#mal serpico

[everestseal]

the ultimate horrible rich man from hell. at least this one has style, unlike every billionaire i’ve ever had the displeasure of looking at.

[everestseal]

been lookin thru some of ur old art + writing nd ive been thinkin abt mal + ezra a lot 4 some reason. do u think they ever explored eachothers bodies. did the snake hide in the rocks if u kno wht im sayin.

mal essentially had ezra enslaved via an exploitative soul contract, so i'm gonna have to say no on that one chief.

ezra takes zero joy in anything mal makes him do, and only does what he's told under duress. when he attacks douglas in that one short story, he does so only because he knows that mal will do worse to both of them if he doesn't cooperate.

also, since IA is essentially a defunct storyline at this point, i might as well disclose some of these dramatic story beats that I had in mind for the cottonmouth casino arc where they're introduced:

ezra is silent and stone-faced in nearly every appearance, prompting some to speculate on whether he's even a real person or a construct of mal's realm (ay, trauma-related dissociation).

mal frequently, jovially degrades ezra, referring to him as a 'golem' and showing sadistic joy in stripping him of his agency.

ezra subtly but deliberately assists charlie and melody in escaping the cottonmouth ('forgetting' to lock doors, conveniently not noticing them chipping away at their bonds, letting charlie get a good punch in that somehow instantly k.o.'s him, etc).

when the protags finally do escape, mal immediately responds by taking out his anger on ezra. i had a particular scene in mind where mal silently simmers for a few seconds, before calmly walking to his desk, pulling out a revolver, methodically loading it, spinning around, and saying 'hold still' before shooting ezra right in the shoulder. following this, mal goes off on an unhinged rant with ezra as his captive audience and punching bag.

i also planned to have ezra be an instrumental part in mal's comeuppance/demise, but I never really got the specifics of that down.

sorry for the rambling, i just have a lot of these little plot deets floating around with nowhere to go now that IA is dead. i still love the characters/their dynamics, but I have no intention of solidifying this story anymore.

[everestseal]

bustin into the new year by polishing up a small fraction of the hundreds of unfinished busts that i have lying around in my sketchbook

[everestseal]

i hate myslef.

[everestseal]

Safari Mal

nothing says 'self-entitled demon bastard who defines himself by controlling others' like trophy hunting endangered species

[everestseal]

and while we’re at it here’s a slightly redesigned mal

[everestseal]

Day 25: Empty

well don’t act surprised

[everestseal]

demons generally each have a unique ‘default’ form, which they take while in their own realms (these forms are not suited for long-term wear in the physical plane, thus the need for ‘human’ forms). while demons can shift shapes at will, their default forms are the ones they are most accustomed to and don’t require any concentration to maintain. however, like a human’s accent or posture, these forms can change over time.