#machete!!

[theliarsnumber]

you won't believe this. but I changed his fucking design again right after sending that.

tfw you’re about to be executed for your crimes against magical society but the executioner’s lowkey beautiful

[theliarsnumber]

do u ever have an idea that's such bullshit u just gotta write it down and stare at it

yes, this is how most of my posts are born tbh

[theliarsnumber]

remind me to explain uadeia (butchfemme I was just talking about) to you someday.

you hit the nail on the head there with issues that simply CANNOT be worked out! both with their worldviews, how they were raised, (and how they were both groomed in direct parallels to each other, non sexually but still) and one COLOSSAL AND EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO IGNORE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM that once u learn about after reading their relationship progression re-contextualizes everything (for my future readers at least. I'll just tell u straight up!)

When I’m in a writing devastating relationships competition and my opponent is machete magicalgirlcataclysm:

[theliarsnumber]

MAGICAL GIRLS are SMOKING the PERIHELION

bonus.. I never finished vefas younger design but I at least got her face done.... before and after + 20 or so years lmao

This is what I’d expect to see in the headlines of whatever newspapers Magical Society has.

and GOOD LORD WHAT HAPPENED TO HER (I say, knowing what happened to her) she had so much whimsy :((

Oh! And here’s a fun fact for you—your use of “perihelion” and “aphelion” actually helped me with my geometry final this years lmao. It was centered around finding the eccentricity of a planet’s orbit and its orbital velocity.

[theliarsnumber]

I had a dream I was eating lots of pudding and now I'm sad because I woke up completely puddingless

rip dreamachete and their pudding

[theliarsnumber]

this might sound Bad... but shuake partly inspired the butchfemme yuri? mostly because of shuakes insane fucking rivalry and everything around akechi's whole detective prince persona is what REALLY inspired me - I saw that all the yaoi in media were the ones getting insane doomed bloody rivalries, the men got to spit and fight and bleed and HATE each other and be obsessed with each other, but never the girls! CAT FIGHTS DON'T DO IT ANYMORE. I WANT THEM TO KISS WITH BLOOD. honestly a LOT of the way female characters get shafted in favour of more interesting and well written dynamics with men is what inspires me for a lot of my characters, I could go on a rant right now about charlie FUCKING morningstar and what wasted potential SHE was, but that's another story for another day. plus, I had never written a dynamic following enemies to rivals to friends to almost lovers then back to enemies again. always seemed too complicated to me💀 and then I got my hands on them and it was like my frontal lobe developed

shuake—like, from one of the persona games? I know literally nothing about them besides the fact someone I followed on my old blog really liked their dynamic.

AND YOU ARE SO RIGHT!! The only way a complicated gay couple can be made better is to turn them into lesbians and I stand by that.

None of that “oh but we’re both girls!” shit when the real issue is drastic differences in their moralities, worldviews, and/or other ideologies that neither are willing to budge on, or their loyalties lying on sides that oppose the other, or other complex issues that need more than a little self-realization to get through. (Well, yes, obviously homosexuality being looked down upon and/or internalized homophobia can be part of what keeps them from getting together, but if there are other, more pressing matters at hand, I don’t think it should be the extent of the issue. If that makes sense.)

Or!, even better!, issues that really Can’t be resolved no matter how hard they want them to be or how desperately they try to fix it. That red string may tie their destinies together, but no authority truly respects fate if it doesn’t align with their agenda.

[theliarsnumber]

vəfa's design is much more "outward", with many pointing spikes, the tendrils behind her, her hair and flowing dress. it's meant to give an impression of this imposing, reaching, immeasurable figure that takes over the attention when it's on her and the story. almost infectious in a way? her figure is massive and is meant to swamp any other character in her vicinity. with the crown and veil, vefa is also meant to evoke the look of a "tortured queen", or at the very least some high royalty. the way she's covered head to toe is also intentional, both to add to her air of mystery and to hide the sigils she's enscribed into her own body. magical girls are so often sold to the public eye as commodities with their flashy outfits and some older girls in more sexualized and suggestive ways, vefa being the character who goes against magic in it's entirety and being covered head to toe just fits for me.

stelara is much more guarded and curled inwards. her wings are pointing down and curve towards herself, and with her long dress as well it all curves down to give a closed off feeling. she has just as much presence as vefa, but the way her design doesn't fight to take over the screen in front of you hints to her nature and her security in her power: she knows she's in control and doesn't need to show off or fight for it. (also ironic cuz... she kinda doesn't have it all under control but her design is definitely meant to make the VIEWERS feel that she is💀)

the stars above her head are just a nice extra detail when u consider the full meaning and contexts behind stars in this story. stars obviously have their religious symbolism here, showing her dedication to her god, but the fact they're hanging over her head likens to how she's in control of so many lives, with so much pressure put on her. the stars are literally weighing over her head. and! the stars hanging double as a sort of halo, all adding to her forced position as a saviour and guardian. plus, there's her combined knight and angel imagery with her wings... knight that couldn't save her queen.... the guardian angel of every magical girl in the world. the angel that fails every girl alive and the knight that couldn't protect anyone. stelara ily

their colour palettes are also opposites: stelara has lots of white and pastels, adding to her angelic image, while vefa almost exclusively has dark and desaturated colours. for stelara, the pastel purple on the inner details of her design and in the stars above her head show her devotion to vefa and how she can't let go of her after all these years. vefa's colours are more subtle, but visible through how her purple shifts to magenta; like a mix of her original deep purple and stelara's pink. also, the brightest part of her entire design are her vivid magenta pupils, showing her single-minded focus on stelara. and I thought that part just looked freaky as hell behind the veil I liked it a lot

of course. I'm making these characters in gacha life 2 so I have no idea if these ideas actually translate half as well as I hope. typing this in the middle of designing stelara and lemme tell u she's giving me a fucking run for my money bro💀💀💀

These are WONDERFUL design notes, machete. Very descriptive; I can tell that you thought very deeply about everything. Honestly I would probably geek out about their designs if I saw them in print or on television.

However!! I do have one ☝️ idea (that you may have been trying to convey and I just..didn’t catch. 🧍)—Vəfa and Stelara’s primary colors being complimentary/opposite colors to symbolize their opposing ideals, but them also having a color that they both share (like that purple you were talking about) to “bind” the two together. A symbol of their shared past and/or a signifier that they still think of or care about the other in some way.

[theliarsnumber]

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNRE2YHp6/

I know i already made the "magical girls running to catch a monster" joke but this video is better and I'm actually crying over it

OMG I’VE SEEN A FEW OF THAT GUY’S VIDEOS BEFORE

The way this plays out in my head is: the magical girls are waiting for the monster to show up (steak-out style, y’know?), sitting on the roof of an abandoned building; most of them are chatting it up and/or playing games like rock-paper-scissors, I Spy, chopsticks, etc. while one or a few of them scout.

The very moment the scout(s) spot the monster, literally EVERYONE on the team is locked tf in—weapons out and ready, jumping off the building and running after the monster, those who can fly have taken off, running after the monster as if they’re the predators and it’s the prey.