sup! Very excited to show my previews for @rqgzine, for which I got to work on location pics for the Japan arc. All of the work for the zine is beautiful and it was a blast to participate in, make sure to grab a copy once it’s out!
[First ID: A cropped digital drawing of several vehicles from the version of Hiroshima in the Rusty Quill Gaming Podcast. At the top left, a yellow boat carrying a pile of packages floats, suspended by a partially-obscured balloon shaped like a blue koinobori (carp streamer). Red pencil writing reads “RED FOR VISIBILITY,” with an arrow pointing to ared stripe on the fin keel, and “TILLER TURNS BOTH RUDDER + TAIL.” On the right, the front of a grey monorail with red stripes and gold accents is visible, including a rounded door with a golden wheel-shaped handle. The monorail track is supported by wooden pillars with curved wooden cantilever supports, and beneath it is an illuminated green sign reading 空港駅 / Airport Station. The drawing is on yellowed paper with faint graph lines.
Second ID: A cropped digital drawing of the Shōin Institute from the Rusty Quill Gaming Podcast. Glass half-domes and metal chambers are connected by long tubes to form rings around a large center glass spheres with intricate metalwork. The domes to the left are obscured by seaweed and multicolored coral, and a toroidal chamber on the bottom glows orange and holds a fishlike creature with long arms. A freshly-dead whale with bloody injuries rests atop a cracked glass pathway on the bottom right. The complex rests on the ocean floor and fades away into the teal water.]
Preview of my piece for the @rqgzine! The whole zine is amazing and I can’t wait for you to see it
[ID: A cropped digital painting of Zolf from Rusty Quill Gaming. Zolf is a light-skinned dwarf with short white hair and a braided beard. He wears a long jacket with rolled up sleeves. His face and clothes are wet from the falling rain and some of his hairs are sticking to his forehead. He is looking up with furrowed brow. One of his hands is holding a metal ladder and the other is reaching up. Behind that hand is a lightning bolt illuminating him in red and white. In the background there is a green stormy sea.]
Oscar pushed himself up and went to stand in front of a mirror, his hand lifting to run his thumb along the scar across his cheek. The scarred skin beneath his finger felt soft and hollow, as if a part of him was missing. When he quirked his lips up, his face struggled and contorted into a poor imitation of what it had once been. It was as if he was made of wax, melting slowly with each new step toward the unknown.
He was trying to salvage what he could, to fix what could be fixed, and it had little to do with regard for his own life. Oscar’s shoulders slumped. The exhaustion began luring him to lie down, and wait for a nightmare riddled sleep to claim him.
“Wilde?”
That’s a snippet from the piece I wrote for @rqgzine ! It has been wonderful to work with everyone and im going to tell you a secret… all of the works i’ve seen completed are INCREDIBLE and you should definitely buy it and give money to charity if you can!
You can also check out my ao3 where i also wrote a collection of letters that RQG characters might have sent to each other.
Please do go check out the rqg zine blog for more info on sales (which will be starting very soon!) This fandom is ridiculously skilled and talented, and i can’t wait to see it completed.
Previews of my zine piece for @rqgzine , featuring Cel’s apothecary!! Do check out the zine when it’s released (soon!!) - and all profits go towards The Yemen Foundation!
[ID: The first image is a small preview of a drawing for the Rusty Quill Gaming zine. It depicts the top right segment of a large golden yellow ring made of metal. It has multiple bolts and nails on the outer surface. On the top right, a circular joint connects two metal bars, also golden yellow. Within the ring, the top half of Cel from RQG can be seen. They are a white half-elf with a shock of white hair, and steampunk goggles. Above their head is half of Hamid’s face, an Egyptian halfing with golden brown skin and black hair. The background is green and yellow, with striped textures.
The second image depicts the lower left segment of a golden yellow ring with bolts on the inner surface. Inside the ring, the torso of Zolf Smith, a light-skinned, light-haired dwarf from RQG can be seen, cropped from the beard down. He is resting his arm on a Japanese style chair. In the background, a part of a bookshelf can be seen, storing potion bottles, books and a telescope. End ID.]
Here’s a snippet of one of my two pieces for the @rqgzine! It’s a chunk of Cel’s journal while they’re building the Stealth Catamaran the group uses to get to Shoin.
Sales for the zine start in about a week! The pieces people have made for this are absolutely stunning, so please check it out when pre orders open! And, as a bonus, all proceeds go to charity!
[ID: A yellowed piece of paper with the text: I’m planning on rigging up the submersible (which I have named the Pedaltron because it’s a catchy name despite it not using pedal power) with some basic electrical power tomorrow and we can go from there. Electricity is never a bad choice. Jasper was complaining that water conducts electricity so using electrical propulsion would be a bad idea or something? After all the time I spent training him, you’d think he would have it together and understand science better.
Jasper is a genius! He pointed out that using electrical propulsion would be a TERRIBLE idea because water conducts electricity. I would have fried us all! Good thing I keep that little buddy around! I’m sure we can still use some electricity though… As such, I have sent Jasper out to acquire an eel for me. An electric eel, to be precise. I need the electricity for any possible updates since fun elemental batteries are still very much off the table. But! I believe in Jasper! All of his training has led up to this moment. The moment in which he will wrangle an electric eel.
I have named the eel Sebastian. I wonder if I could train another apprentice, I think Sebastian would do good work… no, wait, focus. Sebastian has his own job to do for now. If he does it well, THEN we can discuss his future training.]
And here’s the second of my pieces for @rqgzine! Zolf cooks to try and keep his mind off of things.
Pre orders for the zine start in about a week and all proceeds go toward the Yemen Foundation, so please check it out! You will not be disappointed because everything looks amazing
[ID: a white background with flourishes in each corner and decorative lines near and parallel to the bottom and sides. In the middle, centered text reads: Who was the orc with Hamid? Why was she pink? Who was this Grizzop character he heard them mention in their hushed conversations? And, most importantly, where was Sasha?
He couldn’t ask, of course, given that they still didn’t know if Hamid or the orc were infected. But he recognized the sorrow in their eyes, the way they cried and hugged as they muttered Sasha’s name, and he knew that she was gone.
Zolf focused on mixing up the batter in the bowl in front of him. Maybe if he stirred hard enough, the questions would stop. Maybe the sound of the whisk would smooth away the guilt he felt at not being there for both Hamid and Sasha. He was their friend. He should have been there.
But he wasn’t. And now, all he could do was try to keep the food from burning.]
Here’s another fic preview: this one comes from the early UK arc, written by one of our contributors: @roisu10! You can also find her on AO3.
You can get the full fic (and other wonderful pieces of writing, art, and misc. creations) if you purchase the zine, coming soon!
Tentative Beginnings
It was one of the first things Sasha had noticed about him. Smiles were as much a part of Hamid as eel delicacies were to Other London. Nervous smiles. Excited smiles. Cocky ones that followed him casting that cleaning-up spell on himself.
She wasn’t quite used to it yet. With Zolf, it was easier. In the few hours she’d known him, he’d maybe smiled once or twice, and seemingly more out of satisfaction than anything else. That, she could relate to.
As if privy to her thoughts, Zolf emerged from the short hallway leading the bathroom, beads of water still dropping from his hair and beard onto the polished wood.
Rubbing at a spot below his nape, he threw a glance towards the window seat. “Bertie, you wanted to go next?”
At once, Bertie, who had spent the last half hour observing passersby below and making the occasional snide comment, slapped his hands loudly on his legs and shot up from his pillow seat. “Ah, thank you, Mr Smith, much appreciated.” As he strode past Zolf, he leaned down towards him and added with his booming voice, “hope you didn’t hog all the hot water to yourself, being a priest of Poseidon and all that,” before disappearing down the corridor.
“Cleric,” Zolf muttered to himself. He turned to Hamid, who sat watching him, hands clasped together and a sheepish look on his face. “Should I be concerned that your friend thinks Poseidon is the god of hot water?”
Sasha watched with some amusement as Hamid offered his best pained and polite smile to Zolf.
“I’m sorry, please don’t mind Bertie. He can be a bit of…”
“An ass?” Zolf and Sasha kindly supplied.
Hamid shook his head gently. “More like an acquired taste,” he corrected.
The plan is a work in progress, but like the Boss always says: never go in with a full plan, because it’s gonna get blown to pieces. (Or something along those lines. Azus isn’t always completely sure what she means when she gives her lessons.)
The first step, the hardest, is to get to the market. Or maybe that’s just the culmination of the first few steps of his in progress plan. Because first he has to convince Rizz to take him to the market.
Rizz, however, for some unknown reason, refuses. As if he’s mad at Azus for something. As if now that they’re not in the life or death situation of being eaten by a rug or stabbing each other, he doesn’t have to be nice to Azus, his perfect little brother who has absolutely done nothing wrong ever.
“You can’t come along,” Rizz says, when Azus asks to join.
The rejection, at first, confuses Azus. He originally wasn’t going to ask, just sneak into the cart like usual, but wanted to try out the new ‘respect your siblings’ thing that the Boss was trying to teach them all. “Why not?”
“Because I said so.” Rizz puts his hands on his hips, as if it’s supposed to be intimidating. (It isn’t.)
Azus tries again, using the ‘magic word’ the Boss taught them. “Please?”
“No.”
“Rizz, please.”
He stops trying to posture and instead tries to walk away from the conversation. “No, Azus. The Boss asked me to do these errands for her, so I can’t have any distractions!”
Azus doesn’t give up, trailing along behind his big brother and continuing to sling the plea over and over again. “Please please please, Rizz!”
My second piece for @rqgzine!!! In which I channel all of the most “Obnoxious Alex Character” energy into words.
BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE ZINE PAGE FOR DETAILS WHEN PREORDERS GO LIVE!!!!! It looks SO AMAZING!!
Here’s a little sneak peek of something I’ve been cooking up for @rqgzine. I think you’ll find it delicious.
[ID: a clear plastic cutting board sitting on a countertop with three piles of chopped fruits and vegetables on it. In the top left there’s a stack of apples, on the top right there’s a stack of parsnips, and on the bottom right a stack of carrot pieces. A paring knife rests in the center of the cutting board. End ID]
Preview of my piece for the @rqgzine! I drew Grizzop’s character profile! I can’t wait for y'all to see it, along with the amazing work everyone did. There’s so many fanworks of so many different kinds! There’s fanfic! Comics! Recipes! Cross-stitching! And more! Lots of really cool things, so be sure to check out the zine :>
[ID: A cropped image of a digital colored drawing of Grizzop from Rusty Quill Gaming. He is a grey goblin with big solid red eyes, long bunny-like ears, sharp teeth in a wide mouth, and a bunny-like nose. He wears a silver chestplate with the symbol of Artemis in it: An upside-down crescent moon crossed by three arrows. He is holding a bow in a combat pose, aiming an arrow to the low right of the screen with a grin. The arrow tip is engulfed in greenish-yellow fire that illuminates him.]
[ID: Two previews of locations from Rusty Quill Gaming: Modern Rome, and Ancient Rome.
First image: A digital painting of a ruined city. In the foreground are the remains of ruined Roman buildings, silhouetted in black. Three strange creatures prowl across the rubble: they are four-legged with long tails and numerous tendrils extending from their heads. The leftmost sits atop a column, while another climbs over the rubble towards it, and the third has only partially emerged from a portal - a white, glowing slit in the air. Other portals can be seen in the distance, along with a hazy rainbow swirl. As the city recedes to the (unseen) horizon, the ruins get pinker and more saturated, but less distinct.
Second image: A digital drawing of the corner of a building. In the upper half of the image, a washing line bearing blue, white, and green cloths hangs between two balconies. Both balconies have a stone base, wooden panelling, and are supported underneath by triangular wooden beams. only the corner of the left balcony is visible. The right balcony is draped with a couple wreaths of red, pink, and white flowers. In the lower half of the image, on the left is the corner of a building and then beyond it a gap through which part of an alley can be seen, including the top of a door in an alcove, and a cut-off shop sign reading “-RIOS”; lower on the wall is another cropped sign, reading “SEMPER”. On the right is the street-facing part of the building, featuring the top of another alcove and a fully visible shop sign reading “GREGORIOS”. Above the arch of the alcove and affixed to the supporting beams of the balcony are a string of red, pink, and white triangular flags. /end ID]
a little preview of a couple of my pieces for the @rqgzine !! it’ll be on sale in the next few weeks, and all proceeds will go to the Yemen Foundation.
being a part of the @rqgzine was an absolute delight! everybody keep an eye out for sales in february, there are so many talented folks involved!
[id: a digital drawing of three comic panels featuring Azu, a Black orcish woman with an eyebrow scar, wearing pink armor over tan robes. The first panel is shows her legs as she kneels, one hand extended forward. The second panel is in line and shows Hamid’s hands, raised with a purple aura around them and a speech bubble saying “Oh my God, just be okay!” The third panel shows Azu in profile, eyes shut tightly in concentration with the word “Aphrodite…” written next to her /end id]
Hey all!! You’ve probably already seen the amazing previews of various works we have set up for the Rusty Quill Gaming Charity Zine@rqgzine where all proceeds are going to The Yemen Foundation, and now it’s my turn to share a little something!
I’ve had such an amazing time working with such creative people to make something that’s truly a force of creativity. Keep your eyes peeled for more previews this week as well as info on how to purchase these wonderful works in full :D
So without further ado…
Sasha comes to with a splitting headache and blurred vision; she blinks a few times to try and fix that, but it’s no use. Her world is literally upside down as her nose is filled with the scents of smoke and blood. There are hushed whispers that do nothing to drown out the low rumbles of beasts from somewhere below. That shakes her memory.
Rome — they’re back in Ancient Rome, just before the fall. She and Grizzop landed here after… everything. She turns to the side and sees Cicero wrapped up in the same fate she is. She looks around, desperate to find Grizzop. She bites her lip to hold in a sob when she finally does.
hey gang! so there’s this lovely thing called @rqgzine that’s coming out soon, and it’s preview time!
keep an eye out for purchase details soon; proceeds go to the yemen foundation & when i tell you this thing is just full of the most beautiful work ive ever seen,,,, working with all these people has just been fantastic and im so excited!
(It figures, doesn’t it, that Azu’s people are healers too, and Sasha pauses to think about a great big house full of Azus with soft smiles and big arms made for hugging and it’s terrifying and comforting at the same time, and then Sasha focuses back on the thing at hand, and maybe she’s thinking all this to avoid thinking about Bi Ming, but she’s not… worried, or anything, because they’ve gotten out of worse scrapes (well. maybe not worse.)
In any case, they’ve gotten out of scrapes before, and he’s got the little emergency knife in his boot, and the second emergency knife in his other boot, and the third emergency knife sewn into his collar (they never expect a third emergency knife, the fools, is what he’d told her, as he showed her how to sew the secret pocket so the seams were undetectable unless you know where to feel for them) and he’s probably fine.
My preview for the @rqgzine !!! i had the honour of drawing the Sasha profile, which was a ton of fun to work on! This zine is filled with SO MANY talented people and it’s looking amazing so I encourage you to check it out!
[ID: A digital bust of Sasha Rackett from the Rusty Quill Gaming podcast. Sasha is a slim white human with short, messy black hair that ends just below her ears. There’s a shock of white hair on the left side of her head. She has two piercings in the upperside of her left ear, and wears a studded leather jacket with a high popped collar, with small spikes covering the shoulders. Underneath her jacket she wears a white button up shirt over a brown turtleneck. There are small marks and scratches across her left cheek and a large burn scar across her right cheek. Sasha is facing left, her eyebrows are furrowed together and she looks worried. /End ID]
These are my previews for @rqgzine – I’m working on a collab with @hgb94 and am super excited for these to meet the world!
[Image ID 1/3: A detail of the lower half of Azu, a brown-skinned orc’s face and her pink breastplate, against which Hamid, a lighter-skinned halfling with dark hair, is sleeping /end ID]
[Image ID 2/3: A detail of of Azu, a brown-skinned orc’s hands as they reach out to something Sasha, a white-skinned human, is holding out towards Azu. Azu’s left hand rests in her lap. Azu is wearing a pink shawl and clothing, Sasha is in black leathers. /end ID]
[Image ID 3/3: A detail of Azu, a brown-skinned orc’s fingers, holding a tool. Sasha’s white-skinned hand directs Azu’s palm. Sasha’s knee and boot, clad in black, are below the hands. /end ID]
