Later. While Keon was in bed, Javier lay on the self-made sofa in the living room and turned from side to side. But it wasn't the uncomfortable lying position that prevented him from falling asleep. He had to get up. The light was still on in the bedroom, but it was quiet, no nervous man tossing and turning. "I can smell you. What's up?".
Javier stopped outside the curtain. “I’m sorry, I… I didn’t mean to watch you”/ “Sure? Your scent tells me something different." Javier felt caught. After all, there lived an animal in Keon whose sense of smell is many times better than that of a normal human. “Now you’re stressed, relax, okay? Stressed prey only attracts him."
Javier took a few steps into the bedroom. “Sorry, I don't mean to irritate it” / “It only feels irritable when someone is stressed. Someone who is stressed is easy prey, there is no exception. So like I said, relax, okay? “/“that… It’s not that easy”/“yes, I notice that. Do you want to talk about it? “/ “haven’t you already analyzed everything through my scent?”
“I can't read everything from it, but I can read a lot. I just didn't think I could trigger certain...feelings in a male person..."/ "You trigger... nothing, I..."/ "Please... don't pretend unnecessarily, Javier. So, do you want to talk about it? So that I understand it, with us wolves there is no such thing, and the lower-ranking males were not allowed to approach a female" / "But you are no longer low-ranking, and... I am not a female"
Keon couldn't help but grin slightly. Indeed, there was no female standing in front of him, but a man, just like him.
"You know what scares me a little right now?"/ "No, what?"/
"That what comes from you is quite… pleasant to me… It was like that earlier after dinner, when I had the same smell of you in my nose. And I know that smell from the others, but that usually meant, be careful, don't come any closer"…
"But I'm not one of the others… So you have nothing to fear from me." Keon smiled again. "I wouldn't fight you either, you're too weak and too unstable for that. But you still haven't answered my question…". Javier was a little embarrassed… "It's… I can't tell you exactly, I just know that a woman, however attractive and nice she may be, doesn't trigger anything in me. But when a man crosses my path… Is that different"/ "Does every man trigger that in you?"/ "No, not every man"…
Keon moved closer to the foot of the bed so that he was sitting close to Javier. And his gaze was hard to interpret, almost a little shy and considering, he looked up at him. "A suggestion… We'll share the bed tonight. In the pack, we always slept close to the others after the hunt. I know we haven't hunted, but maybe right now… The same wishes?"/ "because you can smell me well? hn". Javier grinned with just one corner of his mouth.
“That's not funny, Javier... There's more going on here than I could ever imagine. I just want you to lie down with me... You definitely don't leave the oven on at night, do you?"/ “no, out of caution, in case a spark breaks out”/ “and it’s definitely very cold here at night”/ “yes… by the water anyway”/ “so…?”/ “O.k., then you have to make room for me” .
Keon lay down a little on the other side, but only halfway, which almost made Javier grin a little. "The bed is so wide and you're not taking advantage of it…"/ "I just… Don't want to lie so far away from you". The smirk turned into a quiet smile. "And now, should I nuzzle your neck a little or how is it with you?"/ "When we're in a pack, we just warm up to each other and… It strengthens the bond between each other"
"And you didn't have any strange thoughts running through your head?" Javier ran his fingers through Keon's hair, starting at the roots and slowly combing it from front to back. "Not when we're lying next to each other, full of adrenaline and fully eaten as animals, nobody thinks about that."/"So you all just wanted to sleep… O.k… are you cold?"/"A little…".
Javier's whole body was tense as he slowly lay down with his back to him. At the moment, this was the only logical position for him to warm someone else. Almost simultaneously and naturally, Keon put his arms around him and pulled him close. Javier felt his breath on his shoulder. Keon inhaled deeply. "You smell like… earth, the sea… and the other thing I like about you right now." A low, almost affectionate, vibrating growl could be heard.
The tension in Javier's body eased after a few seconds. Keon's grip was firm, but he still gave him enough room to breathe. They lay like that for quite a while, cuddled up close to each other. Until Javier unexpectedly felt Keon's warm lips on his neck. He was overcome with goose bumps and his little hairs stood on end. "hn, if only I wasn't so tired already…"
“Then… What?”/ “Then I would fulfill more than one wish for you and myself. But this…was the biggest wish I had at the moment…your warmth." Javier held on to his arms. He enjoyed it and Keon noticed it because that pleasant smell came back to his nose. “Don’t… let’s sleep, I have to get my strength back first.”.... “mhm”.
The World in Deeper Inspection UPDATE
Read: (Chapter 1: Pages 1 to 4)
About the comic
TWIDI IS BACK!
To celebrate its 10th anniversary since launch, I'm remaking the first chapter and posting pages every Friday, accompanied by my thoughts on the original pages and a breakdown of what I've changed or improved.
Analysis under the cut.
PAGE 1 and 2
It’s March 31st, 2023… exactly 10 years since I posted the very first page of TWIDI!! I haven’t done much to celebrate TWIDI’s anniversaries the past few years (due to general Busyness – yes, yes, check out the forever “TWIDI isn’t dead” sign up on the front page), but the official 10th anniversary is a special unignorable event.
Initially I wanted to make a simple remaster of Chapter 1 – better copyediting, fixing egregious lettering and art errors, alongside a retrospective author’s note… then long-time reader Caracan suggested, why not do a full remake? That’d be fun to see. And I agree – it would be fun to see! I’ve grown my craft and sensibility as comics artist since TWIDI’s debut, and I was so curious to see how 28 Year Old Me would interpret the material that 18 Year Old me produced.
So yep!
This first page used to be so cool-looking to my 18 Year Old eyes… I can definitely see what I was trying to go for, but wasn’t quite able to reach then.
A thumbnail from 2013, with notes to myself regarding the composition. In my mind I wanted the wolves to have a James Jeanesque rendering – I was really into his Fables covers back then (still am tbh).
For the remake, I leaned further into the graphic-designiness of the composition: every element had to sweep the reader’s gaze down onto our protagonist. The wolves are expanded to actually take up half the spread and simplified down to only white lines. The trees and sky are shaped like teeth pointing down to Grimsley. The intent was to evoke a sense of claustrophobia, of the wolves catching up to Grims and driving him into a corner.
Small improvements: the energy and line of action are clearer with the new running pose. Definitely a better silhouette. And a lot more angularity with the limbs which adds to the sense of movement.
PAGE 3 and 4
This spread is one of the most drastic rehauls in the remake. Here’s the original for comparison
It’s not very good! (Sorry @ 18 Year Old Me) I remember struggling real hard with the dynamicism required out of this sequence…
Fortunately after 1000s of double-page compositions and 10 years of practice, I’ve finally cracked this once-difficult composition.
This new page does away with the concept of grids or caring about whether anything is read linearly. The sequence is supposed to evoke chaos and panic as everything is happening everywhere all at once, so it doesn’t really matter if everything can be read or arranged in a neat grid. That was the problem with the original spread: it was too beholden to the grid.
(You can see how in the original, each page was (top row: left to right; bottom row: left to right))
The new page is like this:
The page is horizontally railroaded. The main action sweeps from top left to bottom right.
The AWOOO sfx is the anchor which leads the eye from left to right. As the eye travels it may glance up or down at the panels – there’s no real need to pay attention to them; hopefully the improved clarity of Grimsley’s emotional and body acting + me actually depicting the wolf biting his neck + the spiky graphic design elements instantly conveys that he’s in trouble without much or any processing.
The newest panel – the pink grass and canine paws – is a call back for later when we catch up to this in media res.
Hope your papers and exams are going well! I got it into my head to make a Drow save, but now I'm stumped about where they should live. Do you know of any worlds that scream "Underdark" to you? Thanks!
Yes, my papers and (some of) my exams went really well, thank you! (The less said about my German exam, the better, *whimpers.*) I just submitted my last paper and exam over the weekend, so now I'm free! (For like 3 weeks, lol.)
It's really up to you what you imagine the Drow live like. The only spooky world I can think of that might work for Dark Elves is Caracan over at Simszoo: https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/4221-caracan-empty/
I bet it would look really great at night, more like an underground cave system. (I've already tried and failed to make a permanently dark/nighttime lighting mod.) Throw some of the glowing crystals from Lunar Lakes in there (the recolorable ones at MTS, so you can make them purple, the iconic D&D Drow color), some giant spiders, some freaky plants (these are a good start), and yup.
You'd have to add your own lots to it, though, since it's an Empty world.
The furnished version at https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/4262-caracan/ is of course waaaaaay too modern
But I can easily see you replacing the lots with maybe some darker recolors from Dragon Valley, or even @crowkeeperthesimmer's lots https://crowkeeperthesimmer.tumblr.com/tagged/download, since their fairy/fantasy lots are just...insane.
There's also this Hell world, but it's not exactly Drow-like: https://calinselene.wordpress.com/hell/
Apologies for the crappy build-mode screen, but I’m really pleased how Caracan’s green night sky and night lighting--the default that came with the world--combines with Divadoom’s purple/pink/blue plant retextures to make a very strange-looking world.
This is supposed to be House Helvi’Zauaath’s ancestral seat, loosely based on the real-life Castel Del Monte in Italy.
A big thank you to @murfeelee for recommending Caracan!
"Sorry bout' that." Kawa's going to say sorry early, she's spotted the young man walking out from the caravan's camp. Seems her soft playing of a guitar has stirred some company.
Daniel was walking out of a tent in the Caravan’s camp, having picked up a ride on said caracan. Heading towards a town more inland. It was only after heading out for an evening walk that he would hear what sounded like the soft strumming of a guitar.
The young man made his way over and sat down next to Kawa, that’s when he heard what she had said and chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s fine, I think your music is beautiful. How long have you been playing instruments for?”
2006 Caravan on the lot For Sale! $3900 call 319-232-5927 for more information! #usedvan #usedcars #dealer #caracan #dodge #monday https://www.instagram.com/p/BoZv94thjSw/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1l5knsqm2tvw9
In my last post I introduced the Harrison brothers. The older of the two, Heath, has been suffering from a rash on his face for a long time. So far he hasn't wanted to accept help. But one evening when Heath was scratching his skin bloody, his brother Hunter told him that things couldn't go on like this. And Heath finally saw that his brother was right. And so Hunter set out the next morning to get someone to look at his brother. ((a little bit Text under every pic, if you like to read)) 😉
“Good morning… Sorry to disturb you so early…”/ “You sound a bit worried, so it must be important. You're not inconvenient, I've been awake for over an hour taking care of the garden"/"O.K. it's about my brother, someone should take a closer look at him. His face… he looks like he's been stung by a few bees, but that's not the case, there must be something else that makes him look like that."
“And you want me to look at it?”/ “I don’t know who else to ask, maybe Dana?”/ “That would have been an option. What does it all look like exactly?…”/ “It’s a kind of rash, but it doesn’t seem to be contagious, otherwise I would have it too. It's worst in the evening and he scratches himself bloody every time"/"oh dear… Well then let's go, I'll take a look at it"…
Hunter walked with Gwen at a leisurely pace so they could chat along the way. But there wasn't much to say at that moment. He took her hand and looked straight ahead as he ran. She liked the gesture and enjoyed the feeling of being needed. “So you two live out here…”/ “yeah, not really inviting, I know”.
„Well, let's put it this way, it's not exactly in the area that would necessarily attract me, but if I know that there's someone here who needs help, I'm happy to go there”/ “O.K. He's sometimes a bit abusive, dissatisfied, frustrated… But I think it's all because of this, it puts a lot of stress on him"/"I think I can deal with that kind of attitude, hn". She smiled understandingly.
When they entered the house together, Heath was already sitting on a chair, apparently waiting. “Heath, that’s…”/ “oh, a redhead, those are the worst of them all”/ “pleasant, Gwen. What do they say to us red-haired women?” He quickly realized that she would not be intimidated. “Um, forget it. So you want to take a look at my face? Go ahead, it’s a curse anyway, I think.”…
She took a few steps towards him, confident, so much so that it almost made him recoil in the chair. “Who would have put this curse on you, Mister Harrison? Something like that shouldn't be trifled with. And, hn, yes, it does look a little like they've stuck their head in a beehive.". Heath looked at his brother somewhat disdainfully.. “did you say that?”/ “what? I had to describe it somehow." Heath shook his head annoyed. Then Gwen took another step towards him.. "I need to take a closer look, okay?"/ "phh, sure…".
She got as close to him as she could and took a good look at him. “mh…mhm…”/ “Hey, I have the rash on my face and not on the top of my skull”. She looked at him seriously. “I wanted to see for myself, okay? So you only have it on your face and nowhere else on your body?”, He grinned. “I can also take my pants down if you want?” She smiled. “hn, no, someone else has already made me this offer”/ “oh yeah? Let me guess, my little brother?”/ “Shut up!”
She took his head and turned it to all sides to look closely at the spots. “Hey, it could be a little gentler, right?”/ “hehe, you’re not used to that, brother, are you?”/ “shut u-…”/ “Do you often feel tired, Mister Harrison? What are your eating habits?”…
. "What do my eating habits have to do with it?"/ "Oh, probably a lot, so…?"/ "pff, so… Fish and… And"/ "he eats nothing but fish, no side dishes, not even potatoes, he could be a fish himself and he'd still eat himself." Gwen looked at him more seriously again. "You should really cut down on that as soon as possible, preferably cut it out completely for a while"/ "Why?"/ "You've developed an allergy and a severe vitamin deficiency".
"So you're telling me I can't eat any more fish, Ginger lady"/ "Gwen! And yes, that's what I'm saying. You should get into the habit of eating more vegetables. And meat only once a week. At least until things have improved. I'll also bring some homemade ointment"/ "now you know why mother always used to tell you to eat your vegetables, hehe". Again, Heath looked at his brother with narrowed eyes "You really don't know when to shut up, do you?"/ "hey, your brother's just worried!"
"And you're really convinced that it comes from eating a lot of fish?"/ "For sure. if you eat too one-sided a diet, your body will go on strike at some point. And you've really scratched yourself enough, surely you want this itching to stop"/ "it would help me a lot, yes… Oh man, now i must nibble on vegetables every day"/ "I can bring you a nice salad every day, or cook something for you. The main thing is that it's healthy and rich in vitamins".
Heath got up from his chair and walked towards the window. He looked out for a few seconds and then turned around. Then he put a hand to his face. It hurt from all the scratching he had done all too often over the last few days. "And you're sure this will help, lady?"/ "Very sure indeed, you'll see, it will get better, and the ointment will help. You should apply it daily"/ "hey, and once your rash is gone, Heath…"
"… Then the women won't run away from you anymore"/ "hnhn, that's right, the other women will have to watch out for a handsome guy like you"/ "Now you're exaggerating. You'd better go and get this ointment to put on my face". she smiled. "it consists of various herbs and other natural substances, flowers, spring water… and importantly, don't forget to always eat your vegetables"/ "yes, yes, now get lost".
Hunter went outside with Gwen. "Then I'll take the fish to the market. And make sure he only eats some once a week. If that really helps and he feels better… I'd like to give you something in return"/ "No, we all help each other here"/ "nothing material… a kiss maybe?"/ "oh, hn, I'd take that“.
"What I haven't told him now is… There's no guarantee of success, but in my experience, that should help"/ "That's fine, I think he knows there's always a certain amount of risk. He just has to persevere and stick to a few rules"/ "hnhn, that's it. I'll bring you the ointment later, I still have a small supply. It helps against a lot of things. In any case, it stops the itching, which is important for him"
"Vegetables... I hate vegetables".... Well, we'll see if sticking to the rules helps at a later date😅
Poses by @poses-by-bee , @danjaley , And chair poses, whose creator I unfortunately don't know, the pose names are a_malebenny_(number), If you're interested, I can send them to you :)
... nicht, dass ihr denkt, ich mache gar nichts mehr ☺️... das ist die neue Karte von der Tapasbar „Caracan“ in der @schaubuehne_lindenfels in #leipzig (unbezahlte Werbung da Accountnennung) .. ein schöner Tag war das gestern 😃.... #caracan #chalklettering #lettering #läddergäng #chalkartist #createeachday #handlettering #chalkart #chalkmenu (hier: Schaubühne Lindenfels) https://www.instagram.com/p/Btxoa70oZRX/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ph0dshl663mp
I'm making a small little series called the cane family the main characters are choco cane the dad minty cane the son and cara (caramel) cane the daughter choco cane had a wife named Berry cane but she died anyway I hope you'll all be excited for this but St the moment I'm sick I feel shaky when I walk I feel hot my head hurts and I'm coughing a lot so I might not update much
Pieces of Blacky Sim Zoo’s CC I’ve found works well in game!
*will be updated as I go.
BUILD/BUY
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/2536-treestumps-set-s3/ - Tree Stump Dining Set
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/543-marktrastplatz/ - Casks (Decoration)
CLOTHING FEMALE YA/A
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/1743-mittelalterkleid/ - Unlocked Medieval Dress
CLOTHING FEMALE T
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/1071-f-teen-ma-kleid-1/ - Lower Class Medieval Dress
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/1070-f-teen-ma-kleid-1-aus-traumkarrieren/ - Noble Style Medieval Dress
CLOTHING MALE YA/A
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/2217-m-tunic-1/ - Wrapped Tunic
WORLDS
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/4262-caracan/ - Carcan, a Medieval Style World
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/4221-caracan-empty/ - Carcan, but empty with no roads
BUY MODE
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/4200-sink-old/ - An Old Sink.
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/4169-bush-all-in-one/ - All-in-One Shower, Toilet Bush
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/3918-old-grill/ - Grill, looks like a stack of bricks.
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/3899-babykorb/ - Baby Crib, looks like a woven basket
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/3454-hanging-herbs-s3/ - Hanging Herbs on-a-string!
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/2754-counter-forest/ - Faery Style Forest Counter
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/2751-baumstamm-bank/ - Log Bench
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/2732-old-stove-s3/ - Old Style Stove
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/2731-theke-simpel-s3/ - Old Wooden Counter
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/2729-old-cart/ - Old Cart, used as an armchair
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/2723-brunnenbecken-s3/ - A sink that looks like a well
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/2724-gantone/ - It’s a guitar!
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/2719-sitzkissen-ma/ - A pile of burlap looking pillows to use as a chair
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/2530-doublebed-viking-1/ - Double Bed
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/2524-singlebed-viking-1/ - Single Version of the bed above
BUILD MODE
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/3917-roof-thatch-green/ - Green Thatch Roof
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/3916-roof-thatch-brown/ - Brown Thatch Roof
https://www.simszoo.de/filebase/file/3898-window-ranch-2x1-no-glass/ - 2x1 Window