Hey! Feels like it has been forever since I did some design work for Starglass Zodiac, I've had a pile of WIPs that I've been chipping away at for so long but actually finishing one has been a whole other thing. This is not as extensive as some of my other ref sheets as a result, so I'll likely finish an extended version sometime later, but I've been itching to share one regardless.
This is Urania! A prior incarnation of Uranoscopus's constellation, thought to be the first. She's relevant to the main story in a more "extended lore" sense, but her backstory does inform the lead-up to certain story elements, so I was excited to work that out behind the scenes. :D
Her colour scheme and symbol integration ended up very similar to that of Ursa Minor in the end, but I intend to revisit the Ursas' concepts later anyway, so I'm not too bothered. That said, her design does deliberately mirror (ha) another character I've already designed for lore reasons :] (other than her constellation counterpart, I mean)
The mirror carried by the current Uranoscopus is the same as the one seen here, but was transformed by the crafty ringleader for her own purposes, giving it a different appearance and function. Originally, Urania's Mirror was more akin to a star map of the Astral Plane, a reference to a series of star maps from the 1800s of the same name. Mythologically speaking, Urania herself is the Muse of astronomy, though the term "muse" is used a bit more literally for this character.
THE ZODIAC EXPERIMENT X STARGLASS ZODIAC HALLOWEEN CROSSOVER!! 🎃👻🦇
it's that time of year again when I crossover everybody's favorite work-in-progress zodiac series!! The Zodiac Experiment belongs to me, and Starglass Zodiac belongs to the amazing @sweet-star-cookie!
this year, the crossover is a choose your own adventure kind of thing! we all know how this kind of thing works, we click on the links and we follow them to the next page, simple as that. there are fifteen total endings that can be found in this story, so have fun finding all of them!
all Zodiacs from both series are featured in this crossover, but I mention only one of them by name out of all 24 of them, so the zodiacs that are featured in each section will be in the tags. additionally, this year I used my revamped Zodiacs, but it won't make much of a difference because they don't really...talk. you'll see what I mean once you start reading.
also, please let me know if any of the links are wonky. shit happens.
and with all of that out of the way...
- LET'S START THE GAME!
(@mythicalmagical-monkeyman @hyperfixation-tangentopia @maiawhimsicalt hiii guys it's been a while since I've made any zodiac content. no idea if you guys still like it or not, but here ya go :DD)
Hi everyone! If you missed my last post, I'm back to celebrate a very important milestone: Starglass Zodiac's anniversary! As of today (July 19th, 2025), SGZ is 10 years old!!! Aaahhh!!!!! I could never have imagined what this project would become back then, and I can't believe it even now ;u;
To celebrate, I've created a lore document of this story's magical elements and abilities for your reading pleasure! :D
Though I have removed the largest spoilers from this version of the document (as much as I love yapping I have to keep some of my secrets lmao), I still must give a general SPOILER WARNING!!! as those are unavoidable here. Simply discussing the magic system reveals more info in general, including the stories of some characters, and the magic is closely connected to the overall themes of the comic as well. Regardless, I hope you enjoy! :D
-------------⭑ You can find the lore document HERE! ⭑-------------
It likely won't stay up forever, but it will at least stay until I'm able to create wiki-style lore and character pages for everything in the future :) Either way, no info will be lost between the iterations, even as I make tweaks and additions to this one going forward. It's a lot to keep track of, after all! Still, it is very satisfying to get this to some level of done after so long :'D I'd like to add some visuals for some sections of this document as well!
Perhaps it's because I've been staring at text for most of today to finish this, but I currently lack the words to express how much this milestone means to me ;u; I'm not sure I'm actually processing it fully, haha! Despite my recent burnout, my love for this project remains the same. And if you're reading this, thanks for sticking around for this weird and wonderful journey of mine! <3
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As for the comic itself, I've been lost in the Art Fight sauce all month and will be until the end of July, but that has luckily cured my burnout for the time being! I am currently aiming for the comic to return sometime in August, but I will confirm for you later on if I'm able to return at that time with another post on this blog. As always, thanks for reading and see you then! <3
Doodle from November 22nd, 2024
Didn't have time for a full piece this year since I'm still doing today's comic update in between commission stuff, but I had to at least do a little doodle for Cassie's birthday today heehee :'D <3
if you were to drop cassie + the zodiacs into a human/modern AU (an AU where all the zodiacs and constellations were humanized and there is no magic in the universe), what jobs do you think they would do? what would their new human names be? would their dynamics change as a result of the lack of magic and the trauma that comes along with it? and what do you think flicker's normal animal equivalent would be?
(definitely not related to a christmas special i'm cooking up nooope no frenzied AU writing here)
Oooooooh? 👀 Whatever you've got cooking, I'm very excited :D
You know it's funny, now that I think about it I've done a lot more speculating about humanization/AU stuff for this set of characters than even I remembered initially, haha! The upside is that means I actually have some stuff to give you :D
Of course I don't consider any of this to be "canon" even in an AU sense, as the ideas here are pretty spur-of-the-moment overall and I would need to develop them more if I were to ever make an actual AU story myself. Some of these I've never thought about prior to now, so it is by no means complete in terms of info, but I hope it helps!
With that in mind, don't feel restricted by what I give you here, if you come up with something different for these characters that you want to write about, go for it! Feel free to play around and have fun ^_^
Alright, on to the (very long) answers!
I'll start with the Flicker question, since that'll have the shortest answer comparatively! When figuring out their size in the main story I have compared them to a small kitten before. Considering they can fit in the palm of Cassie's hand most of the time too, something in the rodent family might be more suitable here. Given their stubby limbs, small paws/feet and round body, a hamster comes to mind for me (though I'm biased because I grew up with pet hamsters, haha).
As for Cassie and the zodiac, it would depend on what setting/context this takes place in to determine how they meet and interact with each other, and what dynamics they'd make or keep from their original counterparts, including what part of the world they/their theoretical ancestors are from. Are they all somehow in Cassie's town, or are they all somewhere else? How Cassie would meet them would obviously be very different too, and depending on their occupations she'd be less likely to meet some than others, but of course you can find ways to bring them together anyway.
Since there are nearly infinite options to answer the question of setting, I'll instead give you some general ideas for their possible occupations and such and you can go from there! Some of the "jobs" the adult zodiacs have on the Astral Plane do translate pretty easily to regular Earth occupations, but again you don't have to stick to those if you don't want to. Same with the names, I only have some that came to mind or that I've had previously so feel free to make some up for yourself!
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ARIES
Possible Occupation: I could see him as a gym trainer or something, the kind that may yell a lot but that actually works for people who are motivated by that kind of intensity, and he genuinely cares about the health/strength goals of the patrons with great passion as well. Perhaps he's still underestimated for his size/height but is able to prove himself with his strength anyway, and thus everyone at the gym respects him.
What's funny is Aries actually used to be half-human in canon! Here's the old concept art from around 2016, if that helps at all:
The only reason I eventually changed him was to balance out the cast a bit more variety wise, as Leo was the only anthropomorphic animal zodiac character at the time. This is the same reason I changed Capricorn to be anthropomorphic as well, though in his case I felt it also strengthened his concept as the "sea goat" a lot more easily that way.
Possible Name: For some reason any variant of Aaron comes to mind, I'm assuming because it matches with the "ar" syllable in Aries (though that may also be me thinking about Aran Ryan, the stereotypical unhinged/angry Irishman character from Punch-Out lol)
Relationship with Zodiac Companion: (If you're including them too) I'd imagine that Perseus would be a rather anxious member at the gym that takes a lot of effort to motivate properly, but Aries sees potential in him and sees it through anyway. Either that or he simply wants to help out with other things around the gym to build up his confidence more. He's young, so maybe it's his very first job or something, and a challenge for Aries to learn how to train someone who doesn't match his own demeanour very much at all.
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TAURUS
Possible Occupation: I can see her as some kind of animal rescue operator or a park ranger that's focused on areas with protected species. A zookeeper could work well too, she'd definitely be one that would be excited and energetic when giving tours and facts about the animals because she loves them so much.
Possible Name: One that I have in my old "what if" notes is Tori Dellman (I don't remember why lol)
Relationship with Zodiac Companion: Wherever Orion would be in his original character arc could determine their relationship here, like maybe he's still a hunter/poacher that Taurus has to deal with but eventually befriends, or he is a fellow park ranger/animal rescuer/zookeeper.
Coincidentally, at the time of writing this I am finishing up Part 2 of Orion's updated reference sheet that shows his human form prior to his deer transformation, so stay tuned for that soon :D
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GEMINI & LEO
(Putting these two together since they're the children of the zodiac cast and thus wouldn't have set jobs/aspirations like the adults do)
Possible Names: The Gemini twins could theoretically keep their original names (Solana and Luna) but there are a bunch of other names that mean sun/moon that you could use if you want to keep that duality theme but in a subtler way.
Same with Leo, there are a bunch of names that mean "lion" that you could use (though that already includes Leo itself, of course).
Relationship with Zodiac Companions: I feel like this would also be determined by what dynamic they have with their guardians/parental figures (Sagittarius and Cancer) and if they're adopted as their children or not. This would extend to their companions as well, as I consider Leo Minor to be Leo's little brother in canon and that could be the same here. Auriga could be an older sister to the Gemini twins in turn, though I could also see her as a camp counsellor or some other kind of teenage volunteer on a school trip or something.
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CANCER
Possible Occupation: Her giant claw cannons that can shoot water and her strong build make me think she could work well as a fire fighter, the kind that isn't weighed down by her gear very much and doesn't mind leaping into danger multiple times if necessary, still keeping that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ kind of attitude when it comes to her own safety.
Possible Name: The only name I have for her in my notes is Maura Kinloch, though this was a relic from a very, very old lore draft where it's implied that her incarnation of her constellation has been around for literal centuries, further implying that she was the only one of the armour clad characters on the Astral Plane who actually lived as a knight during the medieval times on Earth (make of that what you will lmao)
Relationship with Zodiac Companion: This would again depend on how you interpret Hydra/Hydrus and their relationship with her, though you don't necessarily have to humanize every single one of the animal characters either. Considering their constellations are defined as "the water snakes" you could also have them be her pets, either as snakes or some other kind of reptile/amphibian.
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VIRGO
Possible Occupation: Considering her Lady Justice themeing in canon, she could have a similar job in a courtroom, though which one she has is up to you. A judge or attorney might be most fitting, but she could also be an investigator or detective as well.
Possible Name: Not sure, sorry ^^' Whenever I need to think of AU names I usually either pick a name that has a meaning adjacent to their original concept, or one that phonetically sounds similar/has some of the same syllables as their canon name to tie them together.
Relationship with Zodiac Companion: Given Corvus's status as a former thief/delinquent in canon, you could use that in the AU and whatever job Virgo has could determine what relationship they have. Perhaps Corvus is a part of a case she's working on as a suspect and she needs to prove his guilt/innocence, or he's the classic "help us out now and we'll reduce your sentence" kind of thing, perhaps acting as a sort of double agent.
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LIBRA
Possible Occupation: I picture her keeping her job as a librarian/archivist, though how high up the "ladder" she is in terms of that occupation is up to you, and whether or not museum experience is included is a possibility as well. If you want to connect her AU part to Virgo's to match canon, she could also be either a fellow attorney/judge, or the stenographer (the person who transcribes what is said in a courtroom). They could always just be friends outside of their respective jobs too, though.
Possible Name: Elise, from my old notes. Not sure if I picked this one because they both have L in their spellings but I like it. :)
Relationship with Zodiac Companion: Lupus would still be some kind of assistant to Libra I think, regardless of what occupation either of them has. Similar to Scutum (see below!) I actually have a drawing of him as a human, though it's not finished yet:
I had fun with this one :D Though he appears a lot younger as a wolf, he's actually a young adult in terms of age.
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SCORPIO
Possible Occupation: This is one I actually have a slightly more fleshed out AU idea for, believe it or not! I pictured Scorpio as some kind of secret agent/spy or maybe even a trained assassin or bounty hunter depending on whether he actually has a body count in this AU or not. Perhaps he's caught up in a conspiracy or plot where he realizes he's on the wrong side of it all with what he has been assigned, and has to pivot to save the victim(s) despite the extreme danger in doing so.
If you want a more "pedestrian" angle for the AU though, he could just be the type of guy who tries his best to get by with whoever will hire him, but somehow keeps finding trouble or having trouble find him. Maybe he was categorized as a delinquent in his youth because of his suspiciously adept knife skills, rightfully or otherwise, leading to his characteristic brooding pessimism even after he became a young adult.
If Virgo/Libra are still tied to the justice system in this hypothetical, I think it would be funny if Scorpio was truthfully just a regular guy, but one that constantly gets roped into ridiculous situations through no fault of his own. So once they get him on the stand and they look at him like "...again?" he's just like "for the love of god it's not me this time-"
Apparently I cannot give him a break even in an AU, sorry bud xD
Possible Name: To match his occupation, it's likely that his real name is unknown/redacted and he uses Agent Scorpio/Scorpius as a code name or alias instead. Not sure what his name would be in an otherwise normal situation though, maybe he has to keep changing it to avoid whatever trouble keeps finding him.
Relationship with Zodiac Companion: In sharp contrast to Scorpio, Scutum is a paramedic with a big heart and chipper attitude, the kind that may not follow the rules all the time but is always riding off on his Moped with his medical bag to save a life somewhere. If he arrives on the scene on time, he has a tendency to put himself between a victim and the assailant's weapon to protect them, earning him his nickname. I've actually drawn this version of him too :D
(this is still one of my favourite designs to date, heehee :'D )
Despite their opposing occupations, he and Scorpio end up working together a lot more than either of them expected. As a paramedic, Scutum has the MO of "everyone deserves rescuing", including trained assassins in this case! To him it doesn't matter who they are, a patient is a patient.
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SAGITTARIUS
Possible Occupation: For some reason I picture him as an outdoorsman, like a hiker or survivalist or something. I think it would be funny if, even when fully human in this AU, he is still mistaken for a bear in the woods from a distance because of his hair and stocky build. Whether he practices archery as a job or simply a hobby is another thing as well, as that could factor into his survival skills or perhaps he competes in tournaments with it.
Possible Name: I have Argus or Darius as a first name here, and considering the Scottish inspiration for his canon design you could give him a Scottish surname as well if you like.
Relationship with Zodiac Companion: If you want to keep Centaurus's insatiable desire to explore, you could have him be a companion on Sagittarius's hikes or a survivalist-in-training. He might want to partake in some spelunking as well if the area in question has caves. Even in canon Centaurus's name is often shortened to Rus, so you could use that here as a short form of Russell.
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CAPRICORN
Possible Occupation: I think he'd be a well-to-do patron of the arts, likely still an owner or an otherwise staunch financial supporter of a theatre, big or small. Whether he is/was an actor or is simply a performing arts enthusiast is up to you, but I think his refined taste and penchant for the extravagant would still shine through in his demeanour, clothing and possessions. Whether he and Aries are still brothers here is up to you too, though the contrast in their occupations might make for an amusing dynamic, as Capricorn in this AU likely wouldn't lay a finger on a weight even if his life depended on it.
Possible Name: Quentin Armanis, Noctus Finch, or Atticus Strombold (I'm really good at coming up with fancy names I guess lmao)
Relationship with Zodiac Companion: I think Pegasus and her siblings would still be in the performing arts here, though depending on the setting, how they and Capricorn meet might be different. Perhaps Capricorn has a more hidden altruistic side where he supports young and/or indie theatre efforts in addition to the larger ones, but all on the down-low for the sake of whatever reputation he's trying to keep.
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AQUARIUS
Possible Occupation: I can see her keeping her fashion designer/hair stylist angle here, but how "high profile" she is in this regard could vary in the AU depending on her goals/passions. Regardless of whether her and Pisces are still married in this AU, I could see Pisces becoming at least a muse for Aquarius's designs if nothing else.
Possible Name: Odessa, or some other fancy name that a fashion designer would have.
Relationship with Zodiac Companion: Similar to their initial rivalry in canon, Aquila could be a rival of hers in the fashion world as well, perhaps even "fighting" with similar clothing styles and motifs to see who can do it better. Whether they patch things up or continue the drama would remain to be seen!
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PISCES
Possible Occupation: For some reason I see her going in a lot of potential directions. She could work at a spa, an aquarium, or maybe she'd be a swimming instructor/competitive swimmer, all options to keep her water/fish theme. Whether or not her and Aquarius are married in this AU may alter one or both of their occupations as well.
Possible Name: Cherise, perhaps to match her predominantly pink/red colours in canon and cheerful personality. Depending on her occupation, I can see others calling her "Miss Cherry" as a nickname (the word cherry derives from cherise, and cerise is French for cherry).
Relationship with Zodiac Companion: This also depends on how you'd approach Austri in this AU, as even if she's still a circus performer like she is/was in canon, how she and Pisces meet would likely be very different regardless. They don't necessarily have to be connected outside of meeting each other at some point though. I could see Pisces simply knowing Austri for being a performer at the aforementioned circus or even as a mute comedian that specializes in physical comedy instead of verbal. Considering Austri's canon connections to Capricorn as well, perhaps they know each other through association that way.
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OPHIUCHUS
(Including him too because he's sort of the 13th zodiac and it would feel wrong to exclude him considering how important he is to canon lol)
Possible Occupation: Considering he's a healer in canon, I'd imagine him being in the medical field would be appropriate, especially since the caduceus (a symbol associated with Ophiuchus and traditionally represents healing) is still used as a medical symbol today. Depending on what you wish to do with Scorpio/Scutum's part of the AU, you could have them be connected (for better or worse!)
Possible Name: No idea, sorry ^^' It could be similarly long/complicated as his constellation name, and maybe has a degree of unintentional intimidation to it. For me at least, the name Ophiuchus always felt very grandiose even if my character with that name is of a more humble nature comparatively, so you could play around with that depending on what angle you wish to take with his character's personality/goals in this AU. Is he still considered an antagonist here, or something else entirely?
Relationship with Zodiac Companion: A similar situation to Cancer where you don't necessarily have to humanize Serpens and Cetus and could make them pet snakes, though having them be Ophiuchus's assistants at his medical practice could also work well too, since that's basically what they do in canon (and the caduceus imagery often includes two snakes already).
