#dc-crows

HELLO i'm nothing if not entirely predictable lmao

re: art -- i went for a mostly lineless thing here, in an attempt to distinguish him from the other character portraits. it was also SUPER satisfying to break the borders around him lmao

fun fact, i called the layers with the colourful 'shapes' the "disco" layer!! because those more expressionist bits were directly inspired by disco elysium's portrait art direction :3

what i struggled with far more was finding an appropriate song for him! because it had to be Ukrainian (hes from UkrSSR in my story) but it ALSO had to fit his actual vibe/personality as it appears in my story. so, i had to once again commit to the bit entirely, and immerse myself in a music culture that was (mostly) new to me. (not as if i dont love doing that, anyway. showing my entire music nerd ass here)

the translation also fought me tooth and nail. I ended up asking my Bosnian friend for advice, and together we settled on what's above (a little more poetic, a little less literal).

here's the original though, if anyone with knowledge wants to weigh in...

Я з розпуки тут ошаліти можу — вену вріжу, скажімо, чи всіх заріжу. -Сіґал Спожив Спілка, Лист в Україну №1

the venu vrizhu, skazhimo expression works so well in the original but there's nothing that covers it as succintly in english. so i decided for an interpretation that connects a little more widely to the theme/lyrics of the song.

the art for this was such a struggle, especially compared to the Gin piece. i think it's a combination of trying to go for a more swooshy painterly sort of style, and also just generally having an art-struggle week. i'm still not super happy with the details tbh - but i AM happy with the expression i settled on for her! anyone who's been reading my fic knows i've been playing around with references to Naoki Urasawa's Monster. here, the role of Johan Liebert, who could manipulate someone into doing heinous things with just a few little words, simply must go to Miss Vermouth.

also for clothing i was inspired by marlene dietrich, for ... reasons.

with the song, i didn't even hesitate! i knew it had to be from Cri des loups - i just wasn't sure which of the lines. in the end, i settled on the one above, translated from this original;

C'est moi le scandale; Fatal, désigné! C'est moi ton moral: Mis à mal, écrasé

but there's a lot of really good ones, and really i just encourage yall to listen to the whole track

the parents!

Eleanora 'Elena' Serafim was quite estranged from her older sister Marianne 'Mary'. She spent most of her youth while in the UK trying to distance herself from the assertive and overreaching Mary; initially physically and with different hobbies/friend groups (in fact, El didn't have many friends compared to the very popular Mary), and later by chosen profession. Atsushi meanwhile came from underprivileged circumstances and only managed to get into higher education thanks to a sponsorship from everyone in his neighbourhood pitching together, which gave him to means to attain a scholarship co-funded between the Japanese government and a private corporation that was interested in supporting aspiring young scientists.

Atsushi and Eleanora met during their studies at Cambridge. Atsushi started with a BMed but switched to a MSc; while Eleanora was always pursuing a pure science path.

There is more to their story (between failed pregnancies and increasingly unfortunate work placements) but to expedite the report: by 1991 Elena 'Absinthe' Miyano was a Chief of Research & Development of the Black Organisation in Tokyo, and her husband Atsushi 'Madeira' Miyano her right hand, liason to the rest of the company, and in charge of the medical wing in particular. They had one daughter, an adopted science experiment, and a second child on the way.

In 1999 the two parents died in a terrible accident. The details cannot be disclosed without Black Label clearance or higher.

the two (2) daughters!

Akemi Miyano (27 in summer 2010) inherited a lot more of her father's features, while Shiho (18 in summer 2010) takes more after her mother's side. (This might loosely apply to their personalities too, oops,,,,)

In addition to the point i mentioned above (Akai has, like, eyes and a partway functioning brain) I also thought this character design choice might contrast thesen two very different sisters in some interesting ways. If you're a reader of my silly "little" (c 280k words at time of posting) fanfic, you can see that contrast especially in this chapter :3

INTERNAL COMMUNIQUE OF THE LABELS PROJECT DIRECTIVE

Janvier Magritte - she/her Belgian-Turkish (father was Walloon-Flemish mixed; mother was born in Turkey but raised in Belgium after her family immigrated) DOB: 28/07/1980 height: 187 cm

tiefe Brunnen muss man graben wenn man klares Wasser will... Rosenrot, oh Rosenrot tiefe Wasser sind nicht still.       - Rammstein, Rosenrot

skill notes: - engineer (software, hardware, electronics, IT) - good at 'making do’ with absolutely minimal resources - highly observant - very adaptable (incl. being a fast learner, adjusting her manner of speaking to others, etc) - violent driver - really mentally well actually, promise :)

Mind is willing, soul remains, This woman cannot be saved from the draw into the fire.        - Pendulum, Propane Nightmares

other fun details: - fairly online, but not as bad as her friends - Grand Marnier won’t be her name for long - put a lot of effort into modelling her motorcycle after the one from Akira - listens to Nightcall by Kavinsky like every fucking day - preferred fiction genres: science fiction, cyberpunk, space-anything, horror - preferred music genres: electronic (of all kinds). general preference for modern European & Arabic music. also happily adopts entire discographies regardless of genre, if people she is fond of introduce them to her - started HRT by stealing from pharmacies in the mid-1990s - also started driving by stealing cars off the side of the road in the mid-1990s - violently bisexual. tends to bring out the worst in her partners - has 1 brother (Deniz, born 1989) and 2 half-siblings (Tamara, born 1996 & Ariaan, born 1999) - bonus: playlist with songs from her youth (link) (she was not doing well, lol)

I guess I got bad instincts! 'cause I'm in sync with the worst of us, and I don't really mind burning in hell - Kavinsky, Renegade