[Art Exchange] Covert Courtesy Commutation ~ 6/8 gifts are up.

[Gabi]

Er... 13. Yes, that's 13. You missed WhiteFox.

Now, Arroyo's gifter would like to know what Arroyo is. I could say it's the Spanish word for a narrow stream of water, but I think the real question is what race/species Arroyo's character is.

[Aisha deCabre]

Awesome...my refs again are on page 2 if my gifter needs them.   If they're gonna have any use for them, anyway.

Also, I dunno if anyone said yet, but how long do we have until this round ends?

[Gabi]

You have until the 7th of May. I thought it was in the PM I sent everyone, sorry if I missed it.

Also, Kipiru's gifter would like to know more about Kipiru's character.

And a question for both Aisha and Zedd: do you want anything specific, or are you just looking forward to a surprise?

[WhiteFox]

Before someone has to ask for any profile info on me, I'll post a quick description of my avatar.

Name: WhiteFox
Species: Arctic Fox, in either winter (See avatar) or summer colors.
Appearance: Mainly humanoid facial structure, but anthro' features. Black nose, foxes ears and eyes. Digitigrade feet (Paws), humanoid hands.
Hair: Shoulder length pony tail, light gray hair. Facial hair includes a short beard (>1/2 inch), mustache, and a strip along the jaw. A la William Riker, pretty much.
Build: Slim, Athletic. Average height.
Apparel: Polo shirt, trousers. Never jeans. Anything semi-formal also works.

Though this might be overstepping my bounds to suggest... other then a drawing of my avatar, I'd also gladly accept arts of my characters from DSOF.

(Edit: few tweaks. Durn it, I need a character sheet for myself.)

[Gabi]

That's very considerate of you.

By the way, there's a request for some profile information on Basilisk2150.

[Aisha deCabre]

To answer my gifter: No, I'm not really looking for anything specific.  Other than the stuff I gave out on my character, feel free to surprise me. ^^

[Kipiru]

Kipiru is a multiverse characters- that would say he could be portrayed in either a medieval or modern or futuristic scenario and clothing. Other than that his appearance is that of a tall well built male unicorn anthropomorph with an affinity towards blue clothing and armor.White fur and mane(though you can improvise), blue eyes and a gold horn. Weapons differ according to the settings, but two remain constant- a large two-handed sword and a big revolver gun(somewhat similar to Vash's gun from Trigun). Glasses are optional.

Here are some ref pics:
Kipiru as drawn by Beever
Aisha's version of Kipiru
My own show of Kipiru's figure

[Gabi]

Information about Jairus (direct quote from IM):

(02:14:43 AM) Jairus: He's a roo-rat, obviously.
(02:14:56 AM) Jairus: Dark brown/black hair, hazel eyes, glasses.
(02:15:09 AM) Jairus: I'm a bit of a book/tech/magic nerd.
(02:15:21 AM) Jairus: Well, fantasy nerd.

He may provide more information in a future post.

[Jairus]

I'll just shamelessly ripoff WhiteFox's setup.

Name: Jairus
Species: Kangaroo rat.
Appearance: Have a look here.
Hair: Dark brown, about two or three inches shorter than in that pic
Build: Slim, Athletic. About 4-5 feet tall.
Apparel: T-shirt and jeans, usually an unbuttoned short-sleeve shirt thrown over the t shirt. Usually blue, black, or gray clothes. Also, I wear glasses now.

Um, as for the setting, really, you can set him anywhere. SoGverse-wise, he's an inventor and builds lots of crazy gadgets. Fursona wise, like me, he's a reader and writer and a fan of science fiction and fantasy. I don't think he's ever been portrayed in a fantasy setting, but even if he was he'd be the kind of mage with lots of crystals and magitech devices.

[Lisky]

Dear gifter, i haven't really established a definite fursona yet... but so far the one i've been working on is based closely off the appearance of my dog (partially because he has a personality very similar to my own, and partially because i find his coloring particularly beautiful)

if your going to try a drawing, you can give me a setting, and i could give you more, or, if you really want, you can do something completely on your own...

if we're talking DMFA style character, based on personality and action, either demon or cubi... but probably more demon (i'm gonna be honest)

anyways, for my overall fursona that i have established (basically me)

personality wise:  very laid back, yet also very social, little bit arrogant, somewhat sarcastic, spontaneous, empathetic, creative and a little bit devious (the last 2 are what make me oh so interesting to deal with )

Appearance: Black topcoat with a silver undercoat, clothing really depends on mood, though usually bluejeans and T-shirt.
Slim, and athletic, he has a somewhat stretched appearance to his limbs, with both arms and legs being slightly longer than "perfect proportions." he's also rather tall (much like me and my dog) standing in at a little over 6'2"

as for the face, his raccoon like mask of black fur combine with oversized ears and massive teeth give a bit of overemphasis on his facial expressions...

if you want or need anything else, just let me know

[Arroyo Milori]

I have a small bio of my character for this round:

Full name: Arroyo Mathew Milori
Alias: River Blues
Nicknames: 'Royo, River, That yellow Lion
Gender: Male
Age:17
Species: Feline (Lion)
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 138.5 Lb
Weapon:  "Eye of the storm" (multi-segmented sword)
Weapon charm*:  Two eyes intersecting each other horizontally and vertially, with the pupil in the center of both eyes.
Abilities:
Aquaknesis(The ability to control water)*
-Flowing River style* ("Red belt")
-Note: He can also use his own blood as a weapon as he would for water but can only control his own blood
Personality- Very Egotistic at certain times and somewhat shy. He is most of the time full of energy and somewhat rational.
References:
I got tons of them but to let you know: the ears are a bit curved at the tip

My apologizes for not answering. Still kind of new to the forums ^ ^;

If there's more needed just ask.

EDIT: More info added I forgot to mention. ^ ^;

[Gabi]

Thanks, Arroyo.

An anonymous gifter wishes to ask Corgatha Taldotar to tell him/her more about his character or what he would like drawn for him.

And Teh-Hobo's gifter would like him to cough up a little info on himself.

[Corgatha Taldorthar]

Well, for starters, I don't particularly care what you decide to draw, as long as it's tasteful.

As for Corgatha, he was a character I created, and became more attached to than usual, for a wheel of time set RP. (I'm going to assume you know zero about Wheel of Time, so if I'm saying stuff you already know, my apologies)

He's human, standing at six foot three, weighs a bit over 220 lbs, muscular. Very short jet hair, dull gray eyes, high rigid cheekbones, a very long, narrow face. His nose is somewhat small for a man his size. His eyebrows, and indeed most of his noncephalic hair has been burned off at some point or another, with the follicles damaged. (no beard or other facial hair) His skin is granite gray from years of using a certain armoring "weave" (Read, magical spell) He's a bit over eighty, although magic users age slowly, so he has the physique of someone in their mid to late twenties. He oddly, as his hips were broken and never healed exactly right. He has extremely quick arms, and tends  to fiddle with his hands when bored. He is covered in old scars, most either due to weapons, or more commonly due to festering sores of Saidin rot that healed over later. He always wears a long, black coat, with a silver sword pin on the left breast and a golden dragon medal on the right. (They're both small enough to fit in the palm of a much smaller man than Corgatha). His pants are also black, leather, flexible. Tends to wear low boots. He keeps a greatsword made out of toughened obsidian scabbarded across his back, with the hilt over his left shoulder, although he rarely fights with a blade, often preferring his magic. He keeps a knife in his belt, although it's not hidden at all, along with a few pouches for things like money and maps.

Now, in the Wheel of Time setting, due to an attack by the BBEG, the power source that male magic users draw on, is "tainted" (It gets removed eventually). This taint makes them go crazy and causes physical deformities. Corgatha....... was using it for 50 or so years before the taint got removed and a sort of successful attempt was made to rid his mind of the worst of it. He's still a bit odd, thinking in weird patterns. He's rather paranoid, especially where Aes Sedai (An order of female magic users, one of whose duties is to hunt down and capture, and sever from the magic source any crazy man channeling they could come across) are concerned.

Talent wise, he works primarily in earth-based magic, although he's quite talented with fire and a few more exotic things. He can usually be seen juggling rocks telekinetically, often at dizzying speeds.

Personality wise, he's kind of difficult to deal with. He still talks to rocks, and as a writer, I've always been trying to keep it ambiguous whether he has access to some sort of higher knowledge or is just gibbering. He no longer thinks on the same plane as other people, and has trouble talking coherently. He is however, extremely good at math and other forms of calculation, and is an extremely clever tactician on the battlefield. He has no inspirational ability, but he is good at arranging his own troops for maximum firepower and minimum losses, and has something of a mystique about his command, a reputation for invincibility which was starting to become a self fulfilling prophecy.

He has no real hobbies or social life. He views it as imperative to keep those under him alive and in good standing, and considers it something of a betrayal to them to have a personal life. The pressure *is* building on him, although he's kind of ignoring it at the moment.


EDIT- Something I'd like to add. Corgatha's appearance is partially based on the Nameless One from Planescape Torment. My avatar is Vhailor, an animated suit of armor from the same game. He has little relation to Corgatha as a character, besides a certain singlemindedness Vhailor is an executioner for a certain faction in Sigil that believes so firmly in his mission to wipe out the taints on the universe, that it lets him defy his own death. He is all that is cool.


Hope this helps.

[Teh_Hobo]

Eh, not much to tell. I don't really have a character or anything. My avatar was just something i drew up that went with the name. If youre looking to draw something based on that, well, he's a hobo. Ratty, torn up old clothes, wild unkempt hair, beard. Probably would wear boots, jeans rolled up past them as i sometimes do. Quite probably a bit crazy, personality wise, since i generally go by Deranged_Hobo. Not sure why i decided to change it up for this forum. Theres no need to go by this description, though. Go as crazy as you want. If theres anything else needed let me know.

[Gabi]

More reference requests, this time for Beever and Cogidubnus.

In Cog's case, his gifter would also like to know if he wants his character to be drawn in a particular environment.

It seems that drawing is still the most popular form of art around here.

[Beever]

Beever is a wild, compassionate  and a friendly guy, who is ready to help in a difficult situation by all means necessary.He is big in nature, tough, and very often his face reveals more charm rather than vengeance.He is mostly calm, but when he gets pissed off then , you may only guess how wild could he grow. If it is possible, I'd like to see the character in a battle position. Doesn't really matter if he fights against something or someone.Just it would be cool to see the movement. Thanks very Much!!!!

You have the Avatar already
here is the character depicted by Aisha
Beever drawn by Aisha
and Beever pictured by Kipiru
Kipiru and Beever in Vacation

[e_voyager]

when does the third round begin?

[Gabi]

I don't know. In any case, not before the 2nd round ends.

[Pagan]

Round 2 ended today, yesno?

[WhiteFox]

I believe so.

People will probably start posting them in the evening, tho.

Cept me, I've hit some complications. I'll still be posting something later, tho.

[Kipiru]

Gabi should make an official post like last time, revealing who had who and what they did for them, so nothing is over till that happens.

[Arroyo Milori]

Gabi should make an official post like last time, revealing who had who and what they did for them, so nothing is over till that happens.

That could work. It could also help those who can't come online on the day this is due and still be able to present their gift. : 3

[WhiteFox]

*Checks Messages*

Or, you know, we could send our submissions in to gabi like we were supposed to.

Crap. I should get on that, shouldn't I?

[Beever]

Unfortunately,I can't post my gift this evening due to some complications that does not depend actually on me.This is why I am pissed at some people regarding this.But nothing I can do in the moment.Very soon I'm going to get my own scanner and I'll not be bothering anyone anymore!!!

Apologies 

[Gabi]

This is the official post everyone was waiting for.

13 people have registered. Out of them, 8 have completed their work in time. Here are their submissions.

* Aisha deCabre drew this gift for WhiteFox.

Comment from the gifter:

I hope you like how I did Jade, and that you don't mind I chose to do one of your comic characters rather than your fursona. ^^;  I did the best I could since her design kinda changes a bit during the comic.  x3  She was fun to draw.

* Kipiru drew this gift for Corgatha Taldorthar.

* Jairus wrote the following gift for Teh_Hobo:

And now it's time for Bum Reviews, with Chester A. Bum. Tonight's review... Teh_Hobo.

   "Oh my god, this is the greatest bum I've ever met in my life!
   There's this guy, called Teh_Hobo–
   – what kind of guy calls himself "Teh?" Couldn't he get a spellcheck program or a dictionary? "Teh" isn't a word! It is however the name of my cat! –
   - and he has a long beard! I used to have a long beard! But then I shaved it off! Well, my rats ate it. And then they all ran away. I miss them so much! Darryl!!!
   And he has this funny hat, that has his name written on it-
   -Why does his hat need to say his name? Can't he remember his own name without it? I don't need to write my name on my clothes to tell me who I am! Well, okay, maybe I do. But only so I know where I live: In a can of tuna! That's how I know that I'm a prince! Prince Chester! Hooray!
   And his hair is all messy, just like mine! That's because we both use Le Bum, the only shampoo for bums! Well, okay, we just don't wash our hair. But the point still stands!
   And his clothes are all messed up, just like my clothes! Wait a minute, did he steal my clothes! Clothes-stealer! You left me standing naked in front of the camera... oh wait, never mind, I still have my clothes. We just shop at the same place.
   And he likes to go drawing! I like to go drawing! Except I'm not very good. And I ate my art supplies. The red paint was the tastiest! And my brushes are my friends now! I named them all Neil! They're all going to the moon! Whoosh! Maybe Teh_Hobo will go to the moon with us. "That's one small step for bums, one giant leap for bumkind!" Hooray!
   And he drew a pirate blimp! Pirates are awesome! They should make a movie about pirates! And it should star that psycho razor guy from Sweeney Todd! And there should be a bum lying in the mud with a bumch of pigs! I could play that bum! And blimps are cool too. I dreamed about a castle on a blimp once. How freaking weird is that? Really weird! Oh, and he drew a mountain of amps. Rock on, my brother. Rock on.
   Oh, and apparently he's a little bit nuts. Crazy. Loopy. Bonkers. Deranged even. But I don't see it! He's not deranged! I know deranged! My rats all ran away because I was deranged! And so did my girlfriend! She was deranged too! Maybe she ran off this this guy. Teh_Hobo! You stole my girlfriend! Eh, that's alright, you can keep her.
   So, anyway, I like Teh_Hobo, even though he stole my girlfriend! In fact, I really like him. He's like the brother I never had! Well, except I had a brother. His name was Sally. Actually, my brother was my sister. Maybe Teh_Hobo is my sister?
   This is Chester A. Bum saying... change! Ya got change? Aw come on, help a guy out, will ya? Come on, change! I've got to finance our expedition to the moon!"

(PS: Seriously, Teh_Hobo is way cool)

* Pagan drew this gift for Zedd.

* Cogidubnus wrote the following gift for Ren Gaulen:

Ren Gaulen

I remember when I sat,
beneath a dragon moon,
and saw the thrice-wingèd Seraphs
Kings with coat and bloody sash
ascend the purple dune

One arose a Holy King,
of an ancient knighthood swore,
with snowy hair and ivory wing,
oathbreaker, keeper of the door

One, oh, a Demon Prince,
girded 'round with ashen drape,
Eyes like cruelty without sense,
and rapacious grin he'd make

But not long did I stare-
The rising Kings
Rose quickly through the air
but
I heard them sing, with lifted wing
two songs that I shall share.

The Song of the Holy King:

The great cold town of Avalon,
is drenched in holy blood,
and shimmers with the image of
the great cold stars above
but bloody ice and sinful vice
cannot stand the Sun

The world is as a heliotrope,
the catches all the light
of good an bad and wrong and right,
a flame in the sun and pall at night,
sick of sin when nighttime ends,
like sick men blanching white

Come yet, all who tire of night,
out from the bloody loam,
I shall wash the crimson foam
and clean, and then shall take you home,
weary ones, sleep in the sun,
and memory of light

The Song of the Demon Prince:

To you who see the setting sun
stern rays that melt the gentle ice,
follow me, the winged one,
and I will show you paradise.
Where fire keeps the chill at bay,
and crimson wine will help us play

and he who'se fated doom is dire,
know that you are welcome here,
with clothing made of silken sheer,
and kisses fresh with eager fear,
I'll keep away the cold with fire,
while the moon shall ever rise but higher.

* Arroyo Milori drew this gift for Beever, and sends his apologies and regrets. O_o

* Corgatha Taldorthar wrote the following gift for Jairus:

Nausea was fighting a duel to the death with dull, throbbing agony over the title of predominant sensation. His bones felt one size too large for his skin, and as if they had grown elbows and were struggling over what little room remained. Despite the fact that, although his eyes were closed, he knew himself to be prone, he could not shake the sensation that the room was lurching, spinning,

Where am I?

Eyes opened a crack, and a dull, soft light flooded into the open eye slits. The room was all dull shades of blue and grey and off white. While well illuminated, it wasn't clear exactly where the light was coming from.  Craning the neck, while worsening the nausea,  revealed a rectangular room, perhaps ten by eight feet. Off to the left, there was a short washbasin, a sink and mirror, with some toilet arrangement  adjacent to it. He realized he was off the floor, on some sort of softly yielding raised platform.

Who am I?

A sense of Déjà vu washed over him. He knew, somehow, that if he could make it to the mirror, he could regain some of himself. It was four feet off to the left, a lifetime's journey. Swinging his upper body into a sitting position produced another wave of nausea, and he distinctly counted two hundred and fifty seven seconds spent retching. An odd corner in his mind knew that thought should not be so difficult, that sensation should not be so blatant, so vivid. Somehow managing to gain his feet at the side of the bed, he started staggering off to the washbasin.

************************************************************************

"He's awake again. Do you think this one will be the time?

"Possible, but doubtful. The tetradracophyll treatments haven't been as effective as we'd hoped."

"Would it be safe to increase the dose?"

"It isn't safe to keep him at the dose he's on."

"So what? We wait?."

"We watch. And wait."
************************************************************************

He clutched the sides of the basin until his fingers cramped.  He could feel individual currents of air, slowly sifting through his fur and skin, and wondered where it was coming from. There was no visible ventilation, no windows, no breaks in the bright walls. He glanced up, to the mirror, retching as he moved. Brown eyes glanced back at him. He had a short kangaroo's face, dull brown fur. He was short, although he couldn't remember any sort of frame of comparison. His build was slight and healthy although not athletic nor muscular.
   The sight sent a bolt of lightning through his brain, and he felt a tingle in his fingertips. He felt like he wanted to shout, although only whispered, as noise would somehow profane this room. "Jairus. I am Jairus. I am here to....... To work."

    He felt a burning sensation, emanating from his sternum, effacing the dull aches in an exaltation of passion, with the fury of lava. The nausea remained, and the pain altered, less dull and throbbing and more keen and fiery, but a burst of excited energy effaced their effect. Knowing the layout of the workshop to an ounce, he dashed off to the door, unlatched it hurriedly, and raced into another room, following the faint odors that his sensitive nose was picking up, off to the chemical lab.
************************************************************************
"It's taken effect doctor. He's working again."

"Well, we can hope this time it will work. We're running out of time here. Zentaiir fell this morning."

"Zentaiir? That would mean the fourth.."

"Is gone. Just like always, they just appear above the orbital plane, no advance warning, despite everything we know about hyperspace. Quick burn into range, and we fire energy beams at them. They don't stop. We fire missiles when they get into orbital range. They bounce off whatever it is they use for hulls. When they get into atmosphere, we dump poison gases and chemical weapons on them, They slow, just a little, although that might be adjusting to a nitrogen oxygen cocktail. They hover for about a minute, and fire that green stuff, and then the entire planet goes dead. And here we are, going back to square one on every iteration.  "

"The forgetting is necessary. You've seen the theory, all the mental enhancement is bunk if the mind is channeled along a"

"Familiar path. Yes, I know. I worked on the development of tetradracophyll, remember? And I opposed this idea, and our genius government decided this made me the person to oversee it."

"Besides him, you're the best, opinions or no. Someone is going to have to decode the scribble he puts out, and nobody else is really qualified."

"Flattery will not get you advanced around here, get back to your work."
************************************************************************
   Trembling, jerky fingers held beakers unsteadily, mixing and shaking and pouring like some mad magician's show. Jairus knew, even if he wouldn't admit it to himself, that this wasn't science that he was performing. There was no attempt to analyze, no attempt to discern, no attempt to reason out how to create the precise compound that he needed. He wasn't even sure what it was that he did need, just that he had to keep mixing substances together until he found it.
   Act, act, act. Despite the environment of his workshop being so perfectly controlled that he was completely unaware of being hot or cold when he was walking around earlier, exertion made him feel hot, and he could have sworn that his heart was taking a sledgehammer to his ribs. In fact.......

   He forced himself to stop, requiring him to put down his implements and actually grip his desk until his knuckles turned white from strain. Closing his eyes, he listened, wishing he could put his ears to his heart or had a simple stethoscope around. Still, he tried, and heard that lub-dub, lub-dub, lub-dub, over and over and over again. He concentrated, counted, trying to keep his upward track of two separate numbers focused.

   When he reached sixty seconds, he had counted eighty three heartbeats, and although he couldn't quite pin down what was a normal heart rate for a resting being, he knew that he wasn't in lax enough shape to be running that quickly. His head was starting to ache from the effort of keeping away his mania. He let go of the table, paced around the room briskly to get a handle on his thoughts, arms clasped behind his back and head on the floor.
   It came to him in such a jolt that he bit his tongue. General aches, amnesia, followed by mania and an intuitive sense of purpose. But his bones knew chemistry, down so far that even removal of his cerebral cortex could impair it too much, and he knew that while the stuff he'd been dosed with was a mild stimulant, he wouldn't have a heart rate this high unless he'd been on a steady diet of the stuff for weeks.
   
   Biting back a laugh, he dashed over to the desk, seized a pen and one of the notebooks, and scribbled "whywhywhywhywhy" for half an hour.
************************************************************************
"He's become aware of his treatment. Should we put him back to sleep?

"Not just yet. Even if he were to concoct and imbibe an antidote right on the spot, he'd just re-agree when he came to himself."

"You know as well as I do he'd spend a week in recovery. At this rate, we'd lose two more systems."

"We can put him down almost instantly, we can wait a little bit."

"Why a chemist anyway? A physicist to make a laser, or perhaps a more efficient fusion weapon I can understand, but a chemist? What's he going to do, engineer some disease for the Outsiders?"

"We've been given our orders to focus on this one."

"And you know as well as I do that it's people like us who write those orders. You have your share of pull in Command, and I'm telling you it doesn't make sense."

"Think child. For all your mentalics, try using your own brain once in a while. Our psis can't even pick these people up. They move in some sort of non-Euclidian fashion, tearing through space in some unknown way.  It's like they don't even exist in our universe. Our energy weapons either deflect around them, or occasionally pass right through them. Even a fusion bomb  simply bounces off their hulls. They don't come from anywhere around here, and the only thing that's ever slowed them down is that brief transition from deep space to atmosphere. Comm-"

"Don't bullshit me. You."

"Fine, I think that there's something to be found on the sorts of worlds that we inhabit that can hurt them, and he's the best mind we've got in the field. Besides, there's the legal issue."

"As if. None of that matters now and you know it."

"Perhaps, but we need to get back to observing him. What's he doing now?"

"He's making something, he's taking about 10 mL from that green stuff on the left, mixing it with some of the clear-"

"Can't you be more specific?"

"No, as a matter of fact I can't. His mind is running on instinct now, and I'm not a chemist. He's not articulate enough for me to pull the data from his mind.  Should I put him to sleep?"

"How is he reading on fear?"

"Almost none. He's more excited than afraid. And there's a strong undercurrent of intent."

"He's making something for himself. An enhancement perhaps, let him make it, let him drink it. Knock him out twenty seconds afterwards."

"Yes sir."
************************************************************************

   It took almost twenty minutes of frantic alchemy, Jairus could not convince himself this was science, to make his new drug. They were pumping tetradracophyll into the air somehow, at least 50 parts per million. He had created the stuff to be used in much smaller doses, to aid in keeping alert in dull routines, not, not for something like this. He was risking a lot with this concoction, hoping to retain some of the enhanced acuity while discarding the amnesia and hoping that the focus would remain, but he had this pervasive subconscious knowledge that he had been in this lab far too long, and that he needed to get up and to get out.

   A dim recollection cracked its way past the wall of amnesia, of an old comic book he had as a child. It depicted a funny little alien, tall, reedy, thin, with fur only covering the top of his head and an odd ability to stretch his extremities. Supposedly some sort of
omni-disciplinary genius, he would invariably gulp down any new concoction he had made, or test any odd dimension bending machine on himself, no matter how stupid that course invariably proved to be.

   "Hate to think I'm now as dumb as a comic book character." Closing his eyes, he seized the now ready graduated cylinder and swallowed the contents. They were odorless, tasteless. The mixture itself proved to be ever so slightly viscous, edging its way down his throat like bad syrup.

   He felt another breeze against his fur, could almost taste it, knowing that another puff of drugs was being entered into his system.  He made a quick, jittery count to twenty, and then realized he had made a crashing mistake. An icy sensation formed in the pit of his stomach, spreading back up through his chest, in a moment reaching his head.

   Jairus heard, rather than felt, himself fall to the ground, and recalled some old leper's fear of damage that one had to see to understand. He tried to crane his neck, to look at anything other than the leg of the table he was now facing, but his muscles stubbornly refused to obey his will. The odd feeling in his head was making it hard to think, but his last thought before the darkness claimed him was that it was happening to q-
************************************************************************
"He's out."

"Have him moved to his bed, and get a blood sample in about an hour. I want to know what he's put in himself."

"Of course boss."

"It always scares me when you agree with me without even a hint of a fight. What's bothering you?"

"It's nothing I can't handle."

"Very well."
************************************************************************

Jairus woke, with his eyes still closed. His ears were working, detected a few specks of dust, about four feet off to his right, being pushed along by a gust of air, the tetradracophyll reminding him of the cinnamon stick he was eating when he came up with the breakthrough for the compound. He felt exactly .971 atmospheres of pressure, laid out from scalp to tail tip, and the sheet of the bed was crumpled messily under it.

   For the first time in weeks, his head was clear. Completely, one hundred percent clear. It let him know how each and every one of his sensory nerves was firing off at random, mixing signals of pain, heat, cold, itch, and pressure in places he didn't even know he had beforehand.

"The mind is strong!" he shouted, as if to defy his materiality. He knew,. Jairus chuckled as he bit that last statement off in his mind, although it came out more as a raspy wheeze. That was what he was now, a knower. It was fortuitous that the mentalic tried to contact him while he had taken the drug, and he was able to hijack that connection....... He let out a yelp of pain, muffled it by putting his fist to his mouth.

   Reasoning that the pain wouldn't be any worse than it already was, he groaned himself into a standing position, looked directly at one of the bugs installed in the room.
Fighting to keep his voice steady, even, he spoke in the verbal equivalent of an implacable gait. "I suppose it truly was stupid and arrogant of me to assume that a brain stimulating drug was all I needed to come up with the miracle weapon against the outsiders. That it worked is irrelevant, I could not have known that coming into this, this mess. "

He stopped to breathe, to pant, his earlier resolve no longer sufficient to keep him straight, but even as his shoulders bent, he spoke directly into the hidden camera.

"Listen, you have to listen. The secret, the one that's been staring us right in the face is that those ships, and I don't know how they keep it stable, although I have some ideas, but those ships are one, extremely large ionic lattice. The inhabitants are probably some sort of vapor, I can't see how a solid being like us would survive in the sort of energy you'd need to hold the thing together. You can't blow it up, adding more energy to the system will be absorbed, and then shunted out, probably as more propulsion"

Jairus pushed himself off the floor, wondering where in that speech he had fallen prone. His mind wandered back to a time as a boy, when he had to have a tooth pulled that was shattered in some schoolyard scuffle. His fascination with gases and drugs stemmed from that point, he know knew, how just a whiff from a mask could make him giddy, loopy, how the dentist scowled at him to stand still or they'd accidentally cut his tongue. A knife could cut, a gun could kill. Both could induce fear. But neither could alter what a person was, not the way that a few little liquids and gases could.

"They're afraid of atmospheric fighting because they're hot, glowing, radiating. In space there's no adjacent molecules to lose heat to, but in atmosphere, they can freeze in fairly short order. What you need is a damper, something to trap and slow them long enough for simple thermodynamics to destroy them. First, you'll need an energy absorption of some sort, and while I have some ideas, you might want to ask a physicist on those, but I do have this interesting idea for an insulation material......"

A young psionic and a grumpy old professor smiled.

* Teh_Hobo drew the following gift for Pagan:

That's it for the on-time submissions. WhiteFox has explained that he's going to be late but will submit a gift soon. I have yet to hear from everyone else.

Everyone who's going to be late, please post your gifts on the topic directly. And Aisha, I'm sorry, you seem to be out of luck. I'll keep pestering your 2 gifters until they post.

[Ren Gaulen]

I'm going to be a little late, but I'm sure I'll be able to post my entry here in a few hours. Sorry for the delay..

And I want to thank Cogi for a great poem. I loved it.

EDIT.

It is done! My entry - a present for Kipiru.

Kipiru Starrider.

Once again, I apologise for the slight delay.

[WhiteFox]

Aisha: I can perfectly well understand the difficulty in trying to draw a character without a visual reference, so I don't blame you at all.

At the same time, getting art of one of my characters is incredibly freaking awesome! Makes me feel like a real cartoonist, with fans and stuff. So, thank you very much for the pic. And it is very much awesome indeed.

BTW: I think someone's interpretation of Jade would be as cool, if not cooler, then a 100% comic-accurate drawing. The character design is for the most part spot on, with only a few minor differences, so no worries there.



So, my gift is not yet complete. Story time.

(Before I launch into this epic:
Basilisk: most of the sketches here are just that: Sketches. I'd like to settle on a design that you like, so send me a PM. Lemme know if you do/don't like any of these, what you do/don't like, and if there are any changes you'd like to have made. Designing a character without being able to talk to it's owner is really hit or miss)

Well, let me just say that the German Shepherd has got to be my second favorite breed of dog there is. The first happens to be the Alaskan Husky, which looks quite similar (Mostly, I love the ice-blue eyes some of them have. And where I grew up was very, very far north: I knew people who had sled dog teams. But I'm rambling now). So I was very much looking forward to drawing a furry character of that sort.

Which I had started doing several months before the request here. This is Sebastien, a character for my comic, DSOF:

(It is important to note that the bored-out-of-his-gourd expression is integral to his design. I'd rather not say much more about his character then that, since he hasn't actually shown up in the comic yet)

This is pretty much how I settled on how to draw German Shepherds: there's a devision that goes from the eye, up the temple, then curves in to a sort of widows peak. What's below the eyebrow, though, gets inverted, so there's a spot of tan in the black and a spot of black in the tan.

So when Basilisk posts his profile, I think to myself: Cool, I get to design two German Shepherd characters.

Bas got sketched a lot, actually, over the past month. I was refining how I was going to draw German Shepards in general, and whenever I drew Sebastien he always came out with that terminally bored expression. Which I love and all, but... well, I needed some variety.

Let me take a second to thank Basilisk for the personality description. It was a range of traits, but felt still like a coherent character. Given the way I had the fur pattern planned out, it was very fun to work with when doing facial expressions. So, when I felt like playing around with expressions, Bas was first choice. (Coming up with a hair style was not as easy)

Here's a few scans from my sketchbook:

The color is done with colored inks, and this little sketch happens to be my first time using them. The gray is all pencil, which is why it isn't as dark as it should be.


On the left is one of the horn styles I was considering, since I was going to draw him as a DMFA demon (I think I read somewhere that all demons have horns in DMFA, EG: the spike on DP's nose). I like the one on the right, tho, with the perked eyebrow. Expressions are fun.

Demon Basilisk trying to chat up some cute chick, whom he does not realize is intimidated by his manly, gargantuan... horns.
At this point, I was kind of goofing off with the horns.

"... Like sharks passing in the night."
Sebastien and Basilisk walking past each other. I was trying to make them look as similar as possible, but give them distinct facial expressions. Also, I was really trying to push the angle and the pose, like they were turning to share a look as they went by. I can't tell how well that came out.


Another horn design, the idea being that they came out, down, and forward. I was really pushing the angle on this one, but I kinda liked it. (The horn on the left got a little messed up in the inking)

Now, sadly, I do not have the Gift I had in mind prepared. However, I did scan and color one of the earlier sketches I'd drew and inked. (It leans towards his Diabolical/Sarcastic/arrogant side. Can you tell?) Think of it as a temporary gift:


All in all, I got to spend a lot of time working with facial expressions that I had done before.

So, wrapping up here, you're all probably wondering why I don't have my gift ready if I had time to ink and sketch all that. Also, the outfits are quite different then the ones in the character bio. (And I didn't necessarily have to make him a demon, for that matter.)

After a couple of weeks, I decided that I was having so much fun with this guy, I wouldn't just draw a pic. I wanted to cameo him in my comic. Nothing fancy, just a quick appearance in the background, but still. The timing was perfect, too: I update on Friday, and there was going to be a scene at SAIA which seems to be DMFA's premium cameo territory (yes, even though he's a Demon).

Alas, a variety of complications have arose. I haven't yet finished last weeks comic, let alone this weeks. That being the case, my actual gift art won't be going up for, well, maybe a week or two.

Okay, I'm done now. Man, I talk too much.

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha: I can perfectly well understand the difficulty in trying to draw a character without a visual reference, so I don't blame you at all.

At the same time, getting art of one of my characters is incredibly freaking awesome! Makes me feel like a real cartoonist, with fans and stuff. So, thank you very much for the pic. And it is very much awesome indeed.

BTW: I think someone's interpretation of Jade would be as cool, if not cooler, then a 100% comic-accurate drawing. The character design is for the most part spot on, with only a few minor differences, so no worries there.

You're very welcome, I'm glad you like it and that it came out well. ^^

[Kipiru]

Ren, that picture ROCKS! With granite boulders! Perfectly awesome dude ,thanks! 

[Ren Gaulen]

Ren, that picture ROCKS! With granite boulders! Perfectly awesome dude ,thanks! 

Thanks. I'm glad you liked it.