I had the pleasure of drawing Saeran Choi for @bycmykae's New Phone Who Dis, a Mystic Messenger 10th Anniversary RNG speedrun zine!
This was incredibly nostalgic but also new for me, since Saeran was the route I didn't get to explore before I moved on from the game. So I'm glad RNG gave me a chance to, I think he deserves a lot of happiness and sweet stuff 🩷✨
Check out everyone's hard work through the links below!
Thinking of doing more writing on here. A lovely friend of mine mentioned before how they like to read what the artist has to share about the work they posted. And honestly yeah when I used to be on DA, I was the type that would talk a lot in the description box for my art etc. I've latched on to their words since and decided to give that a try!
Funny cause I don't have a fixed process with drawing to share too much on. I'll mainly lift inspo from the music I listen to (they're where most captions come from), and a bunch of other things I've picked up from other media. I just go at my own pace since drawing helps me process how I feel about certain characters or ships. I think it might make more sense even to talk about them specifically instead haha.
Anyway, I wanted to start by yapping a bit about my first ever Phaidei pieces I guess ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧
I intended this for Phaidei Week 2025, as a mash up of the flowers and mythology prompt. Wanted them to look like their titans, to reflect their duties, but also not give them too many of the titan traits so that they still looked human / retained their humanity.
Unfortunately rl got very busy for me, so they like marinated ... For so long. Happens all the time but my works start simple, before they run away from me and became their own creature (then paralyzing me in the creative process) lmfao
Phainon as Kephale was rather easy because of the real life counterpart Atlas, but Mydei gave me the most to think about. Mainly because I didn't know how to arrange stuff ... Plus while I really wanted Nikador's body in there, I tried posing and it actually felt awkward and strained to hold the spear like that. But it's art, some liberties are fine eventually.
I also wanted them to be balanced in elements (each having flowers, cloth, a held item, headpiece etc), then have some thing or symbol of one another. Phainon has the pomegranates of course, and Mydei the wheat wreath. Which, for the headpieces in general actually, I came across this xhs event and thought the lines were super cute. So pretend that Mydei got a wreath from Phainon, and Phainon got a forget-me-not crown from Mydei hehe.
Screenshots are taken from user aoRi204 on twitter, you can read their translations for the rest of the Heirs here!
"And I leave you at the foot of the mountain, to find your burden again" 一 Amphoreus with its characters and themes stay so near and dear to my heart. I adore its message, and the way it accompanied and soothed me at a rather challenging time in my life too.
It's insane how they've written Phainon and Mydei as parallels and foils to each other tbh! They're destined for greater narratives beyond themselves, to carry out the heaviest of responsibilities with respect to their homelands, family and other comrades. Yet it's very hard to deny also how they're made for each other. How they're the most honest in proximity to each other, and the way they bring out the best and perhaps the worst in themselves. It's been months since the finale and somehow there's still so many facets to them that still have me in a chokehold.
I wasn't convinced in 3.0, tbf I'm always quite mild on impressions during a new version's early stages. Like I thought yeah they were both neat and their banter is like 🤨🏳️🌈❓lmao that was for sure. It was during 3.1's quest though that I've really come to love Mydei for his steadfast conviction as the last king of Kremnos, and Phainon’s vulnerability and devotion to the people he cares for despite the weight of the Deliverer role ("may triumph always be yours, Mydeimos" and "if there's a chance in the next life, you should come visit my library" still make me tear up). It all pretty much built up from there, and the rest is history. Between this and my HSR og fave Dancae, I was eating so good in 3.X with the interactions l almost couldn't believe it lmdsjms like. Thank you for the food omg.
I'm hoping that Phainon and Mydei's stories continue, among other things when we revisit Amphoreus. Until then I'm enjoying Planarcadia a ton as well, and I'm going to try wrangling myself into drawing Phaidei more. Although it's gonna be a slow process, may some new pieces come out of it!
Companion art for @semiara's amazing Fengheng fic, "Lay me down in a bed of all your sins" created for Bang Dan Heng; an all x Dan Heng mini-bang event over at twt!
It has been a really fun and interesting process collaborating with Cam for this, absolutely adore his work and creativity! I hope you enjoy both the art and the fic; the latter is accessible by clicking on the title above 🐉💚
