Zukata

twisted wonderland headshot doodle thangs based on a lab au im making surrounding Styx

malleus has no idea what he’s missing

If you get mentioned under ANY blog that says they're Tumblr staff. DON'T FALL FOR IT!!!!!!

Pearl Riddle for that Steven Universe concept I posted about :33

Dark Teyvat

I'm sure there've been others who already did rambling analyses lol but I'm still gonna ramble anyway because I have thoughts-

(also note that I'm not fully caught up on all Genshin lore yet and I last left off on 4.6 content or something asldkfjasdklj)

First of all I love how Traveller is drawn, clearly worn down from their adventures in Teyvat with visible cuts/scars, worn clothing, a tired look on their face, etc. This is closer to how I think they would actually look in canon, maybe not with the loss of light in their eyes (obviously it makes sense in this au context though) but after all they've been through so far in the actual game and missing their sibling, I think the journey would've definitely left some marks on them even though they've been to so many other worlds before this. Also the addition of spikes to the shoulder plates is really cool and makes Aether's top in particular look more like armor. I also saw someone else point this out, but Paimon is noticably colored much brighter than everyone else here which gives her a whole different vibe. It's really interesting because, considering certain lore and all those theories about Paimon being one of the most important characters in the game as well as likely having memory loss at some point (idk if this still applies in this au), it makes a lot of sense. If she is like a divine being of some sort, I see it as maybe representing the fact that she hasn't been corrupted like the archons or something like that.

Onto the archons and their nations themselves, everything is so twisted and I love it. Just as the archons have become corrupted, cursed, or infected, their nations have been affected by it as well and turned their ideals on the head.

Mondstadt, which should be the land of freedom, is totalitarian. Unlike the Barbatos/Venti in the game, this one forces people to live a certain way and "worship" him. It's also interesting how his ability to use and hear through the wind is used here; he uses it manipulatively. His reach across Teyvat and his ability to affect others from far away because he is a wind spirit plays well into this, and also my own personal theory that canonically he is not as "weak" as he says he is. I also find it interesting how out of all the archon/god designs here, Venti's/Barbatos is most similar to his canon design.

I love how the ideal/concept of contracts is used for this version of Liyue, just how intense and binding they really are here. Instead of being a land of prosperity like how it is in the game, rich with culture and commerce, this Liyue uses povety and debt as a way to gain "wealth". The part about child sacrifice definitely reminds me of just how dark Liyue lore actually is because that is really true to some of its actual history canonically. And like Barbatos, this Morax demands offerings rather than letting his people be free to choose how they want to live and revere him. "His divine path is strewn with the bodies of his former allies." This is a great line because it applies to both canon and the au in completely different ways. In canon, his past is filled with war and loss, both those caused by him and done to or around him. Despite this, he is mostly respected and seems to be good-hearted with genuine care for his nation. On the other hand, this version of Morax doesn't truly care for his people, and even goes as far as killing them just because they can't keep up the end of their contracts, which I assume they didn't even want to sign in the first place. His design here pulls off the vibe of his character really well, and are those bodies hanging off his horns/antlers? The visuals are immaculate and it's so creative how his humanoid and dragon forms are combined here.

It's scary how, in an even darker and twisted way, this version of Inazuma is very similar to the canon Inazuma. Just like in canon, the deserprate attempt to keep everything "eternal" results in death, destruction, and a stifling of true progress or paradise. Watatsumi Island being the one place of resistance and life is so good, and I like its role here a lot. Watatsumi Island and the whole resistance arc had so much potential in the game that I feel like was very rushed and so much more could've been done with it, and I like the twist on it in this version. The Shogun (here, being Baal-Zebul) being a combination of both Ei and Makoto (Beelzebul and Baal) as conjoined twins is such a horrifying and amazing concept that fits right in with the nation. I like how it looks like half of the body is already dead/rotting away and the other half is still alive and in control, mirroring the state of the land and its people, as well as the canon where Makoto is dead and Ei desperately tries to uphold her idea of "eternity" because of how much the loss of her twin devastated her, and in turn harming everyone when she thought it was what must be done. The concept of puppets/dolls being very important in Inazuma lore and culture fits perfectly here; everyone is puppeteered even after they're dead, even the archon herself.

I'm actually struggling to come up with words for Sumeru. This takes the canon so accurately once again, and twists it hard. The implementation of the disappearances, the social hierarchy, the distortion of the views and system of the Akademiya, Nahida/Buer's abilities and trappedness, it's all so accurate yet also goes deeper than how it plays out in the story. Honestly this version of Sumeru is a bit more similar to how I imagined it was going to be in the game. Sumeru didn't disappoint at all for me, but I like this even darker take on it. The corruption of Buer here is intriguing; instead of acknowleding that forbidden knowledge should be avoided lest the rest of Teyvat will be negatively affected, she actively gives it out to others just so she herself can be freed. Unlike in the canon story, it is her who is responsible for the people's corruption and not just the social systems and those in high positions. As for the design, Rukkhadevata being the tree and Nahida/Buer's design taking inspiration from Hindu gods is great symbolism, and I love the binary codes in the background as it reflects the way that Irminsul is similar to a computer database. I have a feeling the specific codes used here probably have a meaning as well, though I'm too lazy to translate them right now XD

Maybe I'm biased because Fontaine is my favorite arc of the game so far, but wow this twist on it is so dang good. The justice system is corrupted just like in canon, but instead of sacrificing herself, this Focalors sacrifices everyone else and believes that everyone truly is a "sinner". The people are still ignorant, and the flood is still inevitable. Also, the Fortress of Meropede in this version fits the vision I had for it in my head more than the canon version. I'm in love with the twist here so so much, that Focalors is the first to be cursed even though she wanted to "avoid the fate of the other gods", and in a way that makes a lot of sense as she seperated her humanity from herself, in the literal sense, but also playing into the symbolism of it. Instead of "enjoying" the trials, the Furina here "enjoys" the executions, but it is only because she is forced to, just like in canon where she watches every trial in hopes that she would finally be let go of her torturous role as the "archon", waiting for the "trial to end all trials" to finally take place. I am curious what Neuvillette's role would be in this version of Fontaine. His eye is shown in this design in his dragon form, maybe observing Focalors and all of Fontaine, which is such a cool mirror to the canon where Focalors is behind the scenes and Neuvillette is the face to the public alongside Furina. It looks like Focalors' design is inspired by the fact that oceanid souls can converge in water. And just like in canon, it seems like Furina just can't get out of suffering. :'D She is a human, yet kept together by mechs because alone she would not be able to withstand all this torture and years of "living". The water drop symbol on Focalors is also notably red here, not blue or white. That probably represents the bloodshed and sacrifices of the people of Fontaine, and death in general.

Since I haven't gotten to Natlan in the game's story yet, I don't have as much to say yet in regards to connecting this au's details to the canon for Natlan and beyond, but there are still a lot of things I find fascinating.

The art for Natlan's archon is the most intense in my opinion, which makes sense as this is the nation of war. The style resembles that of ancient Aztec art (I think, please correct me if I'm wrong), fitting in with some Aztec rituals involving human sacrifice, and the skulls or bodies of certain warriors and sacrificial victims being displayed.

I really can't wait to get to Nod-Krai to see what everything's about, but also to see how this au twisted it. From the few spoilers I've heard, Nod-Krai is kind of part of Snezhnaya but also it's own seperate thing? I think I see how that was implemented here, being a place that no one can find unless they have been deemed a criminal. And I absolutely love this Columbina. I have heard a few things about canon Columbina and how so far she doesn't fit what the common fanon was/is of her being a horrifying elderitch being (sort of similar to popular depictions of beings similar to "Biblically accurate" angels) who seems kind/gentle on the surface (having two very contrasting faces/sides), but this version definitely fits the idea I had/have in mind for her character. I also heard she has something to do with the three moon sisters, which I'm guessing is where the three heads come from for the alternate design.

We recently learned a lot more about what each dorm offers its students in terms of amenities and house culture!! I did my best to compile those details here, as well as add other bits of lore we previously knew from other parts of Twst.

I got a question about drawing injuries, and I typed up a pretty lengthy response so I wanted to share it here as well.

I get asked a lot about hand strains and injuries, and it is something most artists have to face one time or another just because we work so hard for our dreams. I personally don’t get strains or injuries, both for art and for piano playing when I still majored in it, two main creative paths where hand/arm injuries are common. My hands rarely feel tired and when they do, I stop drawing. So when I get asked, I usually can only offer the fact that you can find a lot of carpal tunnel exercises on google and there’s nothing else I know about relief exercises, other than I find that flinging my hands also help loosen them up a bit.

The most important thing about this issue is actually prevention rather than relief. I would like to believe this approach is what prevented me from getting injured–I’ve never really been a push through the pain type person, and glorifying suffering and pain as a sign of hard work is definitely unhealthy, as those are huge signals from your body telling you to stop. There are many things that I know for sure strains your hands much more than anything else that I will list below, and I believe that, if it is possible for you, the most efficient way to deal with injury is to find out which of these things is the cause and working around it.

The first big cause is posture; if your arms have no support points (ie you have to hold your elbow up with your muscles or tense your wrist to maintain stability) you will strain much easier, just like how you get tired easier standing at an uncomfortable pose vs a well grounded one. So be sure to seat yourself so that you have somewhere to rest your arm while drawing, while your body is at a relaxed angle with full support. For a normal tablet, rest your arm and wrist somewhere on the table or the tablet. For a Cintiq or tablet monitor, try having it upright so that your elbow can rest on your desk, and your wrist can rest on the cintiq screen, and you only need to use your fingers to control the pen.

The second cause is your grip on the pen. This can be caused by your need for precision/speed of repetitive movement/pressure. Line art, or cross hatching, or pressing hard to get the darkness of the brush you need, are all high stress activities that strains your hand much more than, say, rendering or putting down a base painting. Knowing that, you can:

Use a higher brush opacity or turn off pressure sensitivity for opacity to prevent yourself from having to press really hard to get brush impact you want.

Go to your wacom tablet preferences if you have one, and set the hardness of the brush so that it’s easier to get the brush opacity/size you want. You want to have the problem of having to try to press lighter for lighter lines, rather than having to press harder for darker/thicker lines. The latter strains much more than the former.

If your grip of the pen is too tight purely because the pen is slippery/too small for you/hard to grip, such as old bamboo tablets, there are rubber tablet pen paddings that you can buy online, or you can just use a layer of masking tape all around the grip area to increase friction/grip comfort and make it easier for yourself to hold your pen. A Cintiq or Intuos Pro pen is ideally what you want your pen to feel like: have friction on the surface so your fingers don’t slip, large enough so it rests and takes up space comfortably between your thumb and index fingers without you tensing and curling your hand inwards really hard, and shaped so that your grip is stopped right before the cone of the tip, preventing slipping.

The third cause is the schedule of your drawing. This may or may not be possible to change because for a lot of us, a deadline is a deadline. But try to space your tasks so that you cycle between intense, detailed, hand-straining work, and relaxing, loose, more brainstorming work. The latter is excellent for hand rest while still being productive creative work. For example, if you are drawing comic pages, it might make sense in terms of efficiency to sketch 10 pages, then ink 10 pages, then tone 10 pages. But when you are inking those 10 pages consecutively, that’s when you give your hands no rest and your hand will start to hurt a lot, while you have no choice but to push through the pain to get the work done. Instead, try to draw these pages one by one, or have a few drawings at various stages of completion to rotate between. eg. you work on inking drawing A, then when you feel your hands are strained, switch to putting down loose underpainting for drawing B, switch back to inking drawing A, then start brainstorming drawing C and think more/draw less. Give your hands some natural times to rest up with less intense work, and you get work done without having to lose time by having to really stop drawing altogether.

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