, and can be killed without any punishment. Enya’s mother was murdered when she was twenty months old.

Due to the traditional horse like appearance of kepies, she has horizontal pupils, (but golden eyes sort of like a frog. actually playing around with kelpies having a pollywog stage between birth, or maybe hatching, and 12-18 months. still up in the air tho) and horse legs and ears. She has fins as her ‘hair’ and tail tho.

Up until puberty hits, kelpies are physically unable to show anyone their true form, sort of like the way fawns don’t have a scent for the fist few days after birth, for safety reasons.

However Faas can see her true form because in many troll folklore, they are immune to certain types of magic, especially of the concealitory (apparently that isn’t a word but I don’t care) variety. Kelpies aren’t true shape shifters like changelings, the mask you see is nothing more than a shield of magic that tricks your brain into seeing a human, while they are still green and horsey underneath the whole time. This magic also effects photos, drawings, and mirrors and is especially strong when the person is young.

Anyway, yeah. You’re welcome for the ramble that no one asked for

So I was playing on my survival world and found this cave (pictured below cut) and my brain went MMMMMM ART. Except I don’t do landscapes. Or backgrounds. Therefore. Um. This is the third time I’ve drawn this scene from scratch and the only one I actually like. However, I do actually really like it, so there’s that. I was trying to do lineless in the previous two and it did not work, so I ran in the absolute opposite direction. And the fact that the art even exists is a miracle because I was very close to just throwing my hands in the air. But. I’m happy I did not. Cuz I did a background and it doesn’t look bad actually.

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Idk if it’s the same across platforms, but the entrance to this cave is through a small waterfall at 45, 110, 195 (those numbers make me so happy-) in the Lush Caves seed

First of all, Faas’s debut on this blog. There should be some art of him soon as well.

Second, yes, look, stim account for happy brain reasons

- 🍂 🗝️ 🍂 - - 🗝️ 🍂 🗝️ - - 🍂 🗝️ 🍂 -

For my troll changeling character Faas. Just gonna infodump cuz I can, but- Numerous neurodivergent (especially autistic), ill, blind, or deformed babies, along with older children and adults with personality disorders, were abused emotionally and physically, and some even murdered, because they were exhibiting signs of being a "changeling". Faas is autistic, but that will never actually be confirmed verbally in his book. I won't say tons, but he's got a daughter named Enya (who will get a board shortly) and they live in this marshy forested area in Pennsylvania. Cottage beans.

Doodles I did of Gus and Wrenfield. Probably gonna end up doing summer and winter molt adults too, but we’ll see. Look at nugget’s little face tho- she’s just she’s so happy with herself.

Eventually, these will be stickers purchasable on my Etsy shop when I open it, I just want to finish enough first.

If you click the names of the birds below, you will find photos of the actual birds I’m referring to; mostly provided because the second two are morphs

EDIT: So honestly. Contrary to final poll results and my initial lean toward the grosbeak, I think I might just go with the crow. The design’s grown on me and in the last week I’ve collected many bones and observed many local crows and found myself just quietly very drawn to them. Nothing’s set in stone, but. . . It feels more right than the grosbeak- there are still things that draw me to the latter, and I still really love them and might switch in the future, right now I relate more to crows I think.

Rose Breasted/Cutthroat Grosbeak (female)

Similarities (between myself and the bird) - small and chunky - eats mainly seeds, fruits, and nuts - elusive and relatively solitary aside from nesting season - very intricate, unique nest type - monogamous - take care of young for a month after fledging (which is longer than quite a few birds) - dwells mainly in deciduous forests - I honestly think I do look a bit like a grosbeak overall - there is limited information on them (which is obnoxious, but kinda goes with my aesthetic honestly)

Things I Like About Them - very pretty markings, especially on face which makes for fun character design - they were my favorite bird as a child and I would get so excited during the brief period that they would be at our feeder

Differences - females don’t sing as much as males - I am very much a mimic- I echo other people’s words as well as animal noises a lot, mostly without thinking, and grosbeaks do not mimic. The males learn songs from their fathers, but that’s different, and I’m not male anyway.

Black Billed Magpie (cinnamon)

Similarities - eat a lot of fruit and grain - they are skilled mimics - mate for life something I aspire to achieve one day - have only been seen in Michigan ten times in the last hundred years, so it fits the “elusive bird who’s sightings should be documented” narrative - parents allow their young to stay with them as long as needed, sometimes even years - males and females are both very vocal and sing, talk, and chatter quite often - wary of new things and will shy away from bright colors and flashing lights (yes, that includes shiny things) - many widely believed myths spread about them (such as tendencies to thievery, attraction to shiny objects, and hoarding things tho I am guilty of that last one)

Things I Like About Them - Gorgeous wings and tail (though rather plain facial markings which is sad) - they’re just nice, funky little guys and they were one of my favorites when I was younger as well

Differences - not a bird I’d really call chunky lol - they eat meat (mostly bugs) and meat is not my favorite honestly - while some do only stay in groups of two, many others have tribe of up to twelve

Common Crow (cinnamon)

Similarities - will bring people they like random bits of things such leaves, rocks, lost keys, and bones, as gifts - stops for roadkill (though I don’t eat it, I’m just there to steal feathers or check opossum pouches for potential surviving babies) - bones is good, we like bones - also talented at imitating human speech, other animals, and just random noises they find intriguing - mate for life - very family oriented and good at taking care of each other. They’ve even been known to adopt unrelated fledglings - stay in the nest up to forty days after hatching and often remain with a family group for two years, helping their parents look after younger siblings - males and females are very vocal - wants to eat rocks - scavengers - likes fruits, nuts, and seeds - seen as weird or gross by the majority - slow to trust humans, but is very loyal once they do - could be considered chunky - cinnamons tend to have blue or silver eyes

Things I Like About Them - they are just. very good. - wing markings of cinnamons are very interesting, and while I’d like more intricacies to work with for facial markings, they’re still good and simple

Differences - they are very social birds (but most of that social time is spent with their family, which is where most of mine is spent as well, so I’m not sure this is a true difference) - consumes a lot of meat (which, as stated, is not my favorite) - they are very common in Michigan and easy to spot almost anywhere