#inkwelldraws

probably got soooo mad that he couldnt wear his snazzy socks and shoes all the time after his death (after processing that he was. well. dead of course)

he has more outfits than this and ill probably draw them later idk. 90% of his wardrobe is typical 30s attire but he gets gifts from other people sometimes for one reason or another to add to his closet. one of his favorite lounge shirts is from gloria and its a slightly oversized white ringer tee with a classic 70s retro rainbow curving into the letter 'S' on the front. there are times where he simply doesnt feel like getting his regular casualwear after working so he just slaps that bad boy on. another t shirt he got was from the triplets but with them being the youngest and definitely most mature 14 year olds in the hotel the shirt they gave him was just this

beautiful, I know

Ghosts can warp their bodies to some extent, but their bodies undergo large amounts of stress doing so. Very energy-heavy and exhausting, very painful when used carelessly. This stress is caused by the ghosts being bound to the forms of their living bodies before death, and it does not react very well when something tampers with its original form. Doing this for prolonged periods and in huge amounts can quite literally shred a ghost from the inside out, probably one of the very few things that could inflict actual pain on ghosts. While this strain can't be eliminated, it can be exercised to be more tolerable of these changes, like stretching a rubber band bit by bit until it gets looser. Sometimes ghosts can exercise this power enough that they can change into something entirely detached from their original forms, but in more specific instances, ghosts can have quirks that. just. let them do certain things without this strain in relation to their death or their mortal lives. Wolfgeist for example always had the ability to stretch his arms to insane lengths without suffering from fatigue but he intentionally builds his strength and is an old spirit with enough condensed energy to level an entire floor within the hour so I suppose his arms are the least of everybody's concern LMFAO. though, there's few types of ghosts who can change their bodies freely with no strain because they aren't bound by an "original" body

^ steward over here barely trained his body but he did it enough just so he could feel alive again with his legs. He still has his tail though but it's like. a trick. to fool his body into thinking there's still some bit of his original ghost form left so it's like "hm ok the legs are a little weird but there's a tail like always so theres nothing to freak out about yet." kinda in the same vain as gators storing fat in their tails to go a long time without their bodies freaking out for food. helps a little more when hes around so many ghosts that theres extra energy around as well

possession is an entirely different thing though and it's why ghosts prefer possession over shapeshifting. they aren't technically shifting their forms but it's more like tethering themselves onto something/someone and using it as a vessel for them to control. yadda yadda larger vessels are harder to possess and control unless the ghost spends time to practice doing so. far less labor intensive for inanimate objects but living, strong bodies are notoriously tricky if theyre not fond of being possessed and fight back. best used where theres tons of items around, like in buildings, but shapeshifting is more convenient when theres not much around to possess

steward hardly ever has the time or energy to justify walking around like the good ol times, but every once in a while his anxiety and bottled anger from some miscellaneous mishap in the hotel will spiral into a push for him to pace around in frustration for a little while or tap his foot or stomp around or Something. he probably got the anger-fueled-shapeshifting idea from wolfgeist and uses it as an outlet

i mean, that or he dances. he can do a pretty mean charleston routine, even used to do super short lindy hop routines with hellen years ago to help him with his nerves and build up his strength before she closed herself off from the rest of the staff. he misses those days

i think I overdid it with the design but whatever

he genuinely is a cool person to be around and is very firm with someone at the worst on a good day. its just that hes only super ruthless when he has to be (or. is forced to. thanks king boo). in the meantime, he has that kind of hearty laugh that tells you hes got life wrapped around his finger. er. fin

more than happy to be that barkeep who listens to your woes. between the permanent residents and ghosts just passing by, he's just about heard of it all. he truly doesnt mind being that therapist friend for people and usually tries to keep his temper in check so that people feel like they can come to him

that being said do Not piss him off on purpose it is not fun being in the hot seat 😭 while not AS structurally destructive as mr wolfgeist over here, fishook's rage will probably leave you staring off into the distance with a glassy look to your eyes afterwards. he always does it to set you straight though so if youre not used to being told no you better get used to it if you want to be on his good side

he Kiiiiinda structured his floor to be his own personal cove to recreate his past but after seeing (and going through) the kind of stress that ghosts in particular experience he started to veer towards a more open environment for ghosts. originally he truly did not gaf about anything or anyone because he felt like he lost so much when he died but treating his floor like a hangout helped him out quite a lot. i would imagine dying and being brought back as a ghost would bring forth some pretty complicated feelings so 😭😭 thank you captain

he is extremely independent and could actually be a little stubborn if hes in quite the pickle. tbf 90% of the time hes able to resolve it himself because its not his first rodeo running into issues of all kinds but if someone's adamant on helping and he cant resolve it himself he'll just quietly give up and let them help him LMFAO

gets along with clem in particular. so youre telling me theres another down to earth man in his early 40s who lives around water spending most of his time drifting along with what the world gives him? AND hes always down to crack open a cold one to laugh about our past lives? FUCK yes

He really does not care too much about wearing complicated clothes. in his more humanoid form he cares a lot more (i will draw that later ok give me a little while) but realistically theres only so much you could do as a shark. in the meantime though he HAS lived a life where being diy was borderline the only option so hes opted to make an eyepatch and hook out of whatever materials he could find. he used rope and seaweed to craft into an eyepatch and he used the seaweed to basically make a liner for his hook. the lure was not made though he was taking a swim in his cove when it just caught onto his fin. he doesnt know who tossed it in there but he kept it around because it looked cool

also yeah sorry i think i gave the pattern on his hook a downgrade im not a very good pattern designer and just wanted to get some kind of diamond pattern on him 😭 i wanna imagine the boss ghosts have some kind of diamond pattern on their designs to show their association with hellen and the hotel. maybe the original pattern mightve been fine the way it is idk ill deal with it later

sometimes he thinks his crew was a little too extreme literally shooting that shark when his injuries were way too great to feasibly save him. in retrospect he knew it was curious and very likely wouldnt have eaten him if it pieced together that he was a person. he still thinks sharks are cool

in my little tfqon headcanon lore, Karo sees music as the one positive feature of himself and is actually extremely talented in tons of instruments (I mean if I were put in an orphanage I didn't like id also distract myself however way I could). Throughout his life it's been a thing he holds dear to him and, while not considering it an "escape" from reality per se, it keeps him grounded because it's really the only thing in his life that he's been able to maintain control over. writing whatever songs you want tends to fit very well into this if I do say so myself

the music he played was still incredibly lonely though, being a solo wanderer constantly on the run from authorities with very little time to sit down with somebody and. just. play music together. the one thing he's always wanted to do was be part of an orchestra, someplace where he could just find his people and see an even more beautiful side of the thing he already loved. but, even better... what if he was the conductor? what if he led an orchestra of his grandiose dreams and had a moment of feeling happy and in control for once in his life? this is why he has an orchestra outfit here

I chose this outfit also because I like to think it makes him feel more elevated in society, something that makes him feel like he has a ground to walk on without putting his freedom on the line. it's also purple in particular because purple is commonly associated with royalty, and it certainly gives karo the feeling that he's king of his orchestra

Plus... Orchestras are organized. strict in notation and writing to keep everything in line, harmonies that combine like no other. symbolism all around

and he's just. relieved. an exhausted smile planting itself onto his face without him needing to fake it. he's made it. he's done it. he doesn't need to worry about stressing now. he's even crying tears of relief. he feels peace.

he leaves the beautiful melodies to swell as he turns to look behind him. stares at the void where the audience would be. steps right towards it

but it's not real. the air suddenly feels like the ocean. burns when he breathes in. bubbles cascading out of his mouth and rushing over his head when he breathes out

he's clawing at anything to drag him back to the surface. no, wait hold on. he doesn't want to let go now

wait wait please, no. no no.