I think the Terracoon is adorable, and the Legeica is absolute love (luscious hair is luscious), but I found the accompanying news post more intriguing:
There are varying stages to darkmatter possession. The first stage is fear, which the darkmatter terracoon clearly demonstrates. Poor thing. The last stage, acceptance, is being shown today by the darkmatter legeica. Research is still being conducted on the stages in between.
Before I saw that, the Terracoon's expression looked really out of character for a DM pet. And now that I've read that... to be honest it still looks out of character to me. Do any of the other DM pets look frightened?
I think the Terracoon looks like it's hearing nails on a chalk board. Not a pretty picture. Terracoons fail to impress me at the best of times, but I must say, I really like the way the ridge of hair down its back has been done here - really really nice texture.
The Legeica... confuses me. I understand its supposed to look like a rolling horse, and I agree, the hair is lovely, but the pose is just awkward to me and doesn't really work on the pet. I think it looks like it's not balanced on the same plane, and it looks kind of... pot-bellied, even for a Legeica which I think kind of always look like that xD The art is nice but I just don't like it much.
ETA - Officer, I also find the news post intriguing, but it also seems to go against what people have been saying about DM up until then, that it affects each pet differently xD; CONFUSED.
ETA2 - Ninja'd by Luxe. Thanks Luxe xD That really explains it well!
Last edited by Jessi on 24 Sep 2009 03:33 pm, edited 2 times in total.
The news post was more or less just to explain the emotion of the terracoon, but as we've discovered since we've been working on these, darkmatter pets' expressions widely vary, even the old ones. It's mostly dependent on the personality of the species rather than any personality the color might give. Keep in mind that they're soldiers for Maleria, and while some may be accepting of this fact, I would imagine the whole process to be time-consuming and it would take a while for the full brainwash to be complete. I would consider completely brainwashed pets to be those like the escalade, chai, and dillema, ready to receive and carry out orders. Then you have those like the anyu, keeto, and tigrean who are just getting to the point of understanding their orders. And then there are some like the kerubi that I think are closest to the terracoon, which as Rah described it, is not quite sure what to make of all these hovering darkmatters! They're newly converted.
Poor traumatized Terracoon! He is rather adorable though.
I actually really like the Legeica, which is odd considering I usually really don't like their redraws. This one is lovely though and I rather enjoy the pose. I think the head and neck area is a bit hard to make out at first with all that (lovely) fur though.
Holy shit Rah, your Terracoons are freaking amazing!!
I absolutely love the pose, the expression, everything! Perfectly shaded, love the wild mane. Very very true to the Terracoon. I am seriously contemplating of getting one. Seriously. o_o
The Legeica, unfortunately, does nothing for me. The first Legeica redraw I'm very disappointed with. Again, not a fan of upside down pets. And the other thing I'm nitpicking is the anatomy. It really looks heavy-set and small. I just don't understand it. It's too weird and unnatural for me. But it's still nice enough to see the species getting attention.
Hmm, I want to like the Legeica, but the pose is a bit awkward. Other than that I really like the colour tones used and the details, I just find it a bit hard to navigate. ^^; I'm still having troubles figuring out where that bit of mane comes from that's just above the chin. Where's the neck?
The Terracoon is cute, but the species doesn't do anything for me.
Last edited by Mistress Morbid on 24 Sep 2009 08:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Is it just me, or is the largest Dark Matter near the end of the Legeica's tail actually smiling?
I like the expression on the Legeica's face, and that's pretty much it, primarily because I'm not a Legeica fan. In fact, seeing a lesser-known pet get a redraw only makes me pine more for an Illumis redraw...
I like the ticked off little Dark Matters near the Terracoon face, but I'm also not that much of a Terracoon fan, either.
I think the Legeica's forelegs look awkward, but it's still cute. c: And the Terracoon's expression is kind of confusing me - its face looks like a mix between surprise and anger, for some reason - but the fur down its back is lovely~
Lesser known Legeica as in "Ninth most popular pet onsite", right? :P:P
I don't really like these. The Terracoon's expression isn't my favorite, and I don't like the pose the Legeica is in. The mane is gorgeous and all, but it's not my type of pet.
The legeica is more popular on NC, too, with a 3.4 average before the DM legeica came out, compared to the illumis's 3.15. Part of that is probably because the illumis hasn't had any new colors released in such a long time, but mammals are generally more popular than insects. I'd say it's definitely lesser-known than the legeica, even if it is a cool pet. And the legeica is too popular to be considered lesser-known by any standards. ;)
I must say, I really like the idea behind the colour. Mind control by little purple-glowing blobs :D That said, can't say I'm too thrilled with either of these, though they aren't terrible. The Legeica looks like it's trying to do some weird pose that my cat does, but looks weird from a horse-like thing. The Terracoon's not really my thing either.
I'd be positively drooling over the Legeica right now if it wasn't for the neck. Or lack thereof?
I'm trying desperately, but I see no conceivable way in which there's an appropriately sized neck somewhere in there. Like ... If I turn my head to the left, I can sort of get how it's supposed to be.
And I feel like the fatness/chubbiness is just slightly overdone. I'd kill for a hint of a chest somewhere in there (if it's possible to physically fit it in, anyway).
The Terracoon is simple, but I like it - it's scared! Poor thing.
As with all Legeicas, I want to like this one, but I can't. When I look at one detail, isolated from the rest - like the mane - it looks cool, but all the different parts aren't really coming together as a whole for me.
The position looks really awkward - like Joey said, it looks like a cat on its back. It looks kind of unnatural, and I think the good details - all the hair, the eyes, the face - would have been better off in a repose. It just doesn't look particularly horse-like.
I agree that the stomach seems a bit overly round, too. A round belly is great for, say, a Ruffie or a Terracoon, that're supposed to be cute and squishy. I always got the impression that the Legeica is more elegant than that.
My main woe with dark matter (and nightmare, for that matter) pets is present here: a lot of the detail gets lost in such dark colours.
Doesn't the legeica have a lion-like mane? So all its hair is over that, which is where I would hazard to say the the neck actually is. XD Anyways, I love the legeica, and I don't mind the round belly or neck thing. The pose is very cat-like, but I'll go with it.
I like the idea behind the terracoon, but for whatever reason this one just isn't working for me. Not any specific reason, it just doesn't really interest me. :/