Hiraethyne

relearning how to like making art. ﴾ ✦ ﴿

[hiraethyne]

Hi, call me Sky. I'm always tired and I wish I drew more.

art tag

ko-fi

Expect FFXIV, Castlevania, Original Content, dabbling in other fandom shenanigans.

Moved here from an old blog because it was easier than trying to organize anything, and I kinda want a vibe shift anyway. If you recognize me, welcome back. o7

[hiraethyne]

Commissioned piece for a friend!

Been playing around with digital colour over traditional sketches. Given my loathing for digital lineart, this really might be the way to go for me.

The character is based on a jewel beetle!

Uncoloured version under the cut!

[hiraethyne]

I started playing DnD! Technically I played aeons ago in 3.5e but it was very chaotic and I'm 98% sure most of what I learned was wrong, and no campaign lasted longer than 2-3 sessions, so we're calling this my first real game. We're using the Dragon Heist campaign set in Waterdeep- which is a cool coincidence when I've also just started playing BG3(a ramble for another post).

Meet Laboth, a Harengon Rogue running from the mage that summoned them from the Feywilds as a kit and raised them... poorly. They're looking to make enough gold in Waterdeep to live comfortably and stop looking over their shoulder- even if they maybe have to bribe and blackmail their way to it. They might have stolen that scarf from a fellow party member before the campaign began.

[hiraethyne]

classic me move of disappearing for weeks (months?) on end with no word.

[hiraethyne]

Bun plays DMC1: missions 1-6

Mostly head empty, but that’s more me than anything to do with the game. I actually played yesterday so these thoughts aren’t as fresh, I kind of only made the decision to liveblog this morning oops.

LOUD this game is LOUD and the music is much louder than the voice lines. At least for me the subtitles only seem to work half the time???

ngl the way the camera jumps around drives me a little nuts. Lack of camera control I can live with but I ran into trouble a couple of times because I’d cross the threshold for the angle to reverse in a room during fights sometimes and it could lead to trouble.

I was a bit of an idiot and didn’t understand that the devil trigger could just be acquired by buying a devil trigger skill after you get Alastor. I thought I had to wait for it to be revealed in a cutscene or something. Game got a LOT easier after that.

I find it really funny that Dante sounded way flirtier talking to the big spider/scorpion monster than the half naked lady. Just feels right for him tho.

I’m really curious if this is an issue across PS2 editions of the game or if there’s something with my specific copy that occasionally causes Dante to get stuck in places he shouldn’t? EG just walking around the upper floors in the first area he’d sorta just get stuck while walking next to a pillar until I jumped, or more critically in the fight during mission 4 + the quest after it, I had such a hard time getting him to ACTUALLY jump up onto the ledge for the third part of the fight that I stopped and looked it up because I thought I’d messed up somehow. I hadn’t my game is just REALLY finnicky about getting it pixel perfect or something.

[hiraethyne]

I never did play the DMC games, despite owning the first one for something like 20 years, because it was gifted to me alongside my PS2(I was just way more into KH, which I also got at the time). I always told myself I’d get around to it, and then the PS2 got packed up and I didn’t have time doe games and ultimately DMC faded from my periphery.

Cut to like a week ago, I’ve gotten my PS2 out and cleaned it of dust with intent to play some of my old games, I’m waffling over which of my old games to play- do I re-play a favourite? Do I start one I never got around to? I’ve still got work to finish first though so I sit down to work on some commissions, and because I recently got netflix free through my phone line I seek out something to throw on. It can’t be anything I’ll get too invested in, since I have to work— but oh huh what’s this? I didn’t hear DMC got a show, man I wanted to play that when I was younger, and it’s got that netflix faux-anime look so it probably won’t be anything too deep, perfect.

I ended up really liking what they did with the first season, as someone coming into it fresh through the show, with no context from the games(emphasizing because I’ve learned a lot of game fans hate the show). The characters were fun- I liked NDMC Dante a lot more than I’ve liked most quippy protags, and the music did indeed rocket my ass straight back to highschool, O won’t deny it. By ep 5 I was kinda squinting, wondering if they were doing some of the visual allusions on purpose or not, and during ep 6 I actually did just set my pen down and stop working to focus solely on the screen.

so much for the braindead action rhomp I’d signed up for, I’d found myself invested.

I was a responsible adult and slept before watching S2, despite being pretty wired from one of the best uses of American Idiot I’d seen in a while. S2 was… not what I’d hoped following S1, but it did make up for that by giving me a lot of the type of character angst I really enjoy in S2 Dante’s arc. Guy just could not catch a break, and it weighs on him, and that’s tasty. Because I have no pre-existing attachment to Vergil from the games, getting me invested in him was a feat only accomplished by his brief “oh are we daddening this guy? Oh. Oh no we are NOT oh dear” arc with Maddie(Mattie?), and his choice at the end of the season. I admit I liked NDMC Lady for the role she plays in Dante’s arc but… well I definitely don’t think I could stand to be in a room with her.

The actual plot of S2… idk man I was enjoying the characters themselves so I deliberately allowed myself to tune out the convoluted details, because the characterization felt consistent(within the show, again idk a thing about the games yet). I’m sure the moment I re-watch it I’ll start to feel some annoyance because I can’t help but nit-pick the things I like.

I can and will however nitpick the lazy 3D cell shaded demons & devil trigger forms as an animation choice. I mean these were pretty well executed as that sort of thing goes but especially after seeing how well the show CAN animate in S1E6 I’m just offended that we were stuck with that mess for so much of it, esp since the devil trigger forms are used in really pivotal moments, but lack the ability to emote in the same way the show’s 2D animation is capable of.

but regardless it did accomplish one thing: I was reminded of the game sitting on my shelf, I cleared out some save data on one of my old cards, and I popped the disc in to play. Rather horrified at myself to add yet another series to my backlog and list of games to hunt down(I prefer to buy physical whenever I can) but here I go, I guess.

[hiraethyne]

but who do I scribble next: Mizrak, Richter, or my beloved Zenos FFXIV that is the question

[hiraethyne]

I couldn't just leave the other two unfinished.

[hiraethyne]

earlier sketch version of one of these.

[hiraethyne]

My brain is full of worms and at least half of them are shaped like him.

[hiraethyne]

crunch AF cell photo of a WIP of my friend's WOL.

MY ART IS NOT TO BE USED FOR THE TRAINING OR GENERATION OF AI IMAGES, OR IN RELATION TO MACHINE LEARNING/AI IN ANY WAY.

[hiraethyne]

suffering from the age-old debate of "should I reblog art that isn't mine on my Art blog / how much of that is too much"

[hiraethyne]

Commission 2025 | Ink + Digital Screentones Ink only version under the cut.

MY ART IS NOT TO BE USED FOR THE TRAINING OR GENERATION OF AI IMAGES, OR IN RELATION TO MACHINE LEARNING/AI IN ANY WAY.