#i wrote a shit ton so if u dont wanna read all this. totally understandable

[trueka]

Hi! Idk if you’ve answered this already but how did you come up with the concepts for Venus and Juno and your other oc worlds ? Like what were your main inspirations behind it and the worlds around them ? They’re so nostalgic and seem well thought out and planned with so many different components if that makes sense! ❤️

hi sorry for answering so late!!! tysm for thinking that abt my ocs even tho i feel like i barely share anything about them🥲 the different worlds are all kind of like different aspects of myself and my interests combined in various ways. i tried to break it down under the cut but it ended up rambly sorry !! hopefully i answered ur question

tldr: i came up w them based on my interests and background

VENUS & JUNO

everything about this concept is super self-indulgent. as i've said before i really enjoyed things like w.i.t.c.h., winx, totally spies, barbies, bratz, dress-up games, ppgz, polly pocket, etc. growing up

when i was in 4th grade i even came up with a whole multiplayer online game where you could customize and play with this cute alien pet thing. and literally the first time i ever used a credit card was to buy a membership for cartoondollemporium so i could get access to the cuter clothes. like i loved pretty things and still do, and indulging in that with venus & juno w/o any restrictions makes me happy, so yea. a lot of this concept is inspired by things i still enjoy from back then combined w everything that i enjoy now as an adult

the fashion aspect is especially self-indulgent. i just wanna draw cute ppl and making everyone in the universe dress like that on the norm gets rid of the need to explain why i put characters in the clothes they wear lmao. like yes the outfit doesn't make sense for the character but it's just how they all dress dont worry abt it

i really love how space (specifically the planets) looks too, and i was always super fascinated by supernatural/mythological stuff so i combined them. they're supernatural/mythological creatures who look like aliens. alien-esque demons. the planet they're on is still earth (or is earth-like) but the colors arent normal and 70s interior design is everywhere cause im obsessed w that era. so it's sorta like hell on earth except pretty. might have nine circles but not sure about that yet

OR aliens are demons and hell is a parallel universe planet. i'll think on that

here's a pinterest board of the setting

i also like michiko & hatchin and the animation sequence in kill bill, and ik i haven't really taken it there yet in my art but from the beginning i always wanted to make the story with vibes like that. something serious. and i literally posted a wip of venus on top of juno with their tits out so. definitely higher-rated, just w fun colors

im sorta approaching this concept thinking it'll be a video game. like the bratz diamondz or barbie fashion show ds games but it's a story-based action-adventure fighting game ...might sound ridiculous but i really want a hyperfeminine video game where i can kill so here's that

so this is my thought process for all of that. idk if i touched on everything but yea!

FEVER DREAM

i grew up in home that was both catholic and buddhist (but mainly the former). as i got older, i was more analytical. my interest in religion grew from a more philosophical standpoint. like i got super obsessed with it. even took a philosophy of religion class. paid for that shit

there's a lot of reasons as to why, but ultimately i really liked exploring the relationship between deity and man. the whole concept of "fear of god," the ultimate reality, what makes a human, all of the moral philosophical debates. i also love the paradox of, because you can think of something, it exists, but it exists because you thought of it. idk if my explanation made sense but it's all really cool to me.

from here i thought exploring religion from a horror lens would be super fun, and then came the main plot of the story (which has been reworked like 5 times now; more times to come lol). ofc i didn't wanna deal with like. actual religions tho so i came up w fake gods and then decided to just throw in supernatural stuff cause it's fun, so that's how that aspect of the world came about

i was also taking a psychology class at the time this concept was first being thought up, so there's some psychological concepts about deja vu and dreams in there too just bc i experience deja vu a lot (like i'd dream of something and then it'd happen years later irl. i'd get deja vu and then remember i dreamt of it). thought it'd be cool to have that as a major component of the concept so yea

and im super into the aesthetics of baz luhrmann's romeo + juliet and thought it'd be cool to combine it with the small town horror/suburban gothic feel so that's where i plan on taking it aesthetically. kinda like a beachy horror town. like on a super hot day u feel like the sun's trying to kill you but what if it really was... that was a stupid example but u get what i mean

also was into those horror puzzle youtube videos coming up with this. forgot what they're called but yea those were inspirations too

i say all this but im rly not smart enough to make it good so 💀it will j be staying in my mind

SAIJA (NAME TBD)

again... fascination with gods. this time i approached it from a more eastern angle with the whole balance and nature thing. set in a southeast asian-like area because i'm vietnamese, time era uncertain. inspired by samurai champloo, atla, mushishi. if it were animated it'd be animated like flcl and episodes would be set up like nge. this one's the least developed, so there's not much to say about it yet