Books & Bugs
Now That's What I Call Kafkaesque! Vol. 2
I’ve done a fair bit more reading than usual since last time. I read through a collection of Robert E. Howard’s stories surrounding Bran Mak Morn and started reading through some of Franz Kafka’s short stories, one of which this edition’s cover drawing pays some homage to. You’ll see a reference to another of Kafka’s stories below along with another bug-related thing further down.
But speaking of short stories, I’ve made some good progress on my own!
Dave The Depressed Demilich - Coming Soon!
The short story I had first revealed a couple months ago is getting very close to completion, and soon after publishing in the Newgrounds Lit Portal Collab! I just need to do one more pass on it before I can call it finished. I also made a cover for the story, which you’ll be able to see spinning around in all its 3D glory when the collab releases. I’m also going to be mirroring it on my short stories Substack soon afterwards.
I’ll make another post whenever it’s out so you can give it a read.
Livin’ Like a Bug Ain’t Easy
I recently re-read Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, which naturally reminded me of the masterpiece that is the Franz Kafka Rock Opera from Home Movies, linked below in case you haven’t seen it.
I thought it would be really funny to do a drawing of Dwayne in the bug costume that went extremely hard for no good reason so here we are now.
This piece started as a paper sketch which I then blocked out in 3D in Blender to help me figure out the perspective and lighting better. I then rendered that out and used it to help me make the final digital drawing in Krita.
There are a couple nods to the original short story in this drawing, namely the apple lodged in Dwayne/Gregor's back, and him using an armchair to prop himself up against the window.
A Duo of Doom Monsters
Last time I mentioned I had some more monsters cooking up for my mod. I recently got a couple of them functioning with some placeholder sprites.
The first is the Mazzikin, loosely based off of the Antarctic springtail. It takes its name from a kind of demon from Jewish mythology. It’s a melee monster that leaps at the player when it’s far away.
Next up is the Gallu, which is based off of Salps (tunicates that can be found near Antarctica). This monster takes its name from ancient Mesopotamian demons. The Gallu is a slow flying monsters that fires a similarly sluggish projectile. If that projectile hits you, you’ll be sent flying towards the Gallu that shot it.
Tales from The Food Dimension
There wasn’t a ton of cooking done since last time but it was still some good stuff. The first picture shows some air-fried potatoes I had alongside some steak. Next up is a slab of chocolate chip oatmeal cookie and another attempt at those Michelin pancakes that instead turned into crepes. Lastly we’ve got a double-patty smashburger with some gochujang mayo.
The potato recipe is pretty simple: Slice up some potatoes, toss them in olive oil with seasoning (I used salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika) and then air fry them. I usually just wing it with the time and temperature.
Anyways, that’s it for this edition. I’ll see you again next time with another newsletter!
Have a good one,
-Hydro