#(tonitoni love hysteria hours again)

[abyssmalice]

Thinking about how I designed Tonia's Fatui fit with mostly blue and gold and white—which makes her a stark outlier in color palette compared to most of the Harbingers.

(the ones with actual models in-game anyway; I'm not counting Winter Night's Lazzo bc that's implied to be alternate formal wear and not their default uniforms so to speak)

like Scara, Arle and even Childe himself all have dark or muted colors and a prominent streak of red. and technically, Tonia also has a bit of red... just, only in her mask, which is currently the exact same as Childe's. but otherwise, she has zero red or much at all in the way of dark, dull colors in her uniform, as seen below:

(god I love this commission so much still aaaaaah my dooter in color and childhood vibes aaaaaaaaaaah)

I've spoken before that this lowkey reflects a purposeful favoritism from the Tsaritsa - associating Tonia strongly with the Archon and her colors, so that regardless of who she is, she's not to be seen as someone to be messed with; a form of protection, physically and politically.

but I'm also thinking — this is lowkey also like, meaningful on a meta layer??

because she doesn't look like she's a part of the Harbingers with her deviating color palette - and in canon, well, she's not!! she literally replaces Childe in her AU.

but she's still a tartie........ because her Delusion form is where all the dark, red colors actually are!!!!!!!!!!!!! she finally matches her coworkers only when she properly dons her mask and acts her role as Tartaglia with a little more seriousness and showcasing her true dangers and ability, justifying her position among the eleven ranks at all.

it's just like.................... wow, meta symbolism........ my tonitoni is so cool...!!!!!