What is your favorite romantic relationship that exists within your cast (main characters or otherwise). What is it like and why do you love it so much?
Bonus: will it work long term, or is it destined to end in tragedy?
Happy Blorbo Blursday!!! Can I just say I love the word 'blursday' now. It's so fun and silly for me to say! :D
Also this was my only thought of a response when I saw this ask lmao
I have four I wanna talk about because I forgot how much I loved some of them! Also all art I show of the characters is my own :)
Souls of Black:
GoldenGemFlower
This is my main WIP right now, and it's basically... mature fantasy Minecraft? Anyway, I have a main romance I want to do between three ladies of the main cast, named Reaper, Phoebe, and Galisa. Their ship name right now is GoldenGemFlower. And I think I like it so much because polyamory isn't something I've explored much in my writing (since I myself am monogamous) but also it's GAY WHOO! But also for the reasons I'm about to give:
Their relationship started out, uh--complicated, to say the least. A trove of 'I can't talk about my feelings properly' for a variety of different reasons. Emotionally closed off (Reaper) x chronic people pleaser (Phoebe) x does Not know feelings outside of formal settings (Galisa). Reaper meets Phoebe first, then Galisa later on. So naturally (and since Reaper x Phoebe was a thing before the polycule idea), Reaper and Phoebe start catching feelings for each other. But neither of them know what to do about it. Then, Galisa comes along. Reaper already doesn't like her due to her kind of wealthier status, and then she misinterprets Galisa's friendly gestures towards Phoebe as Galisa also having a crush on Phoebe. Meanwhile Galisa doesn't have that yet. Her crushes, on both Phoebe and Reaper, come later. Eventually they do all realize their feelings and talk fully and get together though <3
The thing I like about most (after all the juicy misunderstandings and messy feelings that is) about them though is that they do help each other grow. Reaper and Phoebe (moreso Phoebe) help Galisa learn to express her feelings more, among other things. Reaper and Galisa help teach Phoebe that it's okay to stand up for herself against her friends sometimes. And Phoebe and Galisa help Reaper slowly see that it is okay to trust people, and not everyone is always out to get her. They all sort of heal from their troubles together and it's so beautiful to me :')
Unfortunately there is some tragedy along the way.... but I shan't say more >:)
From left to right: Reaper, Phoebe, and Galisa
Putting a read more so it doesn't clog dashes but do please read more I love rambling hehe (for those that know them, I've got two ships from Call of the Void and then WorldsDuo my beloved <33)
Call of the Void
Ruban
This ship is for the two leads of Call of the Void, which is like Percy Jackson on steroids with extra steps, for the simplest explanation. Said two leads are Ruby Darkshine and Ryan Gunther, and they're. Gosh I forgot how much I loved them.
They start out kinda as grumpy x comedic relief. Ruby has the mentality of never trusting anyone as anyone could betray you and hurt you, and Ryan uses jokes and quips to brush off the seriousness of their 'almost dying daily' lifestyle fighting against an evil magic organization. Ruby reluctantly teams up with Ryan after he saves her life, but eventually starts warming up to him. Ryan has a nasty habit of trying to protect her even at the cost of himself, and she drills it into him to not do that. Ryan also shows his more vulnerable side after a while, to which Ruby is there to be a shoulder to lean on. Overall it's two rather broken people finding safe places to rest within the other, while also being a badass Power Couple.
They have some bumps in the road during their relationship; Ryan reveals a big secret that shatters Ruby's perception of him for a while. Ruby almost dies to an evil entity trying to possess her to kill humanity. Ryan almost dies to a different evil entity later on. But they both live!! They get a happy ending after all of it :) Which, for a while it was Ryan did just die at the end of Legends of the Cosmos (a kind of collection that CoV's the start of). But he doesn't anymore, yippee!!
Art of Ryan and Ruby. Ryan is the brunette on the left, Ruby's with the red highlights on the right. Ignore the middle guy for now he's not important lol
Risabell/ShadowCard (the second name's a new ship name I thought of legit thirty minutes ago lmao)
THIS ship is easily in my top three, maybe even my top two for CoV ships. It's got Riot, a perfectionist jester themed villain who takes joy in manipulating and making wisecracks about people, and Isabell Casimiro, no-nonsense Agent of Chaos (that evil organization that Ruby and Ryan fight) who tries her damnedest to focus on her mission and serve well.
They're great.
Riot has a habit of getting in people's personal space, and Isabell is no exception during the brief period the two work together. And she does it especially more since Riot quickly develops a crush on Isabell. Isabell kind of indulges in Riot's half advances, but she doesn't let it get more than that as relationships are often dangerous in the Agents of Chaos.
Then later, when they work together way more, it's more of them ignoring feelings and trying to not say things out loud. It devolves into messy on and offs of them bantering and flirting, then suddenly Isabell not seeming to want to do anything with Riot at all (often to put more focus on work/her job as an Agent), and then back again, all with the occasional (more than occasional) secret sex.
Eventually they do get their shit together and actually start dating, when they're in a safer place to do so. But I love the secretness and 'will they wont they' part of their relationship a lot, it's fun :D
Art of both Riot and Isabell. Riot has the purple jacket and mask, and Isabell has the black and bronze outfit <3
WorldsDuo
WorldsDuo isn't a part of any sort of WIP I'm making; it's moreso me mashing my and my partner's Minecraft OCs together for funsies. WorldsDuo is the ship for Reaper x Yoda (no, not the green guy. But fret not, Yoda is due for a name change soon as my partner reworks him. I just have no clue what it is.)
'Reaper?' you might be wondering. 'From Souls of Black?"
Yes, in fact. Only, this Reaper is a version further into the future from her SoB self. She meets Yoda after Souls of Black takes place.
And their entire aesthetic is 'doomed immortal soulmates'.
Reaper and Yoda have been through a lot of shit, both together and separately. Reaper has the entirety of Souls of Black. Yoda has the entirety of his origin story, currently called Recreance. Both face heavy losses, and when they meet, it just gets worse. They start off rocky--Reaper still has her distrustful tendencies, and unfortunately no memory of SoB or its lessons-- so they're not exactly friends. But later they slowly start becoming it. They go on a mining trip, Yoda gets possessed by sculk; Reaper has to kill him to save him. She hates and faults herself for it. She befriends his ghost. His ghost kills himself after finding out about Yoda from a book from a mysterious entity called The Game Master. Yoda doesn't hate her. She ends up accidentally helping someone who hates Yoda have him killed again. Later Yoda gets possessed by a much worse, much more evil and cunning entity, and then kills all of Reaper's friends in that World, and himself, and leaves her alone under its influence.
Then, in a new World, they actually start dating. Things go well, Reaper gets her SoB memories. They live in a nice quaint cabin together. Then it's revealed Yoda has secrets he isn't willing to share, while Reaper wants to share everything between them because she's worried about secrets getting them killed. It's a never ending argument and she breaks up with him. She hates herself for this and is nigh suicidal yet she can't die. Yoda hates himself for losing her and descends into alcoholism.
In a newer World, things still suck. Reaper's trying to forget about Yoda and has adopted a son, but Yoda shows up in that World again. They are always destined to find each other. They kind of co-parent Reaper's adopted son. When said son gets infected with a parasite they argue about who will kill him if the need arises. Reaper and Yoda start mending again. Later it's revealed Yoda made a deal with the evil entity that possessed him, called The Origin, for it to handle threats in his life so he could try and live normally after never having been able to, and that's one of the big secrets he was keeping from Reaper. The Game Master's back, and both he and The Origin are taking turns whacking Reaper with the Trauma stick. Reaper hallucinating Yoda's ghost, and wanting her friend back, gets possessed and tricked into killing Yoda permanently. Reaper doesn't trust herself anymore and hates herself further for killing Yoda again. She can't ever not kill the people she loves. Yoda's ghost doesn't even remember her, and later history repeats, and he finds the book from The Game Master again and dies again to bring Yoda back. Yoda helps Reaper from a breakdown, and finally tells her his other secret: that he had a wife and son before but his wife died and he unwillingly was torn from his son. They've slowly started mending again and confronting their feelings.
Reaper reminds him of his wife. Yoda reminds Reaper of both Phoebe and Galisa. They each see both their past joys and past biggest mistakes in the other yet still want so desperately to be loved, to finally have rest from the torment that is their lives.
Many such things are left out because I'm going off the top of my head, but least of all to say their history and relationship is so complicated and sad. And I love it! :D
WorldsDuo is just... they're destined to find each other but never stay together. One of them will always die. One of them will always kill the other. Both of them wish for an end that will never come. Both of them simply want a quiet peaceful life with the other, but the Worlds seem to not want to give it to them sob
Look. They even have matching thematic art with the titles the Universe and their lives have given them. I'm gonna throw up.
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Well, I hope that answer sufficed for you! Any followup questions from anybody are always welcome! Also, I think it's obvious which of these ships is my utmost favorite, pfft.
I was inspired by the fashion folios in the Stormlight Archive series by Brandon Sanderson :)
Canonically, Galisa designed the outfits for the three of them, then helped Phoebe make them. Galisa did the sketches of Reaper and Phoebe modeling, as it's her first outfits for them and she wanted to. She had Reaper do the sketch for her modeling.
Transcripts of Galisa's notes under the cut:
Reaper's:
"A coat cut after a reported trend in The Dark Forest. I have been told that the knee length signals a lower ranked person, and the asymmetry signals a lack of allegiance to any one group."
"A belt design fashioned after those in The Badlands, where they store weapons on their hips. My guess is this is for even quicker arming times in dangerous situations."
"Citrine, morganite, and jade crystals used to symbolize joy and personal power, unconditional love and emotional healing, and prosperity and longevity. Together, they symbolize a great bond."
Phoebe's:
"A dress and coat heavily inspired by Phoebe's own, as well as bell flowers, and designed for the tame Plains conditions. The silk gloves are a associated with Everian nobility.
"The gemstones are the same used in the prior design."
"A corset stiched with wisps akin to The Great Abyss, and a popular design used in the clothing of Abyssalist Clerics."
Galisa's:
"An off the shoulder dress designed after the Hiborish style, with lace incorpirated into both the sleeves and around the skirt. The trail around the skirt is longer, going to the knees. The dress overall is simpler than most other Hiborish dresses, with ruffles only at the necktie. A sunhat matches the dress."
Managed to whip up a sketch on my phone because I didn't have my tablet. I'm proud of it, since I don't think I do character interaction drawings much, and I did it on my phone
The watercolor brush I found for this was neat to use. I might use it to color other drawings. Maybe even those sketches I posted earlier.
Some sketches I plan to color, since I was thinking about nice outfits due to @/flashfictionfriday's prompt All In Black
Then I made the glorious idea that since Galisa designs outfits, Phoebe could theoretically make them, and thennnnn Reaper could draw the other two as models. For these three sketches specifically, I had it in mind Galisa drew Reaper and Phoebe, then Reaper drew Galisa, and I plan to render them differently with that in mind :3
This was also sort of a Valentine's Day art, just I might not have it finished until tomorrow lol
Fun fact, I drew them at their canon heights to each other
See I was gonna stand up here and say "Reaper and Galisa being terrible morning people and Phoebe being up bright and early" but Reaper literally is constantly on the move and only halts for the dark. She got Coder and Wolf up at DAWN, the SUNRISE, to continue their journey.
So instead I raise: Reaper is the only morning person of the entire group, and thus her girlfriends hate mornings to varying degrees. Galisa hates it the most bc her Archivist training would always have her get up pretty early despite her late night workings.
