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saltedantlers

in my chaotic era
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thank u halloumicheese for ur trendsetting ideas

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Which RPG groups have you been actively playing in 2023?

Svajone aaaaaand also Domain of the Wolf til October! <3

Which of your characters have you roleplayed with the most this year?


I UNFORTUNATELY did not RP as much this year as i typically do! it has been a very art-heavy year for me, which honestly i'm proud of because art used to take me forever!


it's honestly either beck or khalua though! i am a person who generally has one main character per group xD

{SVAJONE} Beck || Kol || The Devouring Beast
{DotW} Khalua  |  Fellfang  |

Which of your characters have you roleplayed with the least this year?

{DotW} Edelwood - Vektren

woof, it would have to be Edelwood.


i adored this character but since the Hive War completed last year, she had just been stagnant! had i not left the Domain altogether, she probably would have been retired soon.

Have you made any new characters this year?

{SVAJONE} Blaidd | Stonehaven | The Withering

THIS BASTARD. i may also be bringing one more (possibly familiar?!) character to svajone before end of year....we'll see what happens B)




Have you retired or killed off any characters this year? Was there a reason why you dropped these characters?

four entire characters ;; i may get a lil long winded with this one...

{DotW} Mutaias | Riverfell

i have adored this boyo since his conception. it is a SHAME my muse completely died for him, though to be 100% fair to myself, lots of his planned ideas and plots fell through and couldn't be completed. he will always hold a special place in my heart, though, especially that very first Quarter Feast he was a part of.

{DotW} Edelwood - Vektren

SADLY, as much as i loved her as a concept and LOVE her design, i just couldn't connect with her past the Hive War plotline. i had so much fun with the few things she did get into, like ripping off the ear of a hive general, and teaching the next generation of Vipers to Stay Beautiful (tm)

{DotW} Whiskey | Fellfang | The Drifter

UGH, my boy. he was the hardest to part with this year. i had been working on his character since Khalua and Ian were even official. the name Whiskey, in fact, was chosen specifically because Khalua was named after Kahlua liqueur LOL.


overall, his story in the Domain was meant to be a continuation of Khalua's struggles with self and mental illness, and he was meant to (eventually) overcome himself where Khalua could not. these plot points are really important to me, which i will expand on below, because Ma is my oldest RP character and deserves...a real sendoff. he was a ton of fun to start with, and i had so many shenanigans in store for him and his siblings. don't worry though, the rest of the Khalian kids will definitely keep the shenanigans rolling. <3

{DotW} Khalua  |  Fellfang  |

last, but never least, my girl. my bearmom. fellfang's own raging barbarian.


i have....so many thoughts about her. Khalua was my return to RPG, and her various changes really show it. i struggled a lot with her for the first year or so, but that was mostly just me getting my footing in roleplay groups again.


upon conception, actually, she was meant to be kind of evil! i had intended for her to continue to lean into her violent nature, but she had other plans. over the first year she became the embodiment of my own struggles with mental and physical health, and finding your self worth despite it all. once i devised the draugrbrann plotline and ran it by Ramala, she really took off, and stood herself solidly in the position of one of my favorite, and most tragic original characters, ever.


past that, her character growth and story all just fell together. even her romance with Ian played into the tragedy, as they could never catch a break and just be. had i stayed around the Domain a bit longer, her real ending (and the one i would consider to be 'canon' for her story) was going to be a reflection of the story Samuele told her, way back during the ending of the Draugrbrann plot.

Image

khalua was going to be overcome by her blood curse, lashing out and severely wounding...Ian.


Whiskey and his siblings were meant to try everything to stop her, severely wounding her in the process.


in their last moments together, khalua would finally regain clarity, realising what she had done. that despite everything, her whole life, trying to seperate herself from those violent delights, it never worked. in the end, she still hurt the ones she loved the most.

Image

khalua and ian's story would end there, leaving the four kids to pick up the pieces and continue their family's legacy, now stained by such a violent end. from the very very BEGINNING i have planned this for her, that one way or another, her ending would mirror what she had been running away from her whole life. and i think that would have been kind of tragically beautiful.


khalua will always hold such a special spot in my cast of characters, and even though i wasn't able to FULLY complete her story, im proud of what i did with her. she was a powerful character for me to express the really helpless feeling of being deeply depressed and trapped in your own head, and i will kind of miss that. but now she gets to rest.


> Khalua's pinterest, for anyone curious <

Which of your active characters are you most attached to?

{SVAJONE} Beck || Kol || The Devouring Beast

it isn't any secret that i love my beastly cult man

Which of your characters has your favourite design?

{DotW} Whiskey | Fellfang | The Drifter

he was ACTUALLY inspired by a design i bought from paper-planets! i KNEW the red face and neck was exactly what i was looking for. and then the rest of the design just kind of worked. the ticking was the last thing i added and it's my second favorite part of his design, after his robin-chest.


beck is a REALLY close 2nd though!



Which of your characters is your favourite to write?

HMMM.

{SVAJONE} Blaidd | Stonehaven | The Withering
{DotW} Whiskey | Fellfang | The Drifter

hard choice between pretentious asshole and teenage dirtbag. :D

Which of your active characters has the most favourites on DA?

{DotW} Khalua  |  Fellfang  |

by a LONG SHOT, 95 faves <3 beck comes in 2nd with 62!



Which character has had the most developments this year, and what have they gone through?

{SVAJONE} Beck || Kol || The Devouring Beast

probably. he doesn't know about his magic yet but i think the talk with Balthazar as well as getting into another scrap with Stonehaven has changed a lot of his perspective. and i'm sure the constant energy boosts when having a meal help too... 👀 and now his name gives people headaches! just an all around turning point for this mans

What's the most unexpected thing that's happened to your characters this year?

whiskey's summer vacation? LOL


half-joking, it's probably Fellfang's turmoil that Khalua had to endure. she wasn't a happy camper about it.

What's been your favourite storyline from the past year?

this has been a very art-heavy year for me as i said, but i really enjoyed Beck receiving his magic from the Keres Oak. a small storyline for sure, but its gonna end up being a huge part of his story as time progresses!

What was your favourite artwork (of your own) from 2023 and why?

{DotW} Aberrant
{SVAJONE} WORTHY?

one from each group! 2023 was big for me, even though the last couple of months ive been struggling xD i think i was able to unlock a new level of art for myself this year and i'm really happy to see how my style develops through 2024!



What was your favourite RP (of your own) from 2023 and why?

[Svajone] RAID 1 - AMBUSH

in which beck gets the crap beat out of him by stonehaven...again!!

What's been your favourite IC relationship you've developed this year? Doesn't have to just be romantic - can be platonic, enemies, anything!

it would have to be Milkweed and Moisa ;v; and honestly, any of Moisa's new relationships, he's so wholesome.

What IC relationship(s) do you want to develop more next year?

all of them???? this year was slow for writing and i want to change that next year!

on a more specific level, i think SpiritHoliday 's Baz and Beck could probably be fun as buddies. a proper bromance!

Which characters and storylines from other players in your community have you enjoyed following the most?

oh man, i have loved the recent developments of Eidolon's plot. i've also enjoyed reading all the fallout from the stonehaven raids... heheheheh

Which players have you RP'ed or plotted with the most?

SaskedieJagerin I MISS YOU ALREADYYYYYY we used to ping pong posts back and forth so fast xD

Finish off with some teasers for your 2023 plans… 👀

i am a spontaneous individual and typically am bad at planning ahead BUT. i may. have a few things.

- beck...romance?!

- the return of a fave...and my return to Taika to finally collect all 4 svajone packs! 👀

- ranking Blaidd up so he can be MORE of a menace

- beck magic development. teehee

If you wish, tag some RP friends to complete this meme!

you.

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since i'm apparently unable to get things done in a timely fashion --


saske has been ever so delightful (and talented!) as usual in presenting a kind of subtle explanation of Khalua's disappearance in the beautiful literature here:

[DOTW] CRACKED

but i wanted to expand on those and also help give some of the other players who were involved in Khalua's tale (as well as Whiskey's/Mutt's/Edel's) something to work with moving forward.


first and foremost, yes, i did indeed take my leave from dotw in late October. i will not go on any long sidebars about this as i feel everything needed to be said has been said, and i think ALL of us could use some positivity, so i will say that i will miss many in the community dearly and will try and keep tabs on stories from afar. it was a rocky road but a beloved one and i am so grateful to have been able to write and share and grow with so many talented folks over the years. it was a pleasure and i hope to run into some of you again in future ARPG endeavours. <3

KHALUA & WHISKEY

Whiskey, feeling isolated within Fellfang after his travels and uncomfortable with the amount of tension building within its' confines, decides to leave and travel across the lands, permanently, saying a long and heavy goodbye to his beloved siblings and traveling from the borders with Ma's warm hivewolf pelt draped over his shoulders.


For Khalua, this becomes the breaking point.


She never felt like she had fully returned after the war.


Something within her had been crumbling ever since, like sand through her paws.


And then Whiskey left, right when he became old enough. It crumbled some more. And then Cadell. And then Anakoni. And then Virago, and Felicity and Rhea, and Sigmundr, and on and on and on and on and on and ON--


And then Ian; oh Ian. How stalwart she tried to be at his side when he nearly lost his life to another loner. A path they had both walked before, but not quite so severe. She tried, oh she tried. But their lives were never, ever so simple.


In the end, perhaps she should have known her story would not end in happily ever after.


Mere hours after they see Whiskey off, she wakes up in a cold sweat, late in the night, and leaves her post outside of the den, never to be seen again. Ian, Galen, Stagan, and Asta look, but it is as if she had simply vanished. Despite all of Fellfang's efforts, she is lost. Unbeknownst to all, her crumbling mind had finally succumbed to the illness that had haunted her for her entire, tragic lifetime.


Happily ever after did not happen, for monsters like her.


MUTAIAS


Mutaias, after trying for season after season to reacclimate to his homeland, finds his mind wandering often to the lover he had found in his southern travels. Riverfell had changed, perhaps for the better, but so had he. With tearful goodbyes to all, he leaves Riverfell for good, pursuing his heart's desire for his forever companion.


EDELWOOD


Edelwood never returns to Vektren from her first Viper expedition outside the territory in many years. It is eventually assumed that she was lost in the hurricane floods, though no remains are ever found.

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I guess this is my official "hey, ya girl's back" announcement


For many...many...many years now I have gone through what I can only assume now was undiagnosed neurodivergent burnout & a ton of underlying personal issues that weighed me down. When I first entered the art world, I was a RAVENOUS artist, despite my lack of skill and age creation was my lifeblood and I would be constantly, constantly creating in some way. That started to slow in the end of my high school career, and then simply plummeted in my second college semester.


Y'all could have guessed that, considering my output and interaction here went from 100 to 0 in that time frame.


I've been hesitant to post this because I'm still very...wary that this will all just revert, but since having a major life change happen two months ago and the various self improvements I've trudged through in the last year and a half since my life altering break-up, combined, my muse has just sparked back to life. I've not been so creatively motivated (or just this content/happy in general) in such a long time. Of course, this isn't showing yet because I have over a year of WIPs I'm bouncing around on as I slowly catch up, but I'm getting pretty close to having things sorted now. The last year and a half have definitely had the worst of my depression, but also the highest highs I've experienced, so despite the hefty backlog I'm quite happy to finally be working through things.


SO ANYWAYS, personal blabbering aside, a few things will be happening in the near future as I dip my toe back into the waters.

WEBSITE, DISCORD, PATREON, COMMISSIONS???

I revealed my Discord/Patreon combo last year, but I clearly wasn't in the headspace yet to actually move forward with it. In the coming months, that's one of the incomplete projects I plan on finishing and re-launching, so stay tuned there! I am also feeling much more capable of commissions, but that will be hammered out down the line when I finish all the other projects I've got lying around.

I FORGET THINGS I'M SORRY (ARPG UPDATES)

One of the things that got desperately, horrifically out of whack after the break-up was all of my writing and planned plots in Svajone and DotW. I promise I am doing the best I can to get up to date as soon as possible. Please forgive me for the struggles I have had in timely replies and following up on new ideas. I'm working on fixing this, but I've got a mess to clean up from this before I can start being more timely and active in the present. This doesn't excuse that I've left a lot of you hanging, so I really wanted to express my apologies and regret for this. I hope none of you have any ill will against me due to this, but I understand if so and please feel free to express this to me and talk to me about it personally. I'M GETTING BETTER!!! I SWEAR IT!!! I'm so grateful for all of you and for this fantastic hobby we share and I want to make it all up eventually.

POSTING AGAIN

Back when AI was added to DeviantART (still pissed abt that dA), I stored everything that I had ever posted that wasn't related to my ARPG groups. I will not be unstoring these (most were horrifically old and crusty anyway) but I will be beginning to post my personal art and characters again, albeit heavily watermarked. It's the unfortunate nature of the AI world we live in now.

A CHANGE IN TONE

I've mentioned in the top intro to this journal that I have made a lot of personal changes and self improvements over the last year, and I mean that to the fullest extent. I am not really the person I was prior to the break-up. I won't go into all the gritty details of the sad, insecure lump I had become, but I've really grown into myself. I've matured more in some ways, and let my inner child bloom in others. I'm more confident in myself than ever, and I think I actually love myself for once in my life.


This IS a good thing, but trying to navigate the renewed sense of self has made me worried that I've been coming off a bit...egotistical and arrogant? And I wanted to make 100% sure that I stress that I don't intend to come off that way. I don't want to intimidate or put anyone off of interacting with me. I'm doing my best and learning how to communicate with this, but honestly confidence is so new to me that I'm sure I've slipped up. I apologise if I have.


My content will likely have a different tone because of this, too. Expect more mature themes (not NSFW, at least not here, though I'm considering posting that elsewhere) but just...mature. More mature topics. For example, I'm a stoner. Like that's just a fact at this point. I don't plan on hiding that in my artworks or with my sona, who's sheet is very close to finished. I curse like a sailor. I also have a lot of struggles with mental health and regular health and neurodivergency, which I used to try and keep out of my content, but I just don't feel the need to censor myself that way. I assume most of my watchers are older/adult age, but regardless, just a bit of a heads up not to be concerned at the shift to a more mature self. I won't be inundating my work with mature topics, but they'll be there. A large majority of my posts will likely still be ARPG related LOL

To put a bow on this self indulgent word vomit, thank you all so, so much for your continued support. I don't think I really have a community as of now, but those who have stuck around mean the world to me. I had...a really rough start to my adult life, but things are finally on the up. I've passed the character development stage and I feel like I'm really me now. I am so glad to be able to share this new self with everyone. Its the best feeling in the world.


Love you all bunches :heart:

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the sneakiness of this is leaving a very bad taste in my mouth. i'm generally neutral on AI art (its good for concepting and idea generation) but the fact that they just auto opted everyone in? all of us who've dealt with their bullshit and stuck around all these years? yeah thats gross and u know it, dA.



https://twitter.com/saltedantlers


https://saltedantlers.tumblr.com/



im going to be moving everything non-ARPG over to these sites. i haven't decided which will be my "main" account, gotta see which one feels right.


i'll still be posting on dA bc im not abandoning Domain of the Wolf and Svajone, they're like. my main hobbies. LOL


but if you're interested in any of my other personal work or characters i'll be posting over there.


it really sucked to have to go through and store/delete works. 10 whole years i've been here. you fucked up, deviantart lol

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Saltedantlers-transp

(thanks all for 500 watchers!!!! i did not miss that and will be making a seperate post regarding this <3)


09/21/2022 (copy-pasted from Discord) an update on the rebrand progress! i a lot of headway yesterday thanks to hyperfixation. so lets do a re-cap:


I. Name Change

just about all socials that matter have been changed to saltedantlers. due to a variety of reasons, aekaitz was no longer fitting for me and at nearly 8 years of using that username, it was time for a change. you are welcome to call me aek, jenna, or you know. you don't have to refer to me at all. thats cool too. B)


II. Website Progress

i'd say i'm about 50% of the way through the website considering i've been focusing primarily on streamlining the design first before adding real content. https://saltedantlers.art/ jenna@saltedantlers.art

people are more than welcome to browse what is currently done and let me know of any weird behaviour. i know for sure its super borked on mobile but anything else, let me know!


III. Logo & Watermark

completed!!


IV. Next Steps

  1. finish website

  2. re-work and re-launch patreon

  3. re-work commission prices

  4. profit?

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