#pentumbra

hmm insert like a cool quote here idk

(They/It)

The well known Shadow quad Pentumbra is a very.. unusual being compared to the other quads as a person— very secretive, somewhat erratic in terms of movement, and just simply... Silent? Well, of course, they don't speak, but... Y'know-

Pentumbra is just... Generally an oddity amongst most— wrapped in the same odd pink sinews of the mirror timeline yet belonging in the normal ones, and weirdly enough, Zarroë himself has zero answer to ... Whatever that could imply for Pentumbra at all.

And... Nothing less weird about its social life in the workshop, Pentumbra is found to be, while very eager to show and express, to prove that their spotlight is equal to the triples or hell, even the doubles or singles, somehow they socially fall short to normal conversational standards as their eyes tend to land on the eyes of the people they talk too for just a little too long to the point things become awkward, or sometimes their shadow will say things that are quite absurd for a conversation and the other can do nothing more than just listen. It's all just... Odd, every new thing about Pentumbra is a mystery, always finding a way to somehow be more human to some whilst simultaneously finding a way to be more alien to others, both somehow ominous no matter the situation.

Not only that, Pentumbra is just somewhat...envious? They see things that they don't have and they quickly work to imitate that with not much hesitation. If they see something they want, they will spend the day trying to get it. They're also found to just... Stare. Maybe the staring is fueled by an inner envy when they see something they don't have, or maybe they're just... Staring off into space? But either way, they stare, and it gives others the creeps.

Though the person beyond what others know does prove interesting as the psyche of the body Vs the shadow shows they both act as a "smoke and mirrors" type of case between the two entities biologies AND personalities— despite the relationship reading as if the same person; a man and their shadow, they are seemingly separate beings, too; a silhouette and the bender, a deception that seems to know no true truth more than a spiral down to the same old stories- what truth is there to be told about such a deep cycle of such lies anyhow? Hah...

There is no knowing who is truly the shadow of Pentumbra— the body that is unable to truly own a voice of its own, or the silhouette who speaks for the body and is yet imprisoned in the bounds of the body? The shadow speaks for that who moves and the body does for that who sings, no telltale signs of who is more in control in their mutual prisons they call life.

As puzzling as the tales are told, it is, unfortunately equivalent to the life of Pentumbra.

Well, to separate at least the body and its silhouette; Pentumbra as their own body is very emotive, very expressive with so many things they clearly want to say if they could speak and yet, more distant and somewhat isolated than all the others. It does seem to "represent" itself in an elegant and a more... "Humanoid" manner than everyone else, attaining its form by... means I may not elaborate now... They're very eager to creep in and listen to anything, though. No gossip, really, especially since that isn't entirely that possible in their case (unless the shadow calls for otherwise), but really because they just like learning about other people.

Pentumbra in addition to their shadow, when the light they control is just at the threshold where its form is stable enough to not accidentally merge with any other weird surfaces— becomes a lot more lively and, let's say, sociable? Extroverted? Yes, let's say it like that. It connects with the body simply to speak in the voice they desire, sometimes changing to be an impression of other quads, or its fellow shadows, other times trying to find a voice it can call their own, but mostly the latter is most approved in its performances.

There is evidence that the body and the shadow are not fully and entirely just the same person of different planes— even with the fact they share a name, a form, and even desires, they are still different people with different personalities after all piloting only what the other is missing, and it shows in small disagreements or sometimes really just exhaustion when, for instance, Pentumbra is not in the mood to hear itself; simply dimming the light of their hat, or going in a position where their shadow is far smaller than it desires. In other instances, the shadow forces control by some... unknown psychological effect. After all, the knowledge of each others psyche is still mutual outside of just performance, is it not? :) Simply to say it; one can deny the other a presence, the other can simply just pick at their... autonomy. But hurting each other would benefit neither of them, so mutualism is always preferred.

It is quite a crisis however, being so separate and yet so united, doesn't it get tiring playing the same facade? How the things the shadow may say, may not always even be the full truth of the body? And how the shadow acts, does it reflect what the body wants to, or is it the shadow acting on its own volition?

So even in the name of mutualism, the body still wonders.

What is the self? Is it the true body that feels and does and thinks for themself, or is it simply the shadow that speaks in their voice? Or maybe they have merged into one and the same being, even without realizing.

Maybe that shadow bonds so well with can relate with how easily The body bent themself so far into their idea of a human being. Maybe they both want humanity, and maybe they work to attain that; even if it means losing what makes of themselves.

And a question they themselves might ask—

Does that answer your question, or simply raise more?

And maybe no answer is necessarily correct.

this mon right here is peak, I love them (I love the other workshoppers too, they're just my fav ethereal quad <3)

SO SORRY FOR NOT POSTING ABOUT MSM,,

I was caught up in artfight and a new hyperfixation… (the suspiciously Susie shaped pfp)

I’m not gonna finish the teeter-tauter gijinkas until artfight ends because I need to be locked in for that

ALSOALSO alt rendering style I discovered it while colouring in a doodle I made for an unrelated au of mine