Would rather be sleeping

I figure this is as good a place as any to chat about the journey this design has taken. it's been a long one!! and def a little creatively frustrating.

I feel this is one of my greatest creative hurdles, but whenever I'm making something for my OCs, I wanna get it right before sharing it with others. I just can't feel content or confidant if I think I'm gonna go back and make revisions. and since I also tie in designs so closely to the themes and events of the story, this basically means that I had to figure out the kind of person Fallen!Leigh would be, the role they would play, and the world they would be situated in in order to feel satisfied with their design.

needless to say, this has been a very long process. around three years, give or take?? no wait scratch that, over five. I started tiptoeing into the waters in the wake of the 3H Fallen alts—was genuinely gutted at the time, and so my lil spite brain said "well I'm gonna direct all my angry energy into this alternative version of my OC." I've always kinda known that Fallen!Leigh would be an assassin of sorts, and would stand by possessed!Gunter's side as he seeks his revenge, but the context (were they dead? alive? do they serve willingly or did they not have a choice? etc.) was up in the air for awhile. it wasn't really until the last few months or so that I settled on "dead/loyal to possessed!Gunter and Anankos/they aren't anything more than a collection of memories in this state, so it's less "willing" servitude and more "programmed." you can read more about how possessed!Gunter/Fallen!Leigh got to where they are (in my canon) in this Bluesky thread that I was working on.

I've also always kinda known I didn't want Fallen!Leigh wearing their summoner's garb in this alternative form. they no longer are the summoner, and in fact, can hardly recall their time in Askr. so, a new outfit was in order; a task that was much easier said than done for a variety of reasons.

one thing that was a must while I was work-shopping ideas was that the outfit needed to have distinct sleeves. when building Leigh's outfits I really like making use of sleeve constructions that disguise or confuse what their torso looks like. honestly, the part that gave me the most trouble was the legs. I didn't necessarily want them in a full length skirt, put also regular pants/greaves+cuisses combo just didn't feel right. I wanted them to be visually distinct from Gunter, but also to look recognizably them.

okay, here's where I throw the designs that were ultimately scrapped over the years. apologies for the eyesores HAHA.

I really liked drawing this top, but by the time I was done with colours it just looked like an eyesore to me. SCRAPPED (but the boots kinda stayed).

okay, so we kinda figured out the top situation earlier last year. but the bottoms were still plaguing me. flower waist belt makes its appearance!!

these are from january 2026. started playing around with sleeve construction/colours. yay for ribbon wrapped legs! still tinkering with what goes over the legs though.

and that basically brings us up to present! back in february I did eventually get to a point where I realized what I wanted the bottoms to look like. one moodboard, a few months, and toiling with some paints later, I finally had the finished design. I nearly fucked up my good paper copy by using too much paint, but that's what corrections in krita are for, right?

which brings us to present!! you may have noticed that the new art drawn by Jazz looks similar to my main Summoner Leigh reference (below; also drawn by Jazz). this was very intentional!! I thought it would be fun if this new art could be a ‘parallel’ piece to the original Summoner Leigh art, where the composition/pose is similar, but Fallen!Leigh looks completely different. it's sort of meant to be as though each Leigh is looking at an alternate version of themself.