And of course I had to draw art for every single fic in the series, :))) they were all stuck in my head rotating around like a microwave prone to explode, and as such I couldn't leave even one behind! (this whole image came to me in a beautifully blurry idea a couple days ago and hasn’t left me since!)
I'm really glad you think it looks good because I think I've been looking at it too long, so I'm glad you like it :)) especially because despite how I still worry i could have done better this is definitely the best work I've made in a long time, the most effort too. SO thank you so much for loving it ヾ(≧▽≦*)o
I would be so proud to have this framed on your wall you have no idea :D I was grinning like mad when I read that (and everything else too but ya’know)
THATS SO COOL <333333 I NEVER THOUGHT ID BE THE FIRST- YOU DESERVE ALL THE ART DEDICATED TO YOU/YOUR WTITING >:D
I am so ready to hear your authors notes: (since you asked I will indeed Yap about symbolism and art choices >:)) I have so much to talk about!)
Yes! Wilbur is full of metaphors and dramatics that do and definitely don't have a place in a situation like this with Tommy. He does it as a way to cope no doubt(and I of course love it because it's beautiful) but in Tommy’s perspective it’s dark, and serious, and in some way reminiscent of the void where he and Wilbur were alone. Also, you may not have noticed, but I used warmer colors for Wilbur, and cooler colors for Tommy to represent the idea Wilbur planted in his head (spring v winter) Tommy again views himself as something bad, so to him he’d winter, he’ll always be winter(hence the blue) and Wilbur is spring, summer, and fall all into one. He wants to view him as spring(good) but wilbur also a person stuck in the past(summer) and unfortunately has a bad habit of destroying things he loves(and himself) and then leaving (fall). Wilbur isn't winter, because Tommy loves him too much for that, but he is destructive and heartbreaking in his own way.
Also- the eyes if you notice, Wilbur though you can't see them are looking at Tommy, because Tommy is this moment, Tommy us what he's waiting/hoping/wanting for. Tommy is looking, though it's hard to tell 😭, at the flowers, and their hands, not Wilbur. Tommy is doing this for Wilbur too, but he doesn’t want to face this yet because he's afraid it's another trick. (especially since Tommys been taking care of Wilbur he worries its just another temporary thing) he can't face Wilbur yet but he’ll still do it for him. Also, the stars are meant to look like snow and they in a way are like representations of both Tommy’s hope and fear. Hopeful because there is light in the sky(its not the void) and fearful, because it's isolating in a way(just him and Wilbur everyone else is miles away.) One last thing I want to add is that the textures, there are more with tommy than Wilbur because where Wilbur trying to learn to be soft and trusting again, Tommy is only learning to be wary and sharp. BUT ITS ALSO BECAUSE TOMMYS BEEN TAKING CARE OF WIKBUR BUT NOT REALLY HIMSELF LOL
Continuing- THE HAIR WAS MY FAVORITE PART TO DRAW- Tommy in royal Au def has flatter hair because despite being taken care of by his family he’s still stuck and depressed, and it reflects that! It's being taken care of for him, not by him, so it looks healthier but it’s also distinctly dull(also because it's meant to look dull in opposition to the sun, aka, the way he’s viewed by others. He’s mortal and human even if he’s not viewed that way.) but the hair was so much fun to consider, because like- who would have longer hair, who would have shorter hair, what would it look like when clean or greasy? I haven't yet figured out tangles but I imagine chommy’s all have visibly frizzy hair because they can't take the time to clean nor figure out how to curl it. BUT- THE CBURS ALL HAVE NICE CURLED HAIR BECAUSE ITS A PART OF THEIR IMAGE, AND EVEN IF TOMMYS NOT TAKING CARE OF IT THEN IT'S THE ONE THING HE WILL DO FOR HIMSELF. Something something about greasy hair being a sign of how well you take care of yourself. Like I hate having greasy hair because it makes me feel awful about myself and I can constantly feel it, so Wilbur probably does if only because it might remind him too much of limbo(no showers there right?lmao). But yeah- super Tommy has curler hair, because this is all his effort, and hair theory is real even if no one acknowledges it (/jk but fr) he looks younger, and cuter, and more like Wilbur with curler hair, so despite everything going on I bet he'd put a decent amount of time to making it look good, it's probably a bit frizzy too, but like on purpose so wilbur wants to smooth it out, and play with it you know? His hair is constant, and I bet he doesn't fully comb through it so it looks slightly natural but a bit tangled as a way to again draw wil in. I wanted it to look really deliberate :)))))
YES- YES-YES- the red string of fate except it's l'manburg/tommy deciding who he wants to tie himself down to forever. LIKE- tommy is fate, he is the one making the choices, directing each action, but he's also tying himself down to whatever he choses, so if he choses wrong he could end up worse off than before. ALSO- notice how the fingers look a bit like siccors?(sizzors???) HES CUT FREE FROM FATE- this is all tommy's choice :DDD! YES-just like you said- he is a kid and he wants love even if he has to destroy himself to do that! The crossed fingers were just the cherry on the top because it's a universal sign of "i don't mean his" but also, "good luck" because when we do it honestly we are wishing ourselves luck but behind out back's is admission of a lie- so tommy admits he's lying but also wants this to work out. It's a very very childish action too >:) ALSO- I used warmer colors for this to indicate, love, passion, and violence all things I think represent this tommy well. I also didn't draw his face for this one, because we never really see the 'true' tommy, just the version of himself he made for Wilbur, which is young, passionate, and still tommy but really not, in a way. SO we never see his face :) but we do see a bit of the truth in a way- like the hair, the string, and the crossed fingers! ALSO- THE WHOLE DESIGN IS SIMPLER THAN OTHER C-TOMMY DESIGNS BECAUSE TOMMY MAKES HISMELF INTO SOMETHING SIMPLER FOR WILBR TO UNDERSTAND HE DOESN'T ALLOW HISMELF OT BE COMPLEX, HE MAKES HIMSELF EASILY DIGESTIBLE >>:DDDD
YES- the letter- I loved the letter and wanted it to be all and nothing so I chose arguably the most impactful ones (or the ones I like the most lol) and mushed them together to show that despite bein different they impacted Tommy all the same. The tears were def fun to add, I thought it would be fitting you know, (wilburs part had the most tears because he's the most outwardly emotional)
Yeah I always thought this was a very hesitant moment for tommy, like the way he stumbled in speaking, and waited a bit out of both surprise and hesitance, before meeting Wilbur on the ground. Tommy is leveling the playing field, he's meeting wilbur where wilbur wants to meet tommy. To him this is a hesitant moment, and a chance to do right, but wilbur still sees it as essentially an angel, or spring coming in to take away the cold. The moments more fragile than that.
I'm so glad :D TOMMY'S SELF HATRED IS SO INTERESTING T ME I KNOW IT SOUNDS BAD BUT THE WAY PEOPLE CAN MAKE THEMSELVES INTO ABSTRACT METAPHORS IN ORDER TO FIND THINGS WRONG WITH THEMSELVES IS SO- but it's also because it's tommy and Wilbur, the apple and the snake, temptation and the whispering voice in your ear that makes you want to scream. Wilbur himself in your fic called himself the snake, greedy and awful and evil in a tree! But tommy- we never see his perspective but to Wilbur I think tommy is temptation, and to tommy he himself is evil. He's the root of it all, the bad things that people like dream wantto have only to blame him in the end. He's also as it was said- knowledge- he knows more than people ever expect having worked under all the servers "evils' (wilburs explosives-technos wither room-dreams attachment vault-) he's also been the one there to recognize and watch them turn against humanity- (each time they blew up l'manburg or put people second). ALSO- THE APPLE IS GREEN BECAUSE GRANNY APPLES ARE BITH BITTER AND GOOD- GREEN IS ALSO BOTH REPRESENTATIN OF HOW TOMMY IS GOOD< AND HOW IN REALITY DREAM IS WHAT TOMMY THINKS HE IS- so much to yap about here- like the leaves corrupting tommy's thoughts :) ALSO THE EYES AGAIN- tommy is looking at both wilbur and the snake, wilbur is only looking at tommy. (and he's serious because he cares but tommy is afraid wilbur is tricking him again he doesn't want to hope anymore, because if he's not what if he ruins it?) I want you to know that this whole part was arguable the one I was the most proud of because of how it came out, the lighting hair the faces- mwha
I'm gad they don't look tooo bad, because I really have trouble with perspective and gosh- snow :0, like I tried using clouds??? but then I used waves and made them glow a bit for effect and the footprins were arguable the easiest part! (for the phone booth I wanted it to be a bit blurry but also stand out alongside the yellow) I made it so the phone booth was the most detailed out of this panel because it's what's important to tommy, not the rest of the background. AND for BOTH i chose not to show tommy because his story isn't about tommy the human but tommy learning to love and accept the monsters in his story, like wilbur and techno (and himself) so his happy ending is when he is removed from the story in a way. ALSO- like you said it's more eerie to see evidence he was there, than to see tommy himself :))))
THANK YOU- I was originally hesitant for this one because I wanted it to be where the super tommy was so i could do some sort of stained glass, then I got the idea for the crossed fingers and swaped them around and decided only one tommy (the tommy who s everything) should be there and then I thought, should I make it a painting that is burning? and my brain was like - NO MAKE HIM A DYING SUN- and I was like FINE OKAY AHHHH- also the light behind the sun (thats pinkish red) is meant to look a bit like a puddle of blood to show how he keeps dying and how his thoughts are being corrupted by the violence. He wanted to be good and that got him death. :)))) ALSO- like super tommy who's face we never see, this tommy is facing us because he has no choice to look away, he can't escape the situation even when he rests by closing his eyes and ignoring the issue and his family and everything. When he opens his eyes again he'll be back where he started. and meanwhile the colors for him are dul compared to the crown, the sun, and the red becaus he's been washed out after everything, he's tired and not really himself anymore so he's still Tommy but different!
NOW- onto other symbolism I may have forgotten to mention-
the whole piece is part of a broken mirror and only super tommy and royal tommy really are able o break the mold of their worlds, super tommy because he took his fate into his own hands, and royal tommy because of the same thing, this is shown by the sun peaking out of the panel (also because the hope returned for him) and for super tommy it's the shoulder not quite fitting into the glass (ie; him choosing to put himself into a mold)
The glass itself has sooooo many metaphors and things mushed into it because 1. it's all different versions of Tommy's stories, 2. they are all broken in a way, 3. everyone else seems to view them as something they aren't so the mirror is meant to show the 'truth' of the situation so even for fics like the c!tommy's where they aren't the main POV their perspective is still being shown. 4. broken mirrors are bad luck and I thought it would be funny to represent tommy with bad luck :3, 5. mirrors are hidden away in funerals so spirits aren't trapped which is more of a personal note than anything but I thought this lore was interesting especially with how tommy is canonically a representation of youth being fleeting. 6. Again more of a personal note but in tangled the mirror broke when shown the true face of mother gothel and I like to think this is meant to show how people can't really handle tommy's true face.
THE FACES- I mentioned it a bit above but I wanted to note again the the face direction has meaning, The c!tommy's are always in opposition to wilbur even when they are the same side because wilbur never really sees them as equal. NOTE- tommy never looks down on wilbur despite wilbur at times looking down at him. Tommy see's them as equal, for good and bad, wilbur sees tommy as something greater. The super tommy and royal tommy are facing either forward or back because of the situation they are in. Royal tommy doesn't feel In control so he is facing the situation because he is forced too. Super tommy choses to face away towards wilbur because he is in control and he doesn't want to see the truth of why this could be bad. (by facing the situation I mean mirror too lol)
Super tommy looks younger but in reality is older than royal tommy, we can't see that though because he's fit himself into that shape (I so love the way super tommy is characterized I keep adding it in lol) ALSO- royal tommy is meant to look both young and old because of the time travel! hence the shadows. C!tommy is meant to look his age but older because of the experiences, wilbur meanwhile looks his age despite being mentally far older.
continuing- you may have noticed despite wilbur having a white streak tommy doesn't technically have one, BUT- its' shown a bit by the sunlight on the front of his hair in the upper c!tommy. I think this is both because he didn't spend enough time per say in the afterlife but also because he subconsciously draws a line between himself and wilbur.
not so much of symbolism but just another personal note- when designing the idea for this, I considered tommy being in front of a wolf, the letters being separated into multiple glass shards, and the super tommy being shown as the latest after tubbo and ranboo to find his ending ( so like it would have had tubbo in the distance with his guy, ranboo with nikki, and then tommy hugging wilbur) I was also considering just having tommy face the mirror from over wilburs shoulder but decided I really liked the crossed fingers. ALSO- in the flower scene one, I debated having either tommy or wilbur being criss crossed on the ground and facing partially away from the other but this one made more sense. I think the phone booth is the only one aside maybe the eden one that didn't change at all actually :)
last thing i want to mention is how, in the wolf tommy one the footprints are coming OUT of the forest not further into it. It's showing how tommy is going home to techno, and doesn't need to be alone anymore. He's in a way, domesticating himself :))))
SORRY FOR THE BLOCK OF TeXT I GOT EXCITED! :DDDD thank you for asking I had so much fun answering!!!!!
awwwww @maelstrom-of-emotions you are so sweet to me thank you<33333333 You are the best as well!
