Auspice's Art

[Auspice]

2 hours ago, gallusvarius said:

Oi. I know the feeling. It's all-too-painful.

I suggest wearing armor of some kind, maybe a seashell suit, so they don't instantly murder you. 

Good advice. I was wearing the summer frest since I was afraid of overheating aheh

2 hours ago, gallusvarius said:

You did very, very well with Webber and his fur. His expression is really cute!

I was really impressed with the Wigfrid too, and Wendy. Both expressions are really fitting.
With Wigfrid - You might want to mess with the facial porportions - Like, making the eyes lower, lips lower, eyes close, mess with stuff like that. Her face is really kind of low on her head and hair covers what seems to be up to half her forehead or something...
I personally don't see anything wrong with it, but it's just a suggestion to help you with your own feelings about it. 
 

Thank you! I was actually pretty surprised at how much I enjoyed drawing him.

I am glad you think so
I'll probably mess around with her facial proportions, then - she's definitely one of the characters that particularly befuddles me. Thanks for the suggestions!

[Auspice]

Grass gekkos give me life

Their grassy head and chin tufts
the lil tooth
their tiny claws
their sleeping position
their "eep" startle thing and how they drop their tails

Every time I see them I'm like AAAAAAAAA or EEEEEEE or kuh my heart
Internally.

 

Mostly.

 

[gallusvarius]

10 hours ago, Auspice said:

Grass gekkos give me life

Oh, I love these things too! I never thought to draw them, though.    I was pretty happy to see a character - namely Winona - take them as her halloween costume. 

You have really nice perspective in some of these doodles, and it's a pleasure to see the Grass Gecko in your style.

[Auspice]

I did a thing. A sketchy thing.

I haven't really done much animating before but I think I can accept how this turned out.

I find the Don't Starve lore very interesting
So I came up with some theories/headcanons which I may or may not make use of in a story I may or may not ever write. Get ready for some wall of text, because I am vomiting out my ideas

Ancient History:
Nightmare fuel, in its barest form, is not evil. It is an ethereal conduit for powerful emotions, absorbing, amplifying, and using those emotions for power. However, the Ancients became greedy. They found that fear and misery were the easiest intense emotions to induce, and that insanity allowed them to better perceive magic. The powerful mages became shadowed, their appearances becoming darker. Fear and malevolence grew and grew, until the first shadow creatures were born. The ones who produced the most nightmare fuel allowed their emotions to consume them, all that they were, and they transformed, leaving only their exoskeletons behind. Those who teetered on the edge of insanity through their use of the fuel were the first to be attacked. They tried to defend themselves, and when they couldn’t, they crafted items to revive themselves. But the greatest mages could not overcome their own darkness, and they, too, became mere shadows. The magically-primed society became steeped in terror, and the Nightmare Cycle began, allowing the shadow creatures to appear to even the most sane. Eventually, the entire society was transformed or dead. They left only ruins and a world of shadows and magic.
 

Nightmare Fuel:
- Originally, it wasn't so sinister. But, being on a different plane of existence, insanity allowed one to perceive the magical matter. 
- Fear and terror can produce small amounts of fuel, normally insignificant. But the ancients were able to amplify this process. Those who produced the fuel knew only misery.
- The ones who used large amounts of the nightmare fuel grew sharper in appearance. I based this off the Atrium statues. They become more attuned to the flow of magic, and their existences near the ethereal plane - the closeness depends on the degree of their transformation. They also produce small amounts of nightmare fuel within themselves. When the characters from Don't Starve are bound to the throne, they become shadowed, to varying extents. (Though only Maxwell, Wilson, and Charlie ever sat on it in my canon, not including those before)  

- The power of nightmare fuel is reality-changing. The fuel produced by the powerful emotions of an entire society can give powers of creation and dimensional manipulation, though it wasn't until someone tried to use it that the shadows began to bind kings to their game. 

- All the ether (magical matter) in the world is saturated with shadows after the fall of the Ancients. And it propagates more and more of itself, so long as there are beings to drive to insanity and despair. Hence the new survivors.

Shadow Creatures:
- The Terrorbeaks look suspiciously like the Ancient statues, specifically the mage and Atrium statues. I think that much of their society transformed into them after falling into a combination of insanity, despair, and overexposure to nightmare fuel. 
- The Shadow Watchers might be human survivors. Perhaps the endless death and revival shattered their minds, and they reached too far towards the realm of shadow magic. In the Constant, souls are trapped so that they can be revived. After "permanent death," where no resurrection items were prepared, souls are transported to new locations with only foggy memories of how they died and how they can avoid it. The closer they are to the shadows, the clearer the memories of past lives are. If they fall into insanity and despair and saturate themselves in the nightmare fuel they have been producing, they can take that single step to let everything fall away. It is, after all, the only way for their suffering to end.
- .... I actually have no idea about the Crawling Horrors. Maybe they're another form or species from the Ancient civilization? The head statues, though.......

- The shadow creatures have an endless hunger for nightmare fuel, and the emotions that made them what they are. The former Ancients, Terrorbeaks and Crawling Horrors, are aggressive due to their amplified magic as well as lingering resentment. The Shadow Watchers are drawn to observe those slipping towards insanity. None of them have any individuality, rather, lingering will and memories are shared throughout all the shadows.

 

Ok that's it for now
That was longer than I expected but eh

[ResettePlayer]

I love lore speculation!

Your ideas are pretty neat. They kind of tie in with the "science versus magic" thing, except this time it's more "logic versus emotion". Their thriving civilisation collapsed when they went to deep into their crazy emotion cult and got drunk on that power.

I also like how you tied in the Shadow Watcher, since that one looks undeniably human compared to the rest. The idea that the shadow beings are basically ghosts that are so very old is neat too. I'm not sure how regular ghosts are tied in with this-- souls that never got resurrected, of course, but ones that didn't "respawn".

Perhaps the Shadow Creatures that tend to wander around and potentially be slain by human playthings are of a lower caste or something, while higher class (since they could use nightmare fuel created from the insanity their subjects, and keep their own minds relatively intact) are more the sort that orchestrate the whole let's-torture-humans-for-no-discernible-reason thing. Well, I dunno, maybe they're trying similar techniques of fuel farming on an alien race since their own population has been exhausted and they still hunger for yet more power.

Why humans, though? We've got pigmen and merms, bunnymen and goats, what's the significance of the human? If fuel is farmed from fear, that should be very easy to harvest from these species, even if most of them are generally less intelligent than humans. Intelligence has little to do with emotions, after all. I suppose most of those guys have established some sort of comfort in life (Pigmen run into their well-lit houses at night, for example), while when you bring in one human at a time, that human is going to struggle for as long as they can until death finds them. That still seems inefficient; especially considering the amount of magic that's probably required to bring in humans all the way from Earth. I've never been satisfied with the "They only do this for fun!" explanation, and so fuel-farming intrigues me. It's an idea that needs some work, though.

[gallusvarius]

3 hours ago, Auspice said:

I did a thing. A sketchy thing.

This animation is way, way too cool. It's seriously impressive.

It almost looks like a reanimation of those ancient tablets we have from Klei.

 

 

3 hours ago, Auspice said:

That was longer than I expected but eh

I read all of it. It's some interesting ideas, especially for the origin of the terror beaks specifically. 
Maybe the Terrorbeaks were stronger mages, but maybe the crawling horrors are actually a combined mass of mere citizens? Weaker but merged together, even if still weaker?

[Auspice]

4 hours ago, ResettePlayer said:

I love lore speculation!

Your ideas are pretty neat. They kind of tie in with the "science versus magic" thing, except this time it's more "logic versus emotion". Their thriving civilisation collapsed when they went to deep into their crazy emotion cult and got drunk on that power.

YES when the game only provides tidbits it is fun to fill the blanks

I did not think of that, but now that you mention it, though I suppose it is indeed so.

4 hours ago, ResettePlayer said:

I also like how you tied in the Shadow Watcher, since that one looks undeniably human compared to the rest. The idea that the shadow beings are basically ghosts that are so very old is neat too. I'm not sure how regular ghosts are tied in with this-- souls that never got resurrected, of course, but ones that didn't "respawn".

Gosh darnit, I forgot about normal ghosts. 

I think that the regular ghosts might be those with absolutely no ethereal affinity... Going into more speculation, I think that the main survivors of Don't Starve, when brought to the Constant, had souls that were either naturally more attuned to ether, or had the disposition to produce some. The shadows could then make use of that magic to revive them. This ties into my theory that their natural affinities gave them their powers - Wilson's meat effigy, Willow's immunity to fire, etc. 

So, when the magic-less survivors died, their lingering souls could not be revived.

4 hours ago, ResettePlayer said:

Perhaps the Shadow Creatures that tend to wander around and potentially be slain by human playthings are of a lower caste or something, while higher class (since they could use nightmare fuel created from the insanity their subjects, and keep their own minds relatively intact) are more the sort that orchestrate the whole let's-torture-humans-for-no-discernible-reason thing. Well, I dunno, maybe they're trying similar techniques of fuel farming on an alien race since their own population has been exhausted and they still hunger for yet more power.

That is quite possible...

I think of the shadows as more of a hive-mind, and a huge mass of nightmare fuel on the shadow plane that exists as fragments. These ragments reflect the forms of those who were absorbed into the darkness, so even if the wandering shadows were "killed," all that was done was that a bit of the fuel was chipped off Their existence. The hive-mind, then, is a collection of thousands of fragmented wills and broken minds... 

Perhaps the lust for power and knowledge of the mages most greatly influenced the entity, due to the concentration of fuel in their existences. I feel as though logic no longer governs any of their actions, as they are merely fragments transferred to a plane of reality in which they do not belong, usually while insane.

4 hours ago, ResettePlayer said:

Why humans, though? We've got pigmen and merms, bunnymen and goats, what's the significance of the human? If fuel is farmed from fear, that should be very easy to harvest from these species, even if most of them are generally less intelligent than humans. Intelligence has little to do with emotions, after all. I suppose most of those guys have established some sort of comfort in life (Pigmen run into their well-lit houses at night, for example), while when you bring in one human at a time, that human is going to struggle for as long as they can until death finds them. That still seems inefficient; especially considering the amount of magic that's probably required to bring in humans all the way from Earth. I've never been satisfied with the "They only do this for fun!" explanation, and so fuel-farming intrigues me. It's an idea that needs some work, though.

I think that Maxwell created the pigmen and other creatures using the powers of creation granted by the throne. Perhaps they are a special kind of existence, created by magic but unable to produce any, and since all sentient beings were consumed by the shadows, their source of fuel had to come from elsewhere.

Whew, more theorizing: The Codex Umbra is a bit of a conundrum for me. Maybe the Ancients wrote it and sent it through the gateway in hopes to spread their knowledge, or call for help. Maybe the shadows conjured it and sent it through a dimensional gap to see what would happen. Maybe an Ancient scholar escaped with it, and left it behind when they died. Whatever happened, a human eventually found the book and was pulled in (only the Ruins existed, probably). Maybe one more every now and then. Some humans, they found, could naturally produce ether; with some "encouragement," those humans could generate large amounts of nightmare fuel. One day, someone - Maxwell, perhaps, or a possible predecessor - tapped into the powers of the entity and was able to use Their powers - and a human could, perhaps, wield it with more accuracy and purpose than They could. They immediately enthroned that human, giving them powers unimaginable, pushing them to draw in more humans. When Maxwell was enthroned, he created the new surface.

Thanks for discussing this with me! It's so much fun. 

3 hours ago, gallusvarius said:

This animation is way, way too cool. It's seriously impressive.

It almost looks like a reanimation of those ancient tablets we have from Klei.

Aww, thank you! I'm happy you enjoyed my experimenty thing.

I definitely took some inspiration from those! Those I still haven't done the Metheus Puzzles. I asked some friends and some said "yeah but later" but it has been later for a while so hhhhhh

3 hours ago, gallusvarius said:

I read all of it. It's some interesting ideas, especially for the origin of the terror beaks specifically. 
Maybe the Terrorbeaks were stronger mages, but maybe the crawling horrors are actually a combined mass of mere citizens? Weaker but merged together, even if still weaker?

:'D

Perhaps... a sort of amalgamation of half-existences? I think that fits into the ideas I blergh'd in my previous reply - they might be weaker fragments of the shadow hive-mind thing.

[ResettePlayer]

9 hours ago, Auspice said:

the main survivors of Don't Starve, when brought to the Constant, had souls that were either naturally more attuned to ether, or had the disposition to produce some

I knew it. They are all pretty crazy even before their sanity meter stops dropping. Look at Willow or Woodie. Even Wilson--he's pretty normal for the most part, but does some crazy stuff every now and then, like listening to mysterious radios.

9 hours ago, Auspice said:

I think of the shadows as more of a hive-mind, and a huge mass of nightmare fuel on the shadow plane that exists as fragments.

I do like this idea a lot, and it works well, but I was thinking about how entities like the Ancient Fuelweaver fit in. He's clearly operating on a higher level, so maybe the greater mages/priests//whatever/those who conducted the experiments in the first place turned the vast majority of their civilisation into the hive mind for their own gain.

9 hours ago, Auspice said:

Perhaps they are a special kind of existence, created by magic but unable to produce any, and since all sentient beings were consumed by the shadows, their source of fuel had to come from elsewhere.

Well, that could work. But then the idea that fuel is made from fear might need to be altered a bit, since fear is a staple emotion of pretty much all living things with a brain. Like you said, though, many humans are possibly more inclined towards the ether and as such they can produce hefty amounts of fuel.

9 hours ago, Auspice said:

The Codex Umbra is a bit of a conundrum for me

It's something I have a little trouble with too. Maxwell found it on Earth, apparently it was written in English or something (it would be rather difficult to decode at all if it was written in a completely alien language). I suppose some sort of human with an even stronger inclination towards the ether could have had an Ancient connect with his or her mind, receiving the distress signal or whatever. That person could have written the journal, and the words carried their own magic and they eventually get sucked into the Constant (or maybe they got hit by a bus or something and died normally). The book is there to be found by Maxwell, and the rest is history.

Yet the book itself has magic. We see that in the Final Act. I suppose Wickerbottom proves that the written word can be magical without use of Nightmare fuel. However, Maxwell's book involves shadows and dark stuff specifically. I guess it got saturated enough with research and information on shadow stuff for it to hold that power.

9 hours ago, Auspice said:

a human could, perhaps, wield it with more accuracy and purpose than They could. They immediately enthroned that human, giving them powers unimaginable, pushing them to draw in more humans

This is a neat idea as to why They put humans on the throne. At the same time, however, the "imprisoned" aspect of the throne implies that, though humans can use magic pretty well, they do not understand it and as such are still inferior to Them in that regard. Or something. Maybe they just wanted a brain independent from the aforementioned hive mind in charge of reconstructing the planet for the fuel farm. Perhaps humans produce so much fuel from the psychological torture of the throne while simultaneously being too stubborn to succumb to it and turn into a shadow creature, if that makes any sense. While their physical body is being preserved on the throne, they cannot die, but they can still go insane.

 

16 hours ago, Auspice said:

I did a thing. A sketchy thing.

The first time I saw this, I was on my laptop, which was a bit laggy, so I didn't see it's true glory and scrolled down to see the lore. Looking at it properly now, it's really cool. Great job.

9 hours ago, Auspice said:

I still haven't done the Metheus Puzzles. I asked some friends and some said "yeah but later" but it has been later for a while so hhhhhh

Sounds like my friends. And I'm sitting here waving my arms around and screaming "LLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRREEE!"

9 hours ago, Auspice said:

Perhaps... a sort of amalgamation of half-existences? I think that fits into the ideas I blergh'd in my previous reply - they might be weaker fragments of the shadow hive-mind thing

When a regular Shadow Creature is destroyed, the fragments float around a bit and later congeal into a unshapely Crawler, with bits from several different entities. How about that?

[Auspice]

4 minutes ago, ResettePlayer said:

I knew it. They are all pretty crazy even before their sanity meter stops dropping. Look at Willow or Woodie. Even Wilson--he's pretty normal for the most part, but does some crazy stuff every now and then, like listening to mysterious radios.

Indeed! I definitely think those with magical disposition are more naturally inclined to insanity, or losing touch with physical reality as they brush the ethereal plane. 

Ah, Wilson. I'm still not sure what to make of his calling his meat effigies a "a well known technique among the scientific community." Maybe he has a coping method to deal with all the magic - trying to justify the existence of more-than-scientific things, especially those that he's created. So much that he creates imaginary memories, or blocks others out from his mind. Honestly, going by these theories/headcanons, the irony of Wilson having extremely high magical affinity is great.

7 minutes ago, ResettePlayer said:

I do like this idea a lot, and it works well, but I was thinking about how entities like the Ancient Fuelweaver fit in. 

The Fuelweaver is another conundrum. I got the feeling that he wasn't trying to work with Their interests.

"Curse Their name!" - Possibly resentful towards the shadows, despite being saturated with fuel and using Their power.
"Return them to me!" - Not capitalized... perhaps he was a guardian of the society and was greatly protective of the people...
"Release me, shade!" - He's probably part of the shadow-entity, but maybe originally he was a powerful practitioner of untainted ether, before everything became corrupted, protecting his mind/will from shattering entirely. Upon his defeat, his existence is once again devoured by the shadows?

So, I think that he was a protector of the Ancient society, perhaps with high authority and repute. As they all fell to the shadows, his power kept him alive, until he, too became corrupted and fell like all the others. 

26 minutes ago, ResettePlayer said:

He's clearly operating on a higher level, so maybe the greater mages/priests//whatever/those who conducted the experiments in the first place turned the vast majority of their civilisation into the hive mind for their own gain.

I actually like this idea! More of the foolish actions of a greedy society. Perhaps it seemed innocuous enough at first, the shadow creatures catalyzing the production of more fuel. But as their minds cracked under the strain of the fuel, They began to attack.

30 minutes ago, ResettePlayer said:

Well, that could work. But then the idea that fuel is made from fear might need to be altered a bit, since fear is a staple emotion of pretty much all living things with a brain. Like you said, though, many humans are possibly more inclined towards the ether and as such they can produce hefty amounts of fuel.

I'd say that nightmare fuel could be a substance that holds emotions, rather than being fear itself. Small amounts of untainted ether can be generated by living beings, but it can't be used until it becomes saturated with emotions, after which it propagates using whatever source of ether and can be used for magic. Then, despite the fear of the created beings, they cannot create nightmare fuel because they cannot produce ether.

Definitely yes for that last part though.

41 minutes ago, ResettePlayer said:

It's something I have a little trouble with too. 

I suspect that the book does indeed have its own magic, and reading it will allow shadows to infiltrate your mind and give you forbidden knowledge. In terms of the language... Since Codex Umbra is Latin, perhaps it is written in Latin? Though, that is still a human language. I agree that a human with a powerful disposition could have received the knowledge from the Ancients, or perhaps discovered the Constant through their contact with the ethereal plane. I suspect they became corrupted, in the end. 

48 minutes ago, ResettePlayer said:

(or maybe they got hit by a bus or something and died normally)

AHA
That is definitely one way to go. 

47 minutes ago, ResettePlayer said:

This is a neat idea as to why They put humans on the throne. At the same time, however, the "imprisoned" aspect of the throne implies that, though humans can use magic pretty well, they do not understand it and as such are still inferior to Them in that regard. Or something. Maybe they just wanted a brain independent from the aforementioned hive mind in charge of reconstructing the planet for the fuel farm. Perhaps humans produce so much fuel from the psychological torture of the throne while simultaneously being too stubborn to succumb to it and turn into a shadow creature, if that makes any sense. While their physical body is being preserved on the throne, they cannot die, but they can still go insane.

Hmm... I suspect that the enthroned human is perpetually trapped on the edge of shadowing (delaying them from becoming a shadow, even when losing their mind), and, while they can produce a large amount of fuel, more is used in exercising their powers and keeping them trapped. With the other survivors, however, there can be a significant net gain of fuel.

55 minutes ago, ResettePlayer said:

The first time I saw this, I was on my laptop, which was a bit laggy, so I didn't see it's true glory and scrolled down to see the lore. Looking at it properly now, it's really cool. Great job.

Thank you so much! I originally tried sketching a mini-comic thing, but it just didn't capture the storytelling that I wanted.

57 minutes ago, ResettePlayer said:

Sounds like my friends. And I'm sitting here waving my arms around and screaming "LLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRREEE!"

Me too. Me too............................................................

57 minutes ago, ResettePlayer said:

When a regular Shadow Creature is destroyed, the fragments float around a bit and later congeal into a unshapely Crawler, with bits from several different entities. How about that?

I LIKE THAT
ACCEPTED

[gallusvarius]

10 hours ago, Auspice said:

I definitely took some inspiration from those! Those I still haven't done the Metheus Puzzles. I asked some friends and some said "yeah but later" but it has been later for a while so hhhhhh

Heh.  I still haven't done it either, don't worry.
Me and Resette are supposed to do it, at some point... I need to remember to ask when I have time.
 

There sure is a lot you two have written here. I read all of it. I wish I had time to keep up with it. I'm gonna try and type some thoughts too though. 



 

10 hours ago, Auspice said:

The Codex Umbra is a bit of a conundrum for me.

29 minutes ago, ResettePlayer said:

It's something I have a little trouble with too.

 

29 minutes ago, ResettePlayer said:

I suppose some sort of human with an even stronger inclination towards the ether could have had an Ancient connect with his or her mind, receiving the distress signal or whatever. That person could have written the journal, and the words carried their own magic and they eventually get sucked into the Constant (or maybe they got hit by a bus or something and died normally).

Time for all that stuff from HP Lovecraft my brother read and mentioned to us as well to come in handy, I guess.
 

A lot of his stuff feature people with supposed madness, connecting with ancient forces and writing it down. Trying to warn about the end of the world or the coming of Cthulu and stuff like that.  Surely the Codex must be someone who came in touch with Them or something, and wrote down all the dark magic and secrets they were told.
Speaking of Them. I do think that the minions we fight could very likely be from the ancient civilization, especially because they're so common down in the ruins. I figure the Crawling Horror is a 'writhing mass of mini-ghosts' who had less magic, slowly pulling themselves along towards you, while the Terrorbeak, fierce as it is, is a single highly powerful individual... But I always saw these things as some sort of 'slave' or 'Minion' to Them. 
Reading about some stuff on the wiki some time ago, it looked like some force of evil existed before the fall of the civilization. The civilization lived in fear until it was shown to Nightmare fuel apparently, but who showed it to them?  I think there is still some ultimately mysterious thing that is Them, that the civilization was one of Their victims.  
I'm not sure that Them is restricted to a single dimension, as the Forge makes mention of the throne and such.  Though They may depict Themselves differently in different dimensions. Forge doesn't have darkness that kills you or nightmare fuel or even insanity, neither does Gorge - But both have something sorta evil in them, especially Gorge.
I always imagined Them was present everywhere, always watching but not always interfering. I think their power might be a little limited by one thing - How much an individual limits Them himself. Normal people don't get sucked into the constant, but when they dabble with Them like Maxwell did, and 'Invite' Them in, they give Them power over themselves. Anyone with relation of some kind to the person who 'opened the door to let Them in' will also be in danger.      In-game, the insanity creatures can not harm us unless we're crazy, we already know this. That They can't really hurt us unless we let them by descending to negativity and despair.  That and, in DST, a sane character can end up fighting with crawling horrors and terrorbeaks if they try to help their insane friend and strike the faintly visible mental predators. So we know if someone has some kind of connection, like a friend in this case, or intervenes or has some relation, they can also be in danger.
That would explain why Charlie came in, and then why she brought in Winona, and likewise Maxwell eventually finding Wendy... 
And Wilson, the only character who's origin/entry we know vividly, also made a choice. A choice to listen to a talking radio, just like Maxwell chose to read and listen to the evil book, - And we can presume the ancient civilization likewise chose their fate in accepting nightmare-fuel and using it so wildly...  In other words, I definitely think there is choice involved. Them have a lot of power but somehow, they're actually limited by the choice of individuals.   Perhaps that's why when on the throne, while still enslaved, the Sitter has some choice in power - Maxwell was able to create hounds and stuff, Charlie chooses to create fashion for the survivors, ect...  For Charlie, I think she has more choice/will in a certain sense, at least when throned, than Maxwell does - At least she looks less unhappy. Maybe because she never chose to come into the dimension and was pulled in by Them against her will, making her situation different than Maxwell's and Wilson's. If Them are clearly subject to the individual's choice and 'invitation' and if she never invited them directly herself, that would make her different. Maybe that's why she became that thing in the Darkness instead of being like the others.

Supposedly Them are very present in the Constant, and this I think is because the ancient civilization 'Invited' them in long ago. Them are supposedly everywhere but they have more physical power over the Constant, which they gained once they were 'invited' in.   That is to say, Them only gets -physical- power once invited.
Sometimes we don't know when we're inviting Them, though, I would suspect. Especially with insanity that just happens to them.
However, the Constant is strongly subject to Them once they were invited by the ancients, so supposedly choice alone is less powerful than it is on earth.  And the Throne is like being in the palm of Their hands. 
Weirdly, dark hands pulled Charlie and Maxwell into the constant. Were their humans before them, or did They just choose to take a form most disturbing to the ones they were pulling in? If They are at the whims of will like they seem to be, surely it would benefit them to be frightening, to try and make others think they didn't have a choice...

Anyway. I don't exactly know what Nightmare fuel is or what They are, but some part of me feels like we shouldn't know. Though as for Their intentions and reasons for torturing people... If I had to guess, with what I think Them might be, it could be spite. Envy of some kind. Maybe They were never alive, but maybe that's the very reason to despise.  That or, your theory with magic is sound and after the ancients died out, they needed a new species to feed off of.
I try not to have anything set in stone, myself, because it seems like They should be beyond our comprehension. How should I know what motives they have? A mushroom could never understand the complexities and motives of a human mind, because humans comprehend so much more - Humans and their choices and motives are beyond the comprehension of more simple life-forms like mushrooms and guppies.  Likewise I figured They must be  beyond the human mind in the same way... 

Bleh, I went on a ramble about Them. Well, I do think your idea for nightmare fuel being material fear is valid. I don't know what it is myself and somewhat choose not to know, but of course you need explanation for your story!

1 hour ago, Auspice said:

The Fuelweaver is another conundrum.

Oh, now I have to explain more now that I got to read this.

Looking at his quotes seems to say what I thought about Them, that They existed before the civilization's corruption.  He speaks aggressively, 'Curse Their name,' probably speaking of Them, but then 'Return them to me,' no capitalization, probably wishing for the return of the ancient civilization, and speaking of Them's grip on them, ect... 

[Auspice]

2 hours ago, gallusvarius said:

There sure is a lot you two have written here. I read all of it. I wish I had time to keep up with it. I'm gonna try and type some thoughts too though. 

I would like you to know that I greatly appreciate the time and effort you take to read these walls of text.
Sharing ideas isn't as fun without anyone to share them with.

2 hours ago, gallusvarius said:

HP Lovecraft

That is very interesting... I don't know much about his work, but that sounds like it could tie into these theories/headcanons.

2 hours ago, gallusvarius said:

But I always saw these things as some sort of 'slave' or 'Minion' to Them. 
Reading about some stuff on the wiki some time ago, it looked like some force of evil existed before the fall of the civilization. The civilization lived in fear until it was shown to Nightmare fuel apparently, but who showed it to them?  I think there is still some ultimately mysterious thing that is Them, that the civilization was one of Their victims.

 

2 hours ago, gallusvarius said:

Looking at his quotes seems to say what I thought about Them, that They existed before the civilization's corruption.

I could see that. A greater entity with malevolent will - the Fuelweaver does seem to hint at that (that "They are coming" quote)... Though if I write a story I'm likely going to go with the idea that the Ancients were the ones that tainted the ethereal plane, and that "They are coming" might refer to the shadows' corruption extending to physical dimensions.

I'm thinking more that the Ancient species was very weak, and before the fuel, they were always wanting for resources and fearful of predators/dangerous creatures. They discovered the properties of nightmare fuel by accident, and that is when they were able to defend themselves and build their gleaming city. 

2 hours ago, gallusvarius said:

I'm not sure that Them is restricted to a single dimension, as the Forge makes mention of the throne and such.  Though They may depict Themselves differently in different dimensions. Forge doesn't have darkness that kills you or nightmare fuel or even insanity, neither does Gorge - But both have something sorta evil in them, especially Gorge.

Oh, definitely. Whatever plane They are on is separate from the different physical dimensions, but perhaps parallel to them all. In this ethereal plane, reality is malleable. The Ancients' meddling, then, might have led to magical forces tainting other lifeforms, or perhaps They interfere in other dimensions, as well.

2 hours ago, gallusvarius said:

when they dabble with Them like Maxwell did, and 'Invite' Them in, they give Them power over themselves. Anyone with relation of some kind to the person who 'opened the door to let Them in' will also be in danger.

I like that. The soul might be naturally resistant to ethereal influence, but if you allow yourself to be influenced... If we consider bonds between people as links made between souls, then invitation into one might give backdoor influence to another. 

2 hours ago, gallusvarius said:

Them have a lot of power but somehow, they're actually limited by the choice of individuals.

Yeah, I was going for the idea that They are a mass of power, but unable to wield themselves properly without an individual directing their power.

2 hours ago, gallusvarius said:

if she never invited them directly herself, that would make her different. Maybe that's why she became that thing in the Darkness instead of being like the others.

Ooh, that could be! I didn't give too much thought to Charlie other than "she was turned into the Grue as punishment for Maxwell's meddling" and possibly to encourage more fuel production. 

2 hours ago, gallusvarius said:

I try not to have anything set in stone, myself, because it seems like They should be beyond our comprehension.

This thought has occurred to me in some other fandoms, but somehow, I am filled with the urge to find explanations for this world.

Also, if I write a story, I would like a clear logic in the machinations of the world. As you mentioned, aha!

2 hours ago, gallusvarius said:

A mushroom

That is a very interesting way to think about it. It gets me all existential. 

2 hours ago, gallusvarius said:

Bleh, I went on a ramble about Them.

I do not mind at all. You had plenty of interesting thoughts to share.

 

[gallusvarius]

6 hours ago, Auspice said:

That is very interesting... I don't know much about his work, but that sounds like it could tie into these theories/headcanons.

Very much so, it looks pretty clearly like Don't Starve's lore takes great inspiration from his work. Many things do, like Darkest Dungeon as well. 
 

6 hours ago, Auspice said:

I'm thinking more that the Ancient species was very weak, and before the fuel, they were always wanting for resources and fearful of predators/dangerous creatures. They discovered the properties of nightmare fuel by accident, and that is when they were able to defend themselves and build their gleaming city. 

I thought so too. What if they were actually, like, small? Well, that wouldn't make much sense actually, the ancient chairs and stuff don't look too tiny. 

[Auspice]

1 minute ago, gallusvarius said:

I thought so too. What if they were actually, like, small? Well, that wouldn't make much sense actually, the ancient chairs and stuff don't look too tiny. 

That didn't occur to me, but is a distinct possibility. Perhaps they are just on the slightly smaller side? Aha, I always have the assumption that people-creatures are humanish size if no other information is given. 

[gallusvarius]

Just now, Auspice said:

That didn't occur to me, but is a distinct possibility. Perhaps they are just on the slightly smaller side? Aha, I always have the assumption that people-creatures are humanish size if no other information is given. 

I agree, they're human-size-ish. Maybe just the size of small humans.
Y'know, in many animals and creatures, especially bugs and reptiles, fish and things like octopi, the females are larger than the males. I can't imagine any size difference being too large for them because their weak either way, but I wonder if they worked this way too?

[Auspice]

Some sketches from when I was beginning my foray into the ancient civilization. What I thought the ancients looked like, a shadowed ancient, and ancients lost to darkness. 

 

Oh, and the original beginnings of the animation as a comic. I like the drawing quality better, but animations mean cooler transitions.

[gallusvarius]

Just now, Auspice said:

 

Yeah, I like both, myself. The way you have the animation flow is still really impressive.

It's neat how the terrorbeak is kind of cracking out of them like a bug shedding their skin. 

[Auspice]

Just now, gallusvarius said:

I agree, they're human-size-ish. Maybe just the size of small humans.
Y'know, in many animals and creatures, especially bugs and reptiles, fish and things like octopi, the females are larger than the males. I can't imagine any size difference being too large for them because their weak either way, but I wonder if they worked this way too?

... Ooh. Ooooh. Now that you mention it. That is a thing. 
Though, indeed, I suppose it does not change their weakness.

2 minutes ago, gallusvarius said:

Yeah, I like both, myself. The way you have the animation flow is still really impressive.

2 minutes ago, gallusvarius said:

It's neat how the terrorbeak is kind of cracking out of them like a bug shedding their skin. 

I think so too. I was trying to hearken to that "The people are shedding their skins" mural.

[ResettePlayer]

I like how you incorporated the nightmare fuel sprite, as well as how you drew the foreshortened hands.

[Auspice]

More ideas/doodles on shadowed Victorian Wilson. 

Exhibit A: me abusing the heck out of Procreate's new liquify tool. And Wilson being curious. 

Exhibit B: I might be having a liiiittle too much fun with this. Won't stop me, though.
More of curious Wilson, a healthy smattering of sinister Wilson, and a smol sleeping Wilson.

[gallusvarius]

17 hours ago, Auspice said:

Exhibit A: me abusing the heck out of Procreate's new liquify tool. And Wilson being curious. 

He he. Maybe he's curious of this weird inky stuff floating around him that you put in place. 

His little curled shoes are cute. I think you did well merging the two skins.
 

 

17 hours ago, Auspice said:

Exhibit B: I might be having a liiiittle too much fun with this. Won't stop me, though.
More of curious Wilson, a healthy smattering of sinister Wilson, and a smol sleeping Wilson.

The poses and general expression in this one is also very excellent.  I really like a lot of them, I'd single them out but after looking long enough I found I liked most of them.

[Auspice]

50 minutes ago, gallusvarius said:

He he. Maybe he's curious of this weird inky stuff floating around him that you put in place.

Quite possibly! I originally had a skeleton there but then I was overwhelmed with a sense of "nah"

51 minutes ago, gallusvarius said:

His little curled shoes are cute. I think you did well merging the two skins

Thank you! I was unsure about whether I wanted curly or pointy shoes, but since the Shadow Suit seems to have curly ones...

52 minutes ago, gallusvarius said:

The poses and general expression in this one is also very excellent.  I really like a lot of them, I'd single them out but after looking long enough I found I liked most of them.

I am glad you like my random doodles

[Auspice]

Me in Don't Starve, from Remps's thread.

15 hours ago, Auspice said:

Note: They/them pronouns.
My title would probably be something like "The Mindful."

In more detail:

  Reveal hidden contents

- I have no strength or stamina, hence the low health. My arms are noodles. Stairs end me.
- I'm thinking about whether they'd take reduced damage from shadow creatures, though. Even at 1/2, effective health would be 160, barely higher than "normal" health. Maybe 1/3. 

- Rain gives me life, while sunlight is my bane. They'd probably have a sanity boost of up to 10/min depending on the precipitation rate (though will still lose sanity from wetness). -5/min in daytime, no drain at dusk, and -2.5 at night, probably. 
- Takes a bit longer to freeze but overheats that much faster.
- All over-time sources drain sanity twice as fast when below 100, and maybe half as much above 200. Easy to stay sane when sane and insane when insane.

If I develop their character more, I might simplify/change some things, but eh

I always get carried away with the logic and details. 

Here is the original thread:

 

Edited July 26, 2018 by Auspice

[Auspice]

Something with a little more effort this time.

Intense lighting and monochromatic tones are fun. And evil smiles. And shadows.
I also tried a little bit of a 3D effect, but it's so subtle I can't even see it without zooming in a lot

The pose was sort of taken from one of the doodles from earlier. 

[gallusvarius]

3 hours ago, Auspice said:

Something with a little more effort this time.

Wow! I definitely noticed the 3-D effect. Especially in addition to the dramatic shading, this is really amazing. There definitely something very plausible about his face, like. I feel like I could reach out and touch it. Granted, I don't imagine he'd be pleased if I did, probably give me a look of disdain.
But maybe that's exactly what would make it worth it to poke him... 

[Raspberry Shake]

3 hours ago, Auspice said:

Could you post a screenshot of it? It wont load for me. AS SOON AS I POSTED THIS IT LOADED IN.

Edited July 27, 2018 by Raspberry Milk