So I Purposefully Skipped Yesterday Because I Wanted Sun And Moon To Go Together. I Wanted To Do Something

Played through Portal: Reloaded recently and got hyped about Portal all over again. Anyways here’s the Announcer, Wheatley, and Virgil.

somehow i’m a walking disaster who still has a god complex

I started off just wanting to draw Chris wearing fledgling wings (as in, the item), and then decided to give Andrew and Malik just straight-up bird wings for fun.

Nothing here is colored, but I imagine Malik’s wings to be black like crow feathers. A sort of combination of his general shadiness and wits.

Andrew has phoenix wings. He vehemently denies this and claims they’re cardinal feathers. (The tips of his feathers are jagged and black, almost like they’ve been charred. He, again, ignores this.)

Guess I’m falling into Wheatgil hell too

Doodled Chris while in a meeting this morning. Outfit loosely based on the nebula set w/o the hood, but took some liberties with the design.

Not really meant to be an accurate representation of late-game Chris, but getting to draw him in the fancy hardmode gear was fun!

it's giving princess celestia

Everyone’s always talking about Jekyll and Hyde adaptations but we don’t get even a single shoutout to that one Animorphs book where Rachel turns into a starfish and gets cut in half by some sadistic kid so when she morphs back into a human she ends up being two separate people, nice/cowardly Rachel and mean/reckless Rachel, and through misadventures realize that both halves of her need to work together to be herself so they morph into each other and fuse again into one person to restore the Rachel we all know and love

Continuing my efforts to design Chris' next armor set! Commentary below the cut.

I tried to make the meteor armor set work, but was having to stretch things too far to justify it (completely changing its shape/patterns, dyeing it, layering it with diamond robes to make his staves/tomes build work, etc. to the point it was really meteor armor in name only). So this is a hard pivot -- for this outfit, Chris works with the Guide/Dryad to make jungle armor, and then transmutes it into the ancient cobalt set using the Shimmer. The wings and diamond staff design aren't set in stone; I just needed something simple to get the colors down while focusing on the armor.

This does decrease the impact of the meteor a bit, but hey, Malik will still appreciate some meteor shots I'm sure. And plot-wise, having another moment of the Guide/Dryad both influencing Chris is helpful to set up some following scenes.

I'm definitely happier with this than my previous designs. Swapping "generic metal plate"-star for the diamond-star ties the ancient cobalt breastplate nicely into the diamond staff. And if he picks up the magic missile (haven't fully decided his late pre-hardmode loadout), the outfit design and color scheme fits with that well enough too. This outfit also doesn't suffer from some significant issues the previous ones had (body design too dark and lacking contrast, metal garters too shiny causing a striped look, etc.) because of the updated color scheme. It also displays his worm scarf more prominently (albeit still dyed), helping to immediately justify the Eater of Worlds fight beyond "well the Dryad said so and also you can get a cool pickaxe or maybe a void bag later."

The lunar/celestial imagery is a bit more naturally integrated with this design, such as the "comet/falling star trails" that form the pattern on his breastplate being more emphasized, rather than just "here's a giant star, 'cause he's a mage, get it?" And while dropping the robes look is a significant design shift, keeping his gloves and boots visually similar connects his previous design with this one without seemingly having just palette-swapped his old robes. This is also barely armor -- it's more of an armored shirt -- so it doesn't invite as much whiplash from seeing Chris jump from "mage in robes, albeit with a somewhat heroic cape design" to "wearing straight-up armor."

Color-wise, I did add a small amount of purple to this design compared to the in-game ancient cobalt armor. Magenta/purple is associated with the amethyst set, Nebula pillar, shadow magic, band of starpower, etc. and so I didn't want to make him too blue and muddy the waters (blue is Lunatic Cultist, Stardust pillar, etc.). I also don't want him to blend too hard into the dungeon walls, one reason why the outfit is so bright. But it should still be enough blue to make Chris stand out against the red backdrop of Hell later on. I'm feeling good about the level it's at currently, and I can always subtly tweak it in particular scenes as-needed to make him fit in or stand out as needed. On the flip side, his wings get a soft warm brown tone rather than a cold sheen to contrast his outfit and tie into his skin/eye/hair color to both introduce more color hues into his outfit and make his head less disconnected from the rest of the design.

I did try to minimize the number of different colors overall, but it doesn't significantly impact the complexity either way. This is just a product of how I color characters -- instead of color-picking from a reference image, I have a folder of coloring layers for each character that I copy into each page. So each folder will have, for instance, one layer for hair, one for a character's shirt, and so on. Each layer has a max of two colors so that I can color pick them into my main/sub color icons, clear the layer, and then paint bucket those colors in. So since I'm already handling every layer separately, adding more layers (especially of solid colors) doesn't significantly impact the time I need to spend coloring.

Anyways, that's all I've got. Character design is hard.

@gsstar534​ !

Agdgsgsgsg I’m LIVING for this Reef2Reef thread. This guy was worried about his urchins getting sunburnt so he made them little hats

Amen

Mais c'est aussi en français !

I enjoyed doing Birth to My Creation and went ahead and translated Amen into French as well! I was more busy/distracted while doing this one and didn’t put as much effort into matching the syllables, mostly just translating something that vaguely worked (so it’s harder to sing along to), so don’t take this as a legitimate French version haha. But I had fun with it. Proper comments on the lyric/word choices at the bottom, and French lyrics and an English translation of those just under the cut!

French Lyrics:

PROFESSOR #1: Frankenstein, nous trouvons vos idées choquantes, dangereuses, et un affront à tout ce qui est moral et décent

PROFESSOR #2: C'est de l'insanité ! Seul un fou ou un hérétique oserait jouer avec la vie et la mort comme vous le proposez

PROFESSOR #3: Votre obsession avec les charlatans discrédités et leur science douteuse est une pure folie

PROFESSOR #4: L'université ne tolérera pas vos expériences bizarres et non autorisées

PROFESSOR #5: C'est de la folie totale !

ALL: C'est... SOTTISE... FOLIE... INSANITÉ !

PROFESSOR #1: Les morts n'ont rien à vous dire

CONDEMNED MAN: Je maudis le jour où je suis né Dans un monde noir de haine

Cette vie, je la quitterai En sachant que le ciel offrira La paix et non la peine

Je nierai pas que je suis un homme Et en tant que tel, j'ai du pécher Un Adam, j'ai mangé la pomme Mais mon sang innocent, vos mains, il va tacher

EXECUTIONER: Pour vos crimes contre le peuple-

MOB: Vous ne méritez que de mourir

EXECUTIONER: Le magistrat d'Ingolstadt vous condamne-

MOB: Votre âme, on peut pas la convertir

EXECUTIONER: Être pendu jusqu'à ce que mort s'ensuive-

MOB: Le diable va vous punir

EXECUTIONER: Le seizième jour de septembre, dix-sept cent et…

MOB: Vous ne méritez que de mourir

CONDEMNED MAN: Qui est mal ? Qui est bon ?

MOB: Votre âme, on peut pas la convertir

CONDEMNED MAN: Et qui répond ?

MOB: Le diable va vous punir

CONDEMNED MAN: Qui ose jouer à Dieu ?

MOB: Un homme n'oserait- Un homme n'oserait- Un homme n'oserait pas jouer à Dieu…

VICTOR: Une autre âme... une autre lumière... Une autre flamme s'est éteinte Un moment ici, après, parti Et un cœur bat, puis il finit La mort est si succincte

Un ancien mystère : qu'est-ce que la vie ? Qu'est-ce qu'il faut croire ? Une question de philosophie ? Ou peut-être de biologie ? Je suis le seul à savoir...

J'ai trouvé ce qui était impossible Cela va laisser tout le monde pantois Créer une vie, c'est faire l'impossible Et tout le monde... m'entendra !

MOB: Nous suivrons Dieu !

VICTOR: J'entends sa voix... le gantelet…

CONDEMNED MAN: Qui est mal ? Qui est bon ?

VICTOR: ...Crie les demandes du sort

MOB: Il mourra !

CONDEMNED MAN: Et qui répond ?

VICTOR: Le destin de l'humanité…

MOB: Finissez-en maintenant !

VICTOR: Cet esprit répond...

CONDEMNED MAN: Qui ose jouer à Dieu ?

VICTOR: ...Avec ces mains

MOB: Le jugement est ici!

CONDEMNED MAN: Oh mon créateur, écoute-moi Libérez-moi de ce cauchemar

Et si aucun homme ne me pleure Je suis à vous Amen

EXECUTIONER: Qui s'occupera le corps ? Je répète: qui réclame ce corps ?

VICTOR: Moi !

English Translation:

PROFESSOR #1: Frankenstein, we find your ideas shocking, dangerous, and an affront to all that is moral and decent

PROFESSOR #2: This is insanity! Only a madman or a heretic would dare to play with life and death as you propose

PROFESSOR #3: Your obsession with discredited charlatans and their dubious science is sheer madness

PROFESSOR #4: The university will not tolerate your bizarre and unauthorized experiments

PROFESSOR #5: It’s total madness!

ALL: It is foolishness...madness...insanity!

PROFESSOR #1: The dead have nothing to say to you

CONDEMNED MAN: I curse the day that I was born In a dark world of hatred

This life, I will leave it Knowing that heaven will offer Peace and not sorrow

I will not deny that I am a man And as such, I have sinned... An Adam, I ate the apple But my innocent blood, your hands it will stain

EXECUTIONER: For your crimes against the people-

MOB: You only deserve to die

EXECUTIONER: The magistrate of Ingolstadt condemns you-

MOB: Your soul, we can't save it

EXECUTIONER: To be hanged by the neck until dead-

MOB: The devil will punish you

EXECUTIONER: The sixteenth day of September, seventeen hundred and...

MOB: You only deserve to die

CONDEMNED MAN: Who is bad? Who is good?

MOB: Your soul, we can’t save it

CONDEMNED MAN: And who answers?

MOB: The devil will punish you

CONDEMNED MAN: Who dares to play God?

MOB: A man wouldn’t dare- A man wouldn’t dare- A man wouldn’t dare to play God…

VICTOR: Another soul... another light... Another flame has been extinguished One moment here, the next, gone And a heart beats, then it finishes Death is so succinct

An ancient mystery: what is life? What is to be believed? A question of philosophy? Or perhaps of biology? I am the only one to know...

I found that which was impossible It’s going to leave everybody stunned To create a life is to do the impossible And everyone will hear me!

MOB: We will follow God!

VICTOR: I hear its voice... the gauntlet...

CONDEMNED MAN: Who is bad? Who is good?

VICTOR: ...Crying the demands of fate

MOB: He will die!

CONDEMNED MAN: And who answers?

VICTOR: The fate of humanity...

MOB: Finish it now!

VICTOR: This mind answers...

CONDEMNED MAN: Who dares to play god?

VICTOR: ...With these hands

MOB: Judgement is here!

CONDEMNED MAN: Oh my creator, listen to me Free me from this nightmare

And if no man mourns me I am yours Amen

EXECUTIONER: Who will take care of this body? I repeat: who claims this body?

VICTOR: Me!

Comments:

I made a bunch of unintentionally funny translation errors while writing this (and there are probably some more I haven’t caught) including writing “to fish” instead of “to sin” and referring to human remains as trash instead of a corpse.

When writing for some reason I thought that the “who dares to act as god” lines were supposed to rhyme with “what’s wrong, what’s right, does man decide” and ended up with something along the lines of “Qui est le Dieu des moribonds?” (who is the god of the dying?) to refer to Victor. Fun!

I did at least get to slip in more “Victor is god” fun through “Who answers?” “This mind answers.” Also, another biblical reference with Adam and the apple; that wasn’t originally intended, but it fit the rhyme I had going so I kept it. I also specifically chose “playing god” to sort of emphasize that Victor is never really a god, he only imagines himself to be; he’s instead still young and believes himself greater than he is.

I’m also aware that the formality/flowery-language level jumps all over the place here. At times I dropped “ne,” other times I kept it, the tense changes depending on the rhyme I needed, and so on. So, once again: don’t take this as a genuine translation lmao