#i wanna draw azem

[hyeonkiart]

endwalker spoilers

[chicinlicin]

sometimes you just gotta put your azem in the asphodelos gear

for science

[herssian]

spark

[alackofghosts]

friends... 😭

[ritzzor]

My WoL and my Azem

[nights-at-crystarium]

Fragments - episodes 41-46 author notes

You can find similar breakdown posts on older episodes in my pinned!

Get comfy and reread with me the finale of the Il Mheg arc and the intro of a certain loser.

First off, I wanna emphasize how important this arc’s for Vivi. Had he not liked Il Mheg in general and Feo Ul in particular, the rest of the story would play out very differently, and not in favor of the sundered. His initial positive impression of the First is pretty much the only thing that saves it.

We've reached a high, physically and emotionally. You know what that means, as per the shb rollercoaster rule :>

Pan pride pixie blesses Thancred, ca. 2024, colorized. I accidentally gave them the pan colors but hey it works. ALSO! Stars in his eyes.

Re: distant nightmare, I’ll let you in on a secret, or a third party perspective if you will. Vivi's full of shit, he's too focused on the big picture. He’s narrating this whole story, but his perspective is, well, just that.

Initially this was Vivi's inner monologue, then I thought that I should just let them talk, and it wrote itself.

More under the cut~

Drawing a buncha vivi-lookalikes that act soooooorta but not really like him, just slightly off, was a surprisingly fun exercise.

Luckily for Thancred, though, he sniffs out the pixie magic, and knows better than indulging them.

...Still, what a shitty fucked up day. Sorry, Thancred :’>

This here’s an example of a moment where I’m uncertain if I’m being too subtle and if this flies over some readers’ heads. He refers to Alisaie’s “job” of dragging Vivi back to msq, which she recently started lowkey dreading (episodes 32-33)

...Though she goes back to her “duty” in episode 43.

She's pointedly SILENT throughout the episode, doing her best to hold back.

Thancred's a man who can say no to begging dogs.

Gridania mention! Vivi’s gridanian! He never speaks ill of the elementals, he's wary of them even a world apart.

This pixie's life is something Feo Ul's willing to sacrifice. Episodes 42-43 tell this story in reverse order, yes this’s the pixie that was supposed to agree with Thancred and go with the Scions to the Crystarium.

As to why there’s a dozen of vivis popping up as a backup: they needed just one fake Vivi to go with the Scions, but try organizing the pixies. Their plan’s already failed when this first pixie-Vivi refused to play their part.

“Yeah no, our guy’s special, but not as special as to explode in confetti”

I love his first ingame appearance in that Varis cutscene, this moment has similar energy: barely enters the stage, instantly gets impaled on a long object. This’s not foreshadowing, no, why would you think that-

The “camera” is perfectly still, there’s even some symmetry, demonstrating how calm and prepared Emet is. He didn’t expect much and he’s still disappointed.

This’s a super old comic. I spent the first half of 2022 testing and trying to find a style for Fragments, back then I had no plans, none, zero, absolutely no interest to give Emet a role bigger than a mention. The earliest version of the script had very few Emet scenes, which, looking back on it, was gonna be a disservice to his character. Well, that changed rapidly in late 2023 when I fell for him so hard that I broke my neck, and now I look back on a lot of what I did with Vivi with new eyes. THE EYEROLL. After spending two years developing a guy for a fun wolgraha chemistry (at the same time I was perfectly aware that Exarch and Emet are foils. I made a foil for Exarch, what on earth did I expect-), I’m going through a mindblow after mindblow as I realize HOW GOOD VIVI IS FOR EMET (and vice versa ofc) and how many things they have in common. This wasn’t always the case, Vivi just gradually got more cynical, tired, ✨grey✨ and everything else that makes a guy consider hitting it with The Other Old Man.

They’re off to a great start.

From Emet’s pov, this must really hurt, as in how many other shards of Azem might’ve snarled at him like this. Even though he must be numb to it by now, who says that there isn’t the tiniest flicker of hope when he approaches yet another not-Azem. He may deny and hate and try to snuff out that spark, but the fatal Soulmate Magnet keeps doing its thing.

Parallels to episode 2.

Apparently, Vivi’s first reaction to encountering his to-be-most-prominent boyfriends is to attack them somehow.

This’s really, REALLY dumb of him, and he even comments on it shortly after. But yes, his isekai tale in the First was rather pleasant just until now, and it lulled him into the false sense of security. OF COURSE there are ascians everywhere, not just on the Source. Vivi just forgor.

Emet tests Vivi's reactions to insults/being treated as a lesser, silliness, flirt.

I regret to inform you that both Vivi and Alisaie have been disarmed so easily. The tone quickly shifts, the weapon’s lowered.

Alisaie makes bad puns/jokes in canon, I thought it'd fit if she laughed at that kinda jokes too, and in the least fitting situations, to top it off. Alphinaud’s disappointed, even if he can hardly be called an expert in humor.

“It’s up to you”. Emet stops fooling around, assuming a more serious tone. He may not respect Vivi or his agency here, but he provides him with a choice that's guaranteed to give him some trust points, and uses "we" for an illusion of unity/equality, a not really subtle nudge towards cooperation, it's not me vs you anymore, it's "us".

Whether Vivi picks up on the manipulation or not remains to be seen, but Emet gets his way here.

Forgive me this lil tangent, but I’m so giddy and excited to write Emet. If Exarch’s decently emotionally intelligent but still obtuse at times, Vivi’s a tier or two above him, he’s not a stranger to manipulation, he registers it being used on him, and doesn’t hesitate to use it too when it suits his fancy. He's quite good at people-ing. Emet, though, Emet’s THE emotional intelligence personified. He’s had literal thousands of years to practice, he leaves everyone else in the dust in this regard. It’s daunting but so exciting to write him, I hope to do him justice.

Let’s just talk.

𝓛𝓮𝓽’𝓼 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓽𝓪𝓵𝓴.

Mark this moment, remember this line for meme value. If these last words aren't famous yet, they WILL become that when we see what they talk their way into <w<

Yes I'm going all in on tragic irony of Emet's situation.

Accidental Emet rp, with the hunching over and all. Or maybe Vivi already unwittingly mirrors him. Or maybe he always did- *kicked and dumped in the trash bin*

Man. I'm guilty of enjoying drawing Vivi in genuine distress. He’s so fun when he’s agitated.

Hidden Angst Time! It's all hehe haha until you realize that this might be a product of the hectic wol lifestyle forcing him to speedrun his emotions like this. Either speedrun, or be left with no opportunity to process them at all.

Also, the sandwiches! The framing’s deliberate, they’re on the foreground all the time, and Vivi only notices them in the very last panel.

I! Love! This! Face!!!!!! A rare neutral, relaxed, thoughtful face, he isn't performing for anyone here.

Nevermind Ardbert getting brutally ignored here x’D

The fact that a guy that Vivi had briefly considered as partner material shut himself away in the Crystal Tower for what could be the rest of his life has stuck with Vivi for good. Or should I say for bad. He might not necessarily care about ARRRaha, still it upsets him that he kissed someone who practically killed himself some days later.

I recently talked a lil more about the Bitchless Liar. This’s how Vivi remembers him forever, take it or leave it. But hey, this cool Exarch guy has big balls probably <- in-universe hc \o/

This episode taught me to draw BREAD.

Even though Exarch’s been nothing but sweet so far, one thing’s to acknowledge a fact with your brain, another thing’s to wrestle with your trauma and paranoia that have all rights to exist and fester. Ever since HW Vivi doesn’t accept food and drinks from anyone except the few trusted sources. This isn’t really covered in this episode, but hopefully hinted at just enough.

He takes a leap of faith. Or maybe he’s simply sick and tired of living Like This. Maybe sandwiches kill him, and he doesn’t really mind. And, when they don’t, he goes through a visible shift in attitude towards Exarch, as we’re able to see in the following episodes.

This’s all I’ve got for now, thanks for reading till the end~

[ahrisaamariyo]

oh right i can design an azem now, too. but like i wanna draw the leaisa scene first

[sheyshen]

i kinda wanna draw something silly and cute now that my back's well enough that i can draw again. not exactly fitting that is kinda wanting to draw a two parter azem/raya thing (like the one i did of emet) that's one half is azem hugging aelous and erichthonios with brea in the background, and the other half is raya hugging nhea and claudien and brea's in the back still but facing away (ascian robes vr) and well that's a bit more pain than cute lol

[neriyon]

14. Does your OC/WoL have an item that they keep with them? If they do, what is it? Why do they love it? Why do they keep it with them?

Hmmm technically he has two: his whm staff and a braclet.

Staff is pretty self explanatory - it's his main weapon, so it usually comes with him everywhere. I tend to change his ingame staff around a lot to fit glams, but his "canon" one for now is Blade's Mercy (last step of the lvl80 relic). There's no story yet where or how he got it, but he does take very good care of it, having a skilled crafter check it after every bigger fight for possible damage. It also currently has both Zenos' necklace and Azem's stone hanging on it as mementos.

His bracelet on the other hand is basically wedding ring. While I strongly headcanon that keepers don't really care about marriage or see too much need for it, I feel like Hawu'li is pretty sentimental. He'd want something to remind him of his partners during long travels.

It's pretty basic braded bracelet, but with every strand picked by his partners. They can technically choose anything but to make it easier for me (and my memory) most are in the color schemes of their givers (like "Aymeric" one being blue with gold strands mixed in). Hawu'li asking someone to pick a strand is basically same as him proposing, and his partners usually know to take their time deciding since it's really important to him. After picking the new strand Hawu'li usually gives some little gift for the other party (for example, Aymeric got an earring and G'raha got a necklace) as their "ring".

I kinda wanna try drawing that bracelet some day but before that I have to actually choose who is on it and who's not haha (￣▽￣)" For extra emotional damage I'll mention that Haurcefant never got to pick his... He'd been one of the first ones, but Hawu'li never really realized his feelings before it was too late. Miiiiight give him one (that Hawu'li picked himself) but not sure on that yet. In AUs he has one tho!

[rabenzitate]

azem, beloved, looking delicious af

2nd pose inspired by @cainosis ‘ babygirl poses please check em out they are to thank for me drawing again 

two WOL bunnies in one! azem is called daphnis and he is my boyfriend’s and mine sweet gentle gremlin that cursed hades' dck. he has troubles with his multiplication magicks and creations but ended up being a great healer instead!

i did a lil redesign of him and now i am 100% happy and proud with him and i wanna draw him more!!!

[rynloveshats]

Been less active because I got hit with oc hyperfixation beam. This extends to azem and wol too, this is only an issue because I wanna draw hyth, Hermes, Themis (and emet) but azem appears on my screen instead

[nikolazuli]

me: hmm i kinda wanna see azem with short hair

me: wait im an artist i can just draw it

[voidsentprinces]

...after I get my bumper fixed I wanna commission someone to draw Azem Blight carrying an angry Emet who is lecturing Azem while under their arm as they’re jumping mid-air with Hythlodaeus jumping beside them and in the background there is just an explosion.

[alackofghosts]

anticipating grief

[eluvixns]

ART TO DO LIST BECAUSE I HAVE TOO MANY WANTS AND FORGET THINGS:

ur WoL / oc sketches proper

haylin outside of ishgard visiting an old friend ( im crying already ive started this )

emetbro and azem!haylin ( elysia )

haylin and arlo bc i love pain

dying to do a g'raha piece i just dont know WHAT

drk!benedikt bc the concept is saucy to me

design ideas for asher and milo

doodle sheet of the wedding when it releases bc 🫠

haylin sheet for all the universes she's in ( ffxiv, dragon age, mass effect, pokemon etcetc )

also haylin in my au bc court!haylin is 🤤

i also really wanna figure out face stuff for the scions so i can draw them into pieces with haylin and ben?????

idk i wanna do another doodle batch of isopods

rogue!nari mhmmhmhmm

hotd studies as s2 airs thank u

and some dw studies

i also rly wanted to do an updated leon

and a leon kennedy doodle sheet

oh and i need to finally finally start posting to my oc blog when i have settled on it bc i really wanna get back to my ocs and connect again and have FUN

[fourteentheart]

I didn’t intend to draw angsty Azemet right after the fluffy piece I posted for them lmao. I don’t usually draw serious stuff in general, so this was interesting to work on!

The well traveled and kind-hearted Azem would be aghast over Solus zos Galuvs and his Empire...

Longer thoughts on this piece lore / technical for those interested:

While drawing the much lighter and happier Hades / Azem, I was suddenly filled with the thought, ��Hey, it’s been a long time since I drew angst! Or wrote it.” My love of angst stretches far back to my early teen years... I revisited that for a bit for this piece lol

I’ve fashioned my Azem (or creatively named Helios) to be a very innocent, loving soul. Helios could never understand why Hades did any of this. For the love of his people? “For us?” Helios wouldn’t want this. He would merely stare in horror at the man he once loved. Hades, consumed by the millennia of grief for the past, desperately pleads his case to Helios. But it doesn’t matter.

Technical wise, I was mostly focused on practicing with greyscale values and keeping true to my undersketch. I also took a stab at constructing bodies a different way this time, not that it’s very evident without seeing the under-undersketch. :>

Originally the background was going to be snowy Garlemald, but I felt that relatively serene setting didn’t portray the depravity I was going for. (note the sparks floating around started off as snowy bits >:3) I took a glance at Ala Mhigo and did a very, very quick bg based off a general Garlean invasion. The background wasn’t my main focus for this piece, so... I really skimped on it lmao. I like to focus on a few things when I draw versus overwhelming myself with every thing.

I also wanted to push serious expressions a bit more. I feel I’m making some progress, but there’s a ways to go before I get to where I want to be! I still laugh at how I portray more serious expressions, buuuut how will I ever get to where I wanna be if I just shy away from trying to draw them hmmm

It’s been an absolute blast to work on so much in the past month. The saying “Through love, all is possible” doesn’t just apply to people. ;>