For @paxerle’s raffle I drew their oc Mabel, all of them were absolutely adorable and would have been so fun to draw but I felt that Mabel’s design really stuck out to me, she seems like a bundle of joy and I wanted to replicate the warmth of her design in my own style. She was an absolute pleasure to draw and doing so helped me come out of art block for the first time in months. I hope you enjoy this cutie and good luck to everyone else who entered! <3
This is probably already obvious and very noticeable to most–if not to literally everyone–,but I would still like to talk about it even if it means stating the obvious, so please bear with me(人*´∀｀)｡*ﾟ+ it's about the visual/design differences between Samael's appearance while in Gehenna and otherwise while in Assiah. (And you can read about my yapping related to it below the cut, if you'd like to<3)
So, right off the bat, the most clear and impactful contrast stays in the predominant color for the two. While in Gehenna, Samael's ”body” is entirely black. Every single inch of it is, and thematically, not only does it go in contrast with Lucifer's blinding(white)light and his appearance in Gehenna, but it also makes sense because it is possible to connect it to Samael's role itself, in a way, as in that it looks as dark as Space does(and he does happen to be King of Space and Time). The outfit we see him in the most/his main one while in Assiah, however, has white as its prevalent color. It's not just that, however, and in fact I think that things can be analyzed a bit more in depth when looking at the two designs and their differences by simply looking at them side by side for a second. What I'd like to talk about here is the way these two different looks of his go in contrast and/or complement his facial features, as well as what type of read I think these visual clues can give over him by basing it purely on the design.
So, Samael's(vessel's)face is full of sharp edges, right? From the hair style to the goatee, which may sound a bit more subtle, to the shape of his nose and the pointy ears, which are more obvious, even the shape of his eyes can be considered ”sharp”, and if we want to, we can also count in his teeth, considering that he's got fangs, so we're left with his curly antenna(that's how I call the horn/curl of hair on his head, don't mind me) as the only exception.
Now, while in Gehenna, his ”body” presents clock-hands with ends that look pointy and sharp enough to the point that they could cut through something(or someone)with ease, and not only is that the case, but his hands, too, are drawn in a way that shows us his claws as if they're an integral part of his hands, so, like, as if the tip of his fingers is inherently sharp rather than his nails being sharp, which implies they're *not* retractable in this case, unlike what we're used to see. So, in short, Samael's appearance while in Gehenna, if analyzed and taken purely as is, puts in front of the viewer the design of a character that doesn't need to tell you you'd better stay away from him(unless you want to get hurt), and the suggestion of that being the case stays in just how overall ”spiky” it appears.(Gehenna Samael is very huggable to *me*, but that's another story, so let's stay on topic and let's have me keep on yapping about this.)
Samael's main outfit while in Assiah, the very one he presents himself in to both Rin and the readers/viewers, is very colorful, very eccentric, very fun, and it is also full of softer edges and round ends. Buttons, round pants, an ascot tie with a dotted pattern scattered over it, curls over the sleeves, you get the point. Not only is that true, but a more or less subtle to the eye heart-theme can also be spotted on his design, and the most obvious one is the little heart-shaped clasp that holds his cape in place. More subtle ones can be found by tracing the shape that the under-part of his hat forms when seen from beneath(it can be done with the second picture I've put in this post above as reference, too), as well as by uniting the curls over the ends of his sleeves and the curls that are on his suit, although for those, you'll have to turn them upside down and swap the placement (so in other words, taken as they are they already do form an upside-down heart on their own, if I'm not mistaken, that is). In his other formal attire, the clasp of his belt is also heart shaped, and if I recall correctly, the socks paired with that other outfit of his also have hearts on them. Pairing this over all round/heart theme with the colors of his outfit let us do 2+2 on our own, and it becomes clear that the goal is for it to make him appear as someone friendly, fun, joyful, even, as well as safe to trust with the softer hues of purple and pink that he wears, which complement the much flashier, bolder hot pink(/red/bordeaux[I am not entirely sure of what exact color that is to this day])that goes along with all of it, and surprisingly enough? It works. It's aesthetically pleasing in its own way, and it tells you loud and clear that this character is bizarre, energetic, expressive, fun, eccentric, eye-catching and trust-worthy, and to some extent, all of these claims are correct, for as much as one could argue with any of those(and fairly enough so). What is also true about his outfit, however, is the fact that it covers him, quite literally, from head to toes entirely. From the hat, to the cape, to the long socks, to the high boots, to the visible under-shirt he wears beneath the suit, ending it all with a pair of gloves. From a visual standing point alone, Samael's outfit suggests he's trying to hide something, and in a sense, that isn't inaccurate, but moving on from a looks-only analysis of it, I think I can confidently enough say that it looks the way it does moreso because he puts a distance between himself and others–between himself and everyone and everything–in more than one way, and his outfit contradicts itself a bit in this, because it looks like it's simultaneously both trying to have you get closer and to have you to stay as far away as possible from him all at the same time. It's partly gentlemanly, partly extravagant, partly shielding, partly disguising, and I'd dare to say that it is *mostly*, amongst all of those, just a visual expression of who Samael is as a person rather than as what he represents and his role and the way he is perceived, which instead gets portrayed much more directly in the "physical" manifestation of him while in Gehenna.
So, in conclusion, both of these looks of his tells you something about who Samael is, and it's not like either the Gehenna nor the Assiah one are trying to antagonize each other, it's really more of a two sides of the same coins thing, which I know may sound weird since we're talking about the same one character in this case, but it's meant as it that it's a two-sided coin of the core of said one character, and while it's(almost?)always true that you can't judge a book by its cover, when it comes to character design, an author can either think out of one that's visually the opposite of how the character's inner self is, or one that reflects and portrays it very bluntly and clearly, or, well, one can experiment and try to conceal or mix things in what they want to tell you about their character, and when it comes to Mephisto, I think the design, or rather, the *designs*, in this case, do play around with wanting to show you and tell you about who Samael is, in more than one sense, and both are very him and very telling of many things, but also, there is only so much they can portray, because this character right here is both very readable and very, very hard to read all at the same time, and that does get reflected by his Gehenna appearance as well as his in-Assiah overall aesthetic, like...that was the whole discourse I've been proposing, I've yapped about it enough by this point, I guess, eheh.
So! If you've come this far, then let me reassure you by saying that you've reached the end, yaay!ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ<3 And if you did do get all the way here, then I don't only want to thank you, but I also would like to invite you to share your thoughts on the matter if you'd like to!(If not, it's alright, I appreciate that you've taken some of your time for reading this, no-one is pressured to talk nor interact, but if you do, you're also not obligated to agree with anything I said, obviously, so long as the comment section is approached to with a respectful tone, I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts on this!^^) Now I promise I'll shus, but before I do, I did want to provide the one artwork that had me originally notice the whole heart-themes thing I've mentioned in this yapping session of mine, because it is kinda from there that I then started thinking about everything I've said on this post, so...
It is from this one artwork that I've noticed that if you flip and unite the curls of his suit, then you'll get a heart, and, well, the rest is history!(Aka literally everything you've just read through, ahah. Also, side note, but this is, like, one of my all times most absolutely adored Mephisto artwork ever, just...just look at him.( ꈍᴗꈍ)<3)
Alrighty, now, that should truly be all, so! Have a lovely day, thank you for your time, and also, I need some sleep because it's gotten late, so, like, I'm sleepy, ok, yeah, byy~!★
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