Let's go pride art! Close ups of each character under the cut :)
All flags used are in the alt. text :)
Also, yes. This is, embarrassingly, my first time drawing locs 🥲
I've always felt really intimidated by POC hairstyles because 1, I don't want to offend anybody and 2, I've never done them before and thus have no confidence with drawing them
But I can only get somewhere by starting and I don't want someone to see my work and feel that this is just another space that won't include them.
Perseus is a character I've never drawn because I always wanted him to have locs, but I've never drawn locs before. But I love Percy and I want others to see the I love him too :)
(Also, I've now seen debate online about the word "dreads", with some POC saying it's derogatory and others saying it isn't. I only saw this after taking all my screenshots, so it still uses the word, but I've used 'locs' for the text of this post to be safe. If this word is truly offensive, let me know and I'll edit this post once my tablet isn't dead :))
TS is a character that's very important to me. They haunt the story, shaping large chunks of others' lives, even if they're restricted to a sword. Their story is about a lot of things, but one of the major themes is misunderstanding and history from the side of the victor.
In history, TS exists as a tale, not a person. They are a warning, a subtle threat to obey your leaders. Their story is twisted into propaganda and their name is forgotten in favor of dehumanizing them.
They do have a name, one with meaning behind it too, and you won't know it. TS's name is something I currently have no plans of revealing. Their name is a symbol of just how much they've been forgotten and to tell what it was defeats the entire point of always calling them TS. If I ever decide to reveal their original name, it will be way past the current map of the story.
So, because I'm a dork who watched RWBY, all my character's weapons get to have names.
Tommie's scythe is Renegade because she learned to harness her magic while with The Rebellion and will forever feel connected to them because of that.
Viktor's gauntlets are named Hope because their defensive nature reflects his hope for peace in the future. His twin knives are called Verdict due to them typically being Viktor's last resort in a fight.
Also Tommie gets to have a reference sheet, since she's taking up more space in my mind lately.
My favorite freaky spirit trapped in a sword!! Their design has changed a ton over the time they've existed (And will most likely change again later) but I've finally collected enough inspirations to make something I like!
I never really liked TS's design and couldn't figure out a way to fix it. They've just been bouncing around in my head with nebulous concepts until I finally decided on making them this weird purple creature :3
Still, I needed them to be distinct from every other indistinct spirit creature, so I yoinked their halo, wings, and necklace from their old Gacha design!
I can distinctly remember hating to look at them even while making this video. Anywho, that's enough yapping.
Yep, there's four version of this piece. I could do more if I really wanted to, but I don't lol.
So, this piece is about my two boys Atlas (Purple Elf) and Judah (Gold Wolf) and how they're parallels of each other. The two are very similar in many ways and their stories are about what redemption really means.
Atlas was a child soldier who fought for The Crown until he eventually underwent a magical transformation and joined the Rebellion as an adult to fight against The Crown under a new name.
Judah was cast out from his home at a very young age and learned to manipulate people to survive. As he rose through the ranks of The Crown, he become more and more obsessed with power until he was taken down by the Rebellion. It isn't until months after being imprisoned that he truly starts to change.
Despite having 22 years on Atlas, Judah doesn't change until after Atlas does. Judah is a reflection of how much worse Atlas could have been while Atlas is a reflection of what Judah wishes he could have been.
Of course, this piece is pre-redemption Judah, so they just hate each other here lol.
This is the reference image, and it's been spread around so much that I cannot find the original source! I hate that. But oh well, I guess
I decided to make some more character references since I've got a bunch of characters who still need one, and the two I chose to start with are Judah and Percy!
Judah is my morally confusing son who isn't actually morally confusing at all, I just excuse everything he does because he's my son lol. No but seriously, he's a guy who's been through a lot but ultimately became a horrible perpetrator of abhorrent shit. Then he gets kicked off the throne and does a ton of self-reflection and tries to be better. His story is meant to parallel another character's story and showcase themes of nuance in redemption.
Perseus, Percy, is my lovely son who's just a ball of joy! He's a happy lil guy and his whimsy was not at all dulled by getting his face slashed up by another magically corrupted character. Obviously, he has his struggles and isn't always perfectly forgiving, but he doesn't like to have his time consumed with hate. He is the ball of energy counterpart to his QPR partner CJ, who is extremely low energy. They're total opposites who probably shouldn't work as well as they do, but they don't care :)
This is my second time ever drawing locs, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! Of course, there's still room for improvement, but I'm just happy to have tried. For the longest time, Percy remained in my head because I was too scared to try drawing his locs. I always thought, "My artstyle is too developed now, I can't really draw them badly without looking problematic" but I want to think that with the research I'm continuing to do and the effort I'm putting in, others can see that I'm making a sincere attempt to be better. Continuing to avoid drawing black hairstyles because of my lack of experience will only become more of a problem, especially as I seek to make my social media a safe place where others can feel seen.
What finally pushed me into drawing Percy was my pride piece this year, where I included him in my first sketch without thinking about it. I debated over including him when the time came to properly sketch him, but I decided that it was long overdue for me to draw him. He's one of my favorite OCs and it makes me sad that I've avoided drawing him out of fear. He's a happy guy who makes me happy and I want him to make others happy, too!
I apologize if any of this comes off weird, I just try to be very conscious of how racism can effect my actions without me even thinking about it. My fear of being perceived as racist ultimately held me back from drawing my characters of color, ironically making me be a lot more racist than if I just took the first step forward. I want to be better, I want to show that I am trying to unlearn that shit and include the people I care about in the media I make.
Mairr finally has an updated reference sheet! Old sheet and extras below the cut :3
November of 2024 vs March of 2026!
Ngl, Mairr's 2024 ref haunts me. I hate looking at it lol, I was in a bit of a phase with how I drew feet (By which I mean I didn't and still don't know how to draw them.)
Anyway, here's the novel I wrote about the minor changes to her design
I might be too into character design.
Anyway, more design insanity with her weapon!
This is Firecracker! Firecracker is a magic staff originally owned by Mairr's mother, Cherri, and was passed down to Mairr when Cherri died at war. The color changes with its owner via magic :3
