Bonus: Environments of the Underground (Patreon)

I checked in on Discord's patron lounge for what type of extra might be good for the $2 tier this month, and I wanted to do something along the lines of wordbuilding.  A post about different architecture and environments by sphere was suggested, so here it is!  This is going to all $2+ patrons, but it'll also be filed in the "The Underground" album in the Secret Gallery when I add September's art (probably tomorrow, with monthly letters the day after).

By the way, two of the South Sphere sketches below are new!  They'll be up for grabs for Sketch Tier patrons in November.

We're gonna start with the stuff you see everywhere in the underground:

As you might have noticed, Gothic-inspired architecture is present everywhere we've been in the underground so far, though it's a little less present in the North.  And of course, since we're underground, we're seeing a lot of caves.  Hopefully sometime in the near future, I'll be able to do some interior sketches of the  cave homes!

Two-flats are a common type of housing in real-life Chicago, and I love them so much!  So I had to include them in the underground. :D  And since gardens and foliage are scarce, the underground's version of "pretty things" runs more along the lines of rock gardens, fountains, waterfalls, and the like.

The East Sphere is the grossest sphere—and proud of it!  You see a lot of stuff that looks like people just abandoned the construction job halfway through, or if folks decided to move into the garage because carrying their furniture all the way inside the house is too highbrow for you.  The East Sphere doesn't need fancy stuff like finished walls and flooring!  It could also do a better job at trash removal...

In the East Sphere, fire escapes aren't just about escaping fire—although having a means to escape fire is a good idea when you have people like Jordana around.  But fire escapes are perfectly suitable balconies for folks in the East Sphere, so you'll see people just hanging out on them, talking to neighbors.

Amphitheaters are a big thing in the East, since they hold a lot of sporting events.

The North Sphere values clean architecture styles over intricate and ornate styles, so you see less Gothic styles here, though they are still present.  Since some areas of the North Sphere are very close to the surface, there are high-rises built all the way up to the underground's ceilings, and suspension bridges hanging from it.  And of course, once you get inside a North Sphere establishment, you're likely to see lots of chemistry-inspired decor.

The West Sphere LOVES the ornate crap.  The more ornate, the better.  But even better if there's naked people on it.  The West is known for their lewd statues, which are present even outside the red light district.

We haven't been to the South Sphere yet, so a lot of it is still a mystery!  But one of the biggest differences in South Sphere society is communal living.  Most spheres have group homes for raising children, but in the South Sphere, even adults live in semi-shared housing, sometimes among each other's children.  Pictured above is the Queens' Commune, where the three Queens, their right hands, and their staff live.

If you venture deeper into the South Sphere, you might find yourself in old blood territory.  This is one of the few places that has (gasp!!!) foliage.  you'll find a lot of rundown Gothic ruins that have been taken over by nature.  Oh, and you'll also find the scariest gargoyles.

Now, how about getting from one sphere to another?  We have all sorts of roads in the underground, ranging from rough to semi-rough to paved.  We have some super slick tunnels and some tunnels that are just glorified sewers.  And for people who can afford it, we have well-maintained and paved toll roads and toll tunnels.  It's the fastest way to get around underground.

And finally, to wrap up, here's a rundown of the underground's bridges, from best to worst! :D

The end!  As I mentioned, Secret Gallery/monthly letters over the next couple days, and we have a new early access page on Monday!