An artful conclusion

Hi folks,

Happy Monday from all of us at Rusty Towers; hope you’re all keeping well. With just over a week to go until the airing of Episode 200, we’re working hard to make sure we can give this show the send-off it deserves. And to illustrate that, we’ve got a fair bit in the way of art stuff to talk about!

First, though, a quick reminder that there will be no early access release for Episode 200 on Wednesday next week. Everyone will get hear the finale at the same time, distribution permitting, on Thursday around 4pm GMT – but there will be an ad-free version available here at that time too, for Knight and Noble-tier Patrons.

Forewarning as well that we’re about to open the mailbag for Season 5 questions – the form to submit your queries will appear this Thursday 18th March alongside the public release of MAG199 and will remain open until Saturday 3rd April. We are expecting a high volume of questions, so we are asking that folks please limit themselves to one question only. As ever, due to time or content, we won’t be able to answer every question, alas, so apologies in advance if are unable to answer yours.

Turning to the art side of things, there are few limited offers currently running, notably:

• Pre-orders are still open until Thursday for the Greer Stothers 15 enamel pin collection based on the Great Fears! Check out details of the designs available over at Storenvy. If you want to be sure of getting these, do make sure your order is in by Thursday 19th March.
  
• The fantastic line art design saying that ‘I Was There At The End’ from VeraRaeArt is available in both light and dark versions over on both of our storefronts (Teepublic and Redbubble) until Sunday 4th April.

But that’s not all we have on the design front for you! Work is well in progress for not one more piece, not five… but around 15 pieces from a collection of artists, some whose work you’re familiar with and some new faces! While I can’t show you everything just yet, here are some snippets to whet your appetite.

Firstly, big shout out to Greer Stothers as the collected Great Powers design shown here that you can pre-order as a risograph poster, will now also be available to get on T-shirts!

[ID: 3 x 5 grid of individual designs, Row 1: Buried – grass-lined grave, Corruption – flying insect with fungal growths, Dark – charcoal-grey sunburst with sorrowful face; Row 2: Desolation – hand & forearm lit candle, End – Feathered wing holding scythe, Extinction: splayed seagull with a belly of trash; Row 3: Eye – Closed book with eye on cover, Flesh – vein-like branch with heart buds, Hunt – Growling wolf head dripping blood; Row 4 – Lonely – lighthouse atop a fallen statue face, Slaughter – drum being beaten with sabre-sticks, Spiral – Road through an archway surrounded by swirling sky; Row 5 – Anglerfish with theatre mask, Vast – astronaut bust with lightning across visor, Web – golden spider with face on abdomen and figure strung on web between legs]

We also have another gorgeous piece from VeraRaeArt that comes full circle, as the great wheel of Fears showcases some stylised symbology!

[ID: Circular design in green and white, with stylised eye in centre connected by web lines to outer circle featuring Fear-related sketches. From top-centre, clockwise – cavern system; stitched skin; hourglass and skulls; starlit sky; city skyline in concentric circles; grinning theatre mask; swirling pattern; bow with antlers between serrated teeth; stakes and musical notes; worms surmounted by a love heart; a stylised closed eye, swirling clouds, three lit candles, a web]

And we mentioned before that we have a number of designs coming for the fantastic Jessie Weirich, including this stylish woodcut-esque piece inspired by the descriptions from that lovely Leitner literature piece, Ex Altiora…

[ID: brown-red cartouche-shape woodcut-style art piece of a village in a forested valley, in the shadow of a vast mountain with a giant’s outline behind it and a crescent moon in the sky. The words ‘Ex Altiora’ are below the image.]

All being well, all of the new pieces will be available on Thursday 25th March in both of our storefronts! These are not time-limited, so will be available to pick up at your convenience. Stay tuned to our social media for details of when those will be going live.

In other art news, our long-awaited Art Competition has arrived! Rusty Gallery is here as something fun for the community – for fanartists to show where their imagination takes them on specific themes, with the winners by public acclaim in each of the show categories able to claim a merch prize pack from our TeePublic store. Full details of the themes, submission requirements and prizes are available on our website.

Also quick reminder that Daylight Savings Time is starting up around the world, but not yet in the UK – that will happen on Sunday 28th March. This means that the usual show release timings may be out of sync with your time zone for the next little while. Please ensure you check your timings, so as not to miss out.

Here's what you can expect from us this week (all shows release at 4pm UK time, unless otherwise stated):

Tue 16th March
RQG188 – Wibbly-Wobbly-Timey-Wimey * (Patreon)

Wed 17th March
MAG199 – Seeing it Through (Patreon)
RQG188 – Wibbly-Wobbly-Timey-Wimey * (Public)
RQ Streams – Nico & Helen make… Pasta (5pm)

Thu 18th March
STL066 – Nets and New Contributors (Patreon)
MAG199 – Seeing it Through (Public)

Fri 19th March
RQGG20 Bonus Video – Helen, Bryn, Lydia & James read as RQGaming Crew (1pm, YouTube)
Knight / Noble Bonus – RQGaming / These Flimsy Rituals Crossover, Part 1
STL066 – Nets and New Contributors (Public)
RQ Streams – April does… MAG Portrait Art (8pm)

Sat 20th March
RQ Streams – Mike plays… Hitman 3 (4pm)

Sun 21st March
RQ Streams – Mike versus Geography… with Friends! (12pm - midday)

* Indicates provisional title, subject to change

Have a good week all!

Anil
Community Manager