Papaver rhoeas, the red poppies, are representative of remembrance poppies, which supposedly honor fallen soldiers, sometimes all war casualties, and call for future peace.
Papaver somniferum, the white poppies, are representative of both sedation and bandages (even if somniferum-sedatives are probably not accurate for this situation from a technical standpoint >_>).
Meconopsis betonicifolia(?), the blue poppy, is representative of the Plume of Dusk. Himalayan species are supposedly difficult to cultivate outside of their native environment; which similar could be posited about Plumes of Dusk.
The blue poppies in the vertical concept are probably still some species of meconopsis and have basically the same meaning, just applied differently.
The poppy stems, as you can sort of see in the first image, are intended to be IV tubes. The colorful connector ports are also reminiscent of the wallpaper you can find in the kids’ areas of some medical facilities.
The “sun” is a surgical lamp, specifically the one depicted in the manga (ch.30).
The white clothes are the same ones as depicted in the manga, though if you wanted to you could also ascribe them the meaning of “something untainted/pure”, as there isn’t any viscera staining them.
The flower crown I was kinda interpreting as being symbolic of children, innocence, and beauty. Obviously, nothing about this situation is any of those, though I wouldn’t be surprised if Ikutsuki saw it that way.
The color palette and perspective are supposed to invoke a dreamy/surreal state. Reality is the bright and sterile whites and grays of the surgical room, hazily blending into less “real” elements such as the poppies. The borders between the two are weak, and so you get stuff such as flowers and IV tubing merging.
Perspective-wise, I tried to make it look like one was seeing the lamp overhead as if they were the one on the table, and then tried to invoke a feeling of distance with the size/perspective of Sho and the poppies, as if they’re disconnected from reality.
The epithet I have for this concept is mostly based on “remembrance” from the red poppies and “sleep/sedative” from the name of the white poppies, “somniferum”. Though, it could be applied to other aspects of this concept/situation as well.
Overall, it’s just an artistic/symbolic take on the Plume-implantation surgery and lowkey the beginning of Minazuki’s existence, haha.
Your sentence... is to go give Minazuki some more love and appreciation. :V
Happy Ultimax port y’all! (Even though I’m like... 4 days late at this point. <_<;) Here’s to hoping for more recognition of its story and cast in future Persona series installments!!! \o/
(WIP versions below the cut!)
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Lineart version:
And the original concept draft (because I’m super out of practice with traditional medias so I didn’t want to mess it up, lol):
Just a random Velvet attendant Minazuki design, with an additional non-VR palette version because I got curious.
Fun fact: the back of his waistcoat is the typical vibrant royal blue of the VR, if it’s a bit difficult to tell from the small patch of it that’s visible here. I kind of had it in my head that, as someone not native to the Velvet Room, he would feature colors more representative of himself than those of the Velvet Room, or at the very least less congruent with the Velvet Room’s typically royal blue-prevalent scheme. Hence, the first impression people would get of him, if facing him straight-on, would be this more subdued shade of blue, only getting the more direct cue of who he’s associated with if you see him from another angle.
Also fun fact: his iteration of the Compendium is like those old encyclopedia tomes you could find on a pedestal in the library, but more handheld in terms of size, and has dark teal covers with gold detailing.
(Specifically headspace shenanigans, because trying to explore how I want to illustrate that. Also because the Ultimax manga has given me a strong craving to create more such interactions between these two. xP)
I went into this aiming to draw someone giving Minazuki a gentle hug, but instead I somehow got a sulking Minazuki and a Sho giving him very Sho-like concern. I guess it could be a flipside situation to [this] doodle? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Sho was probably just like “Okay! He’s been like this ALL. DAY.” then whips around internally so he can shake Minazuki and tell him to stop being stupid.
This just in: A Cryptid has been spotted being an utter dork at the local Samegawa floodplain. No word yet on what exactly he's trying to accomplish, but man is he high up there.
It’s dooooooooooone. \TuT/ Unfortunately not in time for Oct 31st, but that’s my fault for overestimating my on-hand wrinkle references and needing to scour around for more. >_>;
That aside, I used a stock photo as the basis for this! Honestly, if anyone else is looking for ref stock to use for drawing Sho and Minazuki, I highly recommend this guy. He’s got a similar body shape to them, is well-toned (albeit supposedly from 15+ years of dancing rather than training to be a fighter, but it’s still another aspect closer), and he has a lot of action shots in his gallery too! Different facial shapes though, but amending that kind of thing comes with the territory for using ref stock. xP
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Etcetera:
Fun fact: Originally that was meant to be Sho, wearing a grin alongside his attire. Then the plan just kinda shifted to being Minazuki at some point. xD He also gets starry scarves because 1; darkness is Minazuki’s element (especially more wispy/shadow-esk aspects) and 2; further starriness for the Stars prompt. Also just being high-up is a good excuse for messing with flowy scarves, in my opinion. xP
That shirt actually exists IRL too! A friend spotted it in a store last month and sent me a picture of it, and I I immediately decided that I had to draw Sho in it. It’s just too on-theme for him, hehe.
(For shippers, you can imagine Minazuki's S/O down on the ground below the beams taking pictures like this was meant to be a photoshoot, if you want. Meanwhile I'm laughing 'cause I can kinda see Rise or Yu being willing to stage a photoshoot like this (1: it'd be fun, especially with Minazuki's athletic cabilities, and 2: maybe body positivity or self-worth agendas?), and Minazuki finds it an amusing proposition so he goes along with it. But then he happens to be really good at it, so he's in part so smug because Yu/Rise is just a blushing mess down below him but trying not to get too distracted so they can keep taking pictures. Rise would recover pretty quickly though and perhaps start making cheeky or flirtatious comments about it? Yu would probably heap loads of gentle-natured praise on Minazuki when they’re reviewing the photos later-- of course somewhat when they’re actually staging and taking them, but definitely a lot more afterwards. //isn’t so well-versed in the IT at the moment though, so pardon any iffy characterization in these musings. ^^; )
And lastly, this marks my last prompt for the challenge, at least officially. Thus, I must extend my gratitude to the admin(/s?) who hosted this event. It was a very enjoyable way to pass my October, and I had fun with it, so thank you for taking the time to create and host it. uwu
...I honestly didn’t realize Labrys was making similar expressions until I just put them together in this post. I drew those like 2 months apart. >_>;
‘Fantasy cat-hybrid’ Sho is about as random (and as fluffy) as he looks, haha. I’m also torn between him painting the X on his face to look cooler and it being a consequence of whatever resulted in his third eye (and, presumably, subsequently Minazuki), which would probably be something magic-related given its odd coloration.
Also yes, his shirt is half off in the lineart one. It’s actually just because I needed more skin and shadows to test out colors in the new medium I was trying. xD (Which isn’t pictured here because it came out.. kind of a mess. qvq; )
