#dr seashell dds

obvious picks:

Aureolin!!!!

my first ever murdle drawing? the design that ended up giving me my first contest win in my life? of course I'm partial to her Most people portray Auree as bloodthirsty and manipulative but I never saw her that way. A lot of people tend to forget that she was actually framed twice in a row by Obsidian and did not commit a single murder in Vol. 1. Plus she got the worst cell in the whole prison for something she didn't even do. She is struggling, she is abused. She never struck me as the type to kill for fun. I added a lot of detail to the moment where she commits her first murder in Vol 2, her breaking point.

Mauve!!

The third Murdler ever designed, after Aureolin and Logico. I love how she looks. Many portrayals of Mauve have her as stoic and serious, but for me that's what Celadon is for. I love Mauve as hyper and slightly unhinged. I voice act her quite a bit, and she has a very strange nasal voice that can't be replicated by any other character. But despite everything, of course, on the inside she's tortured. Indigo used her grief for her father against her to take her in and force her into fulfilling his own corrupt goals. Unlike most suspects, she has a close bond with Logico.

now for some less popular choices...

Umber!!

My sister's intention for this design was to make her creepy. She ended up the polar opposite. There is essentially nothing on Umber's personality in canon, so we virtually had a blank slate to work with. She turned into the harmless child who is full of love and wonder. Everyone loves Umbah, even Logico!!

Gainsboro!!

My sister's favorite character. She designed him as the cutest, silliest butterfly ever. "Bookie" is hated by the fandom and I don't understand why. In the cartoon, he is a complete wimp who tries and fails to mask his insecurities with anger. He's just a silly guy.

Chalk!!

Yes, I adore Gainsboro and Chalk, two of the most hated suspects in the fandom. People mostly hate Chalkers for being a homophobe, but he is very, clearly, obviously gay. Of course I completely butchered his character in the cartoon by turning him into an abused coward who is essentially a fainting goat. He is so fun to draw and write because of it though. He is helpless.

Amaranth!!

I, like most people, had no opinion on Amaranth. Then I drew him, and that changed completely. His original design was a cinnabon with Earl Grey's face and a regular-ass hammer as a weapon of choice, and my god I'm glad I scrapped that. His final version turned out so adorable that he launched into one of my favorites. I love the thought of him being a drag queen. He doesn't have much in canon anyway, so why not?

Seashell!!

He is such a dumbass. This man has no redeeming qualities. Look at his stupid face, I just want to slap him. His role in the Institute is "the guinea pig". And he's also a dentist, or something. Dumb fish.

The basic uniform’s the same, but everyone’s got some customization going on to make them stand out. The gradient sleeves in everyone’s signature colors—idea hit me like a bolt out of the blue and I had to add it. (Even if Flint’s was more trouble than it was worth, since there’s no good way to curve gradients ^^;) Similarly, everyone’s got glitter in their hair and makeup. One imagines these guys find glitter in their homes a lot :P

Onyx and Azure wear skirts (+ Onyx has leggings), Raven has a showgirl skirt over shorts, and Umber made it very clear you could not pay her to wear a skirt so she gets pants. Night and Cloud also wear pants, Flint and Seashell have shorts (+ Seashell also has leggings).

I gave Umber dyed tips for the AU, but my design for canon her also has the tattoo, you just can’t see it under the jacket.

Azure’s meant to be wearing star earrings (three stars hanging on a string—y’all see the vision?), but you can’t see them under her hair :P

Cloud’s top is meant to be baggier than everyone else’s, hence the curve of the fabric. (He still has eyebags here, they’re just covered by makeup.