illustratemuse

[illustratemuse]

late night working on my vtuber 3.0 design updates....

[illustratemuse]

if i had a heart, i could love you

my undying gratitude and awe to the incredible @cozymochi for bringing to literal life my vision of ob!Lilia :] let's all wish him a pleasant time as he keeps a steadfast soldier's watch over the dreams of a human boy he no longer recognizes and yet he cannot bring himself to leave his side . . . whatever could that mean?

(please click for high-res, tumblr why do you try to keep us from exquisite art)

[illustratemuse]

Do you ever become mutuals with someone you share an intense interest with and it becomes this limbo of "I want to be your friend SO fucking bad but I'll eat a shoe before dm-ing first"

[illustratemuse]

Lilia Vanrouge - Playful Attire SSR ver. DETAILS EXPLAINATION

Hehehe glad everyone liked my Lilia piece! Since this is my blog and I can do what I want, I thought it'd be fun to share my ideas/notes on this one! I usually do notes for myself while illustrating my more detailed works, and considering all the little bits in this one I might as well share! Putting it under the cut cause this is LONG.

Composition

Now for the main composition I heavily based it off the official SSR cards. For the three base SSR cards of Playful Land-Ace, Ortho, and Kalim, they all appear to be backstage in very kinda cluttered spaces. Broken clocks, broken glass, broken pianos-that sort of deal, things that match the boys. Kalim's got a broken piano (music/parties), Ace broken clocks (wonderland), and Ortho a fish-bowl and birdcage (being in STYX's bubble/initially caged into the shell of the original Ortho).

Thus I gave Lilia's clutter a nursery theme since being a parent and raising children is a HUGE part of his character. Plushies, books, a rocking chair, blocks-things from a young kids' room

The SSR cards and most of the base cards in general also all play into a very puppet-like theme. The boys have very doll/puppet-like poses with sleepy unfocused eyes and their ribbons flying in the wind like strings under control, with their Groovy cards in turn having them being more awake and lively instead.

Now I could’ve done either theming, but I’d actually been doing a pose study when I got the idea to try my hand at making a take on an SSR card, and since the more broken-puppet pose was the position I was already doing I thought it was fitting. Plus I honestly like the non-groovy art’s theming a little more-like I LOVE the boys’ groovies as well don't get me wrong-they're all adorable, but the haunting puppet look is reallyyyy cool. It also especially felt fitting for Lilia since his backstory has him kinda tossed aside a LOT just like a broken doll.

He was the third wheel to Meleanor and Raverne's relationship, the 'filthy bat fae' whom was blamed for the princess' death/for 'tainting' Malleus despite him literally just following orders to keep the un-hatched prince safe/be the one to hatch him. He was the one who was cast aside the SECOND the Senate had a good enough excuse and exiled away from the capital outside of rare visits. He was the one who multiple times so readily and easily accepted that mistreatment (like he didn't even try to fight the Senate either time on their decisions) and in multiple events has displayed clear surprise at the idea that others would worry about him (Spectral Soiree) or doesn’t even consider the idea him vanishing could worry them (Stitch’s Tropical Turbulence) that it honestly seems like Lilia genuinely doesn't care all that much about himself. Like he's not outwardly depressed or sulking, however his casual acceptance of being just...not important? That Silver and the others shouldn't/wouldn't want to see or care for him as his magic fades, that it's better to go far away and die alone? For all his talk of being 'cute' and 'charming' and playing up his self-confidence, when you read between the lines it feels like he's just way too at ease with this idea of being disposable. He's spent so long being the one tossed aside that he's just accepted it as fact and doesn't get 'worked up' over it, since why get upset over things just being the way they are?

It's why I also have him on the ground-the others are actively performing for the most part in their cards, so he in contrast is the puppet no longer 'useful'. Show's over, string's cut, toss him aside.

Anyway enough of my Lilia tangent-I LOVE characters with those sort of hints at low self-worth they're fun to explorer, onto the background details!!!

Details

First off are the bluebird, crocodile, and dragon plushies being Silver, Sebek, and Malleus respectively! Their button eyes are the boys’ eye colors as well, and animal choice wise, Sebek and Malleus being the crocodile/dragon are obvious since those are their fae-species, while for Silver since he's human I just picked a bluebird since it’s the bird we most often see him with.

For the children's blocks both their positioning and the initials are what's important! I stacked them by rank-Meleanor is at the top as crown princess, Raverne as her prince consort is below her, and at the base and lowest are Lilia, you can’t see his block but a bit of green peaks out the back for Baul (but shading makes it look kinda gray rip), and Crowley! This is also where I added that fan-headcanon of Crowley being Raverne. Due to their association with corvids, Crowley’s whole mask thing hiding his face/his only observable features are very similar to Malleus', and with how Chapter 7 has the ‘well we assume he’s dead’ in regards to what happened to Raverne when he disappeared as opposed to fully confirming 'yeah he's dead', I find the headcanon really interesting. Thus if we go with 'Crowley is Raverne', then he’s lowered himself to the rank of a commoner with his disguise, placing his rank beside Lilia and Baul. Second image is an un-blurred closeup, but the bird's eyes are also different. Raverne's are open-Crowley's are closed. Raverne kept his eyes on his family and loved ones, Crowley if he's Raverne closed his eyes-even when they're before him once again.

The two star lanterns are a reference to the wishing stars event! Also with how fae are said to ‘return to the stars’ and being nocturnal fae I assume they’re also just important culturally, so I thought it was fitting. And as for the luggage it is both due to Lilia’s hobby being traveling and him planning on leaving during Chapter 7.

The books on the floor and the suitcase are a nod to both Lilia’s knowledge/literally being in some of the school's textbooks and also just to tie into the nursery-theme. Like the Valley of Thorns has basically no tech, so I'd assume Lilia read to his boys a lot when they were little.

The hourglass here was a motif I grabbed from memento mori- aka ’Remember Death’, a painting theme where artists depict death through symbolic elements as opposed to directly outright. I kinda really like exploring death as a concept in storytelling and hourglasses are a common motif in those sorts of paintings, and since Lilia’s time is literally running out it was the perfect match.

Now the birdcage is actually Malleus’-he was basically raised IN a cage since he was stuck in the palace isolated, however due to being in NRC he’s currently outside it. Yet he’s not free of it either. NRC is a temporary reprieve, a small blip in his long lifespan where for a single breath he’s with his father figure and brother figures. He’s free and he’s not-he’s outside the cage but can’t really leave it behind and join Lilia and the others on the other side of the piece-he’s going back in the moment the school year ends. Malleus’ little broken heart patch also ties into the same idea-his heart keeps getting broken again and again as he’s isolated and forced to sit and watch everyone else leave him behind. Lilia could only visit, never stay. Yuu the player is only at NRC until Crowley finds their way home. Both his parents left him behind in a sense despite neither wanting to/being at fault with a war going on, his grandmother never really was around, all his friends WILL die long before him. Malleus has a big heart that will always break when the next person leaves.

As for Sebek and Silver they are on the rocking chair for two reasons. One because Lilia basically raised them both-Sebek as the neighbor kid who was like always at his house and Silver obviously being his son, thus the kids go on the rocking chair where papa can see them, and two because the boys always follow Lilia’s lead. I’m pretty sure in most cases of us seeing them from the game to the manga Silver and Sebek flank Lilia’s sides with him at the helm-they follow him and thus placing them on the chair puts them relatively in a similar position. 

And finally which I honestly should’ve looked up the actual notes for ‘Once Upon a Dream’ since Meleanor’s lullaby follows the same tune, but the music sheets are both a nod to her lullaby which Lilia sung to both Malleus/Silver and lullabies in general. Also Lilia being in Pop Music Club.

Annyyyyway, TLDR I love overthinking EVERY detail in my backgrounds and hope you've enjoyed this little essay of mine! If you've gotten to the end thank you! I might do these more often for my own enjoyment since I love SYMBOLISM hehehe

Also.... @onegianthotmess @hanafubukki @fiendishfan thank you three especially for your lore responses hehehe-seeing those as they appeared made my days literally don't think anyone's ever actually really picked up/dug for my symbolism like that before so thank youssss :D

[illustratemuse]

in honour of the white rabbit fest event rerun announcement on twst jp, have this alan i drew a while back ueue

[illustratemuse]

Scaring duoooooooo :D

(Cute cute cute cuteeeeeeeee art hehehe)

Also you remember right!!!! Mina found a cane in Ramshackle’s attic when looking for materials to make her dorm uniform, and since the other housewardens have staffs she kept it. It also is a canesword :3

And replying to tags you hit the nail on the head-Mina may be rough and tumble and likes breaking the boys' chops at times, but she's been a teenager without adults to rely on and she sure as heck isn't going to expect the NRC staff to be there after the way Crowley acted just her first week. She and Fiend would definitely pick up on each other's issues and get into a loop of playing hypocrite with ‘hey you wanna talk about *insert obvious self worth issues here despite having the same* since it's just habit to do with everyone else at that point rip

“Well? How do I look?"

"Like a proper Hench-Human."

Another sketch, this time featuring Mina by @illustratemuse I hope you don't mind me borrowing her!!

Haven't been able to get the thought of Fiend and Mina interacting out of my head tbh. I think they've got a lot of similarities that would make it very cute to see them together lol.

[illustratemuse]

sometimes Scary Mutual You Are Afraid Of is actually Awesome And Cool and you can only find out by actually talking to them ☝️

[illustratemuse]

OK TWST FANDOM

We as artists and writers like having sources for stuff, right? And we like giving credit to other artists for their work, right? Well, I've compiled a collection of resources I've personally used and thoroughly believe would benefit others.

[NOTE: THIS LIST IS UNDERSTANDABLY GOING TO BE INCOMPLETE. IF YOU HAVE OTHER RESOURCES TO ADD, PREFERABLY BY A PRIMARY SOURCE, PLEASE ADD IT IN REBLOGS]

Alchemivich's collection:

Ripped Assets Backgrounds SD Sprites (navigate via Excel Sheet) Login Font (free download site)

Robo-Milky: (Info Pulled from TWST Discord server)

TWST Game Font list

MonstroLoungeOfficial (HD Card uploads/limited sprite assets)

Stestylius-arts:

Blank OC Assets Magical Archive Profile Blanks

WolfLover10's Transparent Heartslabyul Uniform

TheDoughWorks (Twitter) Fanslated Prefect Profile (Original via DisneyJPGames)

TwiwOnCrackPopcorn's similar Prefect Profile fanslation

Twisted-Tech's Hair rendering tutorial

SilvyPretty_ (Twitter) Color Rendering guide (photos from Official Visual Books)

Szynkaaa's Pomefiore uniform lining

RubyPearl31's Club Badges:

Equestrian Pop Music Club Magift Science Film Studies Track/Field Gargoyle Research Society Basketball Mountain Lovers Board Game

Unfinished-Projects-Galore:

Blank Intro Cards OC Profile Template Birthday Jacket Card Blanks

AraRoseheart's Broomquet Card Blank

Fumikomiyasaki's Platinum Jacket Card Blank

TomatoWar (Twitter) 妄想 Ramshackle Dorm Floorplan

Estcaligo's Cleaned Dorm Bedrooms

(my own Ramshackle 'cleaned' room)

Fanslations:

OtomeAyui Shel_BB Ekala

TAGLIST: (lemme know if you want added/removed)

@ceruleancattail @squidwen @thecosmicjackalope @vaporvipermedia@writing-heiress

@oya-oya-okay @k-looking-glass-house @thehollowwriter @rainesol @cyn-write

@heartscrypt @honey-milk-depresso @br3adtoasty @jackiecronefield @ruggiethethuggie

@hoboyherewego @achy-boo @oreoskys @oseathepebble @oathofoaks

@tunabesimpin @hamstergal @fumikomiyasaki@valse-a-mille-temps

@hallowed-delights @kimikitti @plutos-hell @thetwstwildcard @atwstedstory

@comingyourlugubriousness @ice-cweam-sod4 @twst-the-night-away @nammanarin

[illustratemuse]

Hi! I was one of the people that was watching your latest Livestream. I had fun talking about twisted Wonderland with you! I may be new to finding your blog, but I love your artwork and Mina! 🥰

Ahhh I thought I remembered your name!!!! Thank you for stopping by! It was fun to talk about twisted wonderland with someone hehehe :D

And ahhh thank you! That's very sweet of you to say thank you so much!

[illustratemuse]

If Fiend played a little dressup with Mina then I'd say it's only fair that Mina plays dress up with them in return hehehe. 'Staff' at Ramshackle take on titles of Victorian household staff for running the Happy Haunts nights, so here Mina picked 'Lady's Companion' for them, aka a member of staff who just kept the mistress of the house company.

(Also if Mina can get someone else in on the whole 'scaring the living daylights out of teenagers' gang then you bet she's taking advantage of the chance)

Thank you @fiendishfan !!!! I shall now put this art in my gift art folder and stare at it for the next week.

“Well? How do I look?"

"Like a proper Hench-Human."

Another sketch, this time featuring Mina by @illustratemuse I hope you don't mind me borrowing her!!

Haven't been able to get the thought of Fiend and Mina interacting out of my head tbh. I think they've got a lot of similarities that would make it very cute to see them together lol.

[illustratemuse]

Thank you @hanafubukki for the tag! :D

Currently reading: Deltarune fanfiction on ao3 lol. I read a lottttt of fanfiction.

Last song: The Lost One's Weeping (specifically a Nico Nico Chorus mashup)

Last film: Promare I think? Mostly just rewatched the ending battle

Last series: The Apothecary Diaries

Salty. I do like sweet things too but if I eat anything sweet I need a handful of like pretzels or something else salty after, I don't like the aftertaste.

Neither, I drink either water or more often than not diet soda.

Working on: Fixing a commission based on client feedback, sewed a new work skirt yesterday with a 1950s pattern/wool that I just gotta add the waistband to/hem, trying to concept my streaming vtuber's 3.0, andddd just keeping busy till I gotta go into work later.

Tags! No pressure though! @fiendishfan @oya-oya-okay and anyone else who wants to join!

— TAG NINE PEOPLE YOU WANT TO GET TO KNOW MORE !

thank you for the tags LOVE you guys and hit me up on my disc for a kiss: @gojodickbig @fayerie @sugurusladyknightt @fear-is-truth

currently reading: haha who reads lol... last song: cowboy gangster politican - goldie boutilier last film: superman last series: overcompensating sweet/savory/salty: spicy i make my own rules tea or coffee: anything with caffeine to keep me going working on: getting over this gosh darn cold that wants to keep me shackled in my bedroom

✦ nine no pressure tags my loves: @prosypepper @joemama-2 @letteremi @hellowoolf @redrrem @getouyuri @eraserbread @nialovessatoru @kunareads

[illustratemuse]

Mina and Lilia arcade hangout doodles! Thinking after a few weekends of cooking lessons/Lilia helping out at Ramshackle's ghost story nights the two would decide to try a hangout outside of school for a change. No where near dating yet-just the two of them enjoying the company of another adult without any teens around to babysit, which means Mina's got less of an incentive to keep her language at bay. XD

(Also gonna be updating her profile but will be aging Mina up a few years to be like 24 or so rather than 20, mostly cause it makes her playing older sister/practically mom to some of the other students make more sense with a larger gap. Also her being older just suits her demeanor as I've been developing her)

[illustratemuse]

a yuu who never became a true student, whose job never changed. a magicless janitor with their annoying little sidekick.

its crazy to think about how the trajectory of your life could completely change just because someone chose not to take the time to bully you for being uneducated. no charred statute or shattered chandeliers, all one hundred windows squeaky clean and streakless. no monsters, no bonding, no cauldron, no nothing.

but you had no knowledge of this possible outcome, especially when it was something directly out of your control.

you would have quickly befriended the ghosts however. that wouldn't have changed. they were your roommates and one of the few people willing to give you the time of day. you spent your days cleaning after hundreds of students and faculty, ignoring the stares and whispers as you picked up every single piece of discarded trash they left for you. you kept your head down. were you lonely? no, because you had no idea how alone you actually could be.

there was no duo yelling in your ear. hell, if you were even aware, you'd see that they didn't even sit at the same lunch table.

at night, you would study. a few of the teachers, trein in particular, took something akin to pity on you and offered you left over work packets to help with what you were reading. a glossary of information that he claimed were entry level but you both knew he had made it for you. what student would need entry level information in a prestigious magic academy?

another teacher offered you a place in their classroom to put what you learned to practical use while they graded papers. despite how he waved off your thanks, you could tell that he felt bad for you at least a little.

the only thing that remained a constant in your life, regardless of how the story played out, was the familiar visitor that would grace your rundown ramshackle home a few times a month. he appeared skittish at first, almost embarrassed that he had been caught by a stranger skulking around at night but you were quick to stop him from disappearing the first night. you were desperate for any sort of contact with the outside world that you had grasped the back of his sleeve before he could turn away unaware of faux pas.

"please don't go!" your voice was hoarse from lack of use, the words scratchy against the back of your throat but malleus could see the desperation in your eyes, pupils blown wide, "would you... um, maybe like a cup of tea?"

there are a few constants regardless of what fate the universes could give.

[illustratemuse]

An au where Sofia is in the role of yuu

[illustratemuse]

Reblog money luffy in the next 20 seconds or you’ll be broke for life

[illustratemuse]

You can thank the Twisted Wonderland reddit for this one after some of their reactions to this piece lol. People over there were pointing out how it looked like Jamil was trying to bonk Leona over the head with a basketball and I thus present the dumbest thing I've ever doodled. I love this fandom XD

GET DUNKED ON LEONA! XD

[illustratemuse]

Horse boy sebek Horse boy sebek Horse boy sebek Horse boy sebek Horse boy sebek Horse boy sebek Horse boy sebek Horse boy sebek Horse boy sebek Horse boy sebek Horse boy sebek Horse boy sebek Horse boy sebek Horse boy sebek Horse boy sebek Horse boy sebek Horse boy sebek Horse boy sebek

he styled his hair after his grandpa, I'm gonna CRY