Hey guys.... so.... after AU day yesterday, I have become entirely obsessed with bartender Tech... please enjoy this mild thirst, especially you @immoralfibers!!
I also think I finally figured out how to do this digital art thing! I tried to limit my style at the start of @clonexocweek to be super simple and cartoony thinking it was be easier and faster given my corporate schedule. I was wrong. This more semi-realistic (?) style is WAY easier and faster to render, for me at least. It also looks way better IMO. Man, what someone can learn in a week!! Jumping from this to day one, it doesn't even look like I am the same artist. So thank you, @clonexocweek for allowing me to get out of my comfort zone and actually pick up adobe fresco and crank out some art. I still don't know when to smudge out my shadows and when not to BUT I feel confident that I have greatly improved.
authors note: hey guys i’m so sorry this art is so lacking emotion and depth… i had to rip Seris from a character sheet i was working on for lack of time… ALSO this is my first digital art piece ever *gulp* so yeah I know it is not great and I don’t know how to render but I hope you enjoy this sketch anyway! also used a side profile @zaana did of Tech as an inspo!
anywhere he's a little drabble of them meeting and talking for the first time! sorry there isn't more, my irl duties have been intense lately!
The clone they called Tech barely looked at Seris when Rex said her name.
His goggles were already angled back toward his datapad before the introduction was finished, fingers moving in small, efficient strokes across the screen, and she found herself watching those hands longer than she thought appropriate. He had more equipment strapped to his armor than the others, small instruments and tools slotted into every available surface. He wore all of it with casual ease, a solider or some sort of technician used to the weight of his loadout.
She stopped noticing him eventually. She had a room full of people to hold in her attention, a mission to absorb, Rex's grave voice mapping a path into dangerous territory. The unconscious assassin on the table. Omega's small, fierce questions cutting through the briefing like light under a door. There was plenty to occupy her.
Which is why it took her a moment to realize, when the group shifted toward the corridor and the low preparations for departure, that Tech had matched his stride to hers.
His datapad was still in hand but his eyes now flicked sideways with an attention that was oddly thorough. She felt it move across her face, her posture, the circular headpiece at her brow, the way her hands settled at her sides when she was thinking.
"Your headpiece contains Helerian truth and justice symbols," he said, in an even tone. "Traditional emblems from your homeworld's philosophical tradition. Predating its inclusion in the Republic by approximately seven centuries."
Seris missed a step.
"You're familiar with Helerian cultural history?"
"I maintain databases on planetary cultural identifiers," he replied. "Useful for mission contexts."
The explanation sat in the air between them, tidy and sufficient. She considered it, gently turned it over, while her years of diplomatic training for the Senate mulled it over more thoroughly.
He had catalogued seven centuries of Helerian philosophy for mission contexts?
"Of course," she said, and she matched his tone so precisely that the corner of his mouth shifted just slightly.
authors note: I feel like i learn something with each drawing. This is a slightly different style because I did not use a mixer brush. what do we think? her highlights in her hair are a bit much, but i am learning lol ALSO, in regards to the story, i have no clue how I want to end this, so it may change if I eventually write a fic about them
Seris rushed through her bedroom door and scanned the shelves of Helerian texts, the ambassador's gift on the mantle, and the small framed photograph of her and Riyo taken two years ago in the Senate gardens. Her hands shook at she reached for the photograph and shoved it in her satchel.
She only allowed herself another quick glance before she met Tech in the living room, helmet on and ready. The Marauder was three levels below them in a maintenance bay that would only stay unmonitored for another eleven minutes.
He looked at the bag before shifting up to her face.
"Ready?" he said.
It was not a question with an easy answer, and she suspected he knew that, because he did not rush her, just stood there in the low light of the corridor while she turned and looked back at her apartment one last time.
"Yes," she said. She reached out and took his free hand, and she felt him go briefly still beside her the way he always did, the small recalibration of him, before his fingers closed around hers.
She did not turn back to watch her apartment fade from view.
The turbolift took them down through the building's bones, until they were in the undercity's grey arterial corridors. The maintenance bay opened before them with a hiss of recycled air, and there was the Marauder with Hunter already on the ramp. He took one look at her bag and her face and had the good grace not to say anything at all.
Omega appeared in the ship's doorway, took in the scene below, and broke into a run down the ramp. Seris had just enough time to let go of Tech's hand before Omega crashed into her and wrapped both arms around her waist.
"I knew you would come," Omega said into her robes.
Seris pressed her hand to the back of the girl's head and said nothing, because the sudden sharp dryness at her throat prevented her. Tech must have noticed her strained expression, because the warmth of his hand soothed her back, rubbing in gentle circles.
When she finally lifted her head, the Marauder's ramp was waiting.
Omega took her hand and pulled her forward, and Seris allowed her legs the follow the small girl up the ramp and into the dark hull of the ship. It almost felt like stasis before the hiss of the hydraulics locking on the door shook her from the thought.
All of her movements felt like she was lighter, maybe floating, maybe dreaming. All she new was none of this seemed real. Yet, she saw her most trusted confidant before her, his googled eyes finding hers intently before traveling to the cockpit and sitting in the pilots seat. He was constantly checking, reassuring, without words.
She knew the copilots seat belonged to Echo, but he was already standing, bowing his head in respect, and ushering her forward. It seemed only right to accept, so Seris settled into the copilot's seat as the Marauder's engines turned over.
The opportunity seemed to arise in her mind, to take out the photograph she grabbed earlier and remember that times she would be leaving behind. As her mind wandered, she noticed Tech also looking at the image of her and Riyo in the Senate gardens. The two friends were enjoying the run, Riyo's smile radiant against her perfect blue skin.
"You will see her again," he said.
She looked at him. She knew Tech did not offer things he could not support with data. He was stating a conclusion he had already reached.
"How do you know?"
"Because Senator Chuchi is resourceful, the Empire has not yet found a way to silence her, and you are both, by any measurable standard, extremely difficult to stop." He looked at the photograph once more before turning back to the ship. "The probability is favorable."
Then engines rose beneath her feet. Coruscant's lights would be falling away, a billion of them, the city she had spent a decade learning and fighting for, going small and then smaller, and then gone.
Despite having the best seat in the house, she couldn't bear to look.
So I did something a little different than the direct prompts again: this AU is inspired by Copacobana! Seris is the lovely show girl and Tech is the bartender! I sure hope nothing bad ever happens to them! Also there are alternates and references below the cut!
Also, I physically don't know how this art came out of me. I know this is a kinda different art style than what I was doing before. I think my issue was using the monet mixer brush and mixing everything too much. Basically, I don't know if I will ever make anything this good again, so enjoy!!
P.S. I also have become kind of obsessed with this AU so I am so sorry if you don't care for it because there will probabaly be more-
GRWM for Tech and Seris before their 8pm-4am shift at the Copa! After I made the first mini comic, I felt like I could take on the world, so I tried to do a slightly more detailed/realistic style for this one. As you can see, I did not do fantastic, but I still thought it was cute and wanted to post it! I (I also got really lazy and the end and didn't want to draw her sequins and used as asset on adobe fresco... shame on me...) Also, it was based on this vintage piece! I don't know the artist sadly, but I thought was really visually interesting and it inspired me!
Both of these silly fanarts were not only inspired by the song, Copacobana, but also inspired by the recent art of Tech by @toastyrobos. I used their art as a reference for Tech's face and hair here, because it really reminded me of the era the song is set in. I am a super beginner with drawing and rely heavily on looking at refences, so I hope this is okay! If not, I will take it down and redraw him differently, just lmk!
Tech only alternate:
No text alternate:
References:
All were found on Pinterest and I couldn’t find any accreditation for them sadly…
authors note: hey guys!! day 2!! I hope you like this little art and the following drabble! I think i like this art more than yesterdays... idk, trying to speed run leaning how to do this stuff!
The call came at an unreasonable hour.
Seris had learned, in the weeks since they met, that this was simply how it went with Tech. He did not operate on a standard cycle. He operated on curiosity, and curiosity kept no schedule.
She answered anyway. She was still at her desk, a half-drafted amendment spread across her screen, a cold cup of tea at her elbow that she kept meaning to deal with. The blue flicker of his projection filled the low light of her office.
"I have a question," he said, by way of greeting.
"Hello, Tech."
"Yes. Hello." He adjusted something off-screen, hands never fully still. "You referenced the Helerian Concord during the Senate session this afternoon. I was observing the transcript."
Something warm moved through her chest. "You were reviewing Senate transcripts?"
"I review a considerable amount of material. The question," he continued, determined to return the conversation to its proper track, "is whether you invoked the Concord as precedent or as pressure. The distinction carries significant strategic implications and the transcript does not make your intent clear."
Seris leaned back in her chair, studying the small blue figure of him. "What do you think?"
A pause. She had learned to read his pauses too, in the weeks of intermittent calls that had accumulated without either of them formally deciding to begin. This one meant he had already formed a conclusion and was deciding whether to offer it.
"I think," he said carefully, "that you knew the citation would be challenged and that you wanted it challenged. The subsequent debate shifted the chamber's attention away from Rampart's provision in subclause nine, which would otherwise have passed without scrutiny." Another pause, shorter. "It was well-executed."
From Tech, this was an extraordinary compliment.
"Thank you."
He accepted this with a slight nod. Then he picked up something from his workbench and began to examine it, and she recognized this too: he was staying on the call. He simply needed something for his hands.
"The provision didn't pass," she offered.
"I am aware. I said it was well-executed." The faintest thread of something... admiration maybe, moved through his voice. "I do not give assessments I do not mean."
"I know you don't."
The silence that followed was not uncomfortable. That had surprised her, the first time it happened a few weeks ago. A politician's silence was almost always a weapon or a wound. Tech's silences were simply spaces where he was thinking, and he did not seem to require her to fill them. She found this to be a breath of fresh air.
"The others are well," he said eventually, unprompted. "In the event you were going to ask."
She had been going to ask. She smiled at the surface of her desk. "How is Omega?"
"Currently asleep, which is the appropriate state for someone of her age at this hour." A beat. "Unlike certain senators."
Seris looked up.
The corner of his mouth had done that thing again. The slight shift. The almost.
"I had work to finish," she said.
"You have work to finish every time I call."
"You call at unreasonable hours."
"I call," he said, making a factual correction, "when I have something to say. As it happens, you work at unreasonable hours." A beat. "As do I."
Seris looked at her amendment rather than at him. "It is nice," she said, carefully, "to have the company."
Tech said nothing. He picked up a different instrument and returned to his work.
Outside her window, Coruscant burned through the dark, a billion lights that never went out. Seris pulled her amendment back toward her and began to read. The call stayed open, but neither of them said anything for a long while.
Hi!! Yes, Seris is my Star Wars senator oc!! Funny you ask, as I am working on an updated piece of her right now!
I don’t have a ton of info up about her, and I am reworking part of her design at the moment, but if you are curious about her, you can check out the stuff I did for @clonexocweek!! Here is the link!
(And since you asked about her, here is an in-progress pic!!!)
authors note: sorry guys i got a bit lazy with this one.. I wanted to get to bed by midnight so I kind of threw it together more than yesterdays! I also realized I forgot Tech's recording device on his goglles in day one and two...
His hand caught her arm just below the elbow, gloved fingers closing around the layered fabric of her robes with a firmness that pulled her from thought. Around them, the Senate corridor moved in its usual current of aides and officials and whispered urgency, but the noise seemed to pull back from the two of them, the air charged.
She turned to look at him.
Tech was back in his armor, his expression arranged in its usual careful neutrality. She had learned to read past the neutrality by now. The slight tension along his jaw. The way his grip had not loosened.
"I have to go. The vote is in ten minutes," she said.
"I am aware of the vote." His voice was even. "I am also aware that there are three unfamiliar security personnel on the floor who do not appear in the Senate's registered roster, and that the last senator who publicly opposed this bill is currently missing."
Seris held his gaze. "Also aware of that."
"Then you understand why I am standing here."
Someone brushed past her shoulder and she did not look away from him. His goggles did nothing to hide the rare intensity behind his eyes. Two portholes into his thoughts.
"Tech," she said quietly. "You cannot ask me to not go in there."
A pause. His grip did not shift. "I am not asking that."
"Then what are you doing?"
He did not answer immediately, and she watched him work through whatever he was calculating, the slight movement behind his eyes, the almost imperceptible set of his mouth. His thumb, she noticed, had moved a fraction against the fabric of her sleeve.
"I have run the probability models," he said finally. "Several times. There is no version of today in which I can adequately ensure your safety once you cross that floor."
"I know."
His jaw tightened. Seris looked at his hand, gloved fingers still closed around her sleeve, and felt something cold settle in her stomach. In all the time she had known him, he had never reached out and taken hold of her like this. Not once. She almost said something about what this could mean from him. Instead she covered his hand with hers, just briefly, and felt the breath he took.
"It has to be me," she said. "You know that."
Tech looked at her for a long moment. The corridor moved and hummed around them, and he stood very still in the middle of it, her hand over his, the chamber doors at her back.
Then, carefully, he released her arm.
"The rostrum has a blind spot on the left side," he said, his voice returned to its usual precision, each word placed with great care. "Stand to the right. And do not take the main corridor back to your office afterward. Take the service passage on the east side of the building. I will send the route to your comm."
Seris nodded. Her throat felt strange.
"I will be listening," he added, and it came out quieter than the rest.
She turned before he could see her face, and walked through the doors.
I owed you guys an actual render of her now that I have locked in my art style! Also I cut her hair!!
Literally right before I post each time I realize that I keep forgetting to sign my artwork. Oh well, I am too lazy to go back and redownload it-
Also also! I keep trying to decide things for my art style, and I was wondering what style you guys preferred out of the options below! Do we feel the more simple vibe of flat color, or do we prefer fully rendered? Please let me know!!
Which style do you prefer?
Rendered (first image)
Flat Color (second image)
Flat color but with a little bit of simple (not blended) shading
