Welcome Weary Traveler!

Finished reading Project Hail Mary a while ago and I’m going to watch the movie soon with some of my friends so I figured I would embrace it and make some doodles! I’m also working on some fanart ;) planning to put some lines from Vincent by Don McLean with it.

I don’t usually reread books, but I’ve reread PHM about twice now. It’s been fun being involved in another fandom! Seeing all the fanart of grace and Rocky’s life on Erid is really sweet. I just love grace being the adopted space blob in Rocky’s family. I was kind of disappointed when I read the book because poor grace had to suffer through all of that and then is almost taken out by a vitamin deficiency and arthritis. Realistic but miserable. Also, his whole retirement in the dome of darkness that he can’t see out of was kind of a bummer. it really reminded me of a zoo animal, especially with him being in the center of a city. Again, realistic, but can a man not have a nice view without dying from scurvy????

BloodyMary has also been nice to see. I don’t think I’m going to make any fanart for it tbh because I haven’t watched iron lung and every time I see Simon all I can see is markiplier. Still love the fanart and it’s a comforting ship that I’ve been hoovering down. As long as grace isn’t in the dome of despair, I’m all for it. Personally, I’ve really liked the grace being aroace headcanons. I felt like he didn’t really try to peruse romance in the book, just kind of stumbled into and out of it very quickly. Still confused about the twin thing though. No idea if it’s based on something in the movie or someone’s AU but it seems interesting 🐟👍

It was disappointing to see Andy Weir come out and say that he supports generative AI, especially with him seeming to be pretty involved in science, physics, and environmentalism. At least, enough to write his books. You would think that someone in a creative field which is being threatened by generative AI would consider that more in the grand scheme of things but here we are I guess. Is it that hard as a celebrity to just not say something? It’s not like everyone is threatening them to give their thoughts on generative AI. I wish that if they’re going to just “use it as a tool” they just keep it to themselves because at this point, I don’t think you’re convincing anyone to use it who isn’t already. It really just looks bad for them.

Separate the art from the artist though I suppose. I’d like to think that with the movie and fanart it’s been taken out of his hands to a degree.

I was really inspired by that whole scene where Bolaire feeds his host in his sad rotting food gradient filled bachelor pad and opened his mouth to reveal the second smaller and sadder mouth of his host in a weird void behind the mask. I had started to think of Bolaire as a having a mouth that unhinges from the rest of his face, like a wooden puppet, to reveal his set of teeth and his host’s and I thought that would be fun to draw :) and then I threw a head in there cause I thought fruit wasn’t going to cut it I suppose.

I’m biased because I’ve always really liked Taliesin Jaffe’s characters, but Bolaire has been a really interesting character to learn more about. I think he poses some interesting questions of self discovery and creation as someone who wasn’t granted the freedom to have his own identity until after the war. I really enjoy that no one ever questions his identity throughout the campaign. Bolaire is just Bolaire, and there’s no question of whether or not he should present himself as a frankly, pretty obvious rotting guy wearing a mask. he’s a creepy museum curator and nobody questions the way he looks and he can freely choose whatever body he wants to present himself as. This in general though could apply to a lot of ttrpgs that I’ve played. Not so much the body swapping sentient mask but the themes lol. I think character creation and role-play offer a great way to experiment with gender identity because they offer a support group and a fantasy world that doesn’t rely as much on roles of typical gender stereotypes. I feel that often we’re pressured to settle on an identity and live with it for the rest of our lives, but self discovery takes times and how we express ourselves is ever changing. I think ttrpgs kind of present the chance to try things out without pressure.

In the end though, I like Bolaire because he’s a sad freaky mask. 🐟👍

I had to catch up on a lot of episodes of critical role so I’ve been slacking and lacking when it comes to drawing but through my love of Bolaire I have returned to the light. (Cod bless 🐟🙏) spoiler for episode 22 ahead!! And the c4 in general

I mentioned in one of my previous posts that i like Bolaire x Hal. Honestly after watching the recent episodes, 22 specifically, I think I stand by it. I feel like the trust that Bolaire places in Hal, is really beautiful. Even in a time where anyone could be an enemy, Bolaire still places his life in Hal’s hands. Literally lol. they’re both having to transition back to a life of war after living only a moment of comfort

I feel like as we learn more I’m starting to trust Thjazi less and less. I mean, everyone’s complicated and running a rebellion is hard. I get that. But I feel like he’s a lot more manipulative than I originally thought? When we had that flashback to occtis when he’s like, eight years old and Thimble was ten I was kind of shocked? I knew that they were involved in the rebellion at a young age but I didn’t realize they were that young ig. It just feels like he’s manipulating outcast children in a rebellion far bigger than them, people who really had no where else to go. Not to mention threatening Bolaire to get him to work with him. But it’s been really interesting learning about who Thjazi really was. Even if I don’t think he was the best guy ever, I’m still transfixed by everything about him. Part of me worries that he’s going to use the paint that he gave Hal to resurrect himself because I think there were mentions of there being a necrotic elements to the spell on it… that might be way off though lol…

Anyway, thanks for reading my rambling. here’s my current WIP :)

I finally drew thaisha after some of the worst art block I’ve had in a while lol

I think she’s a really interesting character and i absolutely adore how Aabria Iyengar has played her so far. I hadn’t seen her previous work with critical role so seeing her in this campaign has been awesome. Ill be real I’m a bit behind on current episodes but seeing Thaisha having to choose between her family with Hal and following the path to be a Druid is really intriguing, especially with her then going against the path to guide Occtis back from the dead. That’s why I wanted to draw Hal and occtis to kind of show her ties to her two families. I feel like there’s a really interesting conflict there and I want to know so much more about her.

Also shes 6’ 4”??????? That’s insane. I’m only 5’ 7” but if I was that tall…. There’s no shelf I couldn’t reach. It’s definitely inspired me to play a half orc in my next dnd campaign >:3

I’ve mentioned this before but c2 was my first introduction to critical role and my personal favorite. I remember I immediately latched onto Nott and Caleb’s relationship. I adore that despite both of them struggling to get through each day, they stood by each other, acting as family, because in the end, I really think of the Mighty Nein as just that. They’re one big, fucked up family, who unpack their shit together. And by cod I adore it :3

Anyway, I’ve always wanted to draw Caleb and Nott but prior to this I never thought I could capture them right? Idk, I don’t draw men a lot and I definitely don’t draw goblins ( my username would suggest otherwise but we’re not going to focus on that) so I kind of just sat on the idea. I really wanted to do them justice and I didn’t think I could do that before, but I thought now with the new animated series it was a good push to draw this poor shmuck ruining his life. Because really, if you give me a sad man with a beard, I will draw him.

I don’t think she’s coming back from this one guys :(

I love my lesbians. It took me three years to come with a backstory for them before they were just fun characters that I drew a lot. (one of them has gone from being a vampire to just a normal little freak lol) but I’ve finally narrowed it down to this:

Arden is a high ranking noble desperate to prove herself and end the constant wars in her kingdom by fighting for her people. After being wounded and on deaths door she meets Elle, a healer who can supposedly defy death itself with their skills. While recovering from her wounds Arden becomes closer to Elle who reveals that they are in fact using necromancy, a dark magic practice which has been outlawed in the kingdom for centuries. Fearing for her friends safety, Arden forces them to work as her personal physician at her castle in order to protect them and keep them from the prying eyes of the king.

Elle is furious and holds a lot of resentment against Arden for isolating them when they could be helping other knights in the wars to come. But that doesn’t mean that they truly hate Arden. They still cry every time she leaves to fight in battles, fearing that one day she’ll be wounded and they won’t be there to heal them in time…. That’s definitely not going to happen anytime soon.

I’m still kind of in between whether or not Arden should be a queen… or a vampire, because let’s be honest, both are really sick and cool.

I’m on a roll. Some might even say a…. Critical roll.

Sorry.

Anyway! here’s Tyranny. I knew as soon as she drank most of the alcohol at the funeral that I had to draw her. I love how she’s constantly taking care of wicander to make sure he doesn’t get punched in the face, meanwhile she’s still causing mischief and mayhem on the sidelines. Her and wicander spark a lot of inspiration for me to draw. Probably because of their complicated relationship with religion but also because of how they interact with everyone else in the campaign. They’re whimsical and silly :3

I’ve been kind of busy with work recently so I haven’t been able to watch episode 5 yet but we’re getting there… or episode six for that matter. I live on the other side of the US so crit role streams at like, 10 pm for me and I don’t think I could survive if I watched the whole thing until one in the morning. So I bide my time and lie in wait.

On another note, I read Tusk Love.

The writing is good and while the story was a little cliche is was a fun read, romance books might just not be my thing though.

Here’s some doodles for now because I’m working on a painting of Tyranny rn.

Only realized that he had facial hair after doing that entire piece lol. I was looking at his character sheet before and just assumed that his goo tattoos had a natraul glow to them. From, idk, his innocence and youth? His little rich boy skin care routine? Alas, I was wrong.

Bolaire remains my favorite if you couldn’t tell. I’m not really serious about the ship, but I think it would be interesting to explore Hal and Bolaires relationship further, whether romantic or platonic, I am more than happy.

Earth shattering news: Sam’s character has once again… become my favorite (spoilers ahead for critical role campaign 4, ep 3. RUN! Run while you still can!!!)

I know this is a little late but I made this for episode 2 and 3 when Wicci learns where the ink for his sick tats is sourced.

This plot twist was amazing. I couldn’t have asked for more. I just love the Filament and their quest to gather government control using all natraul grandpa goo fresh from the basement and wicander being forced to recon with the fact that his entire life and belief system was built on lies.

I know the way I drew ol’ Wicci’s man downstairs might not exactly scream ‘tortured spirit trapped in an Iron Maiden’ (in fact, I think he looks quite good for his age and situation) but when Brennan was talking about this ‘never dying angel’ that worshipped the god of light (might be wrong on that lol) I couldn’t help but picture an undying corpse perpetually on fire… hopefully that comes across 😼👍

New campaign fanart >:3 I wanted to draw these two as soon as their character art came out… even if that meant drawing chainmail and a glass sword :’) it was totally worth it

Talison’s and Ashley’s characters as always, do not disappoint. I’m like, partially ashamed to say that the whole reason I got into crit role in the first place was because I kept seeing fanart for Nott and also because I thought yasha and Molly were really pretty. And I’d say that’s continued with all of their characters throughout the campaigns :’)

Count horselock is a unfortunate character I made up for a dungeons and dragon one shot.

Here’s some stuff about this freak: He’s half vampire noble from ponyville. His family made their fortune by raising horses but he liked to dabble in… smoking weed and the dating scene. He ultimately died after being trampled to death by his favorite horse and went to avernus because he smoked and grew weed with underage boys. ( fun fact! He was raised by his father alone because all of the women in ponyville died from consumption) he was somehow the only one in the one shot to actually regain his soul and escape avernus. He didn’t deserve it at all.

He now spends his days cutting wings off of pegasi to “save the horse population”.

I just keep drawing them

They’re so cute together and I love how Susie is such a himbo. She’s completely oblivious to Noelle’s crush and I think its adorable (unfortunately, I can relate lol )

Another deltarune drawing 😔👍

I absolutely adore the idea of kris having a fat crush on Susie, but not confessing because they’re afraid of hurting their relationship with Noelle. I kind of wanted kris to get a job at the diner and watch Susie and Noelle fall in love all the while being to afraid to tell them how they really feel.

Personally, I love Susie and Noelle more but my friend and I have been talking about these freaks for a while and I really wanted to draw something that captured their freaktitued (I mean, like, Spamton is an eighth of Tenna’s size. The man is climbing Mount Everest every day. I say that with love)

Love! Big shot was based off of a piece by @professorgoogoo: https://www.tumblr.com/professorgoogoo/55513374447/the-love-sexy-chapter-12-scanlation-is-finally