Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hello and welcome to my little quest to obtain an Island of Dr. Moreau serum! IoDM is a breedable/changing petshop and horror roleplay based off of that infamous book.

Username: Daybreak-A
Mule's SN: Howie Carmichael
IoDM Newbie?: Yes
Serum: Serum 55, cynthia moth
Code for your quest banner: Still working on the banner, but this will be up soon ^^;



Currently: 1,000/20k

I am going for at least 20k, since this is around the flatsale price (I'm not deluded enough to think that I'll ever have enough gold for an auction). I realize that I don't have much in the way of funds currently, but I am by no means relying entirely on donations. I have plans for holding lineart auctions to help raise money.

On a similar note, I'm quite willing to do some lineart for any donators who express an interest =3

Donators: No one yet

Species: Samia cynthia - the cynthia moth, a species bred for the silk their cocoons produce.

Range: Originally from Asia, but some have been naturalized along the US Atlantic coastline.

Diet: Their natural diet is the Chinese Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima, also known as Ailanthus). They will, however, eat other plants such as willow and staghorn sumac if nothing else is available.
Fun Fact: Like many large moths, adult cynthias do not have mouths. They live off of what they consumed in their larval stage. This means that they metamorphisis, mate, and die within a week of starvation. Of course, considering Moreau would prbably want to keep his subjects alive, I'm assuming that 100% Howie will have a mouth.

Appearance: Cynthias can range from greenish to brown to pinkish-purpley, depending on what their original diet is. They always have a line running down their wings on either side of their body, and yellow crescent shapes accenting each wing.



The adults have a wingspan around four or five inches, and they're covered in fluff. They also have very fuzzy antennae, used for finding mates - this is a closeup of a cynthia moth antenna:



Common, you have to admit that's pretty cool.

Describe your ideal 100% appearance:

While his hairstyle still has the same look as the original style, much of it is now grown into the rest of the fuzz on his face. His eyes are a bit larger, and multifaceted, and the oil-spill color of them has many of the blue tones of his original irises. Howie's nose and ears are completey gone, replaced by the antennae - his new sensory organs. His mouth is the one thing that remains basically human, since moths don't have mouths and he needs one in order to eat and speak. His torso is now distinctly insect-like and covered in thick fuzz that looks like mammal hair, but is far to delicate and virtually weightless. He's grown a large, fur-covered abdomen as well.

Howie now has six limbs. They are all jointed more like an insects and covered by a very fine fuzz (much thinner and closer to the skin than the fur on his body), but he still retains his hands on the frist set. His middle set of legs is equipped with digits that are able to perform as crude second hands or an extra set of feet. His last set of limbs are large, powerful versions of insect-legs, strong enough to support him on their own, but he can move more quickly if he uses both sets of legs. His wings fold up cloak-like around him, with typical cynthia markings that lean towards brown and grey, with yellow crescents and pinkish stripes.

Why this animal/plant for your character?
The moth is a species that complements Howie's personality, especially his danger-lust. While it's true that he doesn't have random urges to ride off cliffs on motorcycles, he does have the urge to get involved in criminal activity that isn't exactly good for his health. So the moth-to-a-flame analogy works well. Like the cynthia to bright light, Howie is drawn to cities and crime lords and dark alleys and pain.

That is not to say that there is no irony in the transformation. Howie thrives on abuse, mental and physical (mostly physical) and changing him into a creature as fragile and mortal as a moth would force him to face a lot of truths that he's been avoiding for years. I chose the cynthia moth mainly because of its gorgeous coloring that suited Howie's character well. However, silk moths do have a legacy as being useful to man - silk is cooler than many fabrics, and when an arrow is shot through silk, the fabrics catches on it and makes it much easier to remove. I liked the idea of something so small and short-lived being useful without even realizing it, by doing only what came naturally, and thought that it fit Howie nicely.

What do you think really makes this concept?
Howie is a character who is almost entirely a product of his surroundings. He has the personality he does because he needed to survive. He's become addicted to danger because danger is his life. And he's never been able to stay away from the city. Relocating him to the island will unsettle him to the core, and create some very interesting circumstances. His survival tactics won't work there, since he doesn't know how to deal with the wild, or with a close-knit community. That is another point. He has never gotten close to anyone emotionally, and he usually drives off anyone who tries it. However, on the island it's pretty much inevitable due to the seclusion. Being the character-development addict I am, I want to see how Howie will change and what sort of person he'll befriend in the high-stakes situation of the island.

Plus, the image of him getting narcoleptic in the daytime and trying to grab lightbulbs is pretty funny XD.

[x]
First picture of Howie I did when I was working out his concept. Love the sneaks, they've got to be the best shoes I've ever drawn. He's adorable, isn't he?

[x]
Howie at 100%. The design was partially based off of a species of praying mantis people I invented for a storyline I work on every now and then

[x][x][x][x][x]
More pictures of cynthias - if moths freak you out, look at your own risk biggrin

Still working on it...

When you watch for
Feather or fur
Feather or fur
Do not stir
Do not stir.

Feather or fur
Come crawling
Creeping
Some by night
And some by day.
Most come gently
All come softly
Do not scare a friend away.

When you watch for
Feather or fur
Feather or fur
Do not stir
Do not stir.

~John Becker

Hurt no living thing:
Ladybird, no butterfly,
Nor moth with dusty wing,
No cricket chirping cheerily,
Nor grasshopper so light of leap,
Nor dancing gnat, no beetle fat,
Nor harmless worms that creep.

~Christina Rossetti

Hornworn: Autumn Lamentation

Since that first morning when I crawled
into the world, a naked grubby thing,
and found the world unkind,
my dearest faith has been that this
is but a trial: I shall be changed.
In my imaginings I have already spent
my brooding winter underground,
unfolded silky powdered wings, and climbed
into the air, free as a puff of cloud
to sail over the steaming fields,
alighting anywhere I pleased,
thrusting into deep tubular flowers.

It is not so: there may be nectar
in those cups, but not for me.
All day, all night, I carry on my back
embedded in my flesh, two rows
of little white cocoons,
so neatly stacked
they look like eggs in a crate.
And I am eaten half away.

If I can gather strength enough
I'll try to burrow under a stone
and spin myself a purse
in which to sleep away the cold;
though when the sun kisses the earth
again, I know I won't be there.
Instead, out of my chrysalis
will break, like robbers from a tomb,
a swarm of parasitic flies,
leaving my wasted husk behind.

Sir, you with the red snippers
in your hand, hovering over me,
casting your shadow, I greet you,
whether you come as an angel of death
or of mercy. But tell me,
before you choose to slice me in two:
Who can understand the ways
of the Great Worm in the Sky?

~Stanley Kunitz

There will always be more to add, but right now it's DONE!

... Daybreak heart s comments.