Rhys:

ive always pictured him as this soft-faced, cute looking guy. i needed to find a way to make him look simultaneously smart-but-kinda-smug-but-not-in-an-"im better than you"-way, so i caved and gave him the thick eyebrows + dimples combo. i just. i dunno i really like looking at him. he's so Rhys shaped to me.

ALSO, for those curious, his hair is kinda meant to be a mix between really tight curls + kinda styled dreads. im a big fan of giving black/dark skinned characters curly hair over dreadlocks, despite how difficult ringlets are to draw ToT. BUT, using shapes as a compromise, im kinda able to replicate how i feel super tight curls would look. i also just never saw Rhys with the typical "black videogame character" hairstyle, so seeing him with something kinda like that on the MID season 2 poster was a little jarring for me, lol. FORTUNATELY they've given him braids over dreads, so i can accept the hairstyle change--to a degree.

getting a little clearer into headcanon territory, i imagine Rhys has a few burn/frostburn scars oh his body. like, maybe a spell went haywire when he was first learning, or he got hit by something really bad during a battle back on Daemos. OR, even better, he sometimes gets so overwhelmed by his anger that he ends up hurting himself with his magic in the process. despite Daemos having faster healing due to their magic, Rhys' emotional outbursts could lead to him damaging himself to a degree where he'd need longer treatment. he'd have the most unique scars out of the entire group because of stuff that C:< or maybe i just like character details that are related to their emotions leading to permanent injury/reminders.. sighhhh

Pierce:

just wanna preface that the scar on his face will NOT be on any other art i draw of him!! it was an impulsive decision to draw that and im not sure if i even like it!! i prefer the idea that Pierce is hard to hit--despite his large build--therefore he'd have the least scars. at least imo

Pierce is a broad guy. he'd be broad. BIG muscle guy. but that also means that he should have the most toned features. and by that i mean he'd look like the most loveable guy!!! a beautiful small smile!! he's so emotional for someone of so little words. i really like the guys who are super smart, but dont have much to say, so they generally just express the bare minimum. i'd imagine his face gives him away a lot though, purely because he's quite emotive. especially in MID. in my rewatch, i noticed his expression changed the most within shots/scenes. whenever someone was talking Pierce would react in the smallest but most expressive ways. it helped me appreciate him a lot more, because everything he did personified him. gaah he's just a great character man!!

i also love!!!! loove long-haired Pierce. when i first watched MID--way back in 2019 when it was airing--i had no idea he had long hair. but now that i know it makes him SOOOO much hotter. modern/smp Pierce having short hair is a big downer to me, because him having long hair is!! its so him!! but, it does help keep the disconnect between the two characters, so im not entirely upset about it. i often draw guys with hair all at different lengths. i dunno its. its hot imo. they can be propper, upright guys, and their hair is all different lengths. it adds soo much character, and is also realistic in consideration of the time between their shorter haircut vs their grown-out hair. (for people who've seen my stormlight archive Kaladin art, i have the same feelings on his hair) therefore, a silly headcanon of mine is that Pierce had shorter hair at one point. much shorter. and then once he'd had it grown out enough, he worried about being able to see during combat, so he started trimming some parts of a fringe. it became less of a worry for him on Earth, so his fringe ended up growing out a little longer than he meant. i also just really like characters whose hair grows faster compared to others, so he has that too C:

Asch:

Asch was an interesting case for me. I imagine him as a pretty boy looking character, someone with a handsome-but-in-a-cute-way-face but a muscular build. like, iuno something about him specifically being the pretty boy of the group just. it gets to me. this isnt headcanon this is canon to me. he's a pretty boy prince what MORE COULD I ASK FOR this also makes me think quite a bit. because in Daemos society, strength is what matters above all. while Asch has looks, his physical and magical strength matter more in the grand scheme of things. compared to his brother Rhal--who i picture as a more conventionally masculinely-handsome way--Asch would probably be seen as less appealing, esp when it comes to marriage. which would help explain why he hasn't been wed yet, imo..

he's SUCH a tsundere it drives me crazy. like you cannot convince me that he WOULDNT have such a soft and loving expression with the people (cough AVA cough) he cares about. and simultaneously he has the ability to perform most aggressive, sassy eyeroll imaginable. ugh Asch has got such a nice juxtaposition in that regard. he's got some of the most beautiful features, and has such soft loving eyes when you least expect it, and yet his scowl is deep and cruel, and his hatred blazes with such fury. AJAJAJAJAJAJUE I LOVEE IT

also, im surprised to say that Asch is one of a few characters in this spread whose hair i made too long. while it haaas admittedly grown on me, its just. its probably not that long. i draw it a tad shorter in some of my other pieces that ill show eventually.. something to mention in tandem with the Daemos boys' hair, you've probably noticed that everyone has pointy ears. im a sucker for fantasy humanoids having pointy ears, despite being biologically mostly human. AND, you've probably noticed that Asch's ears are reaaally long and pointy. a big headcanon of mine is that either his father and/or his mother had the gene for really long ears. so both him and Rhal have the long ears. its also semi a "the royals get the gene" kinda headcanon, but i debate myself on that a little every now and again.

Noi:

the baby, itty bitty guy of the group; Noi. UGH HES MY CUTIIEE, ooog i love himm!!! nothing will ever make me hate the little guys in groups, especially when theyre as endearing as Noi gets to be.

because of shape language n' shit, Noi is round but pointy. he's soft and sweet, its true, but he's from a war-ridden dimension. he's dangerous in his own ways, he's just never needed to express them because theyre not on Daemos. so, Noi gets to look like an absolute goober while i sneakily imply he's a little more deadly than we know. he looks exactly as i imagine him and it makes me happyyy

also, i just. gosh. goodness. i made him too cute damnit. every time i open that sketchbook and i see his tiny face smile so lovingly i get a little flustered. thats how i imagine him looking at Ava after he discovered he loved her. he CANNOT hold it in!! he is BESOTTED!! and that matters soo damn much to me.

out of all the Daemos boys, Noi is the most genuine about his feelings for Ava. Asch and Rhys found the idea appealing before they truly became attached to her, Pierce's feelings are mixed with guilt, shame, and affection, meanwhile Noi and Leif are the ones who genuinely care so deeply for Ava--Noi sooner than Leif.. in some areas. it just drives me wilddd it makes me insane!!! and he's so tragic about it too damnit! Ava is his one and only shot at love, a relationship, a family. and while all those prospects are appealing to him on their own, Ava has shown him a care he wouldnt have ever experienced. especially not on Daemos. he loves her so utterly and purely. she means everything to him and it makes me sooo saad.

i get mad "character that would die for the one they love" vibes from him. and not in the ironic, oh haha that would never happen way. im genuinely concerned for his safety in My Inner Demons season 2.

Leif:

out of all the designs on this page, i would say Leif's is the farthest from how i actually wanted him to look. i made his hair TOO DAMN LONGG and TOO DANG WEIRD. ugh it pmo so bad. his hair is supposed to be shorter than thaatt. sigh. otherwise, aside from that, and a small part of his face shape, hes still kinda how i envision him. sorta. not really. sigh his is my least favourite on this page. which hurts to say, since Leif is one of my top two favourites out of all the Daemos boys (Rhys being the other favourite...)

i deeply, so deeply headcanon and want his right-eye scar to have come from a slash that nicked him on the right side of his chest too. i just. ouugh i love characters that have long, bruital scars. theyre so yum. so yeah. i love imagining all his trauma cough what who said that?!?! i also did my best to make sure Leif had the pointiest shape language out of all the Daemos boys. because, yknow, "triangles and sharp edges=dangerous!!!" type shit, but also because i just like drawing that way. the shapes also do suit Leif really well.. so im feeding myself while drawing him anyway ehehe..

Leif has honestly gotta be the funniest character in all of MID. his slightly-evil, murderous nature just adds to that. it makes him kinda dorky, but like in an "i can kill you" way. and thats hot. he's also just so damn real. the phone wont shut up? bash it against a wall until it stops. the computer wont compute? straight up stab it until it stops. the people are being mean to my friend? destroy them and show no mercy until they stop... being mean to my friend.

he folds for Ava so quickly--but its so subtle in comparison to the other Daemos. i mean, everyone aside from Noi was pretty subtle anyway, but Leif specifically showed signs of a crush really early on. the fact that he was so willing to kill Lorelai's "friends" to make Ava feel better--and not simply out of his own malicious nature--was so interesting. NOT TO MENTION THE MALL SCENE!! oh my gosh, when he confesses how his life on Daemos was like, and how he fears abandonment, and doesnt want it to happen again. and then Ava says she'll never leave him!! like she doesnt even think, she's already decided/accepted that the Daemos boys will be with her for the rest of her life. and Leif's little "you promise?" BEFORE BRUSHING IT OFF UGHHH WHATT. that. that was the moment i knew he fell in love with her.

she means so much to him, and he just. he sucks at showing it. his whole life, all he knew was slaughter and pain. and then Ava stumbles into his and the other Daemos' life, and shes so oblivious and kind. shes got no idea why theyre really there. no idea about how the boys have manipulated the truth. no idea that she had been on the list of sacrificial lambs that would've been taken back to Daemos. no idea that the boys would do anything to keep her safe, after everything they've experienced with her. and Leif. ohh how it mustve pained Leif to have lost her after her promise. how has it affected him? what will he do about it? how will he save her?

you can probably tell which ship is my bias atp. its Leif x Ava. i mean, im a multishipper, in reality i ship her with all of the boys. but Leif x Ava specifically makes me soooo hungry for more. ooh theyre sooo tragic together. oh theyre sooo chaotic evil together..

gosh im so insane these rambles were soo long im so sorry ToT thank you for reading this far if you did!!!! genuinely super appreciated!!! :DD

i will probably draw more of the Daemos boys soon. im just kinda. ugh im late to some new years art i was wanting to draw. that i AM going to draw. and it WILL be finished. and its INVOLVING a certain old aphmau video from january 1st 2020 that was really funny and had an absolutely hilariously stunning Zane skin that im SUCH A BEAST FOR UGH IM NORMAL IM NORMAL IM INSANE IM SO INSANE IM LITERALLY INSANE AAAUGH AAUUGH AUUUGHH