Intrepid

The Azure Wheel Galaxy is divided 50/50 between the scientific side and the spiritual side. The two sides coexist peacefully, and neither could survive without the other.

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In my Intrepid story, Liah represents the spiritual side of the galaxy while Shae represents the scientific. The two share an unbreakable bond of friendship, symbolizing the unity of the two sides of the universe.

Their relationship is “complicated” to say the least. Shae has deep romantic feelings for her, but Liah sees them as being kindred spirits rather then potential lovers. Both Liah and Shae are in relationships with other people.

The critter that Liah is holding is a glider sersol, a subspecies of small lizards with skin flap “wings” native to the rainforest planet, Kalea. Gliders do make good pets, but the one Liah is holding is a wild one. She’s allowed to have such interactions with wild beasts due to her Dr. Dolittle type powers.

So my best friend and I were discussing some of the physical differences that ultimarians would have from humans, and this is what we came up with…

*  It’s already been established that they have denser skeletal muscle fibers then humans… but to compensate for this, their cardiac muscles would also be stronger.  I can’t really picture their smooth muscle being much different then our own.  I can’t some up with a reason for why it should be, anyways.

*  Faster heart rate.  More blood needs to be pumped through their bodies then a human would need.

*  I always thought that because of their more compact muscle structures, they would be more prone to muscle disease/tearing/etc.  This may not be the case since John says their bodies are probably adapted to accomodate this.  I dunno…. it would bug me if there wasn’t some sort of downside to their denser muscles.  Ultimarians are the next stage of human evolution… not gods.

*  Their dietary needs would be different.  They’d need more protein, carbs, and sugars to meet their energy requirements then we would.  They would also need to consume larger quantities of food then a human. 

No recent updates on Intrepid since I’ve been too busy trying to do some art that I owe other people.  So here’s a WIP of a picture I’ve been working on in the meantime.  I’ll have more info on it when I post the final picture.

Yesterday I attended Detroit Fanfaire.  I had only found out about the convention a week and a half ago, otherwise I would have tried to get a dealer’s table.  This time around I was just an attendant.

First thing out of the way… Fanfaire was hands down the most unorganized convention that I have ever been to.  All the events were pushed back several hours due to them not being able to work the sound system, ticket lines were a total mess and the staff didn’t know what was going on half the time. 

However, all was completely forgiven because of the sheer level of EPICNESS that they brought to Detroit!

This picture is the most EPIC thing in the history of EVER!  That is me standing next to Adam Baldwin… I am dressed as Jayne Cobb, his character from Firefly.  Firefly is the biggest inspiration for my comic, Intrepid!  Needless to say, he has always been my all time favorite actor, so this is my geekout moment of the century!

He is a totally awesome, guy!  When I met him, he asked me what I did for a living.  He must have found it interesting because we then proceeded to have a 5-10 minute conversation about it! 

More stories from the convention below.  Including pictures of Bruce Campbell, Peter Weller (Robocop!!!), and more of Adam Baldwin…

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So… within the past few days I had a few things spring to mind.

*  I’ve always said that a human probably could not physically tell the difference between a human and an Ultimarian.  Well, the more I think about it, the more I think that would not be true.  On a first glance someone would probably not be able to tell the difference, however on second glance one would probably get the idea that they are probably something more then human.  Ultimarians are very spiritual beings who have been infused with the energy of the lifestream.  The truth of what they are lies in their eyes.  The eyes of an Ultimarian are very soulful and are very brightly colored, reflecting the spiritual connection that they have.  It would take someone with the spirituality of a sweet potato to look into the eyes of an Ultimarian and claim that they are nothing more then a human.

*  The more I think of it, the more I think that the spiritual bond shared between Shae and Liah is a requirement.  The Azure Wheel galaxy is directly split 50/50 between technology and spirituality.  Liah is 100% spiritual while Shae is very technology oriented.  Their bond they share represents the union of the two sides of the universe.  However, it is a very bittersweet relationship as Shae obviously has romantic feelings for Liah, but she is oblivious to them and sees their relationship as being “kindred spirits”.  Both Liah and Shae are in relationships with other people.

*  I just realized how dark the story gets at some points.  >_<

2nd pass concept art for Nazari.  I’m much happier with how she looks now.  :)

For beast, who apparently needs hugs!  Well, this isn’t a hug but I think it counts!

Liah has a rare gift.  She connects with the universe on a spiritual level.  While her specialty is communicating with animal life, she also has spiritual empathy with sentients as well.  I think the locks may be intrigued by her, or at least see her as someone to mess with.

Also, I think it’s kinda funny that everyone is saying their characters would be terrified of locks since I don’t really see any of my characters being scared of them.  I chalk it up to the fact that they’re sci-fi heroes and interact with scarier looking aliens daily.  Heck… there’s probably a big scary bipedal lizard with huge teeth that works at the coffee shop at the corner.  >_<

But yah.  I’m assuming locks are still gonna be around in about 500,000 years so they’re more then welcome to visit my fictional universe.  The good ones can visit, anyways.  “Potential douchebags” will be chased out by me with a rusty spork (Aaaand why do I feel the sudden urge to draw that?).

First pass doodles for Orion.  The zen master.

I have always loved martial arts and anything dealing with them.  I personally can’t fight my way out of a wet paper bag, but I have always admired those with the skill and dedication to perform martial arts.  I love kung-fu movies.  The more realistic ones, anyways… “stylized” martial arts movies like Crouching Tiger can suck it.  Sorry, I just can’t stomach those.

Needless to say, that the zen Shaolin type character has always been one of my favorites.  Therefore, I felt the need to add one to Intrepid.  I’m currently trying to figure out he’s going to fit in the military, because someone who strictly does martial arts in a space military doesn’t make much sense.  My best friend, John suggested that he specializes in unarmed combat, but also practices “Zen Marksmanship”.  I have no idea what Zen Marksmanship is, yet.  I’m going to try to develop that concept further.

Anyways, I do have a very specific design for Orion’s appearance in my head, but it may take some time to get him looking exactly how I want him to.  I have other characters I want to develop first, so it may take some time before I get back around to him.

I’ve come down with… something.  My body is extremely weak and tired, I have black circles under my eyes, and I feel feverish even though I’m not running a temperature.  My mind is still very much active and doesn’t like the idea of sitting around doing nothing so I’ve been trying to push through the art I want to get done,  However, my husband and friends have told me to take it easy or else, so I’d better listen to them.

Therefore I’m going to try to rest up for as long as I need to, so if you need me for something or have tried to get ahold of me recently, just know that I’m not ignoring you.  I’m just trying to rest up so I can be okay for Saturday when I’ll be attending Fanfaire in Detroit.  I’m going to be meeting Adam Balwin (Who I am an exuberant fangirl of) and I already have my VIP ticket paid for, so I’ll be going to Fanfaire even if I’m in a wheelchair.  LOL.

Things in the works as far as Intrepid goes…

* Designing military uniforms for the Imperial Navy.  I want the Imperial Navy to look somewhat dignified and NOT have the nonexistant dress code that GI Joe has. This may take a while since I plan on having a little bit of uniform variation between ranks. Also, each rank is getting a uniform for on the battlefield and a “dress” uniform. 

*  Space suits!  Like humans, Ultimarians cannot survive in space.  So to prevent them from simotaniously freezing to death and having their eyes sucked out of their sockets when in space, they do need them.  I’m using Rinzler from the recent Tron movie as a base for their space suits.

*  Second pass character study for Nazari. I’m digging her design a bit more now.  After that is done, I’ll work on her official character sheet.

*  Develop a few more characters.  Next on the list to be developed are Trent, Dom and Raevynn.  This may change, though if inspiration strikes me to work on a different character.

*  More fun sketches.  Shae’s been wanting to be drawn a lot lately.  He’s such an attention whore!  >_<

I am not a therapist. Please solve your own damn problems!

Love,

Ulario

Another one for Ashley’s hug interaction…chain…thing…

Ary gets a big ol’ bearhug from Aredon.  Ultimarians are already very physically strong… but to add to that, Ared is a very, very big boy who sometimes forgets his own strength.  I’m guessing that getting a bearhug from him would be sort of like having your torso in a vice.

Whenever someone refers to one of my characters as a “human”, I really don’t know whether or not I should correct them.  >_<

On one hand, YES they do look physically identical to humans.

On the other hand, Ultimarians are the next stage of human evolution… so it’d be the same thing as calling a human a homo erectus.

Shae sighed deeply as he slid his shirt off, his military dogtags swinging softly from his neck, twirling and creating a faint metallic ping.

His heart was heavy for this was his last night at home. In the morning he was to be deployed to that god-awful backwater planet and he didn’t know when he’d be back… or if he’d even survive to come back at all. The worst of it was, that his sense of morality was tugging at his soul. He wasn’t sure if he agreed with this mission and he certainly didn’t believe in the cause enough to die for it, but his superiors demand that this mission be carried out and he wasn’t in a position to argue.

But for tonight, he wasn’t going to worry about this. He glanced at the auburn haired beauty that stood mostly naked, not more then two feet away from him. He felt his essence swell with emotion for she was the love of his life and in his opinion she had never looked more beautiful.

He wrapped his arms around her slender form and pressed his lips against her neck, inhaling the intoxicating scent of her hair as he did so.

He was going to make sure that tonight would be about expressing their love. It would be a night of heaven… that would end at sunrise when he’d be shipped off to hell!

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Yah… I was actually supposed to be studying for my French test on Monday, but ended up doing this instead. Yay procrastination! Go me!

I may not draw porn and adult scenes… but I am a bit of a romantic and do enjoy drawing sensuality and love scenes… especially then the two involved are deeply in love like Shae and Estdra here.

I mainly did this picture because I wanted to get Shae’s girlfriend out on paper. And it was also good practice for more complex backgrounds… and friggity frack did that background take forever! In any case, I’m pleased that I actually got a good bit of the Ultimarian homeworld in the background so the world can now see what I’ve had in my head.

Ultimare is best described as being the cross between Coruscant and Naboo from the Star Wars Universe. The planet’s surface is mostly city, but there’s a lot of wide open fields and parks. A lot of the buildings have a certain “old world charm”. The nights on Ultimare aren’t pitch black like they are on earth. The planet is nestled in the edge of a blue nebula, so light often reflects from the nebula, making the night sky light up a little.

Anyways, I’d like to do “couple” pictures like this for some of the other Ultimarian couples in my stories. Particularly Aredon/Alora and Dom/Raevynn.

If you can’t read the text, click on it to get the full sized picture.

For Ashley Lee’s character hug interaction meme… thing.  Here we have the two uber-nerds, Shae and Ned hanging out and doing nerd stuff together.

If Ned could travel 500,000 years in the future or if hell freezes over and Shae’s species invents a time machine, I could really see these two being friends.

If I find the time and will, I’m planning on doing a hug interaction for everyone who is signed up for the hug interactions right now.

First pass sketches for Nazari, the medical officer of the Imperial Suns.  This is the first time I’ve actually gotten her out on paper.  I had a specific idea for her in my head… but now that it’s out on paper I’m not happy with it.  I like the light hair on dark skin… but I think her skin is a little TOO dark here.  It will probably be lightened up a bit.  I’m also thinking of dropping the “Asian” look… I don’t think it’s working out and there’s already a full “Asian” character planned for the Suns.  Also, I REALLY don’t like her face.  I’m thinking of making it even more petite.  I DO like her hairstyle, though… that will probably be the only thing I keep…

She looks a little too much like Liah right now.  :/

I’m finish posting rehashed material I’ve already posted on my other sites meaning that all my sketches for character designs will be new material from here on out… meaning that these aren’t things that I’ve previously posted on DeviantArt or other places.  You’ll be seeing a lot more of my thought processes behind my character creation.

The font for most of this was something I made at YourFonts.com so yes, that is actually my crappy handwriting you’re seeing.

Ah…. poor Aredon.  Oral surgery is never fun…

The Short Version:

In 500,000 years from now, humans as we know them are extinct.  Ultimarians are the direct descendants of modern day humans who had reverted to a primitive caveman like state after the great extinction.  Over the years, those humans had evolved into what is known in the Azura’t’oris galaxy as “Ultimarians”.

Ultimarians are essentially “Humans 2.0”.  Their muscles are very dense, so they are physically stronger then a human of the same size (though this does come as a downfall as they are more prone to muscular strain and diseases then humans were).  They are slightly taller and heavier then humans and have sharper senses.

The eyes of an Ultimarian are an oddity.  They are very clear and freakishly bright.  They possess a wider range of eye colors then humans.  Red, orange, and yellow eyes are possible for an Ultimarian as well as darker skinned individuals possessing eye colors other then brown.  This is something that baffles scientists across the galaxy as there is no scientific explanation for this.  The more religious believe that their eyes are a result of the Ultimarian species having close ties with the Life Goddess.  But that’s just a silly superstition, isn’t it?

The RIDICULOUSLY Long version.

Seriously.  I’m not expecting ANYONE to read all this, but if you do then you deserve a medal made out of cookies!  Just click on “Read more”.

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This is a quick note… for anyone who wants to draw Shae and for MYSELF since I keep forgetting this important detail.

Shae’s wrists are scarred!  He tried to commit suicide about 10-odd years ago.  While his species has the medical technology to treat wounds so they don’t leave scars, the infirmary members left the scars there to remind him not to do something so stupid ever again.

He has a love-hate relationship with his scars.  They make him feel ashamed whenever he sees them because they remind him of his darker times, but part of him has accepted them as a part of himself.  Sometimes he will wear gloves or wristbands to hide them, but not always.

Below is a picture I pulled up from Google since I’m feeling lazy tonight.  Shae’s scars would be identical to these.

On a side note, I’ve been drawing Shae so much that I feel like I’m neglecting Ared and the others.  Shae is just so bloody fun to draw.  >_<