Latest Posts by axii-xix - Page 5

This, right here, has got to be my favourite canon art

Its not like its one of those ethereal art pieces, the type those god gifted artist make, but oh dear, I love the symbolism it shows…

The fact that Ivan is holding on to Till dearly and is quite literally an inch or two away from his face with his eyes set on him but then theres Till. He is very much being held by Ivan in place, if Ivan released his hold he’ll fall and yet he chooses not to acknowledge it - too engrossed in whatever is in his mind. He doesn’t seem uncomfortable or anything in Ivan’s arms - it’s like he is completely content in this position.

Ivan’s screaming that he’s here for him, that he wants him but Till is deaf.

Ivans position symbolises how hes always looking out for Till and protecting him (like taking off his muzzle and collar, releasing him from those solitary confinements, freaking help him escape their hell-) whereas Till doesnt acknowledge this - or dare i say refuses to do so - despite being dependant on Ivan to keep him from falling and is always focused on Mizi instead (he barely looked at Ivan in all of his flashback scenes)

And when Ivan let go of Till, he fell and he realised the anchor Ivan posed as and his significance in his life. (Ivan died and Till was left distraught and depressed - and he was thinking about him throughout round 7)

You can NOT convince me that the only thing in Till’s mind during R6 was Mizi and her missing status

Ive seen so many posts and reels saying how he was “so depressed during the 6th round because of Mizi and was ready to die without her in his life”.

WRONG

You’re telling me he’s ready to give up his life solely for the reason that his idol and his friend is most probably dead while the closest person in his life is put in a death game against himself in which only one can live?

Till was concerned about Mizi, very much too if I say so myself, but Ivan was also one of those concerns.

When Mizi lost the round against Luka, you could see the way Till looks at her - he was heartbroken. And then she went missing and who knows what happened to her. He was horrified, of course he was, she was his light, his sun, his idol, his hope, his everything. That doesn’t mean she was his only source of misery.

At the end of the all-in animation, we see Till punching the screen where his image is shown to compete against Ivan. He hated the fact that he would have to compete against Ivan, his best friend, the closest person to him in all of Anakt garden. Even though their relationship has been tumultuous, Ivan was still his closest link. Heck, when they were not fighting or bickering Till genuinely seemed to enjoy Ivan’s presence.

At the end of round 3 as Ivan is close to finishing his singing (and i must confess i saw this in a reel on instagram) we can see Till is conscious - with a serene expression too - and his collar has a very clear green light - indicating his mood is, well, good.

That light had NO reason to glow green considering Till was bleeding a lot.

But it was.

The only reason i can come up with is that Till was comforted by/liked Ivan’s voice, so much so that the pain of the wounds on his head was overshadowed by Ivan. Till did care.

and then he finds out he’s supposed to go against Ivan in round 6. What a joke. His idol was gone and they wanted to take away his (his what? Friend? Best friend? Enemy? Universe? Wait what-) too?

He weighed his options and decided his life was just not worth it without Mizi and Ivan in them. Both Mizi. And. Ivan. If Mizi was his sun then Ivan was his moon.

that was the plan anyway before Ivan said nope and sacrificed himself. Now that rekindled a fire in Till, a fire that had gone missing with Mizi and was supposed to die with him before Ivan thwarted his plans, a fire to give his best and to live, for Ivan. Not Mizi, Ivan, because Ivan gave his life for Till and oh Till could now see everything Ivan was in his life (his god, his universe—), Ivan who could have won against Luka at any given time, Ivan who showed him freedom and at last, Ivan who was his everything.

ahem. Point is y’all stop saying Till never cared about Ivan he loved him just as dearly as Mizi its just neither of them knew how to express their emotions in a healthy way and didn’t realise their true feelings since they never experienced normal and healthy human interaction

Why Till HAS to be alive.

hello everyone!! warning this is REALLY long (specifically as you get to the end). i hope you enjoy my in depth theorizing.

The flickering of his picture.

At the end of round 7, his picture lingers and flickers after Luka moves up the ranks. In all the previous rounds, the loser’s picture faded out before the winner moved up. People are saying this is a reach but I believe this is the most obvious hint. Vivinos’ details are always intentional and significant.

His earpiece falling out.

His earpiece falls out after he gets shot. We are shown that these earpieces detect the wearer’s heartbeat. They couldn’t detect his heartbeat disappearing because it fell out. Due to his picture lingering and then flickering, I assume the flickering was as his earpiece fell out.

When you think about it, why else would they show us this teaser image? This teaser pushed it into our faces that the earpieces are heart monitors. I think it’d be a little too coincidental that till’s earpiece fell out after this.

How he was shot.

The gunshots came from the audience. Meaning that where Till got shot, it didn’t go through his neck, and only grazed it.

This injury isn’t as fatal as Ivan’s and Sua’s. He also didn’t bleed out as he got shot, while Ivan and Sua bled out all over the floor.

This shows that his injury wasn’t bad enough to be fatal. He’s definitely severely hurt, as he coughed up blood, but he’s salvageable.

The way his body is lying.

Till’s arm went limp, yet his leg was still staying up. If you’re dead, you physically cannot support any part of your body. His leg would’ve fallen. I believe he DID pass out, though. I see people saying he’s pretending, and honestly I don’t believe he’s in the right headspace to think of faking he’s death. He’s tired, exhausted, he was clearly stressed throughout the round.

The fact that he’s still able to support his leg up shows that blood is still actively flowing through him. If he were dead, it’d be pretty much physically impossible for his leg to stay propped up, as blood would’ve stopped flowing.

Also the way he’s positioned to the audience, his leg is covering up where aliens would be able to see the injury, same with Mizi’s arm. This is definitely more of a stretch, just a detail I noticed

His All-In cover art.

In his cover, he has red tape over his neck. I think this is too significant and OUT as a detail to not mean anything. Although it’s on the opposite side of where he actually got shot, bandaging his neck in general seems too big of a detail. None of the other characters had a detail like this in their cover arts.

It could be said that he has the tape due to being a rebel, which made sense before Round 7. But if we used this logic, wouldn’t Hyuna have some significant detail in her cover art?

We also know that red equals rebellion in Alien Stage. It signifies fighting back. As I said before, this COULD be said because he’s a rebel, but I think he’d be fighting back despite his injury. It wasn’t a fatal wound.

His character is unfinished.

His death doesn’t make sense compared to the other characters that died. Ivan’s death was easier to accept because we knew his motives, his story. For the entirety of Alien Stage, he was the narrator in his and Till’s story. There wasn’t any mystery surrounding his character, so it made sense to kill him. Sua’s death was easier to accept because her death did something for the narrative, as her death started this chain of events and continued to haunt the narrative. We also eventually learned her true motives.

But Till’s death? It does nothing. You could say his death is to build Mizi’s character, but I think it’d make more sense if he LIVED for Mizi’s character. Her motivations would change, it’d be easier to move on from events if she had someone with shared trauma with her. In general, Till’s death makes no sense compared to the other deaths. He didn’t have any motivations at this point besides living. Sua and Ivan’s goals were fulfilled, which was protecting their loved ones. But Till’s wasn’t. His death is significantly different from the other dead contestants.

His story is also just.. not done at all. He was just beginning to develop as a character. Mizi grew after Sua’s death, her character developed significantly. Till didn’t develop as a character after Mizi’s disappearance, and he didn’t have the chance to develop after Ivan’s death, even though it was significant to him. We also got literally NOTHING from his POV besides around 2, which was just him adoring Mizi and a little peek at the abuse he’s endured. Also his death is just a waste in general—I don’t believe they’d tell his story AFTER he died. It just makes no sense to kill off his character after questions were just being raised.

How the creators are treating his ‘death’.

The way that Vivimeng are treating his ‘death’ feels so especially different to me. Ivan’s art after his death was a bittersweet art, and he was resting. he was okay with his death, and we were forced to accept that reality. Plus the "thank you for being the victim of my shallow emotions" comic. That concluded his story, we learned his motives and it was easier to accept he died after. But Till? We never got his POV on anything. We never got his final thoughts like we did Ivan and Sua. Till’s story was never told through his OWN eyes. Vivimeng are GATEKEEPING till's perspective like their life depends on it. My theory as to why? His character isn't over. His life isn't over, there's so much missing about him and the dots aren't connecting in the same way they have for the previous deaths

Till’s comic and art were happy. Bittersweet pieces. You knew there was a tinge of sadness, yet I can't help but feel these last till arts are pushing hope onto us. Ivan and Sua’s comics ended with their deaths, Till’s ended with 4nakt all together. it brings the theme of hope. Of love prevailing. I feel we can't look over the fact that Till’s comic is so vastly different than the others.

I should also note that they are going out of their way to hide details of his neck in all official arts after Round 7. He’ll have his branding hidden, or just straight up gone. Also in the recent official art of him, Ivan and Sua, his art is significantly different. He’s the only one facing away from us, the blood on him not visible, and his injury is also facing away from us. There’s a lack of branding on him as well. I feel this is the most obvious piece we’ve gotten signifying that he’s going to be alive, they’re deliberately hiding any way for us to see the aftermath of his injury. Unlike with Ivan and Sua, where they made their aftermath very obvious. (I would add images but I reached the image limit. Crying.)

TLDR, there’s too many details.

Vivinos excels too much at writing to fail his character like this. To kill him off as his story just started. I believe him finally being able to tell his own story instead of having others tell it for him will symbolize him breaking free. Breaking free from the restraints. From his status as a prisoner. I think this experience will further him as a character, and not truly end him.

okay i was watching the round 6 again and i found this little detail

Till’s eyes dilated when Ivan cupped his face. Yet another hint that Till really did like Ivan - he just never realised it.

Pupil dilation occurs only when either the person is in a dark area, have consumed some drugs OR when they are looking at someone they like. They might also occur during adrenaline rush but im pretty sure the only cause that makes sense here is that Till liked it when Ivan cupped his face.

The fact that there’s so many little details in a 5 minute animation is both interesting and agonising.

[I] got under your skin to get close to [your] heart

everyone talks abotu the jane doe ass wipeouts but honestly these ones are sm funnier to me,, like why does she look like that?? 😭

(not my images, they came from this thread on X-itter)

✨ markings

WIP for art class, still need to fix the larger flower 🙃

this genre of ivan is so funny like does he even know he exists

Okay I need to talk about Nicholas Leung's voice work for Dan Heng in 2.4. (Actually I already have, but I need to do it some more.)

All of it is phenomenal, and I've seen talk about his delivery of the little exchange before you enter the Shackling Prison as well as when you ask if Dan Heng is okay once you're inside. Those lines all hit me like a truck and the voice acting was a huge part of why, but I specifically want to draw attention to the next part of that conversation.

It's the Trailblazer asking about why they're actually down there, and his response is just explaining the Karmic Mirror. But the delivery of those lines is baked into my brain. He tries so hard to pull himself together, go back to being the Trailblazer's helpful exposition dump, tender moment's over, business as usual - and he can't. He very audibly has to pause mid-sentence, gather himself and take a very shaky breath to avoid breaking down completely. He sounds legitimately on the verge of sobbing. Even though if you're just reading the text it doesn't seem emotional at all, there's no real tonal indication that this is the very next thing he says after vocally blaming himself that the Trailblazer is here with him and apologising for the fact that he's struggling. It adds SO much to the whole scene. Nicholas Leung I owe you my entire life you put so much heart into this character thank you 😭🙏

(Also if anyone has a recording of this part... please send it to me please I'll draw you a silly picture or something in return)

breakfast on the express

🐉

afternoon nap 🍰☕

lost 50/50? skill issue

Now presenting, Rover-with-his-hair-down: a concept

This could apply to female Rover pretty decently as well, but probably with more white parts of the hair

I haven't really seen any hair-down art of the rovers yet so I decided to draw some >:D

(I made this before I went to bed on impulse so it's a bit messy)

I've been working on a deep sea creature twink for my friend

Aventurine WIP that I want to finish soon(ish)

I finally have some time to draw and i have so many wips and ideas but I'm gonna try to actually focus on 1 piece for a bit and finish it 🥲

Was rewatching some of the HSR animations and HE LOOKS SO GODDAMN HAPPY HERE AS AN OLD MAN HELP

rambling about blade / yingxing headcanons and ideas that I've thought abt or seen floating around

(his white hair, him not knowing what tech is, how the Mara permanently messed up his hands and muscle memory so he can't do what he loved anymore, etc etc)

Headcanon #1: white hair

Everyone except Dan Feng had white hair, and I'm p sure I mentioned this before but imagine

So Yingxing is the only short-life species right, and he's getting old and noticing it and realizing that compared to the others, he doesn't have much time left

And one of the others notices how melancholy he is, and how he's trying to hide it for their sake, and is like "hmm," before being like "hey what if we all got white hair but didn't tell Dan Feng"

And all of them know it's to make Yingxing feel less alone, but it's played off as a "hehe pranking Dan Feng" moment

Headcanon #2: old man blade not knowing how tech works

We see this a bit with current Blade and Silver Wolf, but I like to imagine it was still part of his personality to a lesser extent

He would have been the "old guy" of the group who was an expert with traditional crafts and technology, but not so much with newer things since he preferred to make things "the old way" or by hand, since it made him feel more connected with his work

Like, he would have kept up with the newer stuff being made and used it if it would have helped him with his work, but wouldn't have bothered with stuff like phones, computers, the internet, etc

So the others would always ask him for help with anything they broke, and he'd ask for help with anything internet or computer related

Headcanon #3: him knowing how to craft stuff besides weapons, armor, et cetera

This is a stretch but if his skills expanded beyond just weapons and armor he could probably help fix everyone's clothes (they'd probably get torn up in battle) or make little hand-made gifts and stuff like statues and jewelry and armor and cutlery

Like he also would have been an artist specializing in handmade things, but no one would have suspected him of making such tiny and delicate things until they got to know him

Headcanon #4:

So as Blade, he still has damaged hands and scars, and I've seen a headcanon of sorts floating around that the Mara focuses only on the wounds that need the most urgent healing, and leaves "minor" or less severe wounds unhealed

And the Mara would have focused on all the fatal wounds Jingliu inflicted while killing Blade, leaving other wounds to heal improperly

So now as Blade, his hands are too damaged to perform fine crafts and movements, except for swordplay, which he sort of got beaten into him by Jingliu

My other headcanon of sorts is that the Mara messed with his muscle memory, not just his ability to remember events

So his mind and nervous system are essentially too scrambled for him to learn any type of craft or fine motor skill except for swordplay (and maybe driving)

And I kind of feel like he would find some peace if he were still able to make things, sort of like how some people use embroidery or weaving or drawing as a coping method / escapism, but even that form of art / self expression has been taken from him

It'd be like if Robin permanently lost the ability to sing or if Serval suddenly became tone-deaf and couldn't play guitar

my roman empire is the fact that dr. ratio couldn't get into the genius society because of how much he cares for others. my roman empire is the fact that the way that he loves and has too much empathy will be his own downfall. my roman empire is the fact that he spent so long thinking that he was enough only to be hit with the reality that the world and life is cruel and his heart is too soft for the universe he was born into.

my roman empire is that dr. ratio cares. he cares so damn much. he loved too much that it held him back from his ultimate goal.

dr. ratio they could never make me hate you.

The more I think about it the more I realize that if this guys had met under different circumstances, they would have gotten along super well.

PENACONY SPOILERS UP TO 2.2 + CHARACTER LORE / STORIES

All 4 of them have lost their entire family, 3 of them have lost their entire race / homeworld (Boothill, Aventurine, Acheron), 2 of them lost these things because they were victims of the IPC (Boothill and Aventurine), and 2 of them have either lost a sibling or are afraid of losing a sibling (Aventurine and Sunday).

More specifically:

As far as I know, Sunday and Robin's parents were killed somehow, and they were taken in by the Family. Then as Sunday said Robin ended up getting shot in the neck due to trying to help others, and I think he got some kind of trauma from that and his fear of losing Robin, his sister and only remaining family, was amplified, leading to his desire to protect "the weak" no matter the cost—because to him, keeping Robin's wings "clipped" and her alive would be less painful than her bring gone, and him being alone forever.

Boothill, as I understand it, was taken in by 2 people who found him as a child, and grew up in the countryside of his planet. He later found and adopted a young girl and raised her as her own, until his entire planet was destroyed by the IPC, causing him to set out to get revenge.

Aventurine also lost his sister and his entire home planet due to the IPC + his planet's own problems, and has been forced to work for the IPC ever since. It also seems like he's trying to destroy it from the inside out or at least obtain his own freedom.

As for Acheron, her entire world, as well as her memories of it, were destroyed—she's almost certainly lost people that were important to her, like the other three.

Like honestly if they all sat down and traded backstories I feel like they'd get along super well, they're all victims of circumstance and that's why they experienced so much conflict during the story

STATEMENT: Topaz's Stoneheart form would be extremely weak, far weaker than Aventurine's. Reasoning: Numby.

Evidence 1: Aventurine's Stoneheart form is very shiny

Evidence 2: Topaz's Cornerstone is of a similar making to Aventurine's, and is also quite shiny; it is also undamaged, unlike Aventurine's Cornerstone

Evidence 3: Based on Evidences 1 and 2, it is clear that Topaz's Stoneheart form would be EVEN SHINIER than Aventurine's

Evidence 4: Numby likes to eat shiny things, therefore Numby would try to eat Topaz and would be nibbling on any shiny part of her Stoneheart form, jumping all over her and generally being a nuisance, and not paying any mind to us or anything else that Topaz is fighting. Trotters are also known to be extremely nimble, so Topaz would be unable to neutralize Numby.

Conclusion: this is clearly canon.

can't believe I've never drawn this meme before

eyeshadow

SPOILERS FOR WUTHERING WAVES ACT 6: my issue with the reveal of [spoiler] isn't the fact that it even exists, but the fact that it doesn't mesh well with the game's art-style AT ALL.

The idea of Rover's Tacit mark being home to some kind of powerful entity that appears friendly but might have some sinister motives or unknown properties (because let's be real, even in its existing form, this guy is quite suspicious and we know nothing about it) is pretty cool.

But if you look at the existing animals in game, both enemies / echos and NPCs like dogs and cats, the game goes for a more realistic style for most of them. Some are cute, but most look more epic or badass and fit into the apocalyptic and gritty style of the game (even as the game itself wanders away from that). Additionally, all Tacit Discords thus far either mimic real creatures like wolves, bears, boars, or herons, or take the form of mutated humanoids that look deformed and warped, or take the form of mystical creatures, like the Morning Aix.

If they'd leaned towards more of those design elements, creating a sleek creature that still has some cute elements, I feel like this creature would have felt less out-of-place. Perhaps more of a bird-like or even dragon-like design, or a fluffy serpentine dragon (keeping the long fluffy ears and markings) would have worked better. Also making it walk on four legs instead of looking like a marketable plushie.

This isn't even touching on the reveal of this critter. It feels too sudden; I feel like it needed some more foreshadowing (which would have been easier without the story rewrites, yes) like the silhouette of its design being shown, or lore hints about Tacit Marks being home to some kind of conscious entity or power that isn't fully understood yet. Also, it would have hit harder if it felt like the Rover consciously was aware of this guy and summoned it—like if Rover had some kind of vision / hallucination / flashback montage or quick images flashing in their head. Instead it just feels like this guy popped out of nowhere. It also hurts the previous reveal of Havoc Rover, making them seem weak in comparison to this little furby looking guy.

ALSO its color scheme. Tacit Discords thus far seem to be most strongly associated with purple and gold, and Rover matches this, starting off with golden Spectro powers and moving to purple Havoc powers. SO WHY IS THIS GUY WHITE, BLUE, AND ORANGE??? Its color scheme also threw me off a lot 😭

So anyways, that's my take on the matter. What do you guys think?

STATEMENT: Topaz's Stoneheart form would be extremely weak, far weaker than Aventurine's. Reasoning: Numby.

Evidence 1: Aventurine's Stoneheart form is very shiny

Evidence 2: Topaz's Cornerstone is of a similar making to Aventurine's, and is also quite shiny; it is also undamaged, unlike Aventurine's Cornerstone

Evidence 3: Based on Evidences 1 and 2, it is clear that Topaz's Stoneheart form would be EVEN SHINIER than Aventurine's

Evidence 4: Numby likes to eat shiny things, therefore Numby would try to eat Topaz and would be nibbling on any shiny part of her Stoneheart form, jumping all over her and generally being a nuisance, and not paying any mind to us or anything else that Topaz is fighting. Trotters are also known to be extremely nimble, so Topaz would be unable to neutralize Numby.

Conclusion: this is clearly canon.

The more I think about it the more I realize that if this guys had met under different circumstances, they would have gotten along super well.

PENACONY SPOILERS UP TO 2.2 + CHARACTER LORE / STORIES

All 4 of them have lost their entire family, 3 of them have lost their entire race / homeworld (Boothill, Aventurine, Acheron), 2 of them lost these things because they were victims of the IPC (Boothill and Aventurine), and 2 of them have either lost a sibling or are afraid of losing a sibling (Aventurine and Sunday).

More specifically:

As far as I know, Sunday and Robin's parents were killed somehow, and they were taken in by the Family. Then as Sunday said Robin ended up getting shot in the neck due to trying to help others, and I think he got some kind of trauma from that and his fear of losing Robin, his sister and only remaining family, was amplified, leading to his desire to protect "the weak" no matter the cost—because to him, keeping Robin's wings "clipped" and her alive would be less painful than her being gone, and him being alone forever.

Boothill, as I understand it, was taken in by 2 people who found him as a child, and grew up in the countryside of his planet. He later found and adopted a young girl and raised her as her own, until his entire planet was destroyed by the IPC, causing him to set out to get revenge.

Aventurine also lost his sister and his entire home planet due to the IPC + his planet's own problems, and has been forced to work for the IPC ever since. It also seems like he's trying to destroy it from the inside out or at least obtain his own freedom.

As for Acheron, her entire world, as well as her memories of it, were destroyed—she's almost certainly lost people that were important to her, like the other three.

Like honestly if they all sat down and traded backstories I feel like they'd get along super well, they're all victims of circumstance and that's why they experienced so much conflict during the story

SHES HERE

So when's April 8th gonna be playable Hoyo?

In all seriousness March 7th has got to be one of the most mysterious characters in the game. HSR has been delving into more and more storylines involving the past and memories, with Black Swan, Dan Heng, Blade, Acheron, Misha, Gallagher, even Trailblazer and their past with the Stellaron Hunters. If that theme continues and March is in fact a Memokeeper or Memokeeper-adjacent, she could end up being *REALLY* important later on. I'm interested to see what direction Hoyo takes her in.

hear me out—

So when's April 8th gonna be playable Hoyo?

In all seriousness March 7th has got to be one of the most mysterious characters in the game. HSR has been delving into more and more storylines involving the past and memories, with Black Swan, Dan Heng, Blade, Acheron, Misha, Gallagher, even Trailblazer and their past with the Stellaron Hunters. If that theme continues and March is in fact a Memokeeper or Memokeeper-adjacent, she could end up being *REALLY* important later on. I'm interested to see what direction Hoyo takes her in.