Don’t Think I’ve Posted Much Wof Here(??) But I Love The Series So Much

This time a real animation meme for you, my wof fans. Bon appétit!

✦ emergency commissions open ✦

I have until the end of this week to get together the rest of our rent (about $450 left), and two weeks to get together enough for the last of 2024's quarterly taxes ($1,200) and the power bill ($170).

Altogether, I need almost $2k in two weeks.

Everything of what I make goes towards necessities for me and my partner, and the past few months finances have been very tight, so I was unable to put anything aside for these taxes like usual.

I've currently got unlimited slots for commissions open until these expenses are covered, and every kind of commission type is open starting as low as $40 - I can draw humanoids, anthros, dragons, creatures, Pokemon, Digimon, etc, and offer a lot of options like icons, badges, Pokemon card YCHs, fullbodies, custom designs, and more!

I also have a Patreon and Ko-fi which I offer memberships on for fun rewards, and members get discounts on my shops, commissions and adopts. My Ko-fi also has a shop with digital goods like lineart bases, and my Big Cartel has physical goodies like stickers and prints. If you're feeling particularly generous, my Ko-fi also has a simple tip feature for as low as $3, just click the "one time" button near the top of the page.

Anything at all helps, even just boosting this post or sharing my art! I super appreciate all my supporters, and I think I'll make my goal, but I'm really feeling the pressure as I've been pretty stressed and burnt out lately. Here's the links to everything:

Commissions | Patreon | Ko-fi | Big Cartel

if you wanna commission me, you can contact me through Twitter, Bluesky, Discord (@ Dracononite), or email maxhamiltonarts@gmail. Please look over my commission contract and terms of service first!

Winter the Icewing

[Image Description: A digital full body of an Icewing dragon from Wings of Fire named Winter. He is deer like, with a light sky blue fur coat, glistening hooves, horns and spikes that are like icicles and crystals down his back and on his tail. He has baby blue socks and mask markings that are pointed he also has a white underbelly and feathery wings that have diamond points similar to those of snowflakes. He also has long whiskers and fangs that poke out. He has concentrated deep blue eyes with a concerned look on his face. He is standing with one hoof up in the air. /.END ID]

darkstalkers +whiteout

A silly little plant guy, just a tiny creature.

[Start ID: A digital drawing of a cutesy potted plant monster. The piece is in a chibi style, with faint cell shading and black line art, and is on a transparent background. The plant creature has 3 light green heart shaped leaves. The largest leaf has 2 large round eyes, with white sclera and black pupils. The leaves connect to a darker green stem which is potted in a dull orange terracotta pot with brown soil. At the base of the pot are 4 dark green roundish legs. Slightly on top of the drawing is a dark brown watermark with a white outline that has 2 leafy branches surrounding the username "TheCraftyDragonC". End ID]

This is my first time writing an ID so feel free to let me know if it should be improved or changed!

Small and happy

west | kofi reward, july 2024

Full body design for young Sparklestalker/Darkstalker! I had fun making the design simplified in an animation like style. I might edit it a bit in the future though. Left design is for "good" Darkstalker, and right design is after he becomes "evil".

Hi! I’m a big fan of your art and work over all

I’ve been wondering, since I’ve seen you give your thoughts on some other dragons, what are your thoughts on Clay?

On Clay...

Clay. I’ve talked about him for a bit in a previous post somewhere. He is the first protagonist in the entire series and thus serves as our introduction into this world. While he enters the story with his own emotional baggage, he pretty much resolves all of that within the first book and mellows out from then on, fading into the background as a quiet support character.

Because of that it is maybe easy to dismiss Clay as that big guy who talks about food a lot and doesn’t do much else. But I do think he’s a bit more complex than that and is a well-rounded character with things going on in his own right.

CW: Discussion of physical abuse.

Formative Years

Clays early years were molded heavily by his belief that he almost killed Tsunami while she was hatching. He believed this because his guardians, mostly Kestrel, insisted this is what happened. Of course at the end of the first book we learn that this wasn’t the case and that they were just misinformed about how Mudwings work.

To us, this may all seem absolutely ridiculous. We look at Clay and see this obvious gentle giant without a malicious bone in his body angsting about being a blood-crazed monster. But for Clay himself, this was a very real, very horrifying situation. Suspend your disbelief for a moment. His entire childhood was marred by the crushing guilt of almost having murdered his surrogate sister at birth, and he couldn’t remember why he did it. He understood nothing about this situation, and didn’t know if this secret violent side could even resurface one day. Basic things like going to sleep would become terrifying; he may have laid awake, wondering whether his body might act on its own as soon as he fell unconscious. Just like back then, when it acted before he could even form coherent thoughts. The fear of losing control to the monster and waking up on top of a loved one’s mangled body was always there.

This perception of himself as a violent killer was at odds with his social nature as a Mudwing. He loved his surrogate siblings with the same intensity that any Mudwing would love their own, and thus he hated the part of himself that threatened them. As a direct response to this dissonant view, Clay developed a desire to protect them. If he willed himself to shield them from getting hurt with all of his strength, he would never be able to harm them again. This was his way of coping with the fear.

It is pretty apparent from the text that at least Kestrel was physically abusive towards them. Dune was possibly too, Webs I don’t think so, but he also didn’t do anything to stop it. As Clay grew older I think he began to recognize the patterns. He would start deliberately acting in ways so that most of Kestrel’s ire would be redirected towards himself instead of the others. This is why all the Dragonets of Destiny have such deep respect for Clay; they remember him always standing between them and Kestrel, even as he ended up with more and more scars for it.

Luckily, he is able to reconnect with his Mudwing heritage at the end of book 1 and learns that he never was that blood-crazed murderer the guardians insisted he was. But even so, the scars and memories would never fully fade, and he’d never lose sight of the need to protect his loved ones.

Personality and Interests

Clay’s love of food and eating is well-established, to the point where it sometimes seems like it is his only character trait from book 2 onwards. This is normal; he’s got a big body and I assume the self-regenerative properties inherent to Mudwings burn a lot of calories, so he needs to eat a lot to refuel them. I think there’s a bit more to him still though.

Clay is at his happiest when he can either prevent someone else’s pain, or take it away. Conversely he becomes distressed when he sees someone suffering. I believe he is incredibly earnest and built close to water. He cries easily, though never in response to his own pain or suffering. He feels positive emotions very strongly and can get overwhelmed that way, especially when he sees his loved ones happy. When he cries, he does so openly and without shame. It is very unsatisfying to tease him because he will usually just take what people say to him at face value and thus make them feel bad.

He’s also very physically affectionate and huggy.

People who meet Clay often get the impression that he is book dumb, or just stupid in general. This is not the case, as Clay does have a capacity for learning even complex subject matter. I just think he struggles with subjects he can’t see a practical application for, or aren’t relevant to things he wants to do. He has little interest in memorizing ancient figures or learning how to measure the sides of a triangle

When Glory fights Deathbringer in book 3, she makes mention of a “dragon anatomy class” which I assume was taught by Webs. Clay, as much as he struggled with history and numbers, excelled at this particular class because its insight could be used to keep people safe. As such, whenever the need for it arises, Clay is usually quick to act as the group’s primary healer/medical advisor.

(Excerpts from WoF graphic novels 2 and 3, censored for blood.)

This notion is further supported by the fact that, once they all become teachers at the Jade Mountain Academy, Clay is the one to lead an anatomy class, just like the one he attended before.

In conclusion

Clay is pretty much everyone’s big brother. While he isn’t as eccentric and colorful as the people he is surrounded by, his earnestness and general benevolence make him the backbone of the Dragonets of Destiny. Whenever anyone has a deeply-rooted, serious problem they are hesitant to bring up with others, Clay will usually be the first person considered as a confidant. Tsunami and Starflight know he would never judge or shame them no matter how ridiculous the thing they approach him with. Glory trusts him with her emotions whenever her stoic facade cracks. And Sunny has an incredibly strong bond with him.

I think that makes him pretty cool, even if he doesn’t really have much to do anymore once he overcomes his personal demons. I’m happy that he gets to be happy in the end.