this is the current status as of december 19th, 2025.
hey there internet. author here.
this year has been really rough on me, but nonetheless, i have some updates to share, believe it or not.
i have developed some details on kouri over the past months, particularly the affinity wheel and a marking guide. if you had read the previous update, you would know that such was a goal for me at the time! kouri species info can be found here, but here's the images themselves because i know having to follow outbound links are annoying.
oh, and i guess the fact kouri heads and necks are a little strange.
putting the neck of a quadruped on a humanoid torso is not for the weak.
anywho, another thing i was able to do was make updated references for a majority of the cast, including the current paragons. unfortunately i wasnt able to get to actor, kagami, and the previous paragons...Yet.
the ones i'm particularly proud of are the current paragons and the primal kouri, as their new designs are leagues better than what they used to be, in my opinion. these include flex, akari, inori, vice, and obviously tpk. it's obvious that flex is my favorite because of how much attention they get/how much i draw them orz.
kind of related but outside of the scope of canon, i've been engaging in AU chats with some mutuals and it's really helped me think more about the worldbuilding of c1k, and what it's like to live on baiko! so far i've pondered the idea that indigo kouri manipulate liquid metals that reside within the spines, the same metal that is used in kouri-made electronics! very interesting stuff.
here's some designs from that corner of the internet!
also!!! yes seeing jasper's design reminds me that fawn is actually my most recent attempt at conceptualizing the hu-liik. i'm really enjoying how they look this way. their eyes are a combo of kouri ones since the kouri descend from hu-liik. actually same thing with the jagged mouths, the paragons can have those, or variants of them.
i liked the idea of the hu-liik "affinities" just being the metal classes. as the kouri move away from hu-liik they become more diverse! (much like humans and their ape ancestors)
so, a lot of design progress this time around. unfortunately, i haven't made a lot of progress writing wise. i think i started writing up affinity blurbs and got a good ways through but i think that's it.
