#hallucidami

I LOVE Jason's hallucination design in the Nightwing comics. Like.... look at this dude

He looks sick as hell.

He also is more or less drawn with dot eyes so I wanted to keep up that design. But with Damian I wanted to give him a bit more of a haunting look. He carries a perpetually 'bored' expression (at least in the eyes) because that was what Dick remembered as Dami's 'default' expression.

I am running with the idea as well that the reason they are so heavily shadowed is because over time. Dick has forgotten what they look like, the finer details of their face but not their general outline. So his brain fills in the blanks by.... just not having anything there. Jason's shadowy appearance took a while to get to that point. But Dick knew Damian for less time than he knew Jason, so it took much less time for Damian to become that shadowy shell.

Also!! Jason talks, Damian doesn't. In the comics Jason is kind of just a little shit, but from what I've seen never outwardly antagonistic. He talks to Dick, jokes around and while he isn't hurtful. His presence alone hurts Dick anyway. Dick wishes he wouldn't talk so much, because as he loses more detail to Jason's face. More and more Jason's talking is starting to sound like Dicks own voice.

Damian is completely silent in comparison. No jabs, no quips, no barbs. He moves silently, makes no sound. And it absolutely eats at Dick. Where he can't get Jason to stop talking in his 'Not Jason' voice. He can't get Damian to say a word at all. Maybe because he already forgot what Damian sounds like.

However, where Jason is talkative when Damian is silent. Damian is physically affectionate where Jason is distant. Dick isn't sure how to feel about it. One he craves the connection that he couldn't ever properly get with Damian. Two, as much as he can pretend its real and that Damian is right next to him laying on his shoulder. The lack of pressure is more telling than anything and makes Dick hate the contact all the more.

Last bits:

Damian is smaller (not by a whole lot but still smaller) compared to how he was alive. That is because when Dick thinks of Damian he thinks of a child too small to be fighting. A child that was never really a child and that can now never grow up. He was too small. That's all Dick can think about sometimes.

Steph does not follow the 3 color pallet that the other two do. When doing some research on her time as Robin and looking at references for her design. I often mistook her headband as devil horns and when looking at other peoples interpretation of her Robin uniform I saw that particular design in play a lot. And I absolutely adored it. So it stays!

She has a more complicated design than the others. I wanted them to all have some sort of design aspect that was distinct but could be connected back to each other. (if that makes sense its 12 am and I am very tired writing this) So! Steph has Jason's more spiky shoulders and Damian's yellow outlining in his cape.

You know those comedy masks? Yeah I wanted her to kind of replicate those with her eye and mouth shape. Of course this can be messed with for more expressions. However, I wanted her to seem less intimidating.

The reason for the softer design!! Is that while she seemingly is more approachable than the other two. She is essentially a parrot of Dicks deepest thoughts/insecurities. His worst fears and late night thoughts are all repeated by her. Initially I was debating giving this role to Jason. But, to me, Jason was already this imposing and intimidating figure to Dick that I wanted to change it up a bit. She still isn't inherently antagonistic! She does not mean to be, but it is still Dicks subconscious and it will do whatever the hell it wants.