#amto

NATIK: Shards- "Attached"

The idea behind Shards is to have quick little mini comics to help showcase some of the cast and give extra tidbits in between actual NATIK updates.

“So I looked into your eyes, and I saw the reflection of a coward that you and I both hate very much.”

I’m not above making art with edgy song lyrics, okay?

NATIK: Volume 1 cover art

Di-di-di-DIGIMON?

I LOVE this question, and I've been spending a ton of time contemplating my answers. I don't have one for everybody yet, but I'll probably keep adding on to this because I'm OBSESSED.

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Amto's partner: Junkmon

"A Puppet Digimon with a habit of tossing junk parts into the cannon on its back. It creates a comfortable environment by dismantling structures in its surroundings. If a well-known factory disappears before you know it, then a large number of Junkmon may be responsible."

A big trait for Amto is resourcefulness; she's good at solving problems in unconventional ways and making use of what she has. Part of her character arc involves using her problem solving and creativity to help create a better life for herself and her companions. Depictions of Junkmon seem to hint at it being a gregarious, team-oriented species, and I feel this also fits Amto's character arc: she struggles early on finding a sense of belonging and purpose, and Junkmon could help her see her potential as a problem solver and a leader.

Kitki's partner: Wormmon

"A Larva Digimon with a timid, cowardly personality. Just like V-mon and the others, it's a descendant of an ancient species, so it is able to perform special Armor evolutions, but since Wormmon is powerless when by itself, it can't possibly match up to larger Digimon. However, by Armor evolving with the power of the Digimentals, it is able to manifest unbelievable power. Also, it is said that in order for the fragile larva to grow into a powerful imago, Wormmon will one day evolve into an Adult overflowing with power. It can definitely be said that it is a Digimon who has hidden potential for the future."

At first I wanted to give Kitki a patamon since she is a little bit like TK, but thematically wormmon fits her character better. Kitki is someone who is often waved off and underestimated, partly because she's a child, and partly because she's very sensitive and gentle- jaded adults find it naïve. With encouragement and understanding from her closest sibling, Kitki is able to find confidence in who she is and can realize her potential. Wormmon fits perfectly with this, because it too is underestimated and waved off as "weak." Kitki has the right personality to nurture a wormmon into becoming its best self, and Wormmon would reflect her journey of growth and potential with its metamorphosis motif. Also Wormmon is green, which is Kitki's color motif.

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Whos your favorite oc in the natik lore?

Ohh! Good questions! 👌

1.) So the Nati family is very much inspired by scorpions and other chelicerates (the addition of silk is a nod to spiders). I like to think of these guys as "pseudo-arachnids," or (affectionately) as "space scorpions."

They do have some obvious differences from the existing animals, for example the lack of pedipalps which I scrapped because I was just too lazy to draw them and the clearly defined neck/head, but they have the trademark chelicerae (those pinchy jaws), 8 limbs, book lungs, and other features.

In their original iteration, "hymdromons" they were meant to be a sort of hybrid of "hymenoptera" and "dromopoda." However, in their final incarnation, very few insect traits other than the eusocial family structure persist, and I do not consider them to be "insectoid."

As far as pop culture inspiration goes, they draw some very loose inspiration from the Krogan and Turian species from Mass Effect as well as the Prawns from District 9.

Other species of their world are based on Earth animals as well.

The Rexlo, for example, are based loosely on rodents.

In this page of chapter one (full WIP on Patreon), you can see this Rexlo skull is somewhat similar to that of a squirrel:

Overall my intention was to make the species rodent-like, though you can't really consider them rodents; instead of having pairs of large incisors, theirs are fused into a single beak-like tooth. Originally I had designed them to be ungulates, but I quickly decided that was way too boring. The "rex" in "rexlo" is literally me pulling from "T-rex" because of their short armed, bipedal shape. They are also very loosely inspired by the Thomas(es?) from Trigun and the two-legged mounts from Ralph Bakshi's Wizards (the Rexlo character Baki is named after Ralph Bakshi, because why not?)

There are lots more animals and even plants I could mention, but we'd be here for a long time. 😅