Holiday: Have a harvest time scythe this Halloween!

Have a harvest time scythe this Halloween!

Scythe: Originally scythes were tools used to mow, or reap, grain that was ready to be harvested. The popular image of a dark-robed skeleton wielding a scythe as the embodiment of death came about as Europe was experiencing repeated outbreaks of the Black Plague that would eventually kill one-third of all Europeans. Death on such a massive scale is easily likened to a farmer, scythe in hand, cutting down the countless stalks of grain. While they started as tools, there is historical evidence that scythes were used as weapons with specific fighting styles being recorded to best take advantage of the scythe's unique shape.

A simple charm was spoken on this blade by a traveling mage who was offered a warm meal and a dry place to sleep. The charm keeps the blade razor sharp without needing to be honed by whet stone. The charm seems a simple thing, but the farmer that doesn’t slow from a dull blade or stop to sharpen can cut more in a day than two or three skilled reapers.

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Happy Halloween! It probably won’t surprise you that Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Ghoulish dress up, spooky movies, chocolate and peanut butter candy, and a great excuse to walk around at night. All of that is just great. I hope you have a wonderful Halloween this year.

Here’s to more treats and less tricks.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

 

Four Swords: A handy item from Four Swords.

A handy item from Four Swords.

Razor Seed: Just like armor seeds and Pegasus seeds, razor seeds can be randomly found in Four Swords by cutting grass. Picking up the seed doubles that Link’s sword damage for the remainder of the stage. Seed-hungry Links can only benefit from two razor seeds at any one time.

Prophet’s palm is a hand-shaped fruit tended by monks who use the fruits as foci for divinations. Travelers must visit the temple orchards and search the dense trees for a rare five-fingered fruit. If they are successful in locating a rare fruit, they can ask the fruit one question and receive an answer in the form of a hand gesture that must be interpreted.

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This unfortunate drawing attempts to capture the Buddha’s Hand Citron. This visually compelling citrus fruit was a very memorable discovery. I never thought citrons could look so unique having grown up on very homogenized lemons and limes. Diving down the rabbit hole of global citrons, I found that there are a lot of unique textures and shapes in that fruit family that have been bred out of the citrus I see and eat here in the United States. 

Go out there and find some unique-looking food. You know, you might find your next favorite thing. Unless you find durian, then I’m sorry you didn’t find jackfruit instead.

Next week we are taking a break from Zelda items to celebrate Halloween. See you next week!

Be excellent to everyone

-Ceph

 

Taking a week off to celebrate

No new post this week as I’m celebrating an important milestone in my life.

Come back next week for more items from Four Swords.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Four Swords: Desert fruit from Four Swords.

Desert fruit from Four Swords.

Pegasus Seed: In Four Swords, seeds are consumable power ups that can be found by cutting grass. The pegasus seeds double the speed of any Link that eats the seed for the rest of the level. With the speed boost, Link can avoid enemy attacks and rush to be the first to treasure.

The pitaya is a fruit of the desert and a favorite treat of the giant winged thunder lizards. Heroic stories of old speak of brave heroes taming the wild beasts to serve as powerful companions and mounts. To capture the beast, heroes stalked the fruiting groves of cacti and rushed the lizards only after they had gorged themselves into a stupor pitaya fruit.

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Indigenous peoples' day is tomorrow in the United States. Celebrate all the amazing things the indigenous peoples did prior to, during, and after contact with Europeans. Christopher Columbus was a vicious man whose actions are were abominable and whose legacy is misrepresented in history. In the most literal sense, he couldn’t have discovered America if there were humans there when he arrived. 

 I’ve been struggling to finish drawings lately. I’m still drawing but I’ve been stuck with about 30 drawings left to do in the Wind Waker set for a while now. Lots has happened to help me stay stuck; bought a house, moved, school started back up, Covid is still hanging out, but I want to put out there that I’m still working. 

While I haven’t been able to push through to the end of Wind Waker, I have gotten five good drawings based on a certain open world rpg that is celebrating its tenth anniversary next month. Watch out for those coming soon.

The world is still a crazy and deeply inequitable place. Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

 

Four Swords: A crystal gem apple from Four Swords.

A crystal gem apple from Four Swords. 

Armor Seed: The three seeds in Four Swords are consumable power-ups that can be found by cutting grass. Picking up an armor seed increases a Link’s natural defense and decreases the amount of damage they take from attacks and traps.

If you believe the rumors shared in the many kitchens of the world, the rarest and most desirable of all apples is the Crystal Gem Apple that only grows at the heart of truly evil forests. Only liars and fools claim to have tasted or even seen this mythological fruit. That hasn’t stopped generations of hopeful seekers from throwing their lives away in the many wicked forests of the world.

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I love Adventure Time. I think it found a perfect balance between banal childishness, abstract introspection, and absurdism. I haven’t watched or read any of the spin off material but I really appreciate the love Pendelton Ward, and everyone else who touched Adventure TIme poured into the show. 

This is another drawing that is not my favorite. I struggle to draw transparent materials and crystalline objects in general. It is a growth edge I’m still working on, but I still keep giving myself the task of drawing semi-transparent objects made of crystal and glass.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph