Went all out for this one for @/Raiiuche's oc (bottom) and @/Jiliovanna's oc (top) I procrastinated a lottt on this one but it was absolutely worth the time and effort :]
Started artfight off strong with two attacks for @echosong971 absolutely loved drawing ur gal :3 (first one WAS in fact inspired by the Animal Crossing style)
Part two of my Alien Stage PJO au, Ivan! (more info and closeups under the cut)
Ivan would be the son of Hades. While this decision may not seem to fit him, I chose it for a few reasons.
First, Hades is also the god of riches and wealth, something that doesn't get used or referenced very often (Unless we talk about Hazel in pjo, she's a diva), and for this reason, I think it works quite well with Ivan. While yes, he is also one of the competitors who dies (thus connecting him to the death themes with Hades) the wealth plays into it because of how Ivan is valued in the Alien Stage universe. To them, he is their perfect model, and a successful use of their time and money. Ivan also often puts on a more elegant and composed persona, which I feel fits within these themes. (Not to mention he was literally bought by Unsha as a gift for his wife)
Second, in the myth of Hades and Persephone, their love is quite... complex in the beginning. Hades kidnaps Persephone because he believes that is his only way to have her and bring her down to his kingdom (im paraphrasing here, so forgive me, fellow greek nerds 🙏). This story somewhat parallels Ivan's relationship with Till. An obsessive love where the other turns to drastic measures in attempts to show or prove their love (cough Ivan dying for Till in round 6) BUT this obsession isn't formed in evil, it's formed out of a pure and true love for the other.
Third, Hades and his kids in general often have a theme of dreams and curses surrounding them. This not only plays into the aspects of Ivan haunting Till after his death, but also in how Ivan often views himself as an "unworthy curse" upon people. A curse not worthy of love or anything good in this world. Despite this, it is his dream to run away with Till, to be selfish in that aspect, and to have that good thing. Additionally, Ivan is often in a very dreamlike state. Meaning to say that his actions are not done by someone who isn't truly "living"
Fourth, a much smaller reason but I've seen others pull connections to the Ivan art with the doglike alien to being linked to Hades and more keyly, Cerberus. To me it's very telling in this instance that the doglike alien some people can see symbolizing Cerberus, Ivan is quite comfortable being around.
Those are most of my reasons, but if anyone else has any other insights or connections, feel free to comment on them! Anyways, moving right along to my ideas as far as Ivan's life within the Percy Jackson universe.
I want to include the owners in Alnst, so I figured there was no better way to include Unsha and his wife than to make them a rich family that adopted Ivan. My idea was that he was in foster care for quite a while after his mother's untimely death, and his father was never in the picture, so at a young age, he was put into the system. You may also notice that I said that Sua is his stepsister and thus connected to this rich family, but that's not the case. Sua is connected to Ivan through his godly parantage... but I'll talk about that more when I draw Sua 🤭
The other thing I thought of and wanted to explain was Ivan's weapon. It is based on a Mycenaean Rapier and made of Stygian Iron, similar to Nicos' sword in PJO. I picked the rapier because not only is its fighting style considered graceful and elegant (again, connecting into Ivans persona he puts on), but the weapon itself in its time was also quite fragile due to its thin blade. This goes to show that Ivan's persona, while well practiced, can be easily broken by the true emotions that he buried deep within.
Aaand that's all! Again, if y'all have any ideas, opinions, or connections, feel free to mention them! :]
Starting a new art series idea I had since I recently discussed which alnst character would be the parent of which god with a friend of mine so here's the first one, Till!
(More info and closeups under the cut)
Till would be the son of Apollo. I know this seems like the obvious answer but it fits for a few reasons in my mind.
First and most obviously is music. Music and writing music is such a big part of Tills character it feels wrong for him to NOT be the son of the god of music. Tills passion for his creative side is a huge part of who he is, and no other god fits that better than Apollo.
Secondly, curses. In the Percy Jackson books especially, the Apollo kids are known for setting musical pranks and curses on other campers and this is something I can wholeheartedly see Till participating in as revenge for pissing him off.
Third and last, this idea isn't fully fleshed out in my mind but something about the fact that Apollo is the god of medicine and prophecy matches with the fact that Till survived the shot and went on to win Alien Stage despite the odds just fits together. Maybe it's because that impossible situation seems like something a prophecy would predict happening. Also prophecy and symbolism go hand in hand in my mind and there's a LOT of that throughout Alien Stage (and with Till) OH also the red tape theory we had going on for a while also fits into this idea of medicine and prophecy.
Oh and for the people saying "Apollo cabin isn't angsty and punk and goth! Till doesn't fit the sunny disposition of Apollo cabin!" Ok so Apollo kids CANT be punk rockers or emo. Got ittt those genres of music don't exist in Apollo cabin, cool. Jokes aside I also think this is a strong reason for why Till is an Apollo kid. Because he breaks the stereotypes of it and that's such a Till thing to do. Apollo kids should be cheerful and sweet? Nah, he's not a fan of that idea, so he's going to embrace his more rebellious side even more just to prove his point.
Moving on I don't have many ideas as far as Tills life within the Percy Jackson universe but I really enjoy the idea that Freddie is a gift from Apollo. I imagine the guitar is either imbued with magic or is some sort of monster itself that is able to protect Till by seeing through the Mist when he cannot (hence the big eye) Also the idea that Apollo named the guitar Freddie after Freddie Mercury just makes me giggle.
Sadly I have to connect Urak into this and what more obvious connection to make other than he's Tills stepfather? I pity Io and her situation so much 😭. I imagine the home life is very similar to Percy's in the books with his stepdad Gabe and his mother Sally. Io stays with Urak because she wants to protect Till from the monsters and the dangerous demigod life for as long as possible (which ties back into how Io in Alnst wanted to protect Till from the segyin for as long as she could, even though she knew it was inevitable, same as the Io in this Au)
This is all I have so far but if anyone wants to add on their ideas for Tills story in the Pjo universe or other connections they can find, feel free!
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