Almost Psychonauts fanart and almost @2hoothoots 's FSAAU fanart but I'm slowly tearing the archetypes apart with my teeth until they're no longer recognizable as either
Okay!! I got Vio and Blue’s designs mostly done. Red’s is close behind with some stuff I wanna play around with, while Green’s I’m still thinking about. (He’s got something rn though)
Ranting about design choices below, warning it's super long chat
Their casual outfits all have these like, poet shirts. They're all just slightly different.
Vio's got a frilly fluffy one to make him appear more carefree, and heels to show that he doesn't have to worry about running or physical activity anytime soon. His hair is loose and uncombed.
But he's got tight pants that restrict his legs a little that are just small enough to squeeze on him to make him uncomfortable, especially while sitting.
This was chosen to show that he's still not calm, even after his adventure. He's trying to make himself seem taller, more carefree, and confident. But he's tired, he's on edge, and it's hard to muster up the energy to take care of himself. (I would've made his hair look less fluffy if I knew how to draw anything else, for some reason drawing the links makes me give them fluffy hair)
Blue's also got a sort of poet's/generic linen shirt on. It's covered by a sturdy sleeveless tunic, a large belt, a cloak and big sword gloves. His boots are chunky and weigh him down, but they offer protection, even from snow. His legs are kept open for movement, he never knows when he'll need it. His hair is always tied up.
Blue's not doing well. He's afraid that he won't be prepared or strong enough if something goes wrong. He's got a sword within arms reach at all times and he's keeping himself from relaxing (shown through him covering his shirt).
Blue likes to take care of himself, though. He's always got something clean and ironed to wear, and he started taking more care of his hair now that he's not Link. He's pushed the others to do the same, cause it made Blue feel better when he did it. Vio struggles due to personal motivation and Green struggles because he doesn't always have the means of care within reach.
Other stufff uhhhhhh. Everyone has their element symbol on them, I thought it'd be fun. Vio's is in his earring and Blue's is a brooch on his cloak.
Blue's hair is designed to look kind of water-y idk if that comes across well.
Vio's earring doesn't have a meaning, he just likes it. I put it on him to make him seem more rectangle-y cause earth.
Blue's got the oot earrings on idk what to call them. I'm headcannoning them as earrings you get for like being a knight for a long time. All of them own some, but Blue and Green are the only ones who keep wearing them.
I wanna give Blue a White Sword. I'm giving Green one because it's not like they're using the Four Sword rn. Green's uses wind and Blue's uses water, but I also REALLY wanna give Blue gauntlets. He deserves it. BUT ALSO HIS HAMMER. Maybe I'll just give him five trillion weapons he uses. The kinda guy to have a dagger in his boot and under his pillow.
uhmmmmm what else. Vio's eyes are rectangle-y too. Blue's eyes are a little stylized to look like the water symbol.
There are other things I wanna do with the designs of my au I just haven't thought of how to draw them. I'll talk more about it and the actual au concept in another post later
I made these last night (kind of this morning?) and then passed out, I’m still not the happiest with Green’s regular outfit (not calling it casual he does not know rest)
Designer notes below
Here I go.
Green's got a generic linen shirt, a more toned-down version of Vio's. He's got the sleeves pulled up so cause he's ready at all times to do anything. He's got a corset for bad posture and some loose-ish pants. All very generic.
His boots are made for walking and running, they do not have heels. He's got bags under his eyes from anxiety induced insomnia. His hair is windswept and the only comb he uses is his fingers. He doesn't want to cut it, so he puts it in a braid and hopes everything ends well (he'll usually ask the other three for help with it).
Also he wears his knight piercings (headcanon) even when not on duty. He says it's just convenient but he never takes them out.
BONUS: Green's armor (that I haven't quite finished designing but you can find the concepts here)
ok so
I tend to like practical outfits. But I just had to. put Green in heels. He's perfectly comfortable wearing them as a knight! He knows he's good at it and the heels are to show his confidence. That he always has control over himself in the situation.
I also wanted to add some wind motifs in his armor and kind of his regular outfit. He's always wearing a choker with the wind symbol on it. He's trapped by freedom in a way. He serves to grant others freedom but he's not quite sure he has it himself. He feels duty bound, but he would feel awful if he couldn't do it.
Red's wearing a sort of mage's cape with an upside down elemental fire symbol keeping it together. He also wears a scarf with a hood attached to it on top of the cloak. He, like all the others wears a sort of poets shirt, but you can't see it underneath all the stuff he's wearing.
Red's over tunic is replaced with (what I'm pretty sure) is a sort of armor padding. He's not confident in his ability to keep himself safe, even when he's practicing magic. He has a tendency to look down on himself, even if he doesn't really realize it.
Both the puffy poets shirt and his baggy pants are cuffed up by his long fingerless leather gloves and boots. He is not as carefree as he lets on. He knows that there are things going on and he's not quite sure how to help.
He wears the heeled boots to give him a feeling of confidence that he doesn't have. He doesn't feel free, doesn't feel particularly confident, he doesn't feel skilled. But he's trying his best with what he's got.
He's got fire symbol earrings! They're also upside down. Since fire typically symbolizes passion and love I thought it'd be fitting for them to be upside down since right now all his efforts to help (out of love) end up as just friendly-fire.
GRAAAAAAAA I LOVE YOUR LINK DESIGNS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i am blue and vio biased i wanna hear more about their dynamic together in your interpretation
RRRAUGH THANK YOU !!
I think those two are dumb little idiots (affectionate) and they deserve to be silly !! unfortunately that is not what my au is about. here I go.
I tried to yap a little less about the world since it's not very concrete in my mind yet. But this was a good way to like,,,,,,,,,, word salad it out for now.
LOTS OF YAPPING BENEATH THE CUT I HOPE THIS IS ENOUGH FOOD FOR YOU !!
So like. I should establish that there's a bit of unrest going around the world rn
relations between Hylians and the Gerudo are kinda tense rn....... cause for the Gerudo it's their job to keep Ganon sealed away whereas it's Hylians to keep Vaati sealed
And while they're gone now, the shittertons (links and zelda) are having to deal with the aftermath and healing of the land after everything
Lots of places were destroyed and threatened. And a very important source of water for the Gerudo was almost poisoned and deemed completely unsafe. But they rely on that water (river technically) to grow a bunch of their food
And Hyrule does a lot of trading with them often since they're both so close to eachother. And a lot of Hyrulian settlements were burnt, leaving a lot of people homeless and in need of things.
All this to say, everyone's having an awful time rn. Green is on diplomatic missions all the time because there are still people fucking things up and he has to fix it as the hero.
Zelda barely talks to anyone, she's too busy cleaning up after Ganon and Vaati and sniffing out which members of her court were allied with them. As well as other things going on with her father that she finds suspicious but doesn't want to believe.
Blue, Vio and Red are all doing things. But they're not connected as much to the political side of things.
Blue is deemed too hot headed for court stuff (Green can reign himself in for work), Vio would manage fine in court but he doesn't want to be away from the others for too long (he would not admit this), and Red is more focused on helping the regular everyday average citizen.
I'll focus on Blue and Vio more and what they do since that's what you asked but I do have general ideas for what everyone's doing.
Blue is still keeping up his training while he figures out what exactly it is he wants to do. He's not sure if he wants to be a knight because there is currently nobody to fight and he doesn't want to train anyone or have anyone answer to him. It makes him feel awkward and he's not patient enough for the job's current needs.
Vio is helping people feel more at ease. Either he's volunteering at the observatory, the library, stocking shelves, counting ruppees. Anything. He's trying to help with practical problems where he can.
At home Blue cleans and cooks a lot. The most out of everyone, even if they all pull their weight around the house. Blue nags everyone about their physical health like reminders to eat, drink, bathe, sleep, that stuff. And he's not gentle about it.
I kindof gave the links my hair. A sort of wavy hair that's just on the cusp of curly if not for excessive damage over the years of not knowing it was curly to begin with.
Blue's the one who takes care of his hair the most, next to Red. Vio and Green are the worst because they kind of really suck bad at taking care of themselves. Which is why Vio's hair looks straight (it's not, I'm just bad at drawing frizz).
Blue's hair is also big and fluffy, but not quite yet curly (I'll give them all curls when their sort of healing journey is over !! for the symbolism)
Blue nags everyone but Vio's the easiest to nag. He's kind of frequently lonely and wants to be around people very often. He seeks and craves attention and companionship but isn't very comfortable around many people.
Vio is kind of the same. But he'll take anyone's company, even if they're not the best person.
Ribbing eachother and roughhousing feels natural to the both of them. They're both too wound up, stressed, and paranoid to relax for anything currently. And the back and forth they have keeps both comfortably on their toes.
Since Blue doesn't really know what he's doing, he tries to pick up like five trillion different hobbies and is hoping one will give his life meaning. He's currently trying fishing and is enjoying it, actually. He just wishes it was a little more engaging sometimes, so he'll bring anyone along with him. Usually Green but currently he's busy so Blue's been dragging the other two when they can.
Blue's picked up drawing, woodcarving, baking, cooking, several games of many kinds, knitting, gardening, making clothes, and some other things if I can think them. He's worked a lot of odd jobs too, just to help around the town they live in.
Blue's enjoyed a lot of those activities, but he doesn't enjoy them as much if he's not doing them with someone else. He does not realize this, though, and just assumes that those things are just not for him.
Vio has an idea that this may be the case. But he doesn't want to assume anything too quickly when all it could be is Blue being so on edge he can't let himself enjoy anything. Vio can't exactly call him out on it without being a hypocrite.
Vio is currently helping the library and observatory retranscribe some old scrolls. His handwriting is neat and easy to read when he writes slow, and he would rather eat his own hat then let old knowledge die out.
All four of the links are kind of struggling with what to do with their lives now that they've all mostly had their fair share of fighting and heroism. They want to help around, sure, but WOW is that stuff really hard, actually...
Vio overworks and struggles with guilt from all the people hurt while he was fake working with Shadow. Having to just do nothing while he knew there were towns being burnt to the ground keeps him up. So he tries to overcompensate to ignore his feelings.
Blue is incredibly bad at them. But he's a good distraction. Vio admires him for his passion. Blue helps around all the time, he's strong and capable, and he always tries no matter what. Even if he's shit at something he does his best and Vio wishes that he could do the same.
Blue is also VERY ragebaitable and making Blue let out a long and deep sigh and/or groan of anger is one of Vio's favourite pastimes. Sometimes Blue won't actually get that annoyed by something Vio says/does but will play it up for him if it gets him to smile a little. Or to wear him out so he either GOES TO BED or SLEEPS.
On their average mornings Green usually makes everyone's drinks. Coffee for him and Vio and tea for Blue and Red. When Green is away on missions it's usually Blue who makes the drinks, but he's not as good at it as Green.
Blue enjoys cooking more than baking, but he's good at both. Red likes baking and is good at it and is also kind of okay at cooking. Vio is kind of decent at both but he can make something edible at the very least. Green is not allowed to cook or bake lest the house burn down or he creates a new element.
Blue's worst fear is going too far. With anything. He's afraid he'll get angry and hurt someone, or that he'll do something because he think's it'll protect someone but he only hurts them in the end. Literal nightmares, he hates the idea of it.
Vio's worst fear is that he will be helpless to do anything when he needs to help someone. He'll be trapped in a corner with no way to think up a creative way out of it. Or even worse, a way to save someone only occurs to him AFTER it's already done with.
Together they are both terribly stressed over the wellbeing of others. In different ways, however. Blue is more upfront and obvious about it. Whereas Vio's is more in the background, hoping nobody notices.
Was doing a character study comic outline for Blue and it got super long. I’m not making it into a comic but heres the study.
Featuring: oc named Oracle who I made to flesh out the world. Don’t even know if they’ll be permanent or not
Long post:
(Also, colour coded text to help with reading. I don’t normally put names in my comic outlines)
—the boat is tense, Blue’s hair is wet and lacking his normal fluffiness
Here. Cast like this and then wait. Youll have to brace yourself for when you catch something. The fishes are stronger than you think.
Ok.
—silence for panels of pretty water
—Blue catches a fish while Oracle spaces out thinking while keeping Blue in the corner of their eye
—Blue throws the line back without holding it and Oracle flinches and freezes up
—Blue casts it as he realizes they flinch
(I scared them?? They didn’t think I would hit them, did they? I don’t… come off like that… do I?)
Uhm… Oracle—?
Sorry! Sorry… I.
—stillness in the water
I just… I’ve always had this… thing that haunts me.
Ever since I was little, I was afraid of fishing hooks
I was afraid that it would get caught on my wrist, and pull out the veins
It would never go away. When I was near a hook, a needle, a sharp pole.
A version of that thought would scream in my head
I could never get rid of it
It’s not your fault that you reminded me of that. You wouldn’t hurt me. You’re too nice for that.
—horrified stare from Blue, zoomed in panel to focus on his face
But I can! I can! I hurt everyone! I hurt Green, I hurt Red, I hurt Vio! That’s all I ever do…
I know Vio hated pretending to work with Shadow! I know the lives he watched die while pretending to be evil keeps him up at night! He plans so far ahead and manages to pull it off perfectly everytime…
He feels so guilty! Everytime reports come in of famine, everytime he sees someone with burn scars, everytime someone stares at him weird or scoots away from him! He’ll never say anything about it, but I know!
I see it in Red! Everytime I went too far and hit him. Because I didn’t want to believe that a part of me could be so… so defenceless. That I could cry…
And yet despite that he tries so hard to help everyone. Hes not a fighter but hes so much better at helping people. Hes so much more of a hero than I am… Always checking up on people. On the others. On me…
And Green with his stupid— he…
He never asks for help and it’s my fault! I should’ve never fought him for leader! I made him feel like he needs to constantly prove himself worthy of being a leader…
But he’s so much better than me under pressure. He always knows what to do. Always quick on his feet, always has new ideas… Always willing to help people. I can’t even give directions if I have a shitty morning— I’m just so… so…
—silence panel zoom out to look at the calm water. Blue is crouched over and Oracle is looking at him with focus
Is there anything else you want to say?
… I’m sorry.
No that’s— you don’t have to—
—Oracle breaks composure
I do! I still need to apologize! I can’t just keep— keep… keep hurting everyone like this!
Blue, you’re… so strong. In so many ways. You fight to protect what you love. You love Vio, so you beat up those shittalkers in the bar.
Fighting is easy— it barely means anything—
You care so much about Red. You changed when you stopped seeing him as you.
I still hurt him. I can barely face his kindness—
You wore out Green. You got him to finally rest. He’s home right now, in his bed, sleeping. Because you fought for the sole reason of tuckering him out and making him sleep.
Yeah, but he only sparred with me because he thought he had to prove something—
Blue. I was bleeding out and you held me. Cleaned my wounds and stitched me up while telling me everything would be okay. Even though you suck at comfort. At feelings. At anything people related, you gave your all and saved me.
I stained your shirt.
You’ve stained it before.
…
We’ve all hurt eachother then. Vio beat the shit outta Green that one time. Red almost burnt you. I shot Vio’s arm.
All of those had… bigger purposes to them. Vio was saving the world, Red was saving me… You were just training with Vio— but at least you didn’t mean it!
Then what were you doing all those times? You were scared. Trying to keep Link alive the only way you remembered how. You caught up eventually, just like the others.
You’ve all got your garbage to deal with. Green’s got his overworking habits. Vio’s got his guilt. Red’s got his people pleasing.
You’ve got your crap too. Your anger, your passion. Your loyalty, your single minded focus.
You care so much about yourself you never stop thinking about the others. But youre so hard on yourself too. You gotta cut yourself some slack for your habits, just like you do the others. What you bring to the table is just that. Stuff, just like the others.
It wouldn’t be there without you. There’s no one else willing to fish at sunrise, pathetically drenched in water.
(Hey!)
…
I should apologize to everyone…
I think you just gotta apologize to the Princess. She had to do damage control.