Shadowgirls

It’s been brought up a few times, so I thought I’d make a thread here to fully explain the details of the anatomy of the Shadowgirls from a purely scientific standpoint. Now of course we’re dealing with a paranormal entity here, and thus any scientific fallacies I have, I hereby invoke the “magic transformation card” to explain it away.

Before I begin, I would like to point out that I’m being very careful with my words here. There’s some stuff coming up that I cannot reveal yet. This is not the psychological makeup, just purely the physical changing that the girls go through when shadowform. I’m going to omit certain parts, as it ties into the psychological aspect, but the rest I’ll explain and go into detail as much as possible. If you have any questions, please ask, but once again, don’t expect spoilers. Also… As I’m the artist and not the writer, do not take this as written canon. If D.Rod wants to change any of this, he can.

To begin with, physically speaking, (once again PHYSICALLY, not PSYCHOLOGICALLY) the shadowbleed is a dark blue liquid material that may reside within the body of the host. (In the case of the comic here, that would be our McKay girls.) While shadowbleed is normally dark blue, the fair skin of the McKay girls tends to desaturate the shadowbleed, making it look more gray but in the right lights, a slight tint of blue can still be seen. If the shadowbleed was to form over someone with higher melanin count (darker skin) it would take on different hue properties as well. The exception of course is the shadow child symbols on Becka’s left hand and the back of Charon’s neck. Reasons why are as of yet unknown.

When the time for shadowforming occurs, the shadowbleed will flow through the epidermis of the human, literally within the outer layer of skin, giving it more density and durability, while retaining it’s softness and flexibility. (Think of it like a latex thin liquid Kevlar.) When shadowformed, the host is still able to feel everything that touches their skin, because it IS their actual skin. (this is why Charon’s mole located beneath her left eye is still visible in Shadowform.) If you poked them with a needle, while the needle would not penetrate, they would feel the poke. If you blow on their skin, it would still cause piloerection. (Goose bumps.) This implies that while the girls are more durable in this form, they are probably susceptible to extreme temperatures still, as the very least, on a psychosomatic level.

There is a difference in the transformation of Charon and Becka’s. Charon’s transformation tends to be violent, as the shadowbleed pieces thrashes about, to form the armor pieces, causing amounts of pain to the host. Becka’s on the other hand seems to flow over her naturally causing no pain whatsoever. Charon’s hair flickers and moves about, whereas Becka’s lays still, much like her hair would have normally. The reason for this is forthcoming.

The durability of the skin has yet to be seen, but it’s believe in Charon to be able to deflect small arms fire. Becka’s may not be as durable, as we have seen there is a difference between the two girls for reasons to be explained. Just because a bullet would not penetrate the shadowbleed skin, does not mean the host wouldn’t feel it. For example, if you were to shoot Charon with a pistol, while her skin would be intact, the force impact of the bullet would be felt. It’s unknown as of yet how this affects the underlying bones.

The exoskeleton armor pieces are a little different. While the sub dermal skin is soft to the touch, the exoskeleton armor is hard and rigid. While they are still comprised of the shadowbleed material, they are not connected to the host’ nervous system, thus they are literally armor pieces. Damage can be done to these pieces without causing pain to the girls. If you, for example, break off one of Charon’s claws, it won’t hurt her… But she may punch you in the face. These fractured shards, much like Becka’s manipulations of the shadowbleed will liquefy dissolve when the host reverts to human form. (In other words, most likely, the blades that impaled Mr. One-Eye Slaad in issue #3 melted away with the Slaad.) Where the shadowbleed comes from or how it replenishes itself is yet to be revealed.

Due to the fact that the shadowbleed is sub dermal, any skin contusions, lacerations or abrasions received in human form can be “stitched together” on a cellular level and can be healed, such as the various injuries to Charon that she received from her assault from Christmas. (In Charon’s case, it may also mend bone material as well.) However, deep incised wounds that cut through all the layers of the skin have a much more difficult time healing and may not fully heal as quickly or as effectively and will leave a scar, as Becka’s wounds from the Slaads show. If the wound is deep or serious enough, it would be too much for the shadowbleed to repair. The full extent of these regenerative powers is yet to be seen.

On the skin of the girls, there are several creases and cracks, which carry a dark pink hue to them. These pinkish areas are also her skin, but it’s where the exoskeleton armor forms over. If you were to remove the armor pieces, the skin underneath would be the dark pink color. These creases exist to allow further flexibility, but become a possible weak point in the armor. The creases on their faces seem to be intended for another armor piece that’s not there around the eyes. Whether this vestigial in design or forthcoming is as of yet unknown. It does however for a makeshift “mask” for the girls, much like a superhero’s mask.

In all human, areas of the skin such as the lips, nipples, vaginal areas and other sensitive areas like that are made up of material called non-keratinizing stratified squamous epithelia. Due to the lack of ketratin in these parts (which gives it the usual pinkish coloring) the shadowbleed is unable to penetrate these areas and coats over them like a lip gloss. Thus the hue of the shadowbleed gets refracted and turns into it’s complementary color of a tannish gold. These areas still the pinkish color they normally are, just with a protective glossing over them. (Like a sun block.) This is why the Shadowgirls lips appear to turn into the tan-gold color as opposed to turning gray or staying pink. The bodily sensitivity of these parts still functions normally, and in fact, the sensitivity is actually increased. So for those wanting to write the erotic fanfics that will disturb me to no end… Yes. You can have sex in Shadowform.

…I just know I’m gonna regret admitting that one.

Now the hair also changes with the skin. The shadowbleed affects the eumelanin in the hair follicles changing the color to it’s natural blue tint. It’s probably due to the fact that the primary component of hair is keratin, the same material that lips do not possess. And extreme amount of it in the hair allows for the shadowbleed to fully transform the hair’s color into the natural shade of blue, as opposed to the desaturation of the skin.

Unlike the Deep One’s eyes, where the red glow is result of chromatic erythrophores in their eyes, or Mistletoe Snow‘s eyes which has xanthophores, the Shadowgirl’s eyes do not possess cyanophores. The glow that comes from the eyes are a residual emission from the shadowbleed. When shadowforming occurs, it cannot coat the cornea of the eye, however, the eyes act as an “exhaust port” of sorts for the shadow bleeds leftover waste energy, thus giving it’s errie blue glow. It can also slightly emit from the mouth and nostrils. This energy is harmless and outside of a blue glow, has no affect on the girls or anyone in nearby proximity. Of note, even when the girls are in human form, their eyes can occasionally give off spurts of energy, but this can only be seen if the room is dark.

At this point there’s not much more I can tell you without spoiling upcoming information. If you have any questions, I’ll answer them just as long as it doesn’t compromise what’s to come.

Thank you for that long and detailed explaination. I have to wonder, with of the Ds came up with the explaination DR W or DR A?

Blame can be laid upon me but D.Rod gave me the material to work with.

By the way, it's kinda funny how you poiinted out the DR W and the DR A. I know you mean Writer and Artist, but my middle initial is W and D.Rod's is A and it actually threw me off for a second!

Mach Sabre wrote:Unlike the Deep One’s eyes, where the red glow is result of chromatic erythrophores in their eyes, or Mistletoe Snow‘s eyes which has xanthophores, the Shadowgirl’s eyes do not possess cyanophores.

I want to hear more about what happened to Misty, when are we going ot cut back to that scene?

Mach Sabre wrote:Blame can be laid upon me but D.Rod gave me the material to work with.

By the way, it's kinda funny how you poiinted out the DR W and the DR A. I know you mean Writer and Artist, but my middle initial is W and D.Rod's is A and it actually threw me off for a second!

Haha. another mystery solved by the Sas!

Bounty wrote:

Mach Sabre wrote:Unlike the Deep One’s eyes, where the red glow is result of chromatic erythrophores in their eyes, or Mistletoe Snow‘s eyes which has xanthophores, the Shadowgirl’s eyes do not possess cyanophores.

I want to hear more about what happened to Misty, when are we going ot cut back to that scene?

I can't tell you too much about that because D.Rod will oppress me, but we ARE going to get to it. Just... Not yet.

I wonder how the shadowbleed works with the merged shadowgirls.

Are they just back to back with the shadowbleed surrounding them and their clothes?
Or have they actually melted/moulded together?

I thought I'd poked around on the forums and read most of them but I'd never come across this post before... all I can say is you guys put an awful lot of thought into how our two favorite ladies' powers work. Kudos on getting the real science in there (it's usually a bugger to work into anything like this so most folk don't bother or just resort to Star Trek science). I mean, how many superheroes have any real science attached to them (or even scientific rationale for that matter)? I is impressed

Ha! Sex in Shadowform! Are you still waiting on the first bit of horrific fanfic to drop through your letterbox?

Mondo Kane wrote:Ha! Sex in Shadowform! Are you still waiting on the first bit of horrific fanfic to drop through your letterbox?

Lost Shadowgirls anyone?

Yeah, with luck that day will never come... ANd you know why?

Because you just know that the first bit of fanfics will be Becka/Lindsey porn. And I'll have to pour bleach in my eye sockets.

I must confess. 50% of the reason I posted here was to revive this topic to the surface since I know we'll need a totally new description of the 'shared' shadowbleed (OK maybe 90%).

FanFic/FanArt like that of Charon would be one thing.

But with the backstory and feeling you've created behind becka... I'd probably feel about the same way by staring at a similar pic of a 12 year old, bald and dying of Leukemia.

Heck I know the first pic of 15 year old Becka showed her thong in the background, and we've seen her stripped down to a bra with her G showing, etc BUT... I don't know. You guys have just created such a strong sense of character behind her that it'd be like it was just another low hit on her as she's taken all her fictional life.

Are you guys planning a FanFic/FanArt section to the website that you'll take entries for? Or just going to avoid the whole thing for as long as possible?

Well we go the art section below... Fanfiction...

Well, we're still afraid to say the least.

Fanfiction is a tricky one for sure. It certainly devides opinion. I personally know one published author who thinks it's about the most pitiful form of writing in the world (though granted, he is a total grump and something of a Lit-Snob). Other people see it as a way of expressing their affection towards a writer's work; sometimes it's an outlet for fantasies (and I don't just mean poorly-written erotica about Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee or Harry Potter and Ron Weasley or Vash the Stampede and Nicholas Wolfwood or... Dave, can I borrow some of that eyebleach...), all those what if's that fit into a storyline; sometimes it's a way for someone to have a bit of fun and experiment with writing creatively; and sometimes... sometimes it drifts into what I call "Only in Japan" territory. I've got a friend who's seriously into his Japanese language comics and some of the things I've seen in those things... well, I was more than a little shocked by the whole Peter Pan section of Alan Moore's Lost Girls, but some of the stuff they actually illustrate in Japan...

*shudders*

May God go with you, Dave, keep you safe from Fanfic (or at least that kind of fanfic)

Yeah. I had the unfortunate experience of checking out what I thought was a wikipedia article but turned out to be a spoof site of wikipedia. I think it touched on some of the things your referring to Mondo. (makes furry look as innocent as kindergarden drawings)*shudder*

And worse, people get off on that stuff!!!???

*shudder violently*

Now I'm going to talk about shadowbleeds again before I convulse.

Anyone out ther think that the wings are actually the arms of one of our girls?

Truth is, I actually don't read fanfiction all that much. It's not that I'm against it, as I have done a bit of it myself. (As my love of Transformers has well documented by now.) It's just that I've read some mind numbingly insipid fanfics that literally hurt my brain. And at the same time, I've read some official stuff that hurt my brain even more! I'm not against anyone writing fanfics. It's wonderful practice and just plain fun. Just as long as one isn't expecting a red carpet treatment for it.

I have a few thoughts about Alan Moore that I can't actually say publically because apparently he's one of those comic creators I'm not allowed to say anything bad about. I love his work, it's just... Some of it... Well, some of it I don't.

I can't say anything about Shadowbleeds, as you'll know more by Monday.