HEARTBREAKING: friends who i should be going to the movies and playing dnd and watching anime and cosplaying and going to the mall and having sleepovers and exploring the woods with live one hundred trillion miles away
I'm drawing some color-your-own stickers for a herp society event coming up. I'm planning on six different designs. Four I know- tegu, Blanding's turtle, Chicago garter snake, and massasauga. Three of them are native to the area, and Jima's our most visible ambassador.
That leaves two more, and I'm torn between:
Green iguana: Our other Junior Herpers leader always brings an iguana her to events, and kids love them. They're highly recognizable, too.
Corn snake: Extremely popular pet around here, another child/crowd favorite.
Hellbender: Not native to Chicago, but a popular conservation project, native to IL, and charismatic AF (if you like snot-covered muppets, WHICH I DO).
Cricket frog: I have 2 inch sticker blanks, so I could do this life-sized like I'm doing with the baby massasauga. The nature museum we have junior meetings at does a survey of these every year, so they're really relevant.
Bearded dragon: Everybody loves these.
Axolotl: Everybody loves these and for some reason they are EXTREMELY popular with little girls right now. Herps are for everybody but I always want to encourage a little girl's love of slimy things, y'know?
Alligator: Chance the Snapper is still relevant around here.
Fox snake: Unlike corns, actually local. People have become very, very interested in our native ratsnakes recently (I have actually been asked how to attract them!) and fox snakes are pretty- and a lot of our membership lives in the Fox River valley so there's that.
Western hognose: Native to IL, threatened in IL, and they're very cute and dramatic.
Sulcata tortoise: Somebody always brings a sulcata to our meetings. I think I'd do this one with some shading and cracks like it's crashing through the sticker.
Names, Sketches, rambling, and process stuff under the cut ✄---------
I'm imagining that they were all close friends with Aika, but they drifted apart as Aika became more disillusioned with being a magical girl.
🧡Ran, 🪐Ring Guardian✨
She/her
Ran is outgoing, loyal, dependable, and a bit nonchalant, both as a magical girl and in her everyday life.
Ran loves brewing coffee and tea! She's a bit of a coffee snob. She likes to imagine what it'd be like to run a cafe.
Ran gives great hugs! If she hasn't seen someone in a while, that's her go to way to greet them. Sorrel finds them very comforting.
Ran wishes she could show Aika the cheese foam latte she made the other day.
She's been making drinks for Aster in hopes of cheering her up. It helps a bit.
She's been a bit concerned for Hoshi since they left to go after Aika. She detests how much Aster has blamed Hoshi for Aika leaving.
She can make magic rings! Good for trapping things.
She finds a lot of fulfillment in being a magical girl, especially in being part of a team. It's been hard for her to accept that Aika would just leave them, even though she knows the pressure had been weighing on her the most.
Ran is actually a nickname for Rayén. She started going by Ran as a shorter form of a different nickname, Ranita. Sorrel was the one who initiated the nick-naming.
Personality wise she's very similar to Sailor Jupiter...
I really liked giving her the poofy shorts to differentiate her look more from Aika's, and that part of her outfit is heavily inspired by Mew Ringo. I tried to give her lots of rings. I'm pretty happy with the boot rings.
Was also very tempted to name her Ringo... because of the rings. I think the part of her design I struggled with the most was her hair and if her bow was a hair tie or a head band situation. I kept trying to giver her bangs but they kept clashing with the diadem (˃̣̣̥▽˂̣̣̥)
💚Akhtar (Aster), 🌃Aurora Guardian✨
She/her
Aster is very straightforward, and sometimes comes across as haughty or sarcastic. She is normally calm and composed, but since Aika left she's been more reactive, impulsive, and withdrawn.
She does love being a magical girl. It has worn on her a bit, especially the more repetitive parts of the job, but it has been a great outlet for her for emotions.
Aster also loves to dance! She daydreams about being a choreographer, or performing and being lost in the movements.
She doesn't like how often Akhtar gets mispronounced/misspelled. She usually tells strangers to call her Aster, and doesn't mind which one her friends use. Aster also happens to be one of her favorite flowers.
Sorrel calls her Ackee sometimes.
She is touched by Ran and Sorrel's attempts to cheer her up.
She hasn't figured out herself why Aika being gone has bothered her so much. (She has been oblivious to her own repressed and one-sided crush on Aika and has a fear of abandonment she hasn't addressed)
Nobody said she was the leader now that Aika is gone, but she has taken it upon herself to be that.
She copes with what she doesn't understand or has processed by staying busy- dancing, running, doing magical girl missions, etc.
She blames Hoshi for pushing Aika too hard, that they're the reason she left.
Elements of her outfit are heavily inspired by Princess Tutu! Connie inspired her half-up hair.
I struggled for a bit to keep her look cohesive with Aika's without being just Aika but green.. the amount of times I color swapped the greens and the golds in her outfit was too many (˃̣̣̥▽˂̣̣̥)
She's the only one I managed to give multiple gold bands like Aika's gloves.
I think I'd make her earrings bigger in the future...
Struggled with her name; I came up with Aster first, was kind of worried about it being too similar to Aika, and considered Chitra/Citra or Spica for a bit... Akhtar and Aster both mean star so... why not both???
💖Sorrel, 💫Comet Guardian✨
She/they
Sorrel is reserved and timid in everyday life, but as a magical girl becomes very rambunctious and much more outspoken!
She struggles with time management and decision making.
She likes doing game jams because they give her structure that she can use to learn more programing.
She usually has snacks with her, and she often gives snacks and gifts to her friends. She had a cheese-shaped notepad she was going to give to Aika. She didn't have a chance to before she left.
She and Aika had grown a bit distant prior to her leaving. They never had a fight, Sorrel thinks that maybe they had a disconnect over their changing attitudes around being magical girls.
Sorrel started off more apprehensive of the role and how dangerous their missions were, but then they began to thrive in it, their role as a guardian became a role where they didn't need to hold back.
She and Ran have been taken aback by how hard Aster is taking Aika's absence.
They miss Aika, but they're more worried about how to best be there for Akhtar. She knows Aika can handle herself.
Sorrel has been pushing for weekly sleepovers so they can watch movies and relax together. She has gotten out of her comfort zone to demand Ran and Aster commit to the sleepovers. Aster takes some more effort to convince.
She dyes her hair herself, but she goes to a salon to get it bleached. She always gets the dye the hairstylist has recommended. Sometimes she gets her brows bleached.
I had the hardest time with figuring where to put the pinks and golds in her outfit, I didn't want it to clash with the other girls, and her lacking any fluffy petticoats or shorts ended up being the reason I made her skirt white... I kind of preferred the pink version though for it's simplicity.
I'm pretty happy with the sleeves I gave her, I guess I ended up doing a bit more of a Magic Knights Rayearth look for her compared to the others.
Her silhouette reminded me so much of Spinel but with a skirt (˃̣̣̥▽˂̣̣̥)
I'm not sure if they'd have the same title as Aika, so I figured I could give them each their own space-thing! I did try to keep the gold accents sandwiched between their main color similar to Aika.
There's also a color variant I did where all of them have blond hair like pre-burnt out Aika, and Ran's jumper has orange accents on gold instead of gold accents on orange, more reminiscent of Aika's skirt, and Sorrel's skirt is solid pink. That's at the end of the process thing below!
I threw it together from layers I still had in the file since I forgot to do a time lapse:
Thanks for reading all that! ｡：ﾟﾟ(´∀｀)･｡ I can't wait to see what the others are actually like, but until then these girls are them, and I'll probably post some more doodles I did of them soon! (>▽<)
Names, Sketches, rambling, and process stuff under the cut ✄---------
I'm imagining that they were all close friends with Aika, but they drifted apart as Aika became more disillusioned with being a magical girl.
🧡Ran, 🪐Ring Guardian✨
She/her
Ran is outgoing, loyal, dependable, and a bit nonchalant, both as a magical girl and in her everyday life.
Ran loves brewing coffee and tea! She's a bit of a coffee snob. She likes to imagine what it'd be like to run a cafe.
Ran gives great hugs! If she hasn't seen someone in a while, that's her go to way to greet them. Sorrel finds them very comforting.
Ran wishes she could show Aika the cheese foam latte she made the other day.
She's been making drinks for Aster in hopes of cheering her up. It helps a bit.
She's been a bit concerned for Hoshi since they left to go after Aika. She detests how much Aster has blamed Hoshi for Aika leaving.
She can make magic rings! Good for trapping things.
She finds a lot of fulfillment in being a magical girl, especially in being part of a team. It's been hard for her to accept that Aika would just leave them, even though she knows the pressure had been weighing on her the most.
Ran is actually a nickname for Rayén. She started going by Ran as a shorter form of a different nickname, Ranita. Sorrel was the one who initiated the nick-naming.
Personality wise she's very similar to Sailor Jupiter...
I really liked giving her the poofy shorts to differentiate her look more from Aika's, and that part of her outfit is heavily inspired by Mew Ringo. I tried to give her lots of rings. I'm pretty happy with the boot rings.
Was also very tempted to name her Ringo... because of the rings. I think the part of her design I struggled with the most was her hair and if her bow was a hair tie or a head band situation. I kept trying to giver her bangs but they kept clashing with the diadem (˃̣̣̥▽˂̣̣̥)
💚Akhtar (Aster), 🌃Aurora Guardian✨
She/her
Aster is very straightforward, and sometimes comes across as haughty or sarcastic. She is normally calm and composed, but since Aika left she's been more reactive, impulsive, and withdrawn.
She does love being a magical girl. It has worn on her a bit, especially the more repetitive parts of the job, but it has been a great outlet for her for emotions.
Aster also loves to dance! She daydreams about being a choreographer, or performing and being lost in the movements.
She doesn't like how often Akhtar gets mispronounced/misspelled. She usually tells strangers to call her Aster, and doesn't mind which one her friends use. Aster also happens to be one of her favorite flowers.
Sorrel calls her Ackee sometimes.
She is touched by Ran and Sorrel's attempts to cheer her up.
She hasn't figured out herself why Aika being gone has bothered her so much. (She has been oblivious to her own repressed and one-sided crush on Aika and has a fear of abandonment she hasn't addressed)
Nobody said she was the leader now that Aika is gone, but she has taken it upon herself to be that.
She copes with what she doesn't understand or has processed by staying busy- dancing, running, doing magical girl missions, etc.
She blames Hoshi for pushing Aika too hard, that they're the reason she left.
Elements of her outfit are heavily inspired by Princess Tutu! Connie inspired her half-up hair.
I struggled for a bit to keep her look cohesive with Aika's without being just Aika but green.. the amount of times I color swapped the greens and the golds in her outfit was too many (˃̣̣̥▽˂̣̣̥)
She's the only one I managed to give multiple gold bands like Aika's gloves.
I think I'd make her earrings bigger in the future...
Struggled with her name; I came up with Aster first, was kind of worried about it being too similar to Aika, and considered Chitra/Citra or Spica for a bit... Akhtar and Aster both mean star so... why not both???
💖Sorrel, 💫Comet Guardian✨
She/they
Sorrel is reserved and timid in everyday life, but as a magical girl becomes very rambunctious and much more outspoken!
She struggles with time management and decision making.
She likes doing game jams because they give her structure that she can use to learn more programing.
She usually has snacks with her, and she often gives snacks and gifts to her friends. She had a cheese-shaped notepad she was going to give to Aika. She didn't have a chance to before she left.
She and Aika had grown a bit distant prior to her leaving. They never had a fight, Sorrel thinks that maybe they had a disconnect over their changing attitudes around being magical girls.
Sorrel started off more apprehensive of the role and how dangerous their missions were, but then they began to thrive in it, their role as a guardian became a role where they didn't need to hold back.
She and Ran have been taken aback by how hard Aster is taking Aika's absence.
They miss Aika, but they're more worried about how to best be there for Akhtar. She knows Aika can handle herself.
Sorrel has been pushing for weekly sleepovers so they can watch movies and relax together. She has gotten out of her comfort zone to demand Ran and Aster commit to the sleepovers. Aster takes some more effort to convince.
She dyes her hair herself, but she goes to a salon to get it bleached. She always gets the dye the hairstylist has recommended. Sometimes she gets her brows bleached.
I had the hardest time with figuring where to put the pinks and golds in her outfit, I didn't want it to clash with the other girls, and her lacking any fluffy petticoats or shorts ended up being the reason I made her skirt white... I kind of preferred the pink version though for it's simplicity.
I'm pretty happy with the sleeves I gave her, I guess I ended up doing a bit more of a Magic Knights Rayearth look for her compared to the others.
Her silhouette reminded me so much of Spinel but with a skirt (˃̣̣̥▽˂̣̣̥)
I'm not sure if they'd have the same title as Aika, so I figured I could give them each their own space-thing! I did try to keep the gold accents sandwiched between their main color similar to Aika.
There's also a color variant I did where all of them have blond hair like pre-burnt out Aika, and Ran's jumper has orange accents on gold instead of gold accents on orange, more reminiscent of Aika's skirt, and Sorrel's skirt is solid pink. That's at the end of the process thing below!
I threw it together from layers I still had in the file since I forgot to do a time lapse:
Thanks for reading all that! ｡：ﾟﾟ(´∀｀)･｡ I can't wait to see what the others are actually like, but until then these girls are them, and I'll probably post some more doodles I did of them soon! (>▽<)
Names, Sketches, rambling, and process stuff under the cut ✄---------
I'm imagining that they were all close friends with Aika, but they drifted apart as Aika became more disillusioned with being a magical girl.
🧡Ran, 🪐Ring Guardian✨
She/her
Ran is outgoing, loyal, dependable, and a bit nonchalant, both as a magical girl and in her everyday life.
Ran loves brewing coffee and tea! She's a bit of a coffee snob. She likes to imagine what it'd be like to run a cafe.
Ran gives great hugs! If she hasn't seen someone in a while, that's her go to way to greet them. Sorrel finds them very comforting.
Ran wishes she could show Aika the cheese foam latte she made the other day.
She's been making drinks for Aster in hopes of cheering her up. It helps a bit.
She's been a bit concerned for Hoshi since they left to go after Aika. She detests how much Aster has blamed Hoshi for Aika leaving.
She can make magic rings! Good for trapping things.
She finds a lot of fulfillment in being a magical girl, especially in being part of a team. It's been hard for her to accept that Aika would just leave them, even though she knows the pressure had been weighing on her the most.
Ran is actually a nickname for Rayén. She started going by Ran as a shorter form of a different nickname, Ranita. Sorrel was the one who initiated the nick-naming.
Personality wise she's very similar to Sailor Jupiter...
I really liked giving her the poofy shorts to differentiate her look more from Aika's, and that part of her outfit is heavily inspired by Mew Ringo. I tried to give her lots of rings. I'm pretty happy with the boot rings.
Was also very tempted to name her Ringo... because of the rings. I think the part of her design I struggled with the most was her hair and if her bow was a hair tie or a head band situation. I kept trying to giver her bangs but they kept clashing with the diadem (˃̣̣̥▽˂̣̣̥)
💚Akhtar (Aster), 🌃Aurora Guardian✨
She/her
Aster is very straightforward, and sometimes comes across as haughty or sarcastic. She is normally calm and composed, but since Aika left she's been more reactive, impulsive, and withdrawn.
She does love being a magical girl. It has worn on her a bit, especially the more repetitive parts of the job, but it has been a great outlet for her for emotions.
Aster also loves to dance! She daydreams about being a choreographer, or performing and being lost in the movements.
She doesn't like how often Akhtar gets mispronounced/misspelled. She usually tells strangers to call her Aster, and doesn't mind which one her friends use. Aster also happens to be one of her favorite flowers.
Sorrel calls her Ackee sometimes.
She is touched by Ran and Sorrel's attempts to cheer her up.
She hasn't figured out herself why Aika being gone has bothered her so much. (She has been oblivious to her own repressed and one-sided crush on Aika and has a fear of abandonment she hasn't addressed)
Nobody said she was the leader now that Aika is gone, but she has taken it upon herself to be that.
She copes with what she doesn't understand or has processed by staying busy- dancing, running, doing magical girl missions, etc.
She blames Hoshi for pushing Aika too hard, that they're the reason she left.
Elements of her outfit are heavily inspired by Princess Tutu! Connie inspired her half-up hair.
I struggled for a bit to keep her look cohesive with Aika's without being just Aika but green.. the amount of times I color swapped the greens and the golds in her outfit was too many (˃̣̣̥▽˂̣̣̥)
She's the only one I managed to give multiple gold bands like Aika's gloves.
I think I'd make her earrings bigger in the future...
Struggled with her name; I came up with Aster first, was kind of worried about it being too similar to Aika, and considered Chitra/Citra or Spica for a bit... Akhtar and Aster both mean star so... why not both???
💖Sorrel, 💫Comet Guardian✨
She/they
Sorrel is reserved and timid in everyday life, but as a magical girl becomes very rambunctious and much more outspoken!
She struggles with time management and decision making.
She likes doing game jams because they give her structure that she can use to learn more programing.
She usually has snacks with her, and she often gives snacks and gifts to her friends. She had a cheese-shaped notepad she was going to give to Aika. She didn't have a chance to before she left.
She and Aika had grown a bit distant prior to her leaving. They never had a fight, Sorrel thinks that maybe they had a disconnect over their changing attitudes around being magical girls.
Sorrel started off more apprehensive of the role and how dangerous their missions were, but then they began to thrive in it, their role as a guardian became a role where they didn't need to hold back.
She and Ran have been taken aback by how hard Aster is taking Aika's absence.
They miss Aika, but they're more worried about how to best be there for Akhtar. She knows Aika can handle herself.
Sorrel has been pushing for weekly sleepovers so they can watch movies and relax together. She has gotten out of her comfort zone to demand Ran and Aster commit to the sleepovers. Aster takes some more effort to convince.
She dyes her hair herself, but she goes to a salon to get it bleached. She always gets the dye the hairstylist has recommended. Sometimes she gets her brows bleached.
I had the hardest time with figuring where to put the pinks and golds in her outfit, I didn't want it to clash with the other girls, and her lacking any fluffy petticoats or shorts ended up being the reason I made her skirt white... I kind of preferred the pink version though for it's simplicity.
I'm pretty happy with the sleeves I gave her, I guess I ended up doing a bit more of a Magic Knights Rayearth look for her compared to the others.
Her silhouette reminded me so much of Spinel but with a skirt (˃̣̣̥▽˂̣̣̥)
I'm not sure if they'd have the same title as Aika, so I figured I could give them each their own space-thing! I did try to keep the gold accents sandwiched between their main color similar to Aika.
There's also a color variant I did where all of them have blond hair like pre-burnt out Aika, and Ran's jumper has orange accents on gold instead of gold accents on orange, more reminiscent of Aika's skirt, and Sorrel's skirt is solid pink. That's at the end of the process thing below!
I threw it together from layers I still had in the file since I forgot to do a time lapse:
Thanks for reading all that! ｡：ﾟﾟ(´∀｀)･｡ I can't wait to see what the others are actually like, but until then these girls are them, and I'll probably post some more doodles I did of them soon! (>▽<)
Based on absolutely nothing, I'm theorizing that the other magical girls are based on constellations. Aika is based on stars in general but also a wishing star specifically. Perhaps the simplest way for us to project our hopes & dreams onto the stars. Constellations are another, more complicated way for us to do that.
You could have magical girls based on Ursa Major & Ursa Minor, & they could be a big girl & a small girl & they're gay cousins in the English dub.
You could go more niche & use constellations like Microscopium. I don't know what that would be. Probably she wears glasses though.
You could have two people combine to form one magical girl called Gemini. That'd be weird. Maybe fun. Maybe not fun. And that seems on brand for IDWTBAMG.
You could even use constellations that aren't formally recognized anymore, like Limax the slug, Machina Electrica the electrical generator, Bufo the toad, or even Gladii Electorales Saxonici the Crossed Swords of the Electorate of Saxony.
And now that's a good enough segue into this link to a podcast I like called the Allusionist. This episode lists a bunch of former constellations & shares some fun facts & interesting observations about them. Feel free to learn about more constellations that could maybe be magical girls.
kaledo-art
romaincrisis
dailybridgerton
origamiaround
vaporwave
ellievsbear
