Is there a phobia that leaves the individual afraid of people knowing their identity? I'm thinking there could have been a Consul (essentially a Saint) in the Church of the Suffering Grace who suffered from such a phobia so intensely, they covered themselves head to toe in garments to hide from people knowing who they are.

As Consuls of the Church are constituted from those who put themselves through anguish seemingly by instinct, for to do so demonstrates an innate, yearning desire to repay the Debt of Existence, the fear this person suffers from would be reinterpreted as a form of great penance by the Church. They would die without anyone knowing who they truly were.

The closest phobia I can find that relates to this of scopophobia, the fear of being looked at. The thing that separates this individual from that, however, is their desire to block out *every* aspect of themselves. Name, sex, voice, etc.

I’m trying to work out how Vivian's electric saber could plausibly work. The furthest into fantasy I would prefer to take it is the usage of a cosmic substratum to generate electricity -- in this case zehrisite, a cosmic mineral which produces an electric charge the faster it moves. The main issue I'm running into is that the technology of Freeland is mostly analogous to the late 18th century, so materials such as rubber or copper wiring nor mechanisms like the engine don't exist yet. I know I want Vivian to have electric weapons -- she's an incredibly important character to the scientific development of Freeland in this regard -- but I'm struggling to think of a way in which we could have a proto battery or electric motor when those concepts are still far into the setting's future.

I'm thinking of attaching a kind of primitive tumbler-battery to the hilt that uses a pull cord to spin it, and the centrifugal force maintains the spin so that the zehrisite continues to produce an electric charge inside the tumbler for several seconds. A metal rod encased in porcelain (the main form of insulation for this thing) runs from inside the tumbler and connects the blade, electrifying the metal so long as the zehrisite core is spinning. This will probably need some tweaking. I'm wanting the thing to be primitive in some ways to illustrate how fledgling the science of electrical engineering is in the setting, but not so flawed as to be ineffective.

Another possibility is to change the action needed for zehrisite to produce electricity, but I wouldn't want to specialize it too much so that it could still be used in other applications. It should hopefully be easy to replicate in illustration, as well.

Also, this is the design I've got for her so far (version without the tech on her):

The two most difficult parts of creating her design both stem from the principle that New Unity is most closely comparable to the 18th century in terms of cultural and scientific development. There wasn’t much in the way of an outfit that screamed ‘scientist’ back then — practitioners instead mostly just dressed like any other aristocrat. The other thing that’s proving especially challenging is designing electrical devices in the style of a time period which didn’t have them.

She also used to be a Siva, or a Daughter of Thorns in the Church of the Suffering Grace (kind of like a nun or a bhikkhunī), so I'd want to incorporate a tiny bit of that religious background into the design as well. I think she may wear the gloves to hide the scars on her hands. Daughters of Thorns often wear bands woven from barbed olive branches, usually bound around their wrists, hands, and ankles. When a person's body is observed to bear such intentionally arranged scarring, it is generally taken to mean that they are a Nocrothian. Seeing as how Vivian is attempting to immigrate into Hrenish society, it would be understandable for her to repress any notion that she once belonged to the Church of the Suffering Grace.

I'm thinking that most psychics choose not to smoke since nicotine can act as a depressant, which lowers neural transmissions and thus stifles their psychic ability. However, since Kira's Deviation is Pathos, meaning her psychic ability is influenced by her emotions, her telepathy becomes increasingly difficult to manage when she becomes stressed. She starts to read the minds of everyone in her vicinity, forming a cacophony of innermost pains that only she can hear, and at worst she could unwittingly hurt people nearby in a telepathic feedback loop or by unwittingly commanding them to harm her, themselves, or whatever else. She may choose to smoke as a coping mechanism against this, since the depressants in nicotine help to dull the stress and muzzle her psychic power until she can calm down. Plus, it would make sense for the time period.

Of course, she could choose not to smoke for a similar reason to her cooperatives. GUNS-BLAZING doesn't smoke, not because of the way it affects his psychic abilities, but also because he's a public-facing celebrity with an especial appeal to young viewers. He adopts a He-Man/Hulk Hogan-esque persona (he's a good actor, but in reality the "persona" is only about 2% different from his actual personality) and promotes healthy habits to his young viewers. "Winners Don't Use Drugs" and all that.

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to put something out to make it clear that I'm still active on the site, and I still plan to post my artwork as often as I can. I never wanted to skip Independence Day this year, but personal obligations (work, college, etc.) have been doing a lot to keep me away from my drawing tablet.

At the very least, I hope I'll be able to get what I wanted to do on July 4th out by October 27th instead since it's the birthday of someone really special; there is also something I have been working on as often as I can ever since March of this year, and I hope to get that out even sooner, but I can't say for certain when that will be.

I expect as I get used to this new routine of mine, I'll be able to find some more regular time to draw, and I'm happy to post whenever I can. Just know that I haven't given up on Freeland, LIVIDITY, or Propaganda, I'm just really, really occupied with the rest of my life at the moment.

- Xander

I've been hard at work for a few days on something very big for me, and now I'm finally ready to open it to the public.

Introducing my own personal website, The ApeRoom!

Visit theaperoom.com to take a look at my portfolio, contact information, and commission rates!

Thank you for your consideration, and have a great night!

- Xander

Small status update, first time using this system. I'm working on a small illustration to commemorate Independence Day, but I'm wrapping up a commission right now so I won't be able to post it the day of. Just wanted to let people know because I feel bad for not being able to get it out on time.

- Xander