Melcobelcs Greenhouse

In german, we have the term "Weltverdrossenheit" (world weariness) which describes the energy of this game quite nicely, I think. An escapism fantasy that is rather bloody and brutal, very influenced by a general discontent with the state of the world.

Genuinely my favourite video game, I think. It was quite a journey that led me to some of the worst places known to humankind, and I have come across a lot of little tidbits I have never seen back when I first played it.

Drew Raluca, the Deuteragonist of a project I am working on!

The concept of "Love" is rather important to her characterisation- But "Love" in which definition?

What is Love?

Baby don't hurt me?

Don't hurt me?

This was a very sudden and random and maybe a bit evil idea.

Sowwy Daan.

This probably has already been discussed before, but I felt my mind explode a bit when I realised the eyeholes on the bunnymasks in F&H1 lined up very well with the state of Daan's eyes.

Maybe just a coincidence, but,

For the theme "Shapeshifter", I wrote a little short story where two good friends (who definitely are both human) discuss their feelings of alienation in society, amongst other people.

the raincoat was a bit too big for him, its almost obnoxiously bright yellow colour seeming to glow in the darkness. it made him appear ethereal, like a monarch or a deity.

This illustration for that story is, of course, based on depictions of the figure of The King in Yellow, that originated in a 1895 short story by Robert W. Chambers.

One depiction I thought about a lot in particular was the figure of "The Kaiser", a fascinating character in the video game "Fear & Hunger 2: Termina".

Related to the yellow cloak: In the ballad "Erlkönig", written 1782 by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a ballad that greatly inspired the overarching story I am writing- The titular figure of the Erlkönig tries to lure his victim away by telling him of the beautiful golden gowns his mother owns. What a fascinating coincidence...

-

Lastly, here is a little speedpaint I made for this piece- I did not forget to press record! Yay and yippee!

The music is a snippet from "Monologue with the Moon" from "Fear & Hunger 2: Termina".

The quotes popping up every now and then are, in order, from "Erlkönig", "The King in Yellow", "Fear & Hunger", and "The King in Yellow" again!

So friendly, so kind, so affectionate- Yet always in the same way one would treat a child, or a pet.

The Lampengräfin views every creature weaker than her as "cute" - and she is so confident in her own power that this includes nearly everyone.

She adores keeping pets, and takes rather good care of them. Her protéges, the vaguely antropomorphic woodland animals inhabiting her domain, adore her for their good treatment.

Every now and then, the Lampengräfin wishes to visit a different sphere and find a new adorable pet to play with- until she grows bored of it again, that is

One day, the pet she collected was a young forest gnome wishing to learn magic- A wish the Lampengräfin promised to fulfill.

She taught her new protégé many things, even considered setting up a warlock contract-

As a child, dreamed to learn magic-

So when she met a mysterious stranger in the woods promising to teach her, of course the child was only too happy to take this marvelous opportunity, and follow the stranger to her shire.

Alune spent a wonderful time learning spells, before realising that she was about to be late to dinner- her birthday dinner! So despite her teacher's insistence that the day was not over yet, Alune went on her way back home.

Her family's den, however, were empty and abandonded. Alune's distress caught the attention of a group of a few patrolling Goblins, who informed her the den had already been abandonded for decades. Her family was gone. How much time had passed in her teacher's shire...?

The goblins were kind to take her in, teaching her many things; after a few months, however, Alune began to change. Antlers began growing on the back of her head... The goblins grew terrified. Horned Beasts were what drove them out of their former home, after all!

The leader of the wood elves came to realise that something about the child was off. She was touched by something that elves could innately feel in their ancestry. Alune had been influenced by the feywild.

Alune decided to lave them in peace, and came across wood elven rangers she begged for shelter. It was here that Alune would begin her training to become a ranger as well.

As the leader knew that their little group were not prepared to properly train her in this direction, she decided to contact an old friend and send the child to the prestigious Academy Town of Demia, where Alune would be able to continue her developing.

While rather smart, with a knack for scientific topics and archaeology, Raluca also struggles with focussing. Braiding yarn greatly helps her with that.

Many years she spent away from home, by the coast, for a particular reason.

During this time, she seems to have developed an obsession with taking risks and the thrill of winning, often at the cost of her own self-preservation. Or rather, in other words: She became a gambler. Luckily she is quite good at it, after all, it is only a gambling addiction if you are losing.

Now that she has returned from the coast, she has a specific goal- Or rather, a list of them. A bucket list that she wishes to complete as soon as possible.

One of those goals is to discover the truth behind an ancient legend, that may or may not be connected to the fact that the world seems to be ending.

How good that she has her dear brother to help her with this!

Raluca loves to learn and discover new things, so naturally she gravitates to investigative detective work. She might seem nosy at times, which she would object to: She would greatly prefer to be seen as a villainous mad scientist- despite also refusing to cause anyone any harm. Other than disrespecting their right to privacy.

Detecive work can be quite interesting, especially when it leads to learning about a whole bunch of rumors about ones acquaintance one has not seen in years.

Due to his shyer personality, and even more so the fact that his tendency to self-isolate made him extremely out of touch with other human beings, Ralucas brother tends to hide behind her and rely on her "light".

Another of her goals is to help him unlearn this behaviour and become more confident- Although her methods might additionally serve the purpose of amusing her personally.

It might have been a matter of unexpected coincidences, and quite unfortunate ones at that, but regardless of how they have found each other- Iosif is content that he got the opportunity to watch them grow up.

You might wonder- Melc, Melc, why did you coincidentally name the first character you ever tried drawing with muscles; Iosif?

Why why, dear friend, the answer might surprise you.