#IASUW au

[apolaskiart]

Went on an IASIP pinterest bender for these

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iasuw au doodle-ohs for my soul-io

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Back on the A.U grind, amen!

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So likeeeeee, I may have procrastinated on this au a bit (I kept on taking power naps)

1/2

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More IASUW au designs, now for the Ink Inn crew! Also, whoever tells you rendering is easy is a liar and must be jailed (me telling myself to practice rendering for the splash arts)

2/2, previous designs for the IASUW au (Lecroux Botique Crew)

[apolaskiart]

Started out with the most complex designs for the iasuw au because I realize that if I ever draw them on another time, I can determine when I would regret making these in the first place.

Some info below about the designs!

Gideon's was made with the main theme of steampunk. With him being a mechanical engineer (technically one in actual canon, but in this au he has a degree in it), he would likely have an affinity to gears and mechanisms.

The front design is based on steam train engines, while the back is more liberal with wings to represent a phoenix

The middle of the back design also has a bear surrounded with wheat to represent his home of Yona (the bear being its relative animal based on the wiki). It would also have a quote, something like "The blessed of Yona are born with fortune" (pending don't take me on this ssdjkaldjasd).

I had quite fun with Torbek's actually since you can take his design anywhere. Although I mainly stuck with the style of gothic/art deco because I was inspired with the storyline of his past in canon (as well as his basis on mr. jekyll and hyde which ofc was written in the victorian period with gothic aesthetics. the art deco was more aesthetically close with what I was imaging).

And since we are talking about pasts, his front and back designs involve people that he is supposed to know which is a "Clementine" and "The Othe".

However, coincidentally for this a.u, he does not remember that much about them aside from their names and that he got the tattoos during a stint in prison (his memories are also blurry about it - very Harry of disco elysium coded).

[apolaskiart]

Frost and Gricko's tattoos for the iasuw au! Moving on to the kinda complex designs that made me have a bit of a crisis (legit), these ones are just as fun to make but relatively challenging to the previous one in terms of "what do I even put?".

I'll be yapping on my thoughts/headcannons regarding these below, so feel free to dive in! A warning that it is quite lengthy because of said crises-induced reflecting session (a proud citizen of yap city indeed)

First off, we have to talk about the technicalities of Frost's tattoos. It actually put me in a crisis when making this because the first question that came to mind when finding inspo was was "how the hell do you put tattoos on a tiger?"

Aside from the issue of tattooing onto fur, there is the presence of stripes that make it difficult to create a design in the first place. So for this a.u's sake (and my well being) we can treat fur like skin where tattoos can easily be applied and expressed, but would have a shorter lifespan, aka fade quicker, as a con so retouching would be more often. It can also overlap the patterns of the natural fur if designed as such (as I did with Frost).

With this, characters who have fur (e.g. Jornir) could possibly be given tattoos designs in the future while side stepping the technical issues to avoid putting to much focus on it. This could apply to other characters who may have leathery or feathery skin types.

Now of to the designing part. Unlike Gideon and Torbek, the aesthetic/style of the tattoo was not apparent at first and took a bit of a backseat to the actual design elements for Frost. Originally, using a purely geometrical style did not feel satisfying. After revisiting his canon for some ideas, an illustrative style was added to contrast the geometry which then seemingly worked out.

"Frost's design is built mostly of geometry (circles, squares and triangles) to reflect the motion of balance between familiarity and change, logic and unpredictability, comfort and discovery. Strict in pattern and position, most are simple as to take into account the stripes of his fur.

"The only complicated design, a dragon circling a tower and followed by a koi fish, was inspired by the legend of a koi travelling an upstream waterfall to turn into a dragon, signifying strength and perseverance. It is also a sign, that behind a rigid demeanor is a fiery passion waiting to be unleashed." -> The connected yarn was to give the idea that Frost can weave this path of his, but a connection as well to my other hc that it is his main reminder of his home in Yulong.

Things also mostly come in eight (resembles infinity as well as signs for wealth and success)! It was quite fun determining how to add this in as well :D

For the actual main inspo, IVE's "HEYA" has been on the forefront. Combined with another inspired by the phrase "When tigers used to smoke…" (which is the literary equivalent of "once upon a time…" and what has "once upon a…" in their name?), I must say that culture took the reigns in directing Frost's design and imho I would say that, compared to others, his was more appropriate to have strong semblances of his home as a remembrance (e.g. yarn, temple) during his travels.

Also I used a green coloring scheme because literally all other colors did not look as good as i intended. Fate really wanted him to have a green-orange scheme.

Now we got Frost out of the way, its Gricko's turn! Despite being challenging as well, Gricko's design had assistance from punk/heavy metal aesthetics. Though the only idea that I really had mostly was the logo of different band names

I will gladly argue on why Gricko's college band name should be "Goblin Deez..." Imagine, you can say nuts if you are being funny or hands if you want a fight. Anything really, which is liberating at its finest.

From here though, the main idea really that bloomed after this was that most of his tattoos were going to be personal too him!

"Aside from the egregious tattoo of his band name, the tattoos all over him speak of his journey. A pinup of a lady troll and a crown from the hit tv series game of chairs, for his childhood dreams of being a king and bagging a hot troll. A scale and guitar for his college pol. sci days. Others speaking of his collected hobbies and knick- knacks throughout a particularly challenging adulthood. Yet on his chest is his most cherished, his center and everything, which is none other than Hootsie."

The covered half sleeve tattoos on his arm ? That's to cover up the name of his exes (Headcanon that Gricko was just as much a womanizer as Gideon, but mostly in his college to early adult life. He slowed down once Hootsie entered the picture). Also its just more badass looking with designs of the monsters his canon self uses lol.

ALSO ALSO PAINTED NAILS, I'LL ARGUE WITH THE WHOLE COURT ROOM THAT HE AND HOOTSIE PAINT EACH OTHERS NAILS AS A HC!!!!

End of yapping session. Meeting adjourned!

[apolaskiart]

Just started the prologue for CoS and was immediately enlightened with the idea of Sarnax having a rival flower shop against Kremy's.

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I'm thinking of giving an actual name for the tattoo/flower shop au so I can tag it properly. Would "It's Always Sunny Upon A Witchlight" / IASUW be a good name for it?

[apolaskiart]

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#It's always sunny upon a witchlight au or #IASUW au -> The tattoo and flowershop au for Once Upon A Witchlight i've been dabbling in

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