#wizard mal

I don't get to talk about tulip much, but since I drew her here I want to ramble about her a little bit. she's a very complicated and almost mysterious figure whose relationships are just as complex.

to mal, she is a goal. someone she's been chasing after for so long that she isn't really sure why anymore. mal wants more than anything to see her mother and father again, but should that day come, she's not sure what comes next.

to sophie, she is a regret. I may have mentioned this before, but since playing fli I've started to like the idea of sophie being at least acquainted with mal, but also being old friends with tulip. tulip was someone who not only accepted sophie's two selves, but embraced them. when tulip disappeared - running away with her husband to leave her old life, and their only child, behind - sophie wondered if it was something she said that pushed tulip to leave.

tulip was a prodigy, an alchemist genius who had been celebrated from a young age. her bubbly and friendly personality made her many friends, and despite her tendency to go with her gut rather than follow instructions, she thrived as an alchemist. but deep down, she felt unsatisfied - as though she was wasting her youth and not seeing all that life had to offer. and that was why she chose to run away and disappear with her husband scarlet, even if that meant leaving behind their beloved daughter mal.

she's a tragic character, I'd say. she truly did love mal and everyone else in her life, but it was a choice she had to make, lest she live the rest of her life unfulfilled and trapped. perhaps if her life turned out differently, perhaps if she didn't have all those expectations and all that responsibility piled onto her for all her life, things would have gone differently.

let's start at the beginning - mal's family.

mal was the only daughter of two adventurers, and being the only child she was often doted on by them. she was certainly way different back then - a wide-eyed, curious child who loved to hear her parents' stories. then, one day, her parents left her with pam and set off on an adventure, and they never returned.

a few months after her parents left, mal met a kid her age named weiss, hailing from port puerto. their family was temporarily staying in castele, and they became close to lonely little mal. the two of them would wander around town, talking about their hopes and dreams for their future.

mal aspired to become a wizard - a powerful wizard known far and wide, hoping that her parents would want to come back home to her. weiss wanted to be a tailor, but their pirate family wanted them to continue their legacy. in the end, mal convinced them to follow their dreams, and in turn weiss promised her to create something beautiful for her.

weiss left once again, and mal found herself all alone again, for many years. she started to believe that loss and loneliness were inevitable things, and that there was no point in becoming close to someone when they would one day leave as well.

...which leads us to the first day of the rest of my life comic! taking place on the day mal first becomes a wizard, the comic shows mal's thoughts leading up to it - how she was afraid of what could happen, her wishing her parents were there to celebrate this occasion, and overall showing how lonely she was. "every man for himself" was her motto at this point, having accepted that she only has herself to rely on. and yet, as she looks in the mirror, she is not the only one looking back - because, as it turns out, she isn't alone :)

in the eternal happiness comic, mal's wish to yuelia was explained. she had told butterfly she wished for "eternal happiness," but in reality she had no idea at the time what that meant for her. then, after the doomstone crisis was resolved and the dust settled, mal realized what this "eternal happiness" was all along.

"You were what I was wishing for all along."

it was yuelia - and weiss, laura, hazel, and everyone else she had come to consider a friend. eternal happiness was a stable companionship she never had, someone she could grow close to and rely on without worrying about them leaving.

her wish was granted from the day she met butterfly - from the day she realized that perhaps she no longer has to be afraid anymore. she reunited with weiss in port puerto, who fulfilled the promise they made with her. in fact, mal's current outfit (quilted sweater and philosopher's hat) was from weiss!

so, what's next for mal and weiss? well, the short answer is the golden brewery. that story is still a work in progress and ill probably work more on fleshing out mal and weiss some more, so stay tuned i guess haha

anyways if you're read all the way to the end here, then thank you very much! ill repost the funny adventuring trio doodle i drew while i was still working out mal and weiss's designs