The Speaking Squid

Thank you for your support.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Drewly 2026: Sacred stone of Laputa

Sacred stone of Laputa

Laputian royal amulet: Carved from the incredible stone that powered their once globe spanning empire, this amulet has been passed down through many generations of your family. With it, a story of destructive pride and a song to sing in the darkest of times.

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Like many millennials, studio ghibli is a hugely important influence in my taste. Laputa is one of my favorites, as it is a part of the “I wish I could fly” cannon of Ghibli films. I really wish I could fly.

Week two of Drewly continues. We are 8 days in and I’ve got plenty of art I’ve never shown anyone. What about you?

What is Drewly?

Drewly is the month-long art challenge where you don’t make any new art. Just celebrate all the art you’ve already made, finished or not.

How do I join?

Share whatever work you’d like, however you’d like to share. Tag your posts #Drewly #Drewly2026 #Drewly26.

You can also join me on reddit at /r/Drewly

See all my Drewly posts here.

Get your official Drewly stickers here.

How to support me:

Thank you for your support.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Tuesday, July 7, 2026

Drewly 2026: The Heart of Te Fiti

The Heart of Te Fiti

Heart of Tefiti: Stolen by the trickster Maui, the heart must be returned to Tefiti, the great mother, to stop the spread of decay filling the world with monsters and draining life from land and sea.

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My kid loves Moana. I drew this for them. I also made a quick cardboard version with some sharpie and string. They LOVE that 5 minute craft. You don’t have to be great at art to make something someone will love.

In looking up the characters’ origins, I was surprised to find out Te Fiti seems to be a whole cloth creation for the movie, but they just used Maui’s existing mythological identity. That isn’t surprising, but it does feel odd.

What is Drewly?

Drewly is the month-long art challenge where you don’t make any new art. Just celebrate all the art you’ve already made, finished or not.

How do I join?

Share whatever work you’d like, however you’d like to share. Tag your posts #Drewly #Drewly2026 #Drewly26.

You can also join me on reddit at /r/Drewly

See all my Drewly posts here.

Get your official Drewly stickers here.

How to support me:

Thank you for your support.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Monday, July 6, 2026

Drewly 2026: Plumbob

Plumbob

Plumbob: For when you want to exert direct control over the lives of others. Be careful if you meddle too deeply, when this gem shines red, the person you are controlling is deeply unhappy and may try to work against your goals.

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Pop culture blind spot. I only ever watched others play The Sims. Never have I enjoyed putting someone in a deep pool and then deleting the ladder out.

What is Drewly?

Drewly is the month-long art challenge where you don’t make any new art. Just celebrate all the art you’ve already made, finished or not.

How do I join?

Share whatever work you’d like, however you’d like to share. Tag your posts #Drewly #Drewly2026 #Drewly26.

You can also join me on reddit at /r/Drewly

See all my Drewly posts here.

Get your official Drewly stickers here.

How to support me:

Thank you for your support.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Wednesday, October 29, 2025

Axes for Orctober!

Rexxar’s Axe: Rexxar is a hero of the Horde and was instrumental in the founding of Orgrimmar on Kalimdor. As he is Mok’Nathal, he has Ogre and Orc heritage, meaning he can wield two of these heavy-looking axes with ease.

Horde Grunt’s Axe: The footsoldiers of the Horde are outfitted with this simple, large axe that can be used one-handed with a shield or two-handed to take advantage of the incredible strength of even the lowliest Orc warrior.

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Rexxar is a direct rip-off of Darkwolf from Fire and Ice. Watching Fire and Ice long after playing the Orc single-player campaign in Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne was my personal moment of finding out Blizzard just remixes existing properties without really changing them all that much. Most people probably realized that when they noticed a lot of items in WarCraft 3 were just direct superhero references from comics. That realization really helped me with my imposter syndrome as a GM when I couldn’t come up with a perfectly unique story and instead wanted to copy or remix.

Orctober is mostly a miniatures wargaming meme or challenge, but here is my contribution to the month of the Orc.

How to support me:

Thank you for your support.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Friday, October 24, 2025

Cursed Relic: Blair Witch Stick Man

Blair Witch Stick Man

Twanas: The depths of the woods are marked with the Witch’s stickmen. When you start to see them, it's already too late.

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This was going to be my Halloween drawing last year, but I really didn’t enjoy the process, so I stalled and didn’t finish until it was too late.

Cursed Relics is a lower-stakes Inktober response challenge started by Alba BG. Check their work out.

How to support me:

Thank you for your support.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Friday, October 17, 2025

Cursed Relic: Journal 3

Journal 3

The Third Journal: The final journal contains an encyclopedia of information concerning the creatures and beings that live in and about Gravity Falls.

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Getting all three journals together is usually the first step to having a pretty bad time, so collectors beware.

Cursed Relics is a lower-stakes Inktober response challenge started by Alba BG. Check their work out.

How to support me:

Thank you for your support.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Friday, October 10, 2025

Cursed Relic: Journal 2

Journal 2

The Second Journal: The second mysterious journal catalogs many of the impossible objects that can be found in Gravity Falls, as well as spells and magic that could be used to unravel the fabric of reality. It is unfortunate that children are the primary owners of this journal.

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If you know anything about Gravity Falls, you know we are missing a piece of the puzzle. Stay tuned.

Cursed Relics is a lower-stakes Inktober response challenge started by Alba BG. Check their work out.

How to support me:

Thank you for your support.

Be excellent to everyone.

-Ceph

Friday, October 3, 2025

Cursed Relic: Journal 1

Journal 1

The First Journal: A journal filled with observations of the strange and unexplainable things that happen in and about Gravity Falls, Oregon.

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I love Gravity Falls. We do not need more Gravity Falls; we need more things that end well.

Inktober is a daily drawing challenge to draw something in ink every day of October. The intense and amazing art that came out of Inktober set the bar so high that it now stresses people out. All that stress means there are chiller response challenges for October that ask a lot less of you to participate.

Cursed Relics is one of those response challenges started by Alba BG, an amazing artist with an evocative style.

I don’t have anything new drawn for Curse Relics, but I do have a few odds and ends floating around that are waiting to get shared.

How to support me: