Riftwall West Chili Eating Contest
Willow, Katie, and Vivian participating in a chili eating contest, suggested by DarthKeidran!
Katie and Vivian haven't been drawn before, they are from concept art for Riftwall West, the spin-off series I was working on a long time ago (the series where Willow, Windstraw, and Amelia technically come from!). The designs were never nailed down. Here's some old art of them:
Comments (79)
Whoa!!! Lore drop!
Birb ❤️
Is Vivian a griffin?
I love Vivian!
It is so nice to see these "new" characters. I love the cat (is it windstraw?) in the sketches
I love Katie's design! Super cute :)
I've known Katie for all of 4 panels, and she's already amazing! She's not my favorite just yet, but give it time!
Hey Tom, are you writing the Riftwall Tavern as a novel? And if you are, where can I read it?
Yeah, I'd still love to make Riftwall a thing in one form or another! One day!
May god have mercy on their tongues
Vivian is lucky since birds can't taste capsaicin, so she'll be fine. The others though.
OMG I need to see more of these characters! They look so cool!
If you ever need a break from Twokinds Tom a one shot of this might just be the thing
Ooooh, Willow is a bit different from her concept - in a good way of course. I'd like to know more about the bookkeeper, there seems to be something of a 'Little and Large' thing going between her and the barkeep, lol.
Vivian doesn't have taste buds, does she? That's why birds can chow down on hot peppers. As for Katie... just handling it stings.
They don't have the type of receptors on their tongue that bind with capsaicin. And while birds have far fewer taste buds than humans (and mammals in general), they do have some taste buds.
We need more Katie and Vivian, and that tavern "Mom"
Omg I need to see more of Vivian STAT
Where can I request?
Like, how can I request Tom to draw an image?
Katie is CUTE! I really like the character design for this setting, they are all interesting.
As a griffin aficionado and appreciator, I absolutely adore Vivien.
Someone's taking advantage of their bird biology.
except, spiciness is felt in the input ... and the output.. it seems to me that her bird part that is immune to spiciness is only in the input..
Don't worry Katie, you won't die from eating a Ghost Pepper, but you probably will after eating a Pepper X.
Knowing Tom had said the twokinds story is finite, I'm truly hoping that the 'Riftwall West' project will come to fruition and keep some of the original characters around as well as brining us new adventures and characters to fall in love with! I'm sure most of us agree...
I love how that panned out. And, considering overly spicy chilies, bred just to induce pain, don’t tend to have much flavor, I love how you twisted the suggestion. Fantastic work as always Tom!
It's my understanding that Ghost Peppers are just about the hottest of the ones that are NOT specifically bred for heat over flavor.
This is new to me. I hope we’ll see more Vivian in the future. Lots more.
Same. I’d like to see more of both Vivian and Katie.
Birb!
Given that birds feel no burn from capsacin, it's no wonder Vivian can just chomp that no problem.
That was actually part of my suggestion, pointing out avians aren’t affected by capsaicin. Actually, it would make her a good prison guard or police officer in the “modern AU” because she could just roll into a cloud of O.C. and make an arrest without batting an eye, where others would be choking and coughing from the stuff (firsthand workplace experience in that statement). Not to mention one of those early sketches indicates she works as security for the tavern.
Get ready to see these folks come back in future sketches lol
That was a little bit of the reason for this suggestion. XD
Can you please upload the Vivian pictures separated or add a link? They seem to be downscaled by patreon.
They show full scale in the app for me. Usually sub-images get attached to the twokinds.gallery site, so, if they aren’t there yet, they might be soon.
Characters are so pretty :D Vivian may be cheating, her being a birb and what have you :P
Yep. My thoughts exactly. I originally wanted Vivian to be commenting about loving the flavor, but, Tom correctly thought about the fact that most ridiculously over the top spicy peppers don’t actually have any meaningfully good flavor.
Fantastic.
As a fan of anything gryphon related/adjacent I'd love to see more art of Vivian
Fifty bucks to say Katie and Red are related
That would be an interesting story to see if that is the case.
Willow: "I'm literally made of fire and it burns! How? HOW?!?"
I reallly like Katie's design, it's really cute, I also appreciate the sharing of your old arts, it's always fun to see
What species Vivian is? A keidran? Flora didn't tell Trace about that type of keidran. Or is it entirely new and rare species? Not 'notable' enough for the list of notable civilizations. Or maybe it's a unique creature like Willow or Chimera? She looks like a chimera too, with those six limbs, bird wings and mammal paws.
My understanding is that she’s an avian species of some form, unique from Keidran. Given some other comments, we’ll probably see more suggestions that ask for more details.
The ghosts of old projects. It is a painful price paid by the creative. For every project that sees the light of day, there are many more relegated to the recycling bin because they never came together.
I've heard that some parrots (maybe other birds too) feed on very spicy plants, they just don't have receptors for capsicin in their tongues, so can eat even the spiciest chili without breaking a sweat. Vivian's response must be a good reference for that fact, if it's true.
More like, the plants evolved to defend themself from other creatures but birds by developing capsicin, only the birds can eat it, helping wiht transporting the seeds in the chilis far and wide, so this is a mutually beneficial relationship. ...that is, until some weirdos came around and found that sharpness nice... Humans, SUCH a weird species, right? XD
Try Carolina Reapers
Personally, I think it’s completely crazy to breed chillies that are extremely hot but have no real flavor. That’s the kind of idea only those weird naked apes mentioned above could come up with… When I want it hot, I use the small red Thai peppers we grow in our garden — they’re fiery, but also full of flavor. That’s the art of cooking: a scorching hot crab curry where the delicate aroma of the crab meat still shines through, even alongside the heat of the chillies. But just my two cents ...
I would love to see more of this, it looks like a nice little spin-off
Let's hope the crew will travel trough the riftwall gate and encounter this folks on the other side, so they become canon ...
I require more Vivian 🙏
Adorable!
If I had a nickel for every Vivian I may or may not have a crush on, I'd have two nickels
also fellow gryphon!!
O hell nah this must up coming chapter about riftwall west maybe this Gona be epic in chapter 22 or 23 the new what idk but i hope so this just my pradictate right Mr tom
Katie and Vivian seem nice, i am looking forward to seeing them in the future.
It would be great to see a new series inspired by the world you created.
What creature is Vivian called? She looks awesome.
Griffin, I think.
Of course the bird would be the best at this, she’s basically cheating!
Shh! None of the other participants need to know. XD
Spicy, I wonder which one of them can manage to take the heat lol Also Katie and Vivian look beautiful! :)
Wow
Oh, this is where Magpie is from too. I'd love to read all the old comics and side stories you were working on, Tom, even if they aren't finished/are abandoned. Like the Colin comic and the Split Isle novel
Who’s the baddie on the right
That would be Vivian.
Will we ever read the spin-off series?
I want to read it too
We all know the bird is going to win this one, also i really want to see this comic it looks like a cool concept
Oh yeah, birds can't taste capsaicin, can they?
Yeah, it is "intentional" to make fruits inedible for mammals but tasty for birds . Because birds spread seeds to a wider distance than mammals.
Ha! That's just wrong to put an avian in a chili eating contest! 🤣
Shh! Katie, Willow, Windstraw, Amelia, and any other offscreen participants don’t need to know.
Fun fact Did you know birds can’t feel spicy!
I feel like that's the reference Tom is making here